Would you ever go in September???

[Fratthouse]

I've already replied above that we are going in September, but we are used to the hot south. I wanted to add that I'm worried crowds might not be as low as hoped. ADRs were hard to find booking when I started around 65 days out, though I have caught a few cancellations that I wanted, and I was not able to obtain a fastpass at any time for dd to meet the A&E sisters even though I stayed up to midnight at the 60 day mark. I guess they were all booked by people who are staying longer than we are or who worked the system faster.

The guy at the touringplans website wrote:
"September is one of the least crowded months at Walt Disney World–though I am one of the few forecasting higher than normal crowds in September 2014 as an aftereffect of the World Cup on South American vacation patterns."

He also wrote:
"But it has lousy weather, combining continuing summer heat and humidity with the peak of the hurricane season, making me not so keen on the month for first time visitors who may never return."

I have (briefly) considered changing our plans, but dh knows I have a tendency to research and plan and reconsider until things are perfect, and he nixed any thought of changing our dates. I'm going to hope for the best-moderate summer temps, low crowds, and no hurricanes! LOL

Anne

I really think the Free Dining promotion dramatically affects ADR availability. We go almost every year in Sept. and struggle with getting ADR's. We took a last minute trip in July this year and there was way more availability for last minute reservations than there ever is in September (even though July is peak season). So I wouldn't necessarily correlate ADR availability to what the crowds are going to be.

 

[mediadiva]

We have a chance to take our 3 kids (ages 11, 9, 9) to WDW this year - but it will very likely be the only time we'll ever have this opportunity. So it will be our only time visiting.

That said, we are trying to figure out a good time to go. We are a homeschool family, and I would love to go when the crowds are at their least so that we can get as much out of this trip as we possibly can.

We are doing a lot of research on September, right after the schools start back up... but we are from WA state, and do not do well with extreme heat OR humidity. Is this going to make our trip miserable? I've read that this is a great time for low crowds and lower cost... but horrible for weather.

Any suggestions?

If its what meets your budget and time requirements then of course. You will want to go back anyway, trust me sept is nice, park is not as hot, way less crows, easier to get FP's for what you want and dinner reservations. I say go for it! I would think the weather would certainly be better then july and august!

 

[sharonabe]

We are also a homeschool family and Sept is one of our favorite months to vacation.

However, another great month to go to WDW is January. You still get low crowds, but much better weather. You need to work around MLK weekend (don't go then) and the marathon weekends, but the week days are really good. If we weren't headed out west this year, we would probably be going the last week of January.

Two thing in favor of Sept are free dining (if you can still get it) and good travel weather. If you wait until Jan, you could get caught in a snow storm messing up flights (even if it's not snowing where you are).

January does usually have some kind of discount, but it's not as good as free dining.

 

[patrickpiteo]

If you go the end of sept try to hit MNSSHP ... One of the best parties WDW has..

 

[Mel2421]

One time we arrived just after one hit and left right before another one hit. In 2008 we had to fly out a day early due to Hurricane Ike. Disney would not let us on the magical express because our tickets were for the next day. We explained that we had to fly out a day early due to the hurricane they would not budge. I was furious. We stayed at rhe Swan for 1 night and Disney would not transport us. Even though we has round trip Magical Express vouchers. I will not go again in Sept.

 

[sambisc]

It is lows crowds. It is also not fun weather. If you pick the wrong week, you also have to deal with love bugs. We've done it, and I wouldn't NOT do it, but if I had the option I would choose something else.

If you are not restricted on timing, I would go the week before Thanksgiving week (Nov 15-22nd). Sure the room rates are (slightly) cheaper in August, but the difference if you look is maybe $10-$15 a night. November weather is awesome, you get the Christmas decorations (Osborne Lights! Castle Icicle Lights!), and before the crowds get there on the Saturday before Thanksgiving (11/22 this year) you will have super-low crowds that week. You can even catch the free dining deal if you go that week, which you could also book for September. (Gotta book by 8/8/14.)

What are love bugs and when do they appear?

 

[DisneyFan2013]

One time we arrived just after one hit and left right before another one hit. In 2008 we had to fly out a day early due to Hurricane Ike. Disney would not let us on the magical express because our tickets were for the next day. We explained that we had to fly out a day early due to the hurricane they would not budge. I was furious. We stayed at rhe Swan for 1 night and Disney would not transport us. Even though we has round trip Magical Express vouchers. I will not go again in Sept.

Wow, that's horrible.

 

[patrickpiteo]

What are love bugs and when do they appear?

Been there more then one sept had great weather and no idea of love bugs.. Go you can get bad weather or bugs there just about anytime of the year..

 

[gericoronado]

Personally? No, I would never go in September because of the humidity factor. The closest I've come was a mid Oct trip and I remember opening my Pop resort room door to humidity that literally took my breath away. Now I vacation at the end of Oct/beginning of Nov or January.
If this is Once-In-A-Lifetime, think hard about Sept. If you consider that there MIGHT be another trip somewhere in the future, then go for it.

 

[amber_cntrygrl]

September is HOT! But that hasn't stopped us from going in September! We love going then! But, we're from Alabama and are used to the heat and humidity. If that will be bothersome for you, I definitely wouldn't go in September.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[dismsn]

Okay, I'm curious about the love bugs also .

We are also from Washington State and we took our kids in late August/early September when they were about your kids' ages. Our youngest doesn't like heat but I don't remember her not doing okay in it nor do I remember her complaining about it and we rarely went back to the hotel for a rest during the day. We did have our trip extended because of a hurricane and our kids missed the first day of school but now we can say we've been in a hurricane.

