What is August like?

[Freyja]

We´re considering 5 days at WDW from august 13-18 next year? What are the parks usually like at that time? What are our chances for hurricanes?
Do you think they´ll be offering free dining again? Was is totally free?

Thanks
Freyja

 

[alyssa810]

We were there for the 1st weekend in August, and it wasn't nearly as busy as I thought it was going to be. The night of EMH at MK was very busy, but it was a Saturday night...the rest of the parks were very manageable, but we were also there for such a short period that we only did certain attractions. I have a co-worker who was there about a week and a half after us, and he seemed to think the crowds weren't too bad either.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

HOT!

Crowds should be down a bit as quite a few public schools in the southeast will have kids starting back that week. About the free dining plan, you never know whether Disney will have a particular promotion or when they will announce it.

 

[cmm]

We went this year in the last week of August up to Saturday of Labor Day weekend. It was hot! But I grew up in Houston, so I guess it wasn't too bad. I thought the crowds were pretty decent. As long as you get to the parks early, you should be in good shape to get the bottleneck rides out of the way. We were in MGM on the day Ernesto came through. They had forecast 3-5 inches of rain all day. It didn't start til 4:30 pm and only amounted to 1.5 inches, mostly overnight. The crowds were very light. We walked onto almost every ride. Disney monitors the weather pretty closely, and works to keep the parks open as much as possible. In anticipation of Ernesto, they changed evening EMH at AK to the morning, but I don't think many people went. The restaurants in MGM were obviously uncrowded, and reservations were available everywhere. The last day (Sat) we went to MK for a couple hours in the morning. I think Sat is not a good day for MK - the people were streaming in - mostly locals, I guess. Glad we left then.

 

[all4disney98]

We have mostly gone in late September. Does anyone know how the weather compares between September and August. September has always been humid for us, I am just not sure how much hotter August is?

 

[marc1477]

Outside of hot, its not bad. I actually liked it. I do recommend drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated. Crowds weren't all that bad. There is always the daily rain, but it doesn't last that long ususally. Have fun.

 

[JCornell]

We went in August a few years ago and the crowds weren't bad at all. I can remember walking onto most Fantasyland rides with almost no wait. As others have mentioned though, it was very hot. We went around the parks alternating between rides and shops just to get some air conditioning.

 

[soxnation]

We were there this year August 24-29 it was very very hot and as much as we tried the heat did get to us crowds were very managable at times just walking onto rides.

 

[ptmmg]

we were there also the last week of August and at MGM the day Ernesto was suppose to hit. Mgm was very quiet!
The longest we ever waited all week for a ride was POTC without a fast pass was 20 minutes. one night in Epcot my son rode soarin 3 times in a row!!
The weather was hot but I thought managable I was told by so many the heat was unbearable so I was anticipating it to be horrible. yes it was hot but no worse than any heat wave here in NE.
We had such a great time that if Free dining is offered again we will probably go again.

 

[ILVPOOH]

We went the last week in August and it was great. We went for the Free Dining which really helped in keeping the costs down. The weather was HOT, but it was manageable. I really hate hot weather, but your in Disney so it didn't seem so bad. The rides, shops, restaurants are all air-conditioned. The crowd level was really low. We didn't have to wait for any rides and only needed to use one fast past for Soarin'. I agree that "Ernesto Day" was the best. We were at AK and you could ride EE over and over again without wait. 2 times was enough for me though. I would go back again in August if they offered the Free Dining. I think they probably will, but you never know.

 

[carol-lamb]

We were there this past August (15th thru 23rd) and it was pretty crowded, probably because it was the 1st week of free dining and right before a lot of kids had to go back to school. Crowds were a bit lighter the last couple of days of our trip. It was hot, but it is easy to get out of the sun/heat. We hardly had any rain. It rained one night while we were eating dinner at Le Cellier, but it had stopped before we left the restaurant. It lightly sprinkled for about 5 minutes one day at MGM and that was the extent of our rain!! I'm sure that was pretty unusual. I usually go in June and you can always count on the afternoon showers. Also, the evenings were really nice. Very comfortable. Yes - the dining was totally free!! I have to say that it was the highlight of our trip. We ate at some really good restaurants. It was a lot of food and we often shared appetizers and desserts. We did not want to order something just because it was free, take one bite and then leave it there. We had talked about this before we left home and we agreed that we would not waste food. On this trip was myself, my son and his girlfriend and my 14 years old daughter. We just don't eat that much food!! I would definitely go again in August, especially if they offered free dining!!

 

[paintnolish]

My friend went the first week of free ddp. It was very crowded. I went the second week. it was not. It was very hot, but manageable. It also rained evry afternoon. Just be prepared. We brought our misting fans, water bottles, and ponchos. We were good to go! I would def go back at that time next year, although I would avoid the first week of free ddp, if I were you.

 

[eliza61]

We actually always go in August. The parks are a lot slower than in the summer. This past year we went from the 23rd-9/01. We never had more than a 20 minute wait on any attraction, even the major ones. We used fast pass 2x in a 10 day period, usually after we got off the attraction just to pick one up. It is very hot but the parks are open until 9:00-10:00 pm, which means we have enough time to go swimming at the resort pool or the water park and still hit another park when it cools down.