September

[flying carpet]

Hello we are going on our annual trip to wdw. We will be going the middle of September. Our last trip was last October and the place was jammed. I could not believe how busy it was. We are hoping for lighter crowds this trip. This year we will be staying at the Port Orleans. We have never stayed there. Has anyone stayed there?

[scottgr]

We stayed at Port O last May. It was great. The pool was nice and the was very laid back resort. I am sure you will love it.

[Strmchsr]

I think you'll find POFQ is very popular with the folks on Intercot. And, yes, September will be a little less crowded. September crowds aren't bad with the exception of the restaurants when they offer free dining. October has become quite crowded due to the growing popularity of fall breaks with school systems.

[GoinGoofyPlanninThisTrip]

You should also find quite a difference in crowd levels. October is much more crowded than September.

[tinklvr]

We have stayed at both (back when it was Dixie Landings and Port Orleans~now both are Port Orleans) and loved it. Both resorts have great atmosphere and the rooms are great. I love the boat ride to DTD! Have fun!

[faline]

We've generally found September crowds to be better than October but, if free dining is offered, that might impact attendance.

We've stayed at Port Orleans - Riverside and really like it. It was very nice to have the boat available for transport to Downtown Disney.

You might want to address Accommodations questions in that forum.

[Lily]

We were there last September 24-30th. There seemed to be a lot of of people around, but the wait times for the lines were short...no longer than 20 minutes. We're going the 15th through the 22nd this year in hopes that the crowds will be a little lighter.

[Disnamic Duo]

We were at WDW last year Sept 17 - 23 (1st time to go in Sept), and the crowds were very light. Most rides were 5 min waits or less (with the exception of Soarin' & Test Track). MANY rides we were just walking right onto (including EE (1st thing in morning), PoC, Splash Mtn, RnRC, ToT, M:S, & Space Mtn). We found it to be a great time to go (a little hot though). We didn't have any trouble with waits at restaurants either (we had the free dining). Our longest wait (past ADR time) was at Hollywood & Vine (15 minutes or so). The rest, we got seated right on time.

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

We always go in September and loved our stays at Port Orleans(Dixie Landings as it used to be called). You will love the resort.

September has always been great with crowds. The past two years with free dining has brought more people but, as other people have said, the wait times are still very low.

The weather is great...very hot. The love bugs were awful last year. That is the one thing we are really hoping not to have to deal with again this year.

We will be there the 22nd-29th this September.

[MissT]

September was great. Have been there the anytime in the first 3 weeks and crowds were minimal.
POFQ is cute and small resort that makes for faster trips to park via bus...one bus stop compared to many at PORS. You're also 1st picked up and 1st dropped off.
PORS is beautiful with larger food court which is under renovations now.
Boat to DD is a great ammenity to take advantage of as well as the evening horse and carriage rides.
Both are great choices for a peaceful, relaxing stay at the World.
ENJOY!

[HndrdPrcnt]

The weather is great...very hot. The love bugs were awful last year. That is the one thing we are really hoping not to have to deal with again this year.

We will be there the 22nd-29th this September.

We were there the last week of September last year in to the first few days of October. The love bugs were still pretty bad when we got there. However, they really thinned out by our last day.

As far as crowds, we didn't see heavy crowds until the weekend when we attempted the Food & Wine Festival.

[CarolinaWDWFan]

September is a great time to go! The crowds are lighter and while they make seasonal adjustments for CM load and refurbishments, for example, it is still a relaxing time to go. We try to go around that time, when possible.

The only caveat to September is that this is the height of the hurricane season, so you should always have a date in mind that you can slide your reservation to if a storm impacts you making the trip. This will allow you to make an informed decision if you are a few days from your trip and their is a storm with a projected path over central Florida. NOAA and hurricane tracker are good websites to link up to a couple of weeks before hand to get an idea of what the condition of the tropics is. THE GOOD NEWS: I have never had a September trip rescheduled due to weather!

Have a great trip!