How are park crowds on or around labor day?

[MaC410]

Typically a holiday weekend is one of the most crowded times at Disney, but is labor day an exception since it pretty much marks when all kids are back in school? We plan to go 9/7(labor day) to 9/12. I won't be changing my plans based on any answers but I'm just curious of what to possibly expect from people who have been during this time of year.

 

[kiford]

It's hot. Really hot. And humid. That's my primary recollection from last year during Labour Day weekend. It wasn't too busy but that might have been due to the expected landfall for Dorian. We arrived late on Thursday Aug 29 (technically early Friday), and Friday was super busy as people were trying to get one last weekend in but a lot of people left earlier on Saturday or Sunday because MCO was supposed to be closed on the Monday. The rest of the week was pretty low attendance but it may all be anomalous due to Dorian and people cancelling. But I would still think in normal times that the weekend prior will be busy until Monday when people will leave but then the rest of the week will be fairly low. But hot. Really hot.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Moderate crowds. Awful weather.

 

[MaC410]

Moderate crowds. Awful weather.

Do you dislike the heat or the rain more?

 

[gatorlisa]

My experience has been low crowds and high temps with lots of humidity. I'm from Florida and live in Georgia, so the heat and humidity are manageable for me. Between air conditioning in attractions and frequent use of the complimentary water at quick service, I don't find the heat and humidity to be that big a deal. There are almost daily thunderstorms, but they rarely last long and often hit and move on while we are in an attraction. We pack emergency ponchos and don't worry about the wather. The crowd levels we have experienced for this week are lower than any other times we've been in the last few years (late January, early February, early October, early November, early December, mid June).

 

[SaintsManiac]

Do you dislike the heat or the rain more?

Rain

 

[MaC410]

My experience has been low crowds and high temps with lots of humidity. I'm from Florida and live in Georgia, so the heat and humidity are manageable for me. Between air conditioning in attractions and frequent use of the complimentary water at quick service, I don't find the heat and humidity to be that big a deal. There are almost daily thunderstorms, but they rarely last long and often hit and move on while we are in an attraction. We pack emergency ponchos and don't worry about the wather. The crowd levels we have experienced for this week are lower than any other times we've been in the last few years (late January, early February, early October, early November, early December, mid June).

We aren't too worried about the heat. Typically we probably would but this specific trip is planned to be a more relaxing trip where we focus more on doing things outside the parks and then the most time we spend in the park will be for halloween parties. Only thing that gives us some pause is hurricane season but we can't let that stop us from planning our vacation.

 

[ghtx]

We went Labor Day weekend in 2017 and are going again this year (2020). Yes it is hot and humid but we are from Georgia like the earlier poster, so it did not bother us so much. We also like to take mid-day breaks anyways, which is during the hottest time of the day and the time it's most likely to rain.

I haven't been every single time of the year, but from what I read Labor Day is actually a pretty low crowd level weekend, despite the holiday. I think the explanation is that for much of the country it is right before the start of school or right after the first week or so, so parents don't want to pull their kids out that early in the school year. For us school starts at the start of August so that isn't that much of an issue. It still seems crowded to me, because basically it's always crowded, but I gather that it's not so bad on Labor day relative to the summer or to other mid-year holiday weekends like Presidents Day.

 

[yorkieteacher]

We went post Dorian in 2019 from September 6-12. Crowds were very low, level 1 and 2 low. Heat index was 105, and after the rain of Dorian it didn't rain all week and stayed hot. Luckily for us, we didn't cancel our trip. Disney was having the Extra Extra Magic hours so as early risers, we were even walking on Slinky Dog and Space Mountain and anything else before 9am. We absolutely HAD to leave mid day for a break, though, due to the sweltering heat being exhausting on everyone. I would consider a shorter trip during September again, but a week of extreme heat coupled with extensive Disney walking made us all need a post-vacation vacation.

 

[mamamelody2]

We were at WDW Labor Day week (Thursday before Labor Day through the Saturday after) in 2019 and 2017. Last year was completely amazing because of the threat of Dorian. When we left Thursday it was still a tropical storm and maybe heading toward Orlando. Many people left their trips early because they said they were going to close the airport. Also, many didn't come for their trips at all. It was the best.
Anyway! 2017 was more normal. Saturday-Monday were moderate crowds but the weekdays after that, especially Wednesday and Thursday were awesome. I remember Thursday afternoon walking on ToT 3 times in a row and only stopping because we were getting a little nauseous. LOL.
YES it's hot and humid but for us the crowd levels more than make up for it! If my son was not going to be a senior this year, we would be going then again.

 

[alliecat523]

We’ve done Labor Day twice and I would agree that the heat sucks but the crowds have been very manageable.

 

[DisLiss]

I do think Labor Day is the least crowded holiday at WDW. Between the people who just do not want to deal with Mother nature's triple whammy of ridiculous heat, daily downpours, and hurricane threats and those who just barely put their kids back into school and so don't want to take them back out; I feel like it's the least favorite long weekend to go for a Disney trip for many people.

Mind you, it is still a holiday weekend, though, so you're still likely to experience higher crowds than on the weekend before or after Labor Day weekend.

(Of course, some gluttons for weather punishment actually opt specifically for September in hopes of getting lower crowds in exchange---like DH & I! )

 

[Osugal9]

It’s terrible don’t go!

Just Kidding. We went in 2018 and loved it. It is hot and humid but we found it manageable. It didn’t feel any different than our beginning of October trip. We do take breaks in the afternoon though. We absolutely love it for the low crowds and are going again this year. (Free dining doesn’t hurt either).

I think the longest we waited for any line was about 25 minutes and It’s easy to pull fast passes after your first three. (didn’t try to standby 7DMT or FOP).

 

[OttawaON]

Also interested in this as our trip is planned for this weekend and MK has the Halloween parties 2 nights so reduced hours