***Official September 2020 Thread***

[Sydney2977]

Well I am certainly not happy dancing tonight. With the shortened park hours 3 of my dining reservations are now outside park hours. It makes me wonder if they will cancel all reservations again and make us start over? Forgive the snarkiness I am just frustrated.

That stinks! Hopefully you can get something moved to inside park hours, like lunch instead of dinner. I'll keep my finger crossed for you!
For once this actually worked in our favor. I really wanted to try Beaches & Cream, but the only reservation I could get was on our AK day at 6:15. I didn't want to have to leave the park early to make it so I'd been checking to see about a later option this whole time with no luck. Now that AK closes at 5 we won't have to rush to get back to B&C.

Yeah big yikes on the reduced park hours :/ I’m now thinking I should make our Arrival Day our Epcot day since we’re really only going for F&W and then use our Friday for Volcano Bay (my yearly Summer goal of going to a water park is ALWAYS thwarted lol).

That sounds like a good plan. We've never done a water park either somehow. Plus going to Epcot for a short time on arrival day you won't feel rushed and you'll still get to enjoy a park.

I think they must have looked at reservations after Labor Day and seen how low it would be and decided to cut operating hours down. If people are reporting now how low wait times are and how they can practically walk on rides, I imagine it will be even lower attendance once summer is over. That should still be good for us going in Sept. though!

Park hopping is pretty much moot at this point. There are no longer enough park hours to make it realistic. September folks, what are you planning to do in the evening to pass the time?

Honestly, DH and I were just talking last night how it will be nice to come back to the room earlier and just enjoy some peace and quiet. He gets up really early for work, so we don't get to spend lots of time together in the evenings normally. We won't feel like we have to get right to be to get a good night's sleep before waking up early to rush to the parks either. When we stayed at BWI just the two of us last year it was nice to sit on our balcony with a drink and dessert and just relax. We may go "visit" other resorts if that is possible.

 

[Dentam]

Any thought that they may extend the reservation system to Disney Springs?

I doubt it but I do wish they would do a better job in that area. I've heard so many people report that it is not nearly as safe in terms of crowd levels and adherence to the mask mandate. Maybe Orange County will crack down on it before we arrive.

 

[karen4546]

Well I am certainly not happy dancing tonight. With the shortened park hours 3 of my dining reservations are now outside park hours. It makes me wonder if they will cancel all reservations again and make us start over? Forgive the snarkiness I am just frustrated.

I think it will balance out if you factor in the low crowds. You will NEVER have crowds this low again -hopefully (no more pandemics please).

We bought DVC in 2019 and have had to cancel a couple of trips-definitely frustrating.

I am NOT canceling my end of September trip. Disney will have to shut down again or Florida will have to ban LA residents. It will be over a year since we visited last. We try to go at least twice a year and I am looking forward to the lower crowds. Lower crowds mean you can accomplish everything in less time AND then enjoy your resort time or explore Disney Springs or if you drive hit up Universal, Lego Land, Sea World etc.

We have 49 days to go. You probably has fewer days to go since we don't arrive until the 26th - so you can be so much more excited !!

 

[momtwoboys]

I think it will balance out if you factor in the low crowds. You will NEVER have crowds this low again -hopefully (no more pandemics please).

We bought DVC in 2019 and have had to cancel a couple of trips-definitely frustrating.

I am NOT canceling my end of September trip. Disney will have to shut down again or Florida will have to ban LA residents. It will be over a year since we visited last. We try to go at least twice a year and I am looking forward to the lower crowds. Lower crowds mean you can accomplish everything in less time AND then enjoy your resort time or explore Disney Springs or if you drive hit up Universal, Lego Land, Sea World etc.

We have 49 days to go. You probably has fewer days to go since we don't arrive until the 26th - so you can be so much more excited !!

Same unles Disney parks and resorts closes again, we are GOING! We will enjoy the park at a leisurely pace, and spend lots of time at WL.

 

[karen4546]

Same unles Disney parks and resorts closes again, we are GOING! We will enjoy the park at a leisurely pace, and spend lots of time at WL.

We are at Copper Creek 9/26-10/2.

 

[StageTek]

Yep, we were there 7/21-7/29 and pools were closed by 7pm. Even the quiet pools. Entertaining ourselves at night was hard.

I wonder about people bringing their Roku of FireStick and how that will affect resort WiFi. For the first time I'm considering it.

I'm going back-and-forth on renting a car for my trip. I could get off property in the evenings. But is there anything to do?

