September Park Hours

[BrittyRo]

So i just booked my trip for end of September
I just checked out the park hours and they are all relatively early!!
I've never been to DisneyWorld in September and was wondering if these earlier hours give enough time to get everything done?
I just got back from my March trip and was in the park until 10 every night (except AK) and had just enough time to get everything in.
How am I supposed to get everything in with such shortened hours?!
Any info would be appreciated!

 

[TNDisneyNut]

So i just booked my trip for end of September
I just checked out the park hours and they are all relatively early!!
I've never been to DisneyWorld in September and was wondering if these earlier hours give enough time to get everything done?
I just got back from my March trip and was in the park until 10 every night (except AK) and had just enough time to get everything in.
How am I supposed to get everything in with such shortened hours?!
Any info would be appreciated!

I always go in September and we always have time to do what we want. However, we usually stay in the park most of the day and don't ride things multiple times. This will be our first time back with FP+ but we really only ever used one or two anyway and still saw everything we wanted. Unless crowds have dramatically changed in the past three years, I don't think you will have a problem at all. Hope you have a wonderful trip! I do subscribe to touringplans.com and plan which day to visit each park by crowd level. I never have fully used it for hour by hour touring, but just as a guideline. We love September except the heat is a bit much, but still better than heavier crowds IMO.

 

[mom2cinderella]

How am I supposed to get everything in with such shortened hours?!

Shorter lines!

 

[BrittyRo]

Shorter lines!

I'm just so used to being at Disney during Spring Break time where the park is open until 11pm and then 1am with EMH.

What are considered short lines? Are we talking 10 minutes for everything or 30 minutes?
Is the park going to look empty when I'm there in September?

 

[agavegirl1]

You should be able to get the same amount accomplished in less time because of the lower wait times. The reason the park hours are shorter is because they CAN be shorter. The busier the parks, the longer the hours. Keep in mind that as park occupancy becomes more predictable, that is the closer to your dates you get, the hours my change. Adding an extra hour to park hours is your indicator that occupancy is higher than expected for that day.

 

[BrittyRo]

You should be able to get the same amount accomplished in less time because of the lower wait times. The reason the park hours are shorter is because they CAN be shorter. The busier the parks, the longer the hours. Keep in mind that as park occupancy becomes more predictable, that is the closer to your dates you get, the hours my change. Adding an extra hour to park hours is your indicator that occupancy is higher than expected for that day.

How close to the dates do the park hours change? I already arranged my schedule around the park hours and it took way too long!
Does it usually change a lot?

 

[agavegirl1]

It varies. Keep up with easywdw.com, Josh's site for updated park hours. I've noticed the changes are usually within 3-8 weeks of arrival. It usually involves adding one extra hour at the end of the day so your plans will be fine. Just keep them as is and catch a few extra low wait attractions or do your shopping after your plan is complete. Have a great time!

 

[mom2cinderella]

I just glanced at Intercot's historical park hours for Sept 13 MK hours and to me they look a lot like the Sept 2014 MK calendar. I really don't think they'll change very much.

 

[Robo]

How close to the dates do the park hours change? I already arranged my schedule around the park hours and it took way too long!
Does it usually change a lot?

They will change at some point (sometimes more than once) within 7-45 days of the actual dates.

They generally ADD hours and events, so any reservations you have can be unaffected.

 

[DisneyFan2013]

So i just booked my trip for end of September
I just checked out the park hours and they are all relatively early!!
I've never been to DisneyWorld in September and was wondering if these earlier hours give enough time to get everything done?
I just got back from my March trip and was in the park until 10 every night (except AK) and had just enough time to get everything in.
How am I supposed to get everything in with such shortened hours?!
Any info would be appreciated!

I'm also going at the end of September and I'm concerned about the park hours. For example, on Wednesday, September 24th, the Magic Kingdom closes at 8pm and I won't be able to get there until probably around 4pm, so that bothers me. The closing time is just way too early! However, MDE is showing that MK closes at 9pm instead of 8pm on that day and is also showing later hours for some of the other parks too, so I'm hoping that MDE is right!

 

[Kristine316]

I'm just so used to being at Disney during Spring Break time where the park is open until 11pm and then 1am with EMH.

What are considered short lines? Are we talking 10 minutes for everything or 30 minutes?
Is the park going to look empty when I'm there in September?

The end of September is not that slow.. it is slower than what you are used to but, certainly not dead.. not at all. The beginning of September is when it is pretty slow but, I think towards the end it starts getting much busier.

We went at the end of September 2012 and yes, some things had 10 minutes or less wait but, those were the rides that have longer lines now because of FP+ like HM and IASW. I wouldn't count on 10 minutes waits for anything at the end of September unless we are talking Rope Drop. The headliners still had 60 minute waits and sometimes longer.

 

[BrittyRo]

The end of September is not that slow.. it is slower than what you are used to but, certainly not dead.. not at all. The beginning of September is when it is pretty slow but, I think towards the end it starts getting much busier.

We went at the end of September 2012 and yes, some things had 10 minutes or less wait but, those were the rides that have longer lines now because of FP+ like HM and IASW. I wouldn't count on 10 minutes waits for anything at the end of September unless we are talking Rope Drop. The headliners still had 60 minute waits and sometimes longer.

Oh man ok that's not what I've been reading I'm so confused...

The hours seem to be changing for the parks they added an extra hour to AK and 1.5 to DHS (but only for ONE day out of our entire trip ) Wondering what the chances were they'd add more hours to more HS days?

Do you think it is worth it to change my whole schedule to get the extra 1.5 hours and the second Fantasmic show? (In April we barely got everything in by 9:30!) Would love that extra time/show. It would mean moving my MK to either Friday (only open until 7) or Saturday (the worst day to visit)

All this figuring out is making my head hurt.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!!!