September 2003 travel question

MontyMontyMOnty

Mouseketeer
Joined
Apr 22, 2003
Hi!
We are gong to need to postpone our upcoming Disney trip--we were supposed to go in May. Fortunately, the CRO can honor our rates (575 for 5 nights at the WL, upgraded from POFQ), so we need to pick new dates asap.

We are annual passholders, and usually go in January, May, and October, avoiding crowds whenever possible. Our dd is 9 months old, so school time is not an issue.

I am thinking of rescheduling for sometime in September (the summer is too hot and too crowded). Before I book, does anyone have any insights, advice on September--crowded or not, dates or events to avoid, etc?

Thanks so much!

Samantha
 
Our first trip to WDW was mid-September 1998 so we had nothing to compare it to but now we've been 2000 (Dec), 2001 (Dec) and 2002 (Oct).

It was still very hot. It was NOT crowded at all. But it rained more than any other trip we've taken probably due to the hurricane season; it rained everyday for at least 5 - 15 minutes but it usually stopped.

October weather-wise was the best. Crowds were not bad at all.

December weather is unpredicible. Crowds were not bad at all.

Good luck!
 
Samantha,

A longtime October traveler was I until I experienced September. I miss the Food and Wine Festival that way, but if crowds are your concern, you couldn't make a better pick.

We found the following when comparing October and September: There IS more rain, no way around that. But it didn't get in the way of our fun. A lot of those "it's time" showers, where it's sunny one minute, pouring the next, sunny again in a half hour.

The park hours tend to be shorter, although not much shorter than October. We found we didn't care, because we could get so much done with the low crowds, we didn't care about a lost hour or two.

In preparation for our June trip, we've been watching a lot of last September's home video. I was making so many comments about how empty MK was on Wednesday. In Epcot, we rode Test Track with a ten minute wait, and in MK it was fifteen one time for BTM. Those were our two longest waits.

Walkons included Splash Mountain (two straight times on Wednesday), everything in Epcot on Sunday, Space Mountain on Wednesday (in retrospect, Wednesday was a great day to be in MK), Buzz Lightyear (yeah, Wednesday), everything in MGM on Tuesday, with the exception of TOT and RRC, which were both five minute waits.

The neatest surprise was Typhoon Lagoon. We'd never been because we weren't into it in October, and in June, another travel time of ours, we saw the crowds and bagged it. What a delight this place is on a weekday in September! We were able to go many places in Epcot without a PS. There were specials in the Disney Stores, cheap hotels, seats on all the busses, and plenty of characters for all.

Am I jazzing you up for September? I hope so. What a wonderful time. We HATE crowds, we HATE high prices, and we go in off season to avoid all that. But my wife has always felt jipped in October when the daytime temperatures don't get out of the sixties (which can happen) and the nightime temps hit the low fifties (which often happens). Many people like October because it's a little cooler. Not us. We love the heat. Our vacation dollar went further, and we were more relaxed because we did less waiting in line, leaving more time for alternative activities and leaving us completely oblivious to the lower park hours.

WARNING: All of the above doesn't apply to MK on Saturdays. Usually the only day for Spectromagic and FITS, it looked like the 4th of July around 7 PM. If you want to see the fireworks, go in around 6 and deal with it for a couple hours, or else watch from the Poly Beach. And do take the opportunity to tour MK after closing. With the low attendence, Wednesday night after close was something special.

If you do it, do it with confidence. And enjoy! If you have any detailed questions, September in Disney is my favorite subject.

Pat
 
I went in September last year...

It is still rather hot. The average daily temperarure for Sept. versus June is about the same. It rained for about an hour every afternoon, but we were prepared for it and actually looked forward to the rain!

The crowds were virtually non-existent. Saturdays are busier cause that's when the locals go to WDW. I'd actally been looking forward to using fast-pass but never got to because the stand-by lines were so short. Our longest wait of the trip was about 20 minutes (that was for Test Track with no FP)
 


September is great - unless a group of ********* decide that they need to fly a few planes into a few buildings. That said, if I had my way, our family would only go in Sept - this year, because of kids' school schedules, we have to go in Nov. Darn school, like work, gets in the way of so many more important things...
 
Everything I've read has said that September is a great time to be going down....fewer crowds, still nice weather, etc. Glad to see all the folks here seem to corroborate that story. :-)

We'll be down over 9/11, which we did on purpose, figuring that it would keep the crowds down even more.

Have a great trip!

Laura
 
Last year I bought an annual pass becuase I knew I would be going once with one sister and her kids, and another time with my brother, his wife and kids. Because I already had an annual pass, when I saw that Southwest airlines was running a special for $39 dollars each way from New Orleans to Orlando and since I already had an annual pass, I packed up my goddaughter and went for Labor Day weekend. Also, the All-Stars were running a special for $49 (I think) for AP holders. Anyway, I was expected big crowds, but we waited in almost no lines. I think we used 1 fastpass for the whole 3 days we were there. It was great! I have been in the summer, in March, and over Martin Luther King Day weekend, but September was by far the best. I recommend September highly. (If only I could convince my DH to let me buy another AP).
 


Thank you all so much! I am convinced--and changed our reservatiosn--we arrive 9/18 for a week of fun!

Thanks again!

Samantha
 
Thanks for the info. We will be going in Sept. for the first time. We usually go in March...so I wasn't sure what to expect. The only thing I am still worried about is the rain. Does it rain everyday. If so...when? I don't mind a little afternoon rain....but it would depress me if it rained all day.
 
Originally we were going to go in December, but dh couldn't get off for vacation. Then, he told me he ended up getting the week of Oct 13th (Columbus Day) but we heard that it might be somewhat busy. We debated what to do, and we have settled (again) with the week of September 15th. I hope we chose wisely this time....I am also concerned about rain and hurricanes.....what are my odds?? Thanks.
 
We were there 9/20-9/26 2000 and 9/27-10/05 2002 and are going back the same time this year. Maybe we were lucky but both years we had very warm weather and just 2 10 minute rains. It was wonderful weather but I did obsess about the hurricanes and watched the weather channel for about 3 weeks straight. I'm hoping for the same nice weather again this year. Just when you would try to take cover from the rain. it would stop. Hope this helps.
 
Those concerned about September rain...

I have only two Septembers there, but it's a little experience. In particular, we were there when Isidor skirted the east coast last year. We had a typical afternoon shower most every day, but each time it was a half hour in duration, no biggie. One night, and only one night, there was a storm that was unreal. We'd gone to TL that day and were sitting on the balcony in DTD waiting for Illuminations. I've never seen such rain, but by 9 PM, the skies were clear, and Illuminations went on as scheduled. At no time was there a long-term, steady rain. And there was plenty of sun.

Odd's of hurricanes? People get get big degrees and get paid a lot of money to make poor predictions on such things. But I'd say it can happen, but the potential isn't worth changing a trip. But that's an opinion (and I got paid nothing!).

Pat
 

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