I think it will balance out if you factor in the low crowds. You will NEVER have crowds this low again -hopefully (no more pandemics please).

I am NOT canceling my end of September trip.

There is that!

I look at only 8 operating hours at AK on my reserved day and think that just isn't enough time. But with very low crowds and no shows I guess there is the real possibility that I'll ride everything several times. A different trip for sure.

What with the flight changes and hours changes I have seriously considered canceling my trip. But then I remind myself I booked this one specifically to experience what I know will be an unusual adventure.

 

[one_cat]

I think it will balance out if you factor in the low crowds. You will NEVER have crowds this low again -hopefully (no more pandemics please).

We bought DVC in 2019 and have had to cancel a couple of trips-definitely frustrating.

I am NOT canceling my end of September trip. Disney will have to shut down again or Florida will have to ban LA residents. It will be over a year since we visited last. We try to go at least twice a year and I am looking forward to the lower crowds. Lower crowds mean you can accomplish everything in less time AND then enjoy your resort time or explore Disney Springs or if you drive hit up Universal, Lego Land, Sea World etc.

We have 49 days to go. You probably has fewer days to go since we don't arrive until the 26th - so you can be so much more excited !!

We arrive on the same day as you. We have a boardwalk view villa so we may spend some time in the evenings enjoying the balcony.

 

[momtwoboys]

We are at Copper Creek 9/26-10/2.

we are there sept 24th -Oct1st!

 

[CruellaNY]

Yep, we were there 7/21-7/29 and pools were closed by 7pm. Even the quiet pools. Entertaining ourselves at night was hard.
ETA: Closed for capacity...

I was going to say, we were there 7/24-29 and the main pool at BWV was open till 9 and quiet pools there and BCV closed at 11. We never saw the quiet pools reach anything near capacity but not sure about the main BW pool.

For once this actually worked in our favor. I really wanted to try Beaches & Cream

We ate there 2 weeks ago and it was as good as ever Glad you got a reservation!

I doubt it but I do wish they would do a better job in that area. I've heard so many people report that it is not nearly as safe in terms of crowd levels and adherence to the mask mandate. Maybe Orange County will crack down on it before we arrive.

When we were in DS in early June when Universal first opened we felt compliance with regulations was fine, but it was like a ghost town. Huge difference in crowds 2 weeks ago! More problematic than guests not wearing their masks correctly I think was just not being able to keep distance when walking around. We ate at Paddlefish, WBG and Jock's and felt fine inside as far as how they were all seating but walking to and from was like jumping from space to space on a checkerboard. As others have said being there during the week as opposed to a weekend makes a big difference as well as going earlier.

We are at Copper Creek 9/26-10/2.

we are there sept 24th -Oct1st!

LOVE CCV! We're trying BRV this time from the 22-27th

We loved our trip last month but the food options were a bit of a bummer; not enough to have a significant impact on our trip or deter us from September but you do need to think more now about where and when you'll eat. Of course previously we weren't big on booking all our dining ahead of time and did lots of it day of. Now with the reduced hours I decided last night to book a few more dinners and breakfasts and try moving some things around and pickings were slim! Still hoping a few more restaurants/lounges open before we go but I don't see it happening. I'm considering going to either CityWalk or to The Palm in Hard Rock one night, we ate there for the first time in June and fell in love.

 

[Dentam]

We arrive on the same day as you. We have a boardwalk view villa so we may spend some time in the evenings enjoying the balcony.

Same here - staying in a boardwalk view villa for the first time and planning to enjoy the balcony. I'm really starting to look forward to how relaxing this trip should be!

 

[one_cat]

Same here - staying in a boardwalk view villa for the first time and planning to enjoy the balcony. I'm really starting to look forward to how relaxing this trip should be!

We will wave at you.

 

[cmp1976]

Looking at crowd reports for today I am a little concerned what it’s going to be like arriving on 9/6. At this point I’m expecting Sunday and Monday to be bad, but hopefully drop down the rest of the week.

 

[Lsdolphin]

Stay away from Disney Springs. It will be packed even more now.

we are there sept 24th -Oct1st!

Copper Creek 9/9-9/12 Poly 9/12-9/16

 

[Dentam]

We will wave at you.

We arrive on the 5th - I think you're going later in the month? Hope you have a great time!

Looking at crowd reports for today I am a little concerned what it’s going to be like arriving on 9/6. At this point I’m expecting Sunday and Monday to be bad, but hopefully drop down the rest of the week.

