Third or fourth week in September

[keelhauled]

Could someone please help me decide between the third and fourth week in September 2007 ? We really want to go to MNSSHP and would also like the smallest crowds. Will the Food and Wine Festival bring in significant crowds the last week? Will they have the Halloween party the third week like they did this year?

 

[worlddreamer]

This year we went Sept. 29- Oct. 8th and the parks were very quiet. We never waited for more than 15 minutes for a ride (even EE) and only used Fastpass 3 times. We went to both MNSSHP AND Food and Wine Festival (did drink around the world) and neither were overly crowded.

BUT BEWARE... this was our first trip to Disney, so I can't say that I know what necessarily constitutes "crowded". We are used to waiting for HOURS to ride rides at our beloved Cedar Point

Even so, I would HIGHLY SUGGEST making ADR's if at all possible. We caught the very end of free dining (which IMO was AMAZING) and had ADR's for every day. MOST NIGHTS I saw people being turned away because the restaurant was "full" even though the parks were not too crowded.

I know those aren't quite the dates you were planning on going, but I hope it helps anyway!

 

[kaybracon]

We went the last week of Sept. this year, and the crowds were a LOT bigger than we expected. Some of the cast members said the crowds were pretty small during the 2nd & 3rd weeks of Sept.

 

[NC State]

We have visited in pass the last week in September, it's not bad unless Free Dinning is going on. That's why we changed to the last week in October this year, it was MUCH better!

 

[DisneyDad in PA]

We were there from Sept. 16th through Sept. 22nd. We rarely stood in lines for rides longer than 15 minutes. Most were walk on or 5 minute waits. On Splash Mtn. and BTMRR we stood in line a couple of times for 20 minutes or so. But we also fastpassed them so as soon as we got off we were ready to ride again in the FP line. The longest we stood in line was at Test Track and Soarin in Epcot on an evening EMH. However during the day the waits were not that long.

The restaurants were a little busy, however I don't have anything to compare them to since this was my first time there since I was a kid. We still were able to have tables at all of the Counter service restaurants we went to and had very little wait at the Table services.

The weather was very nice. It rained one afternoon and early evening while we were there. The only other issue were the lovebugs. They were pretty bad, especially at Animal Kingdom Park.

If I didn't have to take my kids out of school, I would definitely go back during this week. Instead we are going back in late August before school starts.

 

[CathrynRose]

We went the last week of Sept. this year, and the crowds were a LOT bigger than we expected. Some of the cast members said the crowds were pretty small during the 2nd & 3rd weeks of Sept.

Exact-a-mundo - us too.

Depends on free dining or not.

I say - go the 3rd week.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

We went Sept 23-30th this year and all though the park seemed very full the rides had no lines at all. I think on our next trip we are going to try for the week before (3rd week in Sept.). Epcot did get very crowded the last day we were there but it was also the first day of the Food and Wine Festival.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We were at WDW from Sept 20-30 , so we got a little taste of both the 3rd and 4th weeks of September.

I would say go the 3rd week. The crowds siginficantly picked up over the weekend. Though it was in no means crowed even the last week of September, it was more so that week.

I would also NOT attend the MNSSHP the last week of September. We went to the one on September 29. It was sold out. Ride lines were short. But if we wanted pics with the characters or face painting, forget it. My DD (3) was horrified of all the people and clung to me for dear life.

We were also in WDW last week of September in 2005 and attended the same MNSSHP and this years party plus the parks in general were way more crowded than last year.

 

[tc]

We regularly attend the second or third week of September and have never had crowds. The Food and Wine Festival does draw the crowds, especially on the weekends. I think residents come a lot. I'd pick the third week over the fourth.

 

[keelhauled]

Thanks everyone.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I went from 9/15-9/21, and crowds were non-existent. On 9/20, I rode Soarin with a 10 minute wait at 11:00am. Then I grabbed a FP, to ride it again only an hour later. That's how low the crowds were. The only bad thing was all the lovebugs. They were everywhere! But I'd be tempted to try it again.