YIKES! This week is going to be crowed!!

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

Is anyone else a little worried about the crowd level this week? We leave Friday for a week and I went to the WDW website to check availability and almost everything is FULL!! Yikes! So much for a quiet resort stay at least

 

[normmo]

If you can handle triplets, a busy resort should be a breeze! From what I've heard, the resorts and restaurants are booked up but the parks won't be that bad. Relax, go and have fun!

 

[jlewisinsyr]

The difference between this time of the year and peak times is Disney discounts their rooms and everything else drastically, so it shifts the loads off the Off-Site resorts onto the On-Site ones.

So what you would see is, busy Disney resorts and really quiet off-site ones now. During peak, you'll see really busy Disney AND really busy off-site resorts, resulting in a ton of people in the parks.

 

[eeyore45]

Dont worry, it will be crowded next week too (last week of free dining!)

BUT - have a plan, expect crowds (and you wont be disappointed - now if you expect crowds, and its low - gravy!!) last time we went for free dining I kept reading low crowds Sept, low crowds... HA, it was crowded.. and hot, and humid.. and i was shocked..

Now I'm prepared - its DISNEY!!

 

[Blessed_wth_Triplets]

Really?? I have heard nothing but LOW crowds in parks from previous free dining years?

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Really?? I have heard nothing but LOW crowds in parks from previous free dining years?

Thats what I remembered reading also.

We went last year and there were lots of people but we never waited more than 10 minutes for a ride.

 

[dmiller882]

It may be crowed because of the free dining,but a 15 minute wait is nothing. My DW could tell you about the 1-1 1/2 hour waits in the summer time.
The free dining does make it hard to find a dinner reservation.
Which means a lot of people eating at the park. Maybe you can eat lunch on the run or have an early or late dinner.You may even have time to go back to your resort and eat giving you a break from the park and heat.
If you really want to stay in the park and use your DDP ask them what is available you may have to change your schedule a little.

 

[disneyfan55]

Last year my kids went the week beginning Sept 15 with the free dining and said the parks were not crowded at all. Never any waits for attractions. We are all going this year and starting the reservation the 22nd (the last day for the free meals) and hopefully the parks will be quiet. When we booked that was pretty much the only time left in the value resorts to book with the free meals. We booked mid June. I guess time will tell how slow or busy the parks will be.

 

[kelscross]

It will be interesting to see what the attendance will be the next few weeks. I've read some reports that are stating that it was packed (maybe they were referring to the resort) However, a friend of mine from work just got back last week and she said it was empty in the parks. She walked on almost every ride, or minimal wait and actually got to ride several rides back to back and not get off.

I'm not going to expect an empty park but I am hoping for manageable crowds at least.

Let's keep our fingers crossed!

 

[lustergirl]

For the past 2 september we have went during "free dining" and the parks were not crowded- didn't have to wait very long in the ride lines at all.

 

[mousecrazy2006]

We are hoping for manageable crowds also, as part of our contribution to that we are not bringing the DC We are hoping for a little pixiedust on ADR for the Akerschuss(spl?) princess bfast/lunch or La Cellier

 

[kileybeth]

just back from a 9/3-9/6 on site stay at POR. I had heard via these boards that the resorts where a sell out practically and free dining was going to make the restaurants a crowded mess.

Here's how it played out. We endedup checking in and while I wasn't thrilled with our room location we never saw more than 4 or 5 families at a time any where but the food court and sit down restaurant. No waits in long lines there either.

Park days: Epcot we did soarin', Mission space, test track, all 2x in a row and all before 9:30am We went on to do Nemo, land ride, journey, and ate lunch all at a very leisurely pace waiting for 11am and the countires to open up! The park was practically empty until 10:30am or so.
World showcase was a bit more full of people but every movie, show, and ride was a walk on. We also were hemming and hauling about our ADR's. Ended up walking into Beirgarten (availablity but we didn't take it) booking at Morocco (but cancelling half hour later as we didn't want to backtrack (they had plenty openings and now I'm sorry we didn't try it) ended up eating at Mexico with ADR (very busy and I will not return here again, yuk and double yuk so sad) anyway. Even Le Cellar told us at noon to check back at 4pm b/c they generally have no shows and cancellations and we would be sure to get in if we didn't mind waiting for a 1/2 hour or so??!!!

not exactly what we hear around here on the boards!

and then MGM, shows were about half to 3/4 full but we never waited to get in. Walked up to Fantasmic 10 minutes before show expecting far left seats in back, sat front and center and got sprayed nicely to cool off! Walked up to Prime Time cafe with no ADR's and they seated us within 10 minutes??!!!

one horrible thing? busses back to POR! I will probably not return for that reason alone but really liked the look/feel of the place, never seemed crowded!

We return on 9/18-9/25 for a stay at the POLY

my greatest fear is not the crowds, not the heat, not the buses (this time!), but the dreaded lovebugs!!!!

go and enjoy, Disney is magic with how they are able to "hide" the crowds even when they are there! Have a magical trip!

 

[GOODoldPAL]

The difference between this time of the year and peak times is Disney discounts their rooms and everything else drastically, so it shifts the loads off the Off-Site resorts onto the On-Site ones.

So what you would see is, busy Disney resorts and really quiet off-site ones now. During peak, you'll see really busy Disney AND really busy off-site resorts, resulting in a ton of people in the parks.

THANK YOU!!
I was sooooo confused with people repeatedly responding "Don't worry, the resorts and restaurants will be crowded but the parks won't!"
That made absolutely NO sense to me!

Like the OP, I'm still a bit worried about my resort POP being a mad house and thus impinging on the magic a bit but at least I understand WHAT we signed up for at this point.

 

[debsays]

Just spoke with friends of our who are visiting the mouse now and they said the crowds arent' bad at all. They're staying at Pop and arrived there around noon on Friday and checked right in to their room with no problem. They've had no problems with crowds at all. Weather is fine with a shower in the p.m. but not humid/hot like August....a comfortable heat. We leave this Friday 9/14-22 at Pop.

 

[fla4fun]

I was there last year during free dining, and I check in again this Wednesday. It wasn't crowded at all last year, except for the restaurants. I think everyone is so focused on getting the free food, they kind of forget about everything else! I didn't wait in line for anything last year, just walked right on. I'm hoping for more of the same this year. Also, last year, a lot of people were talking about the fact that during the slower times, Disney will take down a certain number of rooms at each resort for a sort of soft refurbishment. So while the website may be saying everything is booked, maybe there are only 75% of the available rooms being rented out.

Of course, the heat and the lovebugs can't be avoided whether it's crowded or not.

 

[Mcbruns]

just back from a 9/3-9/6 on site stay at POR. I had heard via these boards that the resorts where a sell out practically and free dining was going to make the restaurants a crowded mess.

Ended up walking into Beirgarten (availablity but we didn't take it) booking at Morocco (but cancelling half hour later as we didn't want to backtrack (they had plenty openings and now I'm sorry we didn't try it) ended up eating at Mexico with ADR (very busy and I will not return here again, yuk and double yuk so sad) anyway. Even Le Cellar told us at noon to check back at 4pm b/c they generally have no shows and cancellations and we would be sure to get in if we didn't mind waiting for a 1/2 hour or so??!!!

If you can get it next trip, try Morocco! We went with kids in May and we all loved it. The kids have already asked to go back!