I'm expecting the same. Booked AK for Sunday and Epcot for Monday since those are reportedly the least busy parks. Also, Monday is the last day that Epcot will be open until 9pm and the only day of our trip that we'll have a chance to be in a park after dark. I'm hoping, like you, that the remaining days of the week will be very quiet in the parks.

 

[Melodious]

We are Sept 12-20 at BLT and I'm starting to get a little nervous. It's the reduced hours plus the reports that crowds are increasing. Reports have been that wait times have increased every week since reopening and now it seems actually crowded. I keep reading that September will be low crowds because that month always has lower crowds, but it is hard to keep faith in that being the same when so many things are different. Hopefully, the hours have been reduced because Disney is expecting extremely low crowds. Low crowds are what I've been clinging to that would make everything worth it for me

 

[Dentam]

We are Sept 12-20 at BLT and I'm starting to get a little nervous. It's the reduced hours plus the reports that crowds are increasing. Reports have been that wait times have increased every week since reopening and now it seems actually crowded. I keep reading that September will be low crowds because that month always has lower crowds, but it is hard to keep faith in that being the same when so many things are different. Hopefully, the hours have been reduced because Disney is expecting extremely low crowds. Low crowds are what I've been clinging to that would make everything worth it for me

I don't think Disney would have reduced the hours if they expected the same crowd levels to continue through Sept. Next week is when many schools start up again in FL and elsewhere. I would expect to see a drop off in crowd levels soon. Will definitely be keeping an eye on this... low crowds are what we are clinging to also.

 

[Melodious]

I don't think Disney would have reduced the hours if they expected the same crowd levels to continue through Sept. Next week is when many schools start up again in FL and elsewhere. I would expect to see a drop off in crowd levels soon. Will definitely be keeping an eye on this... low crowds are what we are clinging to also.

Yeah, I will be watching. There's nothing else to do but keep watching what is happening now. Unfortunately, what is happening this week may not be indicative of what happens next week, etc. August will not be the same as September. So many things could happen between now and then so there is no real way to know what will happen. We'll basically find out when we get there

 

[wendow]

I was going to say, we were there 7/24-29 and the main pool at BWV was open till 9 and quiet pools there and BCV closed at 11. We never saw the quiet pools reach anything near capacity but not sure about the main BW pool.

Sorry, we were at Pop and pools were BUSY! I don't remember what time they closed but they were closed for capacity by 7pm. I think the quiet pools would open up ever so often if you just hung out outside but the main pool was full and no one was leaving it seemed.

ETA: To further clarify, we were at Poly for first part of stay and then at Pop. Poly was only open for DVC. Pool was busy but we never saw it closed and we went down there two evenings and were able to get in. I will say most lounges were taken and the pool was full of families. Then at Pop, the resort was not only fully open, but felt pretty booked (it was where all values were consolidated) so that is probably why the pool was full and closed.

 

[wendow]

I wonder about people bringing their Roku of FireStick and how that will affect resort WiFi. For the first time I'm considering it.

I'm going back-and-forth on renting a car for my trip. I could get off property in the evenings. But is there anything to do?

There is that!

I look at only 8 operating hours at AK on my reserved day and think that just isn't enough time. But with very low crowds and no shows I guess there is the real possibility that I'll ride everything several times. A different trip for sure.

What with the flight changes and hours changes I have seriously considered canceling my trip. But then I remind myself I booked this one specifically to experience what I know will be an unusual adventure.

So interesting! I hadn't even considered that more people would be on the resort wifi since the parks close early but we definitely had the worst wifi we've had. I kept having to use data to download basic sites (no streaming movies or anything like that).

Even with the reduced park hours, you can get all of AK done in a day!! Everything plus some lol. We did love the low crowds. It's an unusual adventure and I was nervous we'd regret having gone in July but we have no regrets! It was pretty great. Hardest time was evening and leaving the parks so early but it wasn't because we didn't get a ton done. We just like the parks at night.

 

[CruellaNY]

ETA: To further clarify, we were at Poly for first part of stay and then at Pop. Poly was only open for DVC. Pool was busy but we never saw it closed and we went down there two evenings and were able to get in. I will say most lounges were taken and the pool was full of families. Then at Pop, the resort was not only fully open, but felt pretty booked (it was where all values were consolidated) so that is probably why the pool was full and closed.

Pop definitely has more guests as does Contemporary! Over at BCV of course the resort side as well as Yacht are and were still closed so not as many folks, and no BWI over at the BW pool.