Tour Plan for Sept ~ Do you need one?

[Lisa0503]

We are going on our first family trip to WDW in 53 days (but who is counting) My last trip to Disney was in 1993 and I had no idea about touring plans or anything of the sort... Now that I have found the DisBoards, I know better. But what about in September? Should I have a plan with the low crowds? Do I NEED one?

(of course I have already figured out which parks/which days and made my ADR's but I was thinking specifically about attractions)

 

[Evil Queen]

Many folks swear by them.

I have never used one, but make my own, but have a few trips under my belt (but FAR from a pro). you are going at a good time for crowds, but I fear it will be HOTTER than heck!!

 

[Booknut]

I had a bit of a plan last year and didn't need it luckily. We walked onto most rides. Epcot got a bit busy towards the early afternoon, that was the only place I waited to get on a ride, but never more than 15 minutes.

It's a great time to go but as mentioned above its really really hot! We spent a fortune on cold drinks!!!

 

[Lisa0503]

I had a bit of a plan last year and didn't need it luckily. We walked onto most rides. Epcot got a bit busy towards the early afternoon, that was the only place I waited to get on a ride, but never more than 15 minutes.
It's a great time to go but as mentioned above its really really hot! We spent a fortune on cold drinks!!!

The one plan we do have is to get to the parks at opening and leave just after lunch to go back to BWV for swim/naps. With two little ones, they need the naps!!! I am thinking it will get us out of the parks during some of the hottest hours of the day and hopefully avoid afternoon crowds... We have most dinner ADR's in Epcot so I figured we can walk over there and maybe do a few countries per night. I would like to have the kids back at the resort for an 8pm bedtime most night (other than Spectro night). Thankfully we have a family friend going with us and we can all "rotate" who is back in the room with the kids at night so some of us can catch some evening shows...

 

[goofie4goofy]

Hey we're going the same time

This will be our 8th Sept in a row, you will NOT need a plan everything is walk on, and sometimes STAY ON! Sept has one of the lowest crowd levels of the year. The only thing we plan is our dinners we have our favorites and want to make sure we will have a table. Other that September is very unpredictible as far as weather is concerned. It is HOT HOT HOT and very steamy and always an afternoon shower. Two years ago we were there for a hurricane...which actually was lots of fun! We never plan on the parks because we never know what the weather will hold. Since the crowd level is so low we talk about our day over breakfast and determine where what we will. We have done 3 parks by 3:00 in Sept, so you can cover a lot of ground in a little time.

Have a blast! I know we will

 

[Charlotte&Carolina]

Goofie4Goofy is right. Most everything is a walk-on. You get to where you look at 20 minutes in line as too much of a wait!! The only exception whether we went in Sept, Oct or Feb was Soarin'. It seems to fill up quickly and keep a line most of the day. So if it is a must-do then get fastpasses and go do something else until your time or just get their early when the park opens. Have a great time!
We'll be there 9/15 - 9/24, one week later than we usually go - can't wait to get back to WDW!

 

[DisneyDad in PA]

This is good to hear. We will be there 9/16 thru 9/23, sounds like we will have plenty of time to see and do most everything. I have been focusing on trying to layout a good tour plan to cover everything for my DS9 and DD7. But I guess I can just focus on what we want to definitely do then once that is accomplished fill in with other things.

It's going to be tough for a planner like me. But I think I'll survive.

 

[Msslaydbug]

I am confused then. Why are some of the hotel not available if crowds will be light. Last year we were there for free dining and it seemed pretty busy. Our dates this year are 09/26- 10/3

 

[GinaGrumpyDwarf]

Naww, we were there last year for free dining, and it was just FINE.
Most rides were a 5 or 10 min wait, the popular ones were longer. but really it was a great time to go! I dont think a touring plan is necessary if you just follow some simple rules of smart Disney vacationing.

Go early, leave in the afternoon, get a good seat early for parades, and for heavens sake...grab the fast pass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[goofie4goofy]

I just looked at my pics from last year - we went Sept 18-23rd. The parks were empty! Even the fastpass machines were covered (except for Soarin'). There was free dining last year during this time too...had no affect on the crowd levels.

I am curious as to what hotels are booked? I just booked the CR a few days ago for Sept and there was lots of categories to choose from.

 

[firemanx]

our pn;y plans that we have are our ADR's and to get there early nap and pool while its steaming outside, and then back to the parks. Never any really long lines last yr longest we waitied for a ride was 20-25 mins and that was for Soaring around lunch time.

