Is it crazy crowded during free dinning??

[joyhappy]

We are booked Sept 8-12 during free dinning
all the resorts are very full do you think it be crowded that is what we are wanting to avoid!!:

[Sam&Alex&Josh'sMOM]

We went Sept 2-8 last year. The restaurants were PACKED, but there were minimal lines in the parks. We used fast pass when we had to (Everest, Peter PAn, K. Safari)... But most of the lines were very reasonable, several were pretty much walk on (Including POTC, and TOT)

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

Free dining has definately brought in a lot more people. September is not the ghost town it used to be.
As long as you don't expect it to be very quiet you should be okay.
Restaurants are packed. Lines are still manageable but, there are more people around the parks.
We have gone to WDW in September for the past 12 years. We are skipping it for the first time this year to go in December. We were not impressed with the crowds this past September at all. We were there Sept. 13-22nd.
I hope you have a great trip with low crowds!:)

[stitch'sgirl]

I went last September over my birthday (Sept 22-28) and it was by far less crowded than during any other time of the year I have visited. I had a bit of trouble securing a dinner rez for my birthday (I wanted Cindy's castle, but it was booked) and ended up with Narcossee's, which was fantastic in itself, but ride lines weren't all that bad. I think on average it was about a 20-30 minute wait. I think the longest line we saw was for Space Mountain at 90 minutes on a Saturday afternoon. We got fastpasses for most everything we wanted to do, so we didn't wait more than 20 minutes for anything. My boyfriend is very impatient, so he wouldn't have waited longer than that anyway:secret:

[SpecJoe Magic]

Welcome to Intercot!

We were there during the free dining period in September of last year, and we definitely didn't think it was crazy crowded. The restaurants were very busy for obvious reasons, but the crowds were low to moderate everywhere else.

[DISNEYLOVERS5]

Are the crowds lower than in July?

[SBETigg]

From what I've heard, the crowds aren't too bad at all. The restaurants are pretty well filled, though.

[MMouse6937]

First of all :welcome: to intercot!!

We have been to the world twice before during free dining and have of course seen the crowds increase somewhat. Most of our experience is that the restaurants are very crowded and don't try to get a seat without an ADR, but the rest of the park is pretty typical. Soarin was a 30 minute wait, but everything else was 15 minutes max and most was walk on. It's a wonderful time to go for lack of crowds, a little hot, but we like it.

Have fun!! :thumbsup:

[RBrooksC]

Last September we went. It was during the free DDP special. Unfortunately we were too late in booking ourselves to get that. (long story involving my wife's position and a meeting in Disney) The parks were empty. I used Fastpass a couple of times so I could avoid a line the SECOND time I went on the ride.

However, it was tough to get an priority seating for any of the places we wanted to try and some places were completely booked. There was no way we were getting into a popular sit down restaurant if we didn't have priority seating we weren't being seated.

A case in point... we had PS for Hollywood and Vine. It was the Playhouse Disney breakfast. An older couple (who wouldn't have enjoyed it there anyway) tried to get a seat that as a walk-in and were told they had no seats left. Even with our PS, it was a half-hour wait to get a seat.

[sisterdisco]

We went last week of August last year during free dining. The only park that was what I would consider "busy" was Magic Kingdom.
Now---"busy" is a relative term.

It was NOWHERE near as busy as a school break or christmas or feb break. But it was a bit more crowded than the 1st week of December.

It was VERY manageable. We found EMH at MK to be a waste of time.....so many people there that you couldn't get near space mountain. But with a little planning. We got to do everything we wanted to do w/ little wait.

You will defininitely need ADR's though. The restaurants were VERY crowded.

Have a great trip!

[Strmchsr]

:welcome: to Intercot!!!

Just go with no expectations. Previously, the crowds haven't been bad at all, but they've risen each year the "free" dining offer has been made. So, really, there's no way of knowing what to expect this year. Past years don't really give a good gauge anymore on what this year will be like. It shouldn't be too bad, but just go with a plan expecting big crowds, use fastpass, and if the crowds turn out light you'll be pleasantly surprised instead of going expecting low crowds and being disappointed. Certainly the crowds won't be summer-crazy and even those are manageable with good planning.

[Froggee44]

My DH and I went to Disney the second week of Septemeber last year. We could not understand why the parks were so crowded because the year prior it was not that busy. To our dismay we told about the free dining after our package was booked. We did find it hard to get reservations prior to the trip for certain restaurants. Since we don't have kids we did get to eat at the more expensive restaurants and they were not crowded. We thought about going back when they were offering the free dining but we opted out. MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW is the only piece of advice I can offer you.

[KAJUNKING]

this will be our third year going for free dining and we find it a perfect time of year, its pretty tough to beat the free dining promo, weve found the crowds very light, you can go to the touringplans web site and they have a crowd calander, it also tells you wich parks are best to visit each day to avoid the crowds, good luck

[Strmchsr]

We are booked Sept 8-12 during free dinning
all the resorts are very full do you think it be crowded that is what we are wanting to avoid!!:

Don't judge crowds by resort "fullness." First off, we have no idea of what percentage of the resort if actually full. If you're checking online and not seeing availability that means nothing. WDW only opens the number of rooms they think they can fill. They don't want staff and rooms open for 90% capacity if they are only going to be at 50% capacity, so "full" for September is a far cry from "full" around Christmas or July. Also, they only make a limited number of rooms available on each discount package. So, while a discount room might not be available, a regular room would be.


Are the crowds lower than in July?

Definitely.

[vicster]

I think it was definite more crowded last September than the previous few years during September. But it was still absolutely better than the summer months. I don't know what to expect this year with the economy and high gas prices...

[bcornette]

We have been at different times for free dining and have found that the later in the promotion you go the lower the number of people. It helps to go after school has started for the majority of the united states.

[jhosier72]

We are going for the free dinning from Sep 20 -Sep 27. We reserved our trip the 3rd week of April and have been trying to get into restaurants since. Every couple days we try and try hoping for cancellations. I have been told by numerous people that Sept is the best time to go. But, if you have this package, it appears to me you have to really work to make sure you get the best use of the Table Service meals.

[Strmchsr]

I have been told by numerous people that Sept is the best time to go. But, if you have this package, it appears to me you have to really work to make sure you get the best use of the Table Service meals.

:welcome: to Intercot!!!

September is a good time to go, but with the "free" dining everyone is using the DDP which makes the restaurants incredibly crowded. Go expecting crowds, but it won't be awful except in the restaurants.

[Jen C.]

This is our fourth year with free dining. We have found that anything prior to Labor Day is busy, not crowded, but a decent crowd level. The restaurants are always packed, that is for certain. The best time we have found are the 2 weeks after Labor Day. Any later then that, and the crowds seem to pick up due to F&W and the MNSSHP.

They are by no means CROWDED times, but they are not dead either.