The Truth Please! Just how busy is it in September during Free Dining?

[yjgirl32]

We are going in Sept 09 for our anniversary and my father-inlaw's birthday so hopefully we will be ok on crowd levels. I am a planner so we might be ok. Thanks for all the information and I will be sure to make my adr's on my 180 day mark right away in the morning.

[Fantasmic]

We went sept 10-24 last year, parks weren't busy, except for MNSSHP but restaurants were pretty much grid-lock. Was very hard to get a reservation, or walk in.

[sophie peach]

we go every september
we dont have free dining but it is gettin busier by the year so book now!!!!!!

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

Free Dining has done exactly what it was intended to do in my opinion. Brought in lots more people to a very slow time of year.
We have gone to WDW in September every year since 1996. It is not the "ghost town" it used to be.
We were there September 13-22nd this past year and thought it was more crowded then we had expected.
The wait times are still manageable but, there are long waits for some rides. There are more people around the parks and the restaurants are packed. We used FP and were glad we did.
All that being said, if you are used to peak times (summer, Xmas week) September will seem slower. But, if you have gone in September before FD was offered, you will notice a difference in crowds.
We decided on our September trip that we are giving up on that time. It used to be worth dealing with the heat to have the low crowds. Not so much anymore... for us anyway.

I hope you all have low crowds and great trips!! One thing we are going to miss is MNSSHP. We are heading down in December.

[Bri]

i have to say, i didn't know free dining existed when we went in sept 2005 and sept 2006. i booked the trip myself instead of through MJ. anyway, we thought the crowds were great, we didn't wait more than 10 minutes for anything.

[italiangrl.08]

Well we went last year during free dining and the lines weren't long and it wasn't that crowded, Even though free dining is a GREAT deal, people don't like to take their childern out of school so early!

Kelci

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I asked Wendy from MJ about that and she said the crowds shouldn't be bad, it's just the restaurants that were going to be packed. I'll let you know in 46 days after we come back.

[Villains0501]

I've been going in Sept. for the past 3 yrs. and every yr it's gotten worse. especially if u plan on going to MNSSHP while ur there. it rained and all the guests had to huddle under the main street shop onnings! it was a nightmare and i ruined my $300 Jafar costume

[azcavalier]

I prefer going in December because of the cooler temps (I can wear my Goofy Hockey Jersey) and the Christmas Decorations, not to mention the crowds. HOWEVER, my wife is all about saving money, so we've gone in September the last three years.

Is it more busy than it used to be? Sure. Is it hot? Not as bad as July/August. Does it rain? Some...it IS hurricane season. Hard to get a reservation? That depends on how long you wait to get a reservation. I mean, is it EVER easy to get a reservation at a good time if you don't plan ahead a few months? I guess we're spoiled, because we have always planned our trips at least six months out, so we've always had our reservations at the 180 day mark. So we've not had problems getting what we wanted at a decent time.

[Goes4FastPass]

September is busy.

Not terrible but busy.

[Jasper]

An earlier poster said that September has two basic time periods. I would like to suggest that September actually has three time periods. The first is Labor Day and earlier. The second is Labor Day to about the middle of the month. And the third period is the middle of the month to the end of the month.

I would also agree that free dining has caused the crowds to rise. However, if you go right after Labor Day you will probably get reasonable crowd sizes. Of course, you have to go in with the proper expectations. After all, this is Disney World and not some local fair or carnival. That means what Disney considers to be a slow day would be gang busters for anyplace else. So make sure you go in with the expectation of large crowds and then you will likely be pleasantly surprised if it is slower than you thought it would be.