 

[Kycha]

I am confused then. Why are some of the hotel not available if crowds will be light. Last year we were there for free dining and it seemed pretty busy. Our dates this year are 09/26- 10/3

DH and I were there at the same time last year and we found it to be busy as well. Not peak season busy, but we definitely weren't walking onto rides. We had average wait times of about 30 minutes. I think that week was the last week of the free dining promo and the end of value season. Towards the end of the week was the first MNSSHP of the season and the beginning of the Food and Wine festival. All these factors played a big part in the crowd level. That is why we chose to go the first week of September this year.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

DH and I were there at the same time last year and we found it to be busy as well. Not peak season busy, but we definitely weren't walking onto rides. We had average wait times of about 30 minutes. I think that week was the last week of the free dining promo and the end of value season. Towards the end of the week was the first MNSSHP of the season and the beginning of the Food and Wine festival. All these factors played a big part in the crowd level. That is why we chose to go the first week of September this year.

I hate to hear that b/c we are going in on the 30th and I was hoping for low crowds! We planned it that way so we could get free dining and be there for a few MNSSHP's. But I do have good news for you. We usually got the first week of Sept and it is like a ghost town. Walk onto almost everything last year except Soarin, even at peak times of the day we never waited for more than 10 minutes and that was only for the bigger attractions like the "mountains" and Test Track. Have a great trip!

 

[Neelloc]

When we went in September of 2004, all I did was plan which days we were going to go to which parks, and plan ADR's. I planned my parks based on the crowd estimates from another site. We went 9/9-9/14 and most everything was walk on!!!!

I think you'll be fine!

I'm planning the same way for our trip this September. Except I still need to make my ADR's.

 

[sleepingbeautymama]

We are going in Sept and even though I've got all my guide books and recommendations, I'm not going to go with a plan. Honestly even if it was the busiest time of the year, I'd still probably not go with a plan. I'm just the kind of person that can't go by a schedule. It would stress me out to much. We have our ADRs so I do have an idea of what parks we will visit on what days but we have no set plans and most likely will decide what we are going to do when we get up. Dh and I went 11 years ago on our honeymoon on the same week of Sept. and it wasn't crowded at all. I hope it's going to be the same way. We basically got up when we wanted to and headed over by late morning/lunch time and never had a problem with long lines and saw what we wanted to see. I don't remember ever going to a ride and deciding to pass on it because the line was too long. Has September changed since 1995?

 

[INgal]

Neelloc

When we went in September of 2004, all I did was plan which days we were going to go to which parks, and plan ADR's. I planned my parks based on the crowd estimates from another site. We went 9/9-9/14 and most everything was walk on!!!!

I am SO excited to hear that! My DD9 and I will be going this year from 9/9 to 9/14! I did plan which days would be spent in which park...mostly due to necessity of making ADRs. (Which I never would have realized were so important if it weren't for DIS boards. )

 

[Evil Queen]

Last year we were there from the 24th to the 30th of Sept. our longest wait was Dumbo-20 minutes.

Most rides were walk ons, if not, no more than a 5-10 minute wait. We go early in the morning too.

 

[intrep93]

I would still recommend at least a loose/mini plan. We went without planning our first trip and ended up tired, hungry and having missed 2 rides we walked right past without even seeing. I wouldn't worry too much about crowds, but having an idea of what order you are going to see things is very helpful in avoiding criss crossing the parks all day. If your entire family is used to runnig marathons, that may not be a problem for you, but otherwise it adds up to a LOT of walking. We have planned enough to know that the day we do WS at Epcot, we are eating in Germany and saving Canada for the day we do FW. We are staking out our spot for the parade at MGM in front of Mama Melrose's and have ADRs there for 30 minutes after parade start time. We are sticking to rides close to the castle on the morning that we have ADR's at 10am there, then we will fan out to the rest of the park. Little things like that saved us our 2nd trip!! Also - I don't know how young your kids are or how many days you are staying, but you may want to consider trying to push bedtime back so they can enjoy illuminations and fantasmic. I know some kids melt down without enough sleep, and in that case you are smart to skip these. But if the afternoon nap will hold them, they are really great shows/fireworks/lasers, etc. Have a great trip!! We are counting down the days till Sept. 5!!!!

 

[PandaBear & Boo]

Last year we were there from the 24th to the 30th of Sept. our longest wait was Dumbo-20 minutes. Most rides were walk ons, if not, no more than a 5-10 minute wait. We go early in the morning too.

That's when we are going this year. I have ADR's and a couple of days planned due to DD B-Day. Other than that we will be winging it. I hope that the rides are walk ons. Never gone this time of year before looking forward to it. Just hope the hurricane season isn't too bad.

 

[Quinn222]

You don't need to buy a plan but you do need to have a plan. If only to be sure you don't miss something that's at the top of one of your groups 'must see' list or to keep you from criss-crossing all over the park. Have a list of everything you want to do in a given park and try and plan a route that will let you do those thing efficiently.