What to expect for trip 9/1/03--9/8/03?

[hightown]

Breaking with our November tradition. So what can we expect for 9/1-9/8?

9/1 is Labor Day and I know the parks are crowded that weekend. Does everyone go home Labor Day? What will crowds be like Tuesday, 9/2 and on?

I know weather will be HOT, HUMID etc. Correct? Hows the rain?

What have park hours typically been like?

I saw after scheduling this trip and buying airfare, that Nights of Joy are scheduled 9/5 and 9/6, Friday and Saturday. Are the crowds pretty much just as Magic Kingdom? Are these usually day trippers or folks staying off site?

Any answers or other tips much appreciated!

Thanks, Sharon

 

[dansyr]

I would like to know also.

We will be ther 9/3 thru 9/7

 

[natcam1996]

We were there the week of Labor Day from 1999-2002. We could only do it in 2002 because our daughter's school was delayed in opening because of construction. One year we arrived on the Saturday before Labor Day, the other years it was Sunday morning. The crowds on the weekend, including Monday, the holiday, are large but manageable. My memory is that by late afternoon on Monday MK really starts to clear out. The rest of the week expect low crowds and minimal wait times. You will still have issues with getting reservations for high demand events like CRT. If you want to do HDDR make reservations now. If you arrive early enough on Monday and you have a ticket that allows it, like a length of stay pass, I would go to a park, check out some attractions using Fast Pass, get the feel of the park and get in the spirit. Since we always stayed on site we took advantage of what they used to call early entry days to get some prime time on the rides for my daughter. Park hours for MK are probably going to be shorter but I don't remember specifically what they were. I don't remember the other parks closing any earlier. For the most part, you will find very low crowds and short lines. There seem to be a lot of foreign guests at that time, Europeans and Latin or South Americans I think, so that makes it interesting. As far as the Nights of Joy, I don't remember much about them. I think they have some exclusive time in the parks, MK for sure, but that is in the evening. It never prevented us from doing anythiing we wanted to do. Not sure if they are day trippers or residents.

As far as weather, it was warm but very bearable. You could get some time in the parks in the morning before it gets too bad. It is still hurricane season but we only had one potentially threatening situation in 4 years. Yeah you get rain, but we always treated that as an "opportunity" to do other things. Like visit all the countries in World Showcase and have a drink while my daughter did the KIDCOT thing.

I hope this helps.

 

[hightown]

Thanks, Natcam. That's what I hoped to hear about the crowds going away on Monday. We do have UPH but won't get to the hotel till 6:30pm or so. Still we can head to EPCOT that first night and get in the mood!

I did make my HDDR reservations for Sat, 9/6.

We do work in midday breaks which hopefully will make the heat more bearable. I'm telling DM and DD that this is the trip we take advantage of every opportunity to get wet in the parks! It's rarely necessary in November.

My daughter has year round school so we do have an advantage right now of being able to go in off times. I've noticed alot of Brits on previous trips. Believe they have a year round system too.

Thanks for your advise!!!

Sharon

 

[natcam1996]

Sharon,

Glad I could share. I've gotten so much good info on these boards it's nice to be able to contribute.

We're now in the other situation because my daughter is just finishing 1st grade and we have regular summer vacations (not year round school) so taking advantage of off crowd times is unlikely. We go this year 6/22-7/2 so it will be interesting to see how different it will be. we went last year in early June and the crowds were ok. I think the kids can have fun regardless of the crowds. I can too - it's all attitude and at WDW your attitude should be great or you shouldn't be there.


Tom

 

[hightown]

"it's all attitude and at WDW your attitude should be great or you shouldn't be there."

Totally agree.

You and your family have fun during your trip!!!

Sharon