This might be early, but has anyone gone Labor Day...

[janets]

Our school won't start until 9/12 this year because of construction in the district so instead of taking my will be 2nd grader out of school for 3 days (albeit 1/2 days) during NJ week, we're thinking of going Labor Day week.

Having been to WDW the last week of August a few years ago, I'm aware that it will be much hotter and muggier than November (or December, when we travelled last year) but I really don't want to have my son miss more school than he has to if possible.

Anyone have any personal experience with this week? I'm expecting that Sunday/Monday will be especially crowded, but am hoping that by Tuesday things will clear out. I think we'll fly in on Saturday and stay 8 nights, leaving the following Sunday. That way, if we have only limited time in the parks the first couple of days, we'll have Tuesday-Saturday to really enjoy it.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[Honeibee]

But this year we are getting married there so we are going in June. But the week after Labor Day is THE BEST! First off, the weather has always been perfect for us, and there are NO CROWDS! You can WALK RIGHT ON EVERYTHING! It's the best!

 

[MNmom]

That is a great time to go!!!! We will be there the week before Labor Day and it will be slow then too!! Most(all) of the country will be in school the day after Labor Day (except you!!!!) and most people won't pull their kids out the first week or two of school.

We also went the week before Labor Day last year and it was sooo great. Yes it was HOT but we totally planned for it and I will NEVER go to WDW during a busy time again. Our longest wait was 15-20 minutes and we never had to show up 30-40 minutes before a show started. We could just walk in right when it started. The buses were never packed (except for coming back after fireworks) and we even changed a few PSs on the same day for better times. You will love it!!!

OOOPS... I forgot to mention the possibility of a hurricaine
Last year we were there between the two hurricaines that hit orlando. Actually, our plane was the LAST plane to leave MCO before they closed the airport for 2.5 days. But THAT won't happen again...right???

JK....have fun!!! It will be great!!!!

 

[janets]

Am I correct that the Labor Day weekend will be a bit crowded? I ask only because it helps in planning for ticket buying and whether we should do a resort pool day and just skip the parks until the crowds leave.

I guess a lot of the guests also might be local FL residents who can come for the weekend and get back for school on Tuesday. I don't think we'll have this opportunity again so I'm really thinking it might work for us.

Of course, as we get closer to November, I might decide I need to hop down for the end of Jersey week too!

 

[LindaR]

We've gone at that time and loved it! We would arrive the day after Labor Day and start our vacation. The park hours are shorter...........but there are NO lines and so your use of time is much more efficient. The only "downside" is the fact that it's hurricane season. One year there was a hurricane the week before our trip.......rained every afternoon (typical afternoon thunderstorm)....and the day after we left, they got hit with a tropical storm. We were very lucky! Another year.......actually we left on 9/11/01....and drove home......there was a tropical storm 2 days later.

The daily thunderstorm never stopped us....

 

[sters]

Our school won't start until 9/12 this year because of construction in the district so instead of taking my will be 2nd grader out of school for 3 days (albeit 1/2 days) during NJ week, we're thinking of going Labor Day week.

Having been to WDW the last week of August a few years ago, I'm aware that it will be much hotter and muggier than November (or December, when we travelled last year) but I really don't want to have my son miss more school than he has to if possible.

Anyone have any personal experience with this week? I'm expecting that Sunday/Monday will be especially crowded, but am hoping that by Tuesday things will clear out. I think we'll fly in on Saturday and stay 8 nights, leaving the following Sunday. That way, if we have only limited time in the parks the first couple of days, we'll have Tuesday-Saturday to really enjoy it.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Although I can't comment on crowds for the weekend itself, we did go for a week starting the Tuesday afterwards and it was very, very dead. Sure, you walked onto everything with no more than a 5 minute wait but it seemed almost lifeless. It was a litte creepy. It also rained like the dickens for all but one of those days. Not just a little rain, but hours at a stretch. I've been reluctant to pick this week again because of the possibility of torrential rains. The parks closed early, like at 5pm, too.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

The crowds will thin out by Monday. I would plan on Saturday and Sunday being pool/resort days.

