Reconsidering dates

Our four day tickets expire on Sept 26. If we do not use them, the purchase price goes to a future ticket purchase so I suppose it’s not a huge deal if we end up not making this trip. This includes tickets for my older mother and in-laws, so we are hopeful about risk-level being down.

We are currently aiming for the first week in September. I realized the other day that this is the week of labor day and it got me really thinking about the dates. My brother’s wedding is in mid september so we can’t really push it back. We chose early Sept. because our hopes were that crowds would be low (not if it is labor day though!) and the weather not-so-bad, and the possibility of a Halloween after hours events. BUT, we’re also thinking of making it longer than one week- maybe two weeks- in which case taking the kids out of school would be a little more reckless. So now we’re looking at somewhere between August 8-22. Weatherwise and crowdwise, would this be much different than September? I know it is hot in August, I’ve experienced it many times- but is it so much different in early September? Will end-of-the-summer crowds be lighter than labor day crowds? Anything else that I’m missing? My son is voting for August because his bday falls squarly in the middle of that time frame.

I don’t think there’s much difference in weather - I’ve been in early and mid-September and it’s always been crazy hot. I actually preferred our late July trip because we were more likely to get the afternoon thunderstorms which helped to cool it off. Or at least provide some cloud cover for a while!

Crowds in early September are some of the lowest I’ve ever seen - but who knows what it’ll be like this year. There is usually some increase around Labor Day but I think it’s usually the least busy holiday weekend. I’d think that later in August is going to be better for crowds than earlier, but I’ve never been at that time, so hopefully others will chime in there.

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September is hot too and seems to be the peak of hurricane season with daily afternoon downpours

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Thanks!

It sounds like August might work out overall to be better for us then. I’m not keen on any of our available dates TBH, but I’m also not keen on having to shell out more $$$ for a vacation that has already been downgraded- which is what the consequences of not going before September 26 would be, I’m sure.

I think you are probably right. My kids’ school starts August 25, and two of them starting Jr. High in person for the first time (even a brand new building! So it’s going to be confusing for everyone) so I really want to have them back in time for orientation and to adjust etc. Or I would definitely say we’re goign the last two weeks in August and they can miss the first couple days of school

We went in 2019 at the end of July and crowds weren’t bad at all - heavier than in September but still pretty easy to manage. The group I was with then were not morning people at all - I think we managed to make rope drop only 1 day. But we still did everything we wanted and with my touring plans had minimal waits. I think you’ll be totally fine earlier in August as long as you can deal with the heat! :slight_smile:

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We have traditionally gone as close to school starting for our kids as possible in August right in the 8 - 22 timeframe (we are in Texas). Crowds are slightly down in August.

In 2019, I went with some friends during the end of September. We had considered the week after labor day, and we were glad we didn’t pick that week since that is when a hurricane hit.

The weather was slightly better at the end of September, but I felt the park was way more crowded than I had experienced in August.

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