Okay, I officially pulled the trigger and cancelled our DVC point rental for end of April. Here’s to hoping our member can re-rent and we get something back. We have planned a Redemption trip (I will not be thwarted this time!) 9/12-9/19, we’ve moved to Art of Animation, I let DH pick this time (quite a change from Beach Club, but we’re trying to save on room since we’re losing all those rented points). I’ve preemptively booked a few BOG lunches, but have yet to plan my days. I’m still mourning my perfect April trip and would love to keep a similar setup as before, but am weary of crowds and MNSSHP throws a wrench most days. I would love to do it, but think it would just be too late of an evening for DS2.
Anyone have insight on:
HS crowd level on AM EMH day? I know usually this is to-be-avoided, but what about with typical September crowds?
MK on a normal day? I’ve read MNSSHP days are really low, but is it going to be crazy on a non-party day? We’re doing MK twice, so I’m fine with one MNSSHP day, but really want a fireworks show!
Epcot crowds due to Food and Wine- days to avoid? Currently looking at Sunday or Monday.
Anything else to note for September?
As always so grateful to have the Liners community. Now, here’s to hoping I finally get to go to Disney!
We have gone in September the last couple of years so I can give my perspective on some of these. Hard to say what crowds will be like this year since a lot of people have cancelled March and April trips.
MK on non-party days are usually much busier, especially for fireworks. If a dessert party is in the budget, that would be a great way to see fireworks without feeling like sardines.
I would do Epcot on Monday. Definitely avoid Friday evening and Saturday evening. Sunday may be OK.
It will be hot and humid
We have done the last week in September. It’s hot and rains happen in the afternoon. Crowds aren’t bad, but who knows how that will be this year. The worst part is the parties interfering with MK. Our back up trip is October and it is even worse then. (I don’t want to pull my kids that just started middle school out in September. I’m at least giving them 2 months of school before pulling them out for a week.) We went one of the non-party days and it was very crowded. We had our FPs, ADR and a good plan and did very well with the crowds. I’m glad we got park hoppers this time for that situation though, as if it gets too bad, we can hop out. I would also avoid Epcot on weekends due to F&W.
Yeah, I’m feeling a little frustrated with the parties…we’ve done MK during July 4th though and I cannot imagine a nonMNSSHP day will be even close to that. Right?!
Recent trips have been Thanksgiving week with less than 2 months to plan and staying off site.
Fourth of July week.
First week of September - hurricane Dorian and that whole HS craziness.
We did pretty much every thing we wanted to do each trip but we always get to the park early before it opens. Except the Thanksgiving trip because we weren’t used to off property travelling. For that trip we arrived probably within 30 minutes of opening.
Regarding MNSSHP, some family members did that on the last trip. They had a blast, did everything they wanted to do, got tired and left early.
I hope this is the right place to post this. I read the forums here quite a bit but do not post much, at all. We scheduled an October Redemption Trip and I noticed that this morning the crowd calendar changed a great deal, specifically for Saturday October 17th. It went from a crowd level of 7 to a level of 1. I was planning to use Saturday as our “be lazy at the resort, why would I go into the parks today” day and now it’s at a 1? Does anyone have a clue as to why? Thanks!!!
I don’t have an answer to your specific question, but there so many uncertainties (health, economic) right now that I would not put any stock in crowd calendar projections for October. For example: Will WDW be open then? Will crowds be lower because of a recession? Will crowds be lower because of remaining concerns over the virus? Will crowds be higher because so many rescheduled March, April and May trip for October. These inputs are all new without a historical analogy to help with a projection.
From my October and November trips in the past - Party days are very low crowd level at MK. Non-party days are very high crowd levels at MK, especially in the late afternoon and evenings when a weeks worth of guests are all trying to see a couple nights of fireworks.
EDIT to FIX: I reversed party and non-party days in my reply. Fixed now.
Sorry, just looking for some clarification as i’m a little confused by your statement. Are you saying that on days where there is a party at night- so shortened park hours, likely ending around 6:00- that there is a high crowd level during the day? And non-party days, with regular park hours- are low level? I feel like it would be the opposite, though i have no experience there.
In the rush to reply while I was also doing work at home, I messed up and reversed it. I just fixed it in my post. It’s the party days that had very low crowds and high crowds on non-party days. Sorry!
I just fixed my reply to you. I had reversed it. Yes, the conventional wisdom is correct … and I can’t emphasize enough how different the crowd level felt. We got a ton accomplished on the party days at MK. The non-party days were very crowded.