 

[AmyTags]

My dh & I used to go to WDW every year during the week of Labor day(and the week after). It is a GREAT time to go. The crowds are VERY low. We literally walked on every ride. The weather can be very humid but we have never had any major storms ruin our time. The last time we went Labor day week was 2001. We were supposed to fly home on 9/11/01. It does occasionally rain in the afternoon but it doesn't last very long. Like I said we have never had a rain out on any of our 12 trips to WDW. We now go at the end of April beginning of May.

 

[Sheaboys]

I took the two older boys, at the time they were 3 and 15 months, the tuesday and wednesday after Labor Day in 2001. It was perfect. No lines, not extremely hot, of course the newly pregnant girlfriend I was with will tell you otherwise ! We are planning our 10 yr anniversary trip to be there the Saturday before Labor Day until the Sat. after. I would rather the boys, all 3 this time, to be out of school for 4 days in the beginning of the year as opposed to 5 days already well into the school year. They won't have homework so that is a major plus, otherwise our other option is going the week after Thanksgiving, which is right in the prime of the school year and homework. So we shall see....

 

[pixie08]

Our school won't start until 9/12 this year because of construction in the district so instead of taking my will be 2nd grader out of school for 3 days (albeit 1/2 days) during NJ week, we're thinking of going Labor Day week.
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I was thinking of going at they same time...my concern is the hurricanes!!!! I might not have any other choice though!!

PS- what is Jersey week??? (seen this mentioned bedore but I do not understand-sorry)

 

[pigby]

We went for 14 nights in 2000 - the week before and after Labor Day. The week before was great enough - no lines, but the week after it was even quiter, it was walk ons on virtually everything. The Saturday of the Labor Day weekend was so packed in MK though and fireworks were cancelled because of a lightning storm, so we went Sunday as well - bad idea as everyone else did the same -fireworks only on that Saturday and Sunday over the two weeks. So if you can, avoid MK over the weekend - it was more like July than September!

 

[simba2]

We were there Labor Day Weekend 2001. Just for the long weekend -- arrive Sat. a.m. and left Mon. a.m. Sat. and Sun. were very crowded and hot, humid and muggy. The humidity was almost 100%. I kept refilling my water bottle and figured later that I had drank 128 oz. of water during the day. It was just so hot that you sweated it right out of your system. Crowds were awful at MK on Sat. I remember lines of about 2 hrs for splash and BTMR. Would i do it again? Yeah, probably. A hot/crowded trip to Disney is better than no trip at all. Just be prepared for heat and crowds and you will be fine.

 

[CherCrazy]

Jersey week is usually the second week of November. The schools close down on Thursday and Friday for teacher's convention. Our district usually closes another couple of days for conferences, Veteran's Day, or something...giving at least four days off in a week. Since it's so much time off, many New Jerseyans head to Florida or cruises etc.

But to the original OP, we were there on Labor Day several years ago. We stopped for a day of Disney on our way home from a cruise out of Miami. We had one day left on our Park Hoppers and decided to surprise the kids with a day at Disney. The parks were open for 12 hours that day. We did EVERY ride that we wanted, as many times as we wanted, by the end of the 12 hours in MK, Epcot, & MGM. It was great!!

 

[kelscross]

We went last year the week after labor day and then the year before the week before labor day.

Keep in mind that the Tom Joyner's Family Reunion is Labor Day weekend. It didn't seem to make that much difference with the crowds. Also Night of Joy is the weekend after. This year it didn't make much difference due to the hurricanes and they were offering discounted tickets to the Night of Joy which we really liked (except it rained all evening).

We like going that time of year...we are going in July this year just because we didn't want to wait as long, plus one of my girls is starting Kindergarten and they will already be in school by then.

Have fun!

 

[mouse1203]

That is usually when we go. Last year we had ressies for that week but had to keep changing due to all the hurricanes. Great time of the year to go other than that. Hope you have a good time.

 

[stoudt6]

If you can deal with the heat and humidity while only waiting 5 minutes (15 for the more popular attractions) it is probably one of the better weeks to go. Only advice is stay away at least in late afternoon from Magic kingdom becuase it starts to fill up with the Night of Joy crowds. we've gone twice and in 5 days covered everything in all 4 parks.