September Crowds

[Liv4Dis]

We were there last year during Hurricane Irma. We got to Disney on September 4th and the crowds were pretty much non existent before the hurricane and after until the weekend of September 16. Also, I won't lie, before the Hurricane we were very worried but kept getting assurances that Disney is very well prepared and the on-property hotels are built to withstand hurricane winds. We found this to very true.

We were staying at Port Orleans Riverside. Everything was very organized. We were told that we should purchase bagged lunches ($6) which consisted of sandwich, snack bar, fruit, chips, cookie and bottled water. Disney tied everything down such as garbage cans, patio chairs, etc. We came back to the room one day to find a flashlight and note in our room. Everything you needed to know was on channel 3. The arcade was put on free play. The hurricane occurred overnight. The next day on channel 3 it said that the landscape had been impacted and pathways may be blocked however Disney already had crews out cleaning up. Even though the parks weren’t open they had characters in the main building to entertain the kids. The arcade was still on free play. Resort dining resumed (even though the menu was a totally scaled down version). Strangely enough, in the days after we met many people who live in Florida who came to stay at Disney as they said it was one of the safest places to be or they came after the hurricane as they still didn’t have power (Disney allowed them to come with their pets as well which I think is awesome). I have some pictures from other Disney hotels where they had mickey and goofy posing with dogs in the lobby.

Bottom line, you certainly don’t want to be caught in a hurricane, but if it were to happen again, I have seen that Disney certainly tries to make it as safe as possible.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Just curious where you booked with AP rate? Most of what I saw was the same as the regular room only public rate.... except maybe CBR... but that's because of all the construction. Moving to CBR from CSR would only save us about $180 and so not worth the aggravation of construction.
September used to be a great month for low crowds, but we've seen it increase steadily over the last few years.

I checked the AP rate for our dates and there were deluxe resorts with a 40% discount. I think that POR had a 25% discount, which is more than the more common 20%.

WDW also closed October 7, 2016 for Hurricane Matthew

We were at WDW just before Matthew, checking out on Oct 5th, a day or two before they closed the airport. We will be at WL for this trip and it is a great resort to be in during a hurricane.

 

[Euby]

Strangely enough, in the days after we met many people who live in Florida who came to stay at Disney as they said it was one of the safest places to be or they came after the hurricane as they still didn’t have power (Disney allowed them to come with their pets as well which I think is awesome)....

Bottom line, you certainly don’t want to be caught in a hurricane, but if it were to happen again, I have seen that Disney certainly tries to make it as safe as possible.

This is why I have already made the decision to stay put at Disney rather than try to get on an interstate to beat any storms that may come. Would rather be in a hotel room than a parking lot version of a highway.

 

[Karen46]

We got unlucky last year with Hurricane Irma and everything was cancelled so here we go again trying for our first F&W festival. Disney did refund everything but they closed so they had no choice. They were great about the whole thing.

 

[Superchikk]

September Hurricane closures as follows:

• September 15, 1999 – Hurricane Floyd
• September 4-5, 2004 – Hurricane Frances
• September 26, 2004 – Hurricane Jeanne
• September 10-11, 2017 - Hurricane Irma

WDW also closed October 7, 2016 for Hurricane Matthew. (I didn't include this in the estimate since it was October. If you include October days the overall percentage goes

The dates above are when WDW did not open at all.

The parks opened on 9/11 but closed early. I believe some of the parks closed early on September 9, 2017 (but after 5pm).

These statistics make me feel better. We've been in September, but we are going later in the month this year. I feel like the trend is more toward later in September (15th or after), rather than earlier. But seeing your statistics, they look about even. We actually lived near Orlando in 1999 and experienced Hurricane Floyd first-hand as a FL resident. I remember what a huge deal it was that Disney closed that day.

For this trip, I'm not super concerned about closures while we're there. It's an adult-only trip to celebrate our 20th anniversary, so we can more easily be flexible on schedule without the kids to entertain. My concerns center around travel to/from since my Mom is flying in to keep our kids for us, so that has an entire domino effect. There's nothing any of us can do, I'm just hoping and praying the most we have to worry with is standard afternoon thundershowers.

 

[wfjny]

We are going Sept. 22-29 and looked into travel insurance. Basically I was told that WDW would have to completely shut down for the entire length of our stay to have it pay out. If a storm comes through, it would most likely shut down the parks for a day at most so we will just be taking the risk.

So...
Been there done that. We have been at Disney for two storms, one a hurricane.

We were at Wilderness lodge for the hurricane. They cancelled all dining reservations at the hotel, and served people first come first serve.

I can write a three page response here, but lets just say, Disney takes care of you. They do events at the hotels. And it has to be really bad for them to close. If memory serves me correct the first storm was a tropical storm, and the parks stayed open. And yes, seems like everyone went to EPCOT thinking they would be indoors.

 

[bluejasmine]

I came to WDW early to mid Sept from 2005-2013 every year including a DCL cruise and it was fine, never had an issue. We are coming this Sept 7-16th, I am not really worried about it..

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

I don't know if I'll ever do September again after we had to cancel last year for the hurricane. Luckily we were able to reschedule to November though!

 

[mco65]

We haven't been in Sept in probably a decade. It was always the best time to go for light crowds but once the kids got in ~3rd grade we stopped going at that time..
This year we are going early Oct because our school district is implementing a FALL BREAK this year.. its only 3 days but wrapped around a weekend, its perfect! Wish us luck!

 

[camnhan]

We will be there Sept 11-19th this year....we were there the tail end of Sept last year and remember seeing the downed trees and such. We have been there at other times of the year and got stuck in tremendous downpours that didn't shut parks down completely but did shut various rides down. We did hit some rain last year...like our party night but still had an amazing time. This is the time we take our youngest with special needs, without his older brother and sister who are at college to spend some special one on one time with him.
52 days and counting!!

 

[Daisybell911]

We are going 9/7-9/11 and this is what has me worried the most.

Those are my dates too! Last year we cancelled because of the hurricane (It was our honeymoon too!). After seeing how well the parks handled it, I wont cancel this time.

 

[coolingjupiter]

Those are my dates too! Last year we cancelled because of the hurricane (It was our honeymoon too!). After seeing how well the parks handled it, I wont cancel this time.

Sorry to hear about your honeymoon! Here’s to no hurricanes!!!

 

[qv09vvp]

We arrive Sept 7 too. Leaving Sept 12th. I honestly hadn't thought about it being hurricane season so much as hubby is concerned about it being hot. Well, in Texas today it was 104 with a heat index of 110..so I'm thinking disney in the low 90's should be awesome. safe travels everyone!

 

[Dentam]

We went during Labor Day week last year and left the night before they shut MCO down for Irma's arrival. The crowds were awesome! I'm scheduled to return the same week this year for my first solo trip and am hoping to have low crowd levels again, minus the hurricane scare. Fingers crossed!

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

We were there last year from Sept 7th - 18th at the Contemporary when Irma hit. I stood on the balcony and filmed it until about 3am. We actually had the best vacation ever! Empty parks from day one till the 16th and half price food at the resort. Also free arcade, dance parties, movies in the conference rooms etc. We drove down and the highway was totally empty on our side but packed with people leaving FL. The entrance to WDW was barren. No one was there. Rides were total walkon and we ate where ever we wanted.

 

[Dentam]

That's so cool, @Jimmy Mouse! Now I need to read your TR!