Are the parks really crowded...

[aknight373]

during free dining? i am thinking about booking, but not 100% sure

[m 'n c]

I went in 06 and they were pretty empty - I think the longest wait we had was 20 minutes for test track and then there was the 30 minute wait for a bus leaving magic kingdom. The restaurants will be full but not the parks. We are going to avoid Evening EMH which seemed to help last trip as well except for AK since you need the extra hours there.

[aknight373]

I went in 06 and they were pretty empty - I think the longest wait we had was 20 minutes for test track and then there was the 30 minute wait for a bus leaving magic kingdom. The restaurants will be full but not the parks. We are going to avoid Evening EMH which seemed to help last trip as well except for AK since you need the extra hours there.

Thanks so much!!!

[mirandag819]

Oh good.... I'm glad to hear that ! We already had our trip booked before free dinning for Sept. was announced. Free Dining didn't benefit us since we are staying at Shades of Green. It is on property but Disney sold it to the Department of Defense. The price of the room is a better savings then free dining since it is a Deluxe resort and is cheaper than the disney value resorts. SoG still gets all the other benefits Disney hotel guest get except the dining. I was kinda of bummed when I heared they were doing free dining while we were there because I was worried it would become real crowded. So I'm glad to hear it won't be too bad.

Thank goodness I made all of our ADRs 180 days out. My mom and my sister decided they are going with us now and when I needed to make some ADRs for them I already had a tough time and this was still like 165 days in advance, but free dining was announced that week.

[MooseBrains]

They are not doing magical beginnings anymore so that takes a bit away from the crowds. Also F&W opens on the last Friday of the month and that is not during free dining. Another plus.

The kids are in school so the crowds will be the stroller crews and those who can take the children out of school.

FD is really starting to draw a bigger crowd now but still nothing like summer or holidays. IT was started to fill vacancy in the hotels during low periods.

It is hot and hurricane season but we love it. See ya there!

[mjjmbnmm]

I was also there in 06, and we walked on most rides, it's a great time to go.

[~Kathie]

I was there in the middle of September last year (2007) and it was very busy. Not packed.....like Christmas or school vacations, Easter, Thanksgiving....but there were a LOT of people and kids. We went to MK and Epcot. We were never able to walk right on anything but never waited more than ½ hour in line. We booked late and didn't do free dining and we had a lot of trouble getting ADR's.

I think since Disney has been launching free dining for a number of years, people book for September in anticipation of free dining and also make their ADR's. I think because of the free dining, people think nothing of taking their kids out of school.

We did have a good time and didn't go commando. We were only there for 5 days and not a a weekend.

Not trying to discourage you....I would go anyway and make the best of it.

[Magical JenK]

We've been there for free dining in '05, '06 & '07 all arriving the Tues/Wed after Labor Day. All 3 years it has been dead in the parks! We had made all our ADRs 180 days prior to arriving & we got what we wanted. Last year we tried to change some of our ADRs & did not have much luck w/that at all.

The longest waits we had were listed as 25 min & were most likely shorter than that!!

It's VERY hot & humid that time of year still, but I love that weather! Have a great time!!

[Kittykat]

We went in September of '07 for free dining (towards the end of the month) and it was much more crowded than I had expected. Plus, the parks run much shorter hours than they do when we usually go (in June) and made it that much more difficult for us to "tour".

I wouldn't go in September again, free dining or not.

Now, I remember when we went in September of '97 (right after Labor Day) and the parks were EMPTY. So nice...

[~Kathie]

I wanted to add that I used to go in September around Labor Day every year for the Disneyana Convention and the parks were not crowded. They haven't had the convention since 2002.

Maybe people don't want to take their kids out of school when it is just starting so that's why it's seems busier from the middle to the end of the month. The parks do have shorter hours. Epcot is open until 9 but most nights the MK closes early. A good thing is that the Night of Joy is now at Hollywood Studios instead of at the MK. That is September 5 & 6.

We'll be in Florida from the end of September until the end of October. We decided to make our trip to WDW at the end of our stay to avoid the free dining crowd and the Columbus Day crowd and still get in on Food and Wine!

Have fun whenever you decide to go.