Aug/Sept 08

[starflyer59]

After our Christmas trip in 07 I was pretty digusted with Disney. But we love Disney and keep going back.

We are thinking about doing a 4 day 3 night trip in Aug/Sept time frame for our 20 year anniversary.

We spent our honeymoon at Disney in 1988.

It seems like there is no slack time at Disney anymore where the crowds are not that bad.

Can you guys recommend a date in Aug/Sept where it might not be packed?

We usually stay at the POP and take advantage of the dining plan.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Congrats on the anniversary!

We've been twice in late August (20 -30ish) and have found that the crowds aren't too bad at all. There are some long waits, like for Soarin', but with FastPass we never waited much at all for anything. It was crazy hot though!

A bigger challenge in August and September isn't the crowds, but the dining plan.

Free Dining is being offered again this year, so ADR's will be very hard to come by if you don't book right away, and you can expect all of the restaurants to be packed!

[honeybear]

You are right, there doesn't seem to be a low period anymore. I can say that the end of August-beginning of September is usually less crowded because the children in the southern region are back in school.

[SBETigg]

Midweek crowds in that time period seem to be much lighter than weekends. We went in the last week of August and crowds were minimal on most weekdays at all parks, with ten to twenty minute waits being the norm. On weekends, though, that became 30-50 minutes and above. If you can arrange it to be a midweek trip, you'll get more out of it and much smaller crowds.

[cal5755]

You're biggest problem will be getting adr's. Restaurants will be very crowded and most will turn away anyone without one.

We always go the second week of September. The longest wait time posted was on soaring and it said 60 minutes... we went through with one of the cards they give to time the wait and it was actually only 35 minutes. We walked onto POTC several times.. HM was less than 10 minutes so the crowds may be slightly more due to free dining but still not crowded enough to prevent you from doing all the things you love in WDW.

CONGRATS ON 20 years!!

[MarkC]

Normally September is a great time to go, but with free dining that could really scramble things up a little bit. If you can handle the heat, I would recommend you go the week of August 17-23. Most of the schools have started or kids have returned to prepare for school by that time. Crowds traditionally slow the later you get into August, which we've found to be true. Two other factors make this a good week. 1) Free dining starts the following week, so budget conscious travelers will wait until then. 2) The economic slowdown will have an effect on travel anyway, and Disney management has predicted the same. Therefore, if you can work that week into your schedule and you can handle a week of heat and humidity, that would seem to be a good option for you. Good luck. Mark

[Mickey91]

We love Disney in Sept. We went the second week last year and have been the first week and will be going back the first week of this year. The middle of the week is really nice. Fri - Sun tend to be more crowded. The restaurants may already be full so you need to make a decision fast and make those ADRs now. As added security on your part, have a couple choices for each day ready and be very flexible on time. Happy Anniversary early! By the way, when is your anniversary? Ours is the 14th.

[MauiMouse]

We are going back the last week of August, this is our first time this time frame. We got the free dining and we know it will be very hot. After we made our reservations we called for our ADRs, we got everything we wanted, even a lunch in the Castle, no problems what so ever with the times.

[Sunshine1010]

If you don't mind me asking.....what happened on your last trip?

[FromKnoxvilleto Disney]

I was alsp curious what happened on your December trip? When we went in December it still to this day my favorite disney trip and they have all been great.

[EmmMOM2]

We are taking a trip Aug-Sept of 08 and i was sure to make my ADR's BEFORE they announced free dining. We got everything we wanted.