September- things you love and hate

[Shelbizzles]

We are going end of September and just curious about different things people like about it and dislike about it. Thanks in advance

 

[kmb584]

I love the low crowds, despise the heat and humidity.

 

[kimieko]

I will be there at the end of September this year and am also curious. I went mid September last year and we had rain every day so I am hoping it will get better at the end of the month. Here is what I did like
Low wait times
Halloween/Fall decor
Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party
Food and Wine Festival

 

[Jefrex]

Like - Epcot Food & Wine is a lot of fun. Dislike - As expected, it's still pretty hot, especially in the afternoon. Like - Crowds aren't too terribly bad because kids are in school. Dislike - "Summer" rainstorms nearly every afternoon which combine with the heat for sometimes horrific humidity. Like - DST means long days with a lot of light. Like - Magic Kingdom is decked out for fall/Halloween. Twice to WDW in late September/early October (and going in September this year) and all in all, it's one of the best times to go, really.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

I've been one time at the very end of September into October--there was record breaking heat-yuck! I wish I could remember more about the crowds.

This year we are going mid September 9/12-9/19. I know that it will be hot and I'm trying to plan for that, I'm hoping that the rain stays away. No matter the time of year, too many of our trips in recent years seem to be full of rain. Not just the normal afternoon shower, but torrential down pours. Hoping for some clear skies and low crowds for all of us September visitors!

Edit to add that I love MNSSHP--it has the best fireworks and parade. And free candy--can't beat that!

 

[hiroMYhero]

Likes:
Cast Member preview of F&W the day before F&W officially begins
"Magical Dining Month" in Orlando. Includes some of the Swan/Dolphin restaurants. http://www.visitorlando.com/magicaldining/faq/

Dislikes
Heat and humidity

 

[godders]

Likes: low crowds, MNSSHP, heat
Dislikes: humidity

I was there 6-17th September last year and only got caught in one afternoon storm because I took mid-day breaks and think I slept through most of them

 

[Accident]

We are going end of September and just curious about different things people like about it and dislike about it.

With the exception of 2014, we love going this week for the following reasons:

- Free dining plans (good time to up it to a higher plan, see next)
- Food Festival, everything non-alcoholic is considered a food plan snack, even if it's over $5. Save up your snacks and see if you can convert other meals to snacks.
- It's a couple weeks into the food festival so any last minute additions of more countries or chefs has started.
- It's a couple weeks into the food festival so the locals had 2 weeks to see it already and we're back to mostly tourists only.
- Florida resident discounts + they can get the free meal plan also. You meet a lot of disney vets who know how to enjoy the parks without causing crowds. People who go 7-14 days every year at this time. They also have all the resident insider tips and very friendly. Met some really great people we still keep in touch with (and plan to visit wdw at the same time they do again).
- The states where school starts mid september instead of mid august just started so it really shifts who is in the parks and how they act for the better (in our opinion). A lot of younger families with young children and a lot of really nice non-US families just enjoying part of their long holiday.
- Halloween is in full swing already, really nice if you've never seen non-summer or really like halloween. The not so scary party for us is our favorite thing with villains and a darker/longer/360 fireworks show.
- The parks are usually about 50% capacity.
- usually rainy season is over. Humidity is better than summer but not the lowest it could be.
- The weather is right on the edge of needing something more than short sleeves when the sun goes down. You could survive without it.
- Very little is closed for renovation yet and some things closed over the summer are opening back up, you have a good chance that everything is available.
- perm closures it appears happen right at the end of sept so you can ge 1 last chance for those rides that will not be back.

Why 2014 wasn't as fun. (it wasn't horrible but it wasn't like past trips).
- The parks were so crowded that frozen summer at hollywood studios was still happening. It ran until the first week of october trying to spread out the crowds to another park. While it was great to see the summer event with everything else, wow was it crowded which made it longer to do anything or eat anywhere.
- It rained 2-3 times a day for 2-3 hours minimum each time every day except one of them. It just added to the lines and crowds for those rides that had to shut down. This was the first time I saw fireworks and night parades run after park closing (they didn't close on time).
- Did we mention the rain? 3 times we just had to turn around and go change shortly after getting to the park.
- On the topic of rain (yes it was that bad), We did get stuck on a few rides waiting to be left off and were handed piles of paper fast passes for our inconvenience. We waiting for nothing after that and rode our favorites several times in a row (usually resulting in more rain and a new pile of fast passes).
- They had to complete change how they handle buses exiting the park at the end after a blunder with POP Century and took hours to get everyone home while every other line was empty with nobody in sight. We saw this change become standard the rest of the week (open up more than 1 bus stop for 1 resort if needed). We also saw it continue on a second trip in December so 1 day of misery for us and what appears to be standard change in how they handle getting everyone out.

We would definitely go back for this time of year but we've shifted our trip to early September instead (and it lines up better for us holiday wise and time off work).

 

[Lee & Kerry]

The likes...Free dining, lower crowds, cooler...a little bit..food and wine festival is a bonus, not at work..no worries about anything.

