Strategies for low crowd days?

[KarlaG4Kids]

We are going with two young grandsons in September. Of course we are getting the free dining plan (the reason we decided to go in September). I have been thinking that it stands to reason that the parks will be busier than a low period usually is due to the free dining. Also, since the free dining is for guests staying on-property the early entry and late evenings will be more crowded than other low times. Would it be smarter to use our hopper passes, go the the parks with early entry for a short time and then hop to a park that doesn't have early entry or late evenings for the remainder of the day to avoid the crowds. What are your thoughts?

 

[dwmlaf]

I took advantage of the free dining last year and the crowds were still real low

 

[Ragnrok23]

I went last year during the last week of August leading into Labor Day. I had no ryme or reason to anything I did with the exception of going to Soarin early. The longest I waiting in a line was 45 minutes to get my picture taken with Mickey and Minnie during extra magic hours at night

 

[lustergirl]

my family of 4 enjoyed the free dining plan last september and will be going back this september as well. The crowds were VERY light. The heat at times was a little unbearable- but hey "Free dining no whining" is my philosophy... You will enjoy yourself immensely in september. Have a great time!!!!!!!!

 

[MomofKatie]

Other than the common sense suggestions of arriving at opening, taking a midday break to escape the worst of the heat, and making ADRs ahead of time, you should find no reason to strategize too much- even with Free Dining, the parks will be very light, crowd-wise.

The only attractions that might have long lines will be Soarin' and any other new or newly renovated things. Go for FastPass on those.

 

[Kick Save]

Since Disney extended the free dining booking period, I'd say they didn't get quite the response they were hoping for. You should still be in good shape for some low season touring.

 

[Cmbar]

I agree that you are probably looking at low crowds regardless of the dining plan. Most people at the parks aren't Disney nuts like all of us and don't even realize the free dining. Plus most people simply can't pull their kids out of school as it is just begining. I also agree that Disney must not have filled up those rooms the way they thought they would.

Now for those of you who went in September, I know it is hot, but did it rain a lot? That is what most scares me. I hate to be caught in the rain!

 

[wiggles02]

We were in the world last year the first week in October. Our longest wait was Soarin. I asked a CM in Fantasyland to comment on the crowds. He said on a scale from 1-10, this would be a 3. He said when you can't see the sidewalks, that is crowded.

 

[goofie4goofy]

Free dining does not affect the crowd level in September whatsoever.

Even though it is still hot, this is when my DH love to go as the no lines more than make up for the heat. It is still very hot and even more so humid. Not as hot as August but still hovering in the mid-upper 90's and close to 100% humidity. Most afternoons around 3 ish you will get a T storm. September is also peak hurricane season, so most people stay away due to that. We have been during a hurricane and it was a blast....the parks were beyond empty. Most times we were the only ones on a ride!

We also don't have a problem getting into restaurants and we usually reserve at the last minute.

We have gone every September both during free dining and not and have not noticed the difference.

Despite the bad things Sepetmber has to offer, it is my favorite time of the year to go.

 

[justplaingoofy]

I haven't noticed much of a difference in Sept. crowd..this will be our 3rd Sept. Remember that Disney does not release ALL of its rooms for this promo and off property will probably be even less because guests may want to stay in the park instead to get the free dining.

 

[brymolmom]

We went last sept about the 14 - 19 or so - I can't remember exactly. The heat was a lot more intense than I had planned on - it was in the mid 90's at least 3 of our days (I was really only expecting upper 80's). The nice thing was that I was expecting rain and I think we felt all of about 2 drops (literally - like it was going to rain but then never did) the entire time we were there.

The heat wasn't too much of a drawback - we are returning this Sept so it's not keeping us away. I will be anticipating the intense heat this time (bought water mister fans the other day).

One thing about crowds - I agree that they were a lot lesser than crowded BUT by afternoon a lot of lines had waits thatt I saw - SM had a 1.5 hour wait when we went on it (although we obviously used FP and didn't wait ourselves). But I do think the crowds got to the point of some crowds.

Enjoy!

 

[susykt4]

We went in January with very low crowds and our only real strategy was to avoid all the extra magic hours parks. DH and I had DD5 and DS3. Neither napped anymore so what worked really well for us was to get to the nonEMH park at opening and stay until between 4 and 6pm depending on the park. We'd eat dinner at the resort and have the kids in bed by 8pm. We did this every day for 8 days and noone was overly tired. HOWEVER, the temps were cool enough that the heat never affected us.

We found the EMH parks (obviously morning as we were never out late) to be far more crowded in the off-season than just the usual arriving at opening. We actually only did an EMH the day of our Family Magic Tour at MK. The day after we literally walked on Space Mtn at 3pm the crowds were significantly larger.