For over a decade, we’ve been singing September’s praises (no, not the Cosmic Rewind song), with the early “fall” off-season being among the best times to visit Walt Disney World. But are mid-August through late September still good times to visit Walt Disney World? That’s the question this post will explore.
We’ve been doing WDW during the fall off-season as long as we’ve been visiting together as adults. It started by accident. There was a brief window when Free Dining was offered but our school had yet to go back into session. We took advantage, and it was fantastic. Hours were just as long but crowds were much lower. We did the Pirate & Princess Parties, saw SpectroMagic, enjoyed evening Extra Magic Hours until after midnight, all while having ridiculously good–and huge–meals. It’s wild how much of that is gone or no longer possible.
We became hooked on this time of year and found ourselves routinely returning during this ‘sweet spot’ at Walt Disney World, especially once we got Southwest Companion Passes and joined Disney Vacation Club. Then we started spreading the good word about mid-August through September to anyone who would listen. Long-time readers of the blog probably already know that our #1 month of the year at Walt Disney World was September for a long time. That’s no longer the case, but it was for the better part of a decade.
As we’ve pointed out for several years, mid-August through September have remained reliably uncrowded even as other past off-season months have gotten busier. For us, what fully “cemented” the status of mid-August through late September was when not even the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge moved the needle on crowds.
September 2019 was our first time experiencing the month as Floridians, and we took full advantage. If you weren’t there, it’s impossible to explain how gloriously uncrowded the parks were and how awesome ‘Extra, Extra Magic Hours’ was. It’s almost unbelievable given how things changed ~6 months later when the parks closed (and they still haven’t fully recovered).
To be entirely honest with you, nostalgia for both our first off-season visits together and those more recent heyday of early fall off-season has probably clouded my judgment, and caused me to keep on my rose-colored glasses about this stretch. However, reality has really set in over the course of the last couple years…
June 1, 2024 Update: Well, we are not putting our “money where our mouths are” as it turns out. For all of the digital ink spilled here last year about the heat and humidity…we’re doing it again! I just want to disclose that now, several months in advance, so you all can plan accordingly. Or not. And so you don’t see our photos from the early fall off-season and think we’re hypocrites who wrote this strategically just to clear away the crowds for our own selfish enjoyment.
In my defense, this article originally ended by (spoiler alert) saying I’d be back during the early fall off-season because it’s my civic duty as a blogger to cover Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival. But it also indicated that we probably wouldn’t do a family ‘for fun’ trip. And that’s what is almost certainly changing.
There are a couple of reasons for the change. The first is that the delayed start of the 2024 EPCOT Food & Wine Festival means we can take an early September trip (as opposed to early August) and hit both, increasing our chances with better weather. To that point, my September and October visits last year were much, much better than July and August. I know that won’t always be the case, but the odds of lower temperatures do increase–even if slightly–in September and October. (Unfortunately, the odds of hurricanes also go up!)
The other big difference is that my summer and fall trips to Walt Disney World last year were solo. This means that Sarah didn’t experience any of this firsthand, and if we’re being honest, I think maybe she’s underestimating just how bad it was. (Of course, we’ve lived in Florida and experienced brutal summers, but they say time heals all wounds–so perhaps she’s forgotten just how bad it was.)
More significantly, Megatron hasn’t experienced Halloween at Walt Disney World. After an incredible first trip, we’re really looking forward to both the Halloween and Christmas seasons in the parks. Seeing Walt Disney World through her eyes has already been incredible, and we want to do as many family vacations to WDW as possible. Looks like more of those Southwest Companion Passes are in our future, again!
The big eye-opener of the early fall off-season the last couple years was the weather. It was hot in 2021-2022 to the point that we found ourselves taking more midday breaks than normal and really being ‘beat’ by the weather. At the time, that felt like the worst weather we’d experienced during the August and September off-season. It was noticeably hotter, but not necessarily unexpected or historically bad. Just worse than normal.
Then the early fall off-season of 2023 happened. I’m no stranger to hot summers in Central Florida, and the couple weeks I was there in mid to late August were the worst weather I’ve ever experienced at Walt Disney World. August was so awful that there were excessive heat advisories on a regular basis and the Florida Division of Emergency Management warned residents and visitors of dangerously hot and humid conditions.