Dislikes...can't think of any..well it gets dark sooner..

 

[CounselorX]

Hate: The heat

Like: Afternoon showers (it actually cools it down a lot and can be really refreshing, and I love seeing people scatter)

Dislike: All day showers (it doesn't seem to be as common as just afternoon showers)

Love: Low crowds

Hate: When you're in line for a ride and you're very close to boarding and the ride closes due to thunderstorms

Like: Mornings

Love: Nights

Dislike: Short Animal Kingdom operating hours. It's rare to ever get to be at Animal Kingdom at night but riding Expedition Everest at night is a great experience, as is the whole atmosphere of AK at night.

Love: Lower prices

Overall, despite the terrible heat, September is still our favorite time to go. Although, we tend to go late August / early September. If everything at WDW was outdoors then I doubt I would be able to cope with the heat and go in September. The great thing about low crowds means that the time spent standing outside in a line is minimal.

 

[Accident]

Hate: The heat
Hate: When you're in line for a ride and you're very close to boarding and the ride closes due to thunderstorms

I actually like this about that week. If you don't rush out of line they generally hand you a paper fastpass since you were stuck waiting that you can use anytime to return and overall spent less time waiting. You get a few if you were just about to get on. Make sure you have somewhere you can keep it dry, it is paper

I've also seen fastpass turn into timeless after a rain closure mid afternoon and anyone with a fastpass can jump on. They don't advertise this (and the new system was still a little buggy) so it might not be a feature anymore.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Love the rain for crowd control. Love the heat for Waterpark and pool enjoyment. Love the free dining (until it's gone forever). Dislike - - - - - - leaving Disney for home

 

[CounselorX]

I actually like this about that week. If you don't rush out of line they generally hand you a paper fastpass since you were stuck waiting that you can use anytime to return and overall spent less time waiting. You get a few if you were just about to get on. Make sure you have somewhere you can keep it dry, it is paper

I've also seen fastpass turn into timeless after a rain closure mid afternoon and anyone with a fastpass can jump on. They don't advertise this (and the new system was still a little buggy) so it might not be a feature anymore.

Yeah, it's not too terrible, but in September FP+ hardly even runs out anyway (basing this off my experience from the week after labor day), so if the ride hadn't have shut down, I could have ridden it right then and still gotten more FP's to ride it as many times as I want later.

I have a funny story about being in line for RnR and it shutting down (not due to weather of course since it's indoors). We (my wife and I) were in line for maybe 45 minutes and hadn't even made it inside yet, when finally the ride officially shut down and they told everyone to get out of the line. I was thinking, "Well, that's irritating but surely they will issue paper fast passes." Unfortunately, they did not. There was a CM standing in front of the line's entrance and I asked him if we are going to get a complimentary FP. His answer was hilarious. He looked at my assertively and firmly said, "I'm sorry, we cannot do that." Then, I noticed his eyes signaling something to me... I realized he was signaling with his eyes for me to look down and to the left. I looked down and to the left and saw a paper child swap pass that he was hiding on the side of his podium. I grabbed the child swap pass and said, "Ok, thank you for your time." and walked away. There were a lot of other people around and he didn't want it to be seen that he was giving away a child swap pass. My wife and I were cracking up when I told her what happened.

 

[Nohal]

Like free dining and the low crowds. Don't like the fact that MK closes early for MNSSHP and rain. Although we have been lucky most years with little to no rain. Last year it rained every day a couple of days it was an all day rain.

 

[texasroni75]

We've gone in mid-September the last two years.

Likes:

Lower Crowds
Free Dining Promotion
Epcot F&W
Halloween Decorations at MK

Dislikes:

Shorter park hours
Inexplicably long waits for buses - it was very strange that during such "low crowd" times we had VERY packed buses and longer waits for a bus than we ever had before - even longer than when we visited during Christmas week.

Lots of ppl complain of the heat, but since we were escaping TX "summer" weather of over 100 degrees each day, the temperatures at WDW in Sept didn't bother us.

Obviously the pros outweigh any cons for us since we plan to return again this September

 

[katallo]

Love: Food and Wine.

Not so much: Rain and Love bugs

 

[Accident]

Then, I noticed his eyes signaling something to me... I realized he was signaling with his eyes for me to look down and to the left.

Actually I posted something like this in the tips everyone should know thread. When asking any CM a question, pay attention to their body language

 

[seelyt2]

Like/love: lower crowds, food & wine, afternoon showers on a hot day

Dislike: humidity, love bugs (but they don't bother me....just not a bug person).

 

[LOL!]

Love the low crowds. Hate the rain. Miss the festive holiday atmosphere of November/December.

 

[NoMoneyThanks2Disney]

Likes: MNSSHP, low crowds, International Food & Wine Festival, Fall flavors of food (I love pumpkin!)
Dislikes: RAIN, RAIN, RAIN. Our first MNSSHP had 4 hours of hard rain, and we had some good deluges almost every day.