We all adjusted to the weather quickly and having to be in the heat and humidity while on vacation is much more pleasant, in my opinion, than having to live with it year-round. We also enjoyed the afternoon rain showers and just kept touring the parks while others ran for cover. We wore sandals that dried quickly and took small umbrellas so we could easily continue our trek through the parks.

My oldest is going to be in the Disney College Program this fall so my husband and I are going to visit in September and we were able to snag a free dining deal which cut our costs significantly. Hopefully we'll avoid hurricanes this time but we'll have fun no matter what happens or how hot it is.

 

[g-dad66]

I've read that this is a great time for low crowds and lower cost... but horrible for weather.

This nails it.

I think your fears that the weather will make you miserable are well-founded. If you can wait until November, you will find crowds not that much higher (except for Thanksgiving week), and the weather will be great.

 

[Gottahavemorecowbell]

September? Never again. Crowds were fine. Heat and humidity were just awful. Just awful. We ran out of gas by noon each day. If I'm ever in Orlando in September again something must've gone horribly wrong.

 

[boufa]

Perspective people... please.

September is hot in Florida... WOW! News Flash. If you are looking to avoid the heat, then there are many times of the year not to go. September is naturally cooler than June/July/August.. and LOTS of people go during those months and have a great time.

September is hurricane season. Agreed. However, so is a large portion of the year. Actually half of the year is hurricane season. June 1 - Nov 30. We had out first named storm the first few days of July, and the next one looks to be growing now. In the end they are normally not that big of a deal. Just a wash out day.

Ultimately there is no real difference between September and July except the crowds.

Pick a time of year based on what you like, and what is important to you. It truly is a very personal choice.

 

[DopeyDonald]

This will be our 7th trip to Disney - 5 of which will have been in September.

We LOVE September. It is so quiet (comparatively), though I will say it has gotten busier since 2010. We rarely wait more than 5 mins and that is only for Soarin and sometimes Space Mountain. Plus there is the Halloween Party.

That being said, it is HOT and Humid. We are from MN so we do suffer a bit. We wouldn't make it if we didn't take afternoon pool breaks. Though, last September is was not as hot, as it was a bit more rainy than we've experienced before.

If you prepare yourselves for the heat (buy misting fans, take a midday break, watch a cool air conditioned show every once in a while and dress cool) you can do just fine though. We eat lots of ice cream, dole whips and frozen cokes!

There have been a few times where I have gotten "weaky feeling hot" but I just slowed down and sat down for a bit and was fine.

We've also visited the first week in Dec. - AWESOME - just a bit busier than September.

And our last trip was in LATE Feb/Early March. This trip was pretty good too. Just a smidge busier than December and the weather was varied. Some days it was pretty warm and some days it was down right cold!!

The 2 winter trips we took, we DEFINATELY spent a great deal of time more in the parks. It's still not enough to sway us from September - we do like to lounge at the resort a lot and we enjoy the low crowds.

We also homeschool and have pretty much the choice of weeks to visit during the year and always find ourselves to be coming back in September.

 

[gincz24]

We went last summer. The heat wasn't bad for us but then were from around Houston, Tx and we live with humidly and 100 temps most of the summer.
But with saying that. It rained everyday of our 8 day trip. The crowds were lower, but I also felt like the rides could handle less capacity. Stood in more lines than when we went in December.
Plus we encountered more cranky cast members than ever. We think they were college program cast members who no longer wanted to be there.

My husband and I decided to never go in September again and to stick with our favorite time, December, but the week before everyone gets out of school.

 

[memo10]

Definitely not. And we live in Florida.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

Sept is the greatest time we have gone! We will always shoot for late sept or early march! Low park crowds and weather was good. For some people florida can be too hot at any time of year but summer is def the most uncomfortable. We live I'm nc now and thought end of sept was enjoyable!

 

[skier_pete]

What are love bugs and when do they appear?

Okay, I'm curious about the love bugs also .

Love bugs are these small black bugs (kind of look like fireflies) that are frequently seen as a pair (thus the name). They are mostly harmless, but love bug season is usually towards the end of September. They don't really bother people, but if you time the height of love bug season, you'll see thousands of them around you resort and particularly around bus stops (they are apparently attracted to fumes from vehicles). usually you don't see them around the parks. They don't bite or sting in anyway, but people that are creep out by bugs may not care. They also can ruin a paint job. Locals during love bug season have to wash their cars daily. (Usually "love bug season" lasts about 2 weeks.) They also come out in May, but usually in much weaker numbers. They are more of an annoyance than anything, but can make resort stay a bit less pleasant. Natch, you can look up more on the internet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovebug

Oh, and I don't agree with those that say "September is better than June, July and August", We've been late September (2007) and late August (2008), and the weather we encounted in late-September was the worst of the two.

 

[tiriggs1]

We went in September last year. It rained one afternoon and then most of the day our last day. It can rain anytime of the year. Florida is unpredictable. As for the humidity, it was really humid. I want to note that I am a BIG baby in the heat. My son and I were able to tolerate it. Lots of shaded areas, air conditioned queues, etc. DO NOT WORRY. We enjoyed the low crowds so much that we did a bounce back offer and are going again in 52 days Not sure what the crowds will be like this time since they moved the International Wine & Food up one week. Now we are going during IW&F. Oh well. No matter what.... rain, humidity, possible crowds.... being at Disney is 1,000,000 times better than being at work or at he doing daily errands/chores!!!!