Actual temperatures often flirted with triple digits, and feels like temperatures routinely hit 110-115° throughout month. It was a record-breaking summer for Central Florida, with August being especially awful.
You might think that Florida is always hot and humid this time of year. Not only that, but weather forecasts are frequently filled with hyperbole, finding new ways to sensationalize and scare. So maybe those 110°+ feels like temperatures aren’t actually all that much worse than the 90s you’ve experienced in Florida and elsewhere in other months, right?
Wrong. At least, in my opinion. I don’t have a tremendous tolerance for heat and humidity, but I at least became accustomed to it while living in Florida. This was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in Orlando. About the only thing that compares was a summer a few years back at Hong Kong Disneyland, which somehow manages to surpass Central Florida when it comes to heat and humidity.
By definition, record heat waves are unprecedented and atypical. And this was the second year in a row that I’ve encountered unseasonably hot weather during the early fall off-season. The next few years could be downright pleasant by comparison, but the trend is not your friend when it comes to temperatures. You’re gambling on weather this time of year, and Walt Disney World trips cost a lot.
It wasn’t just triple-digit temperatures and feels like heat this off-season in Florida. Add to that humidity above 75% plus UV indexes of 10/10, and it was a perfect storm of uncomfortable weather. About the only positive I can say about the weather during my weeks in Central Florida this August and September was that it was, thankfully, a reprieve from storm season at Walt Disney World.
Sarah was unable to join me for obvious reasons. When I first bought my ticket to attend Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party–the first she had missed in over a decade–she was disappointed to be missing out. That wore off by the time the party rolled around. I had been sending periodic updates on the weather, with screenshots of the temperature when I first left my room each day.
The day of the first Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party was particularly brutal. At the start of the event, the temperature was 100° with a feels like of 115 degrees. This wasn’t even as bad as it got this particular day–the actual temperature hit 102° and the feels like reached 118 degrees. Nothing says “Halloween” like triple-digit heat in early August!
There was almost no reprieve from the heat and humidity. I got up every day at the crack of dawn for Early Entry, and it was hot even at 7 am. I began keeping my camera bag on the balcony overnight so my lenses wouldn’t be fogged up when I needed them the next morning.
Evening was a similar story. Sunset was a welcome relief, but only in part. There were nights when I left the parks and the feels like temperature was still over 100 degrees. Now in fairness, when you go from blazing sun and 118° feels like temperatures to darkness and “only” 101° feels like temperatures, the difference is pretty pronounced. But I was still sweating like crazy at pretty much all hours of the day.
I worked around the weather with midday breaks, taking things slow after Early Entry and rope drop, and finding ways to avoid the heat. But even that wasn’t enough. I couldn’t help but think about how much my Walt Disney World experience differs from the average guest, as I do the parks in atypical ways and “for the sake of research.”
I also wore my dorky bucket hat paired with athletic shirts, and still managed to sweat through those every day by like 10 am. I have this really thick sunscreen that gives me the complexion of a ghost (better than cancer!) and that plus the debilitating heat, getting up early and staying out late, gave me a “nice” deathly appearance.
If this were a trip with Sarah and Megatron, we would want nice family photos. I’m not sure the extent to which that even would’ve been possible unless we prioritized pictures first thing in the morning or took second-showers and returned for post-sunset photos.
The heat gives everyone a shorter fuse, too. Although it’s not something that’s measurable, I can say with complete confidence that I overhear and observe more meltdowns–among both children and adults–in August and September than during November and December.
This isn’t me passing judgment. The heat and humidity are to blame, and it’s not like I’m immune to it. The weather causes crankiness, and I found myself being a bit more irritable than normal, and annoyed by things I typically would’ve brushed off. The difference is that I was flying solo, so it was simply an internal grumbling to myself and not outward orneriness.
Even stopping short of full meltdown territory, the heat and humidity just beat you down. The weather is exhausting, making it exceedingly difficult to do a full day in the parks without a midday break or taking time to decompress. This alone can undermine any efficiency gains from the lower crowds.
If you’re skipping a few hours or going at a slower pace due to the weather, you might end up accomplishing just as much during the slowest days in August as you would during slightly busier (but much more pleasant) weeks in late October to December.
Unscheduled breaks or necessary downtime can also exacerbate tensions and stress. If your months-in-the-making plan dictates being in the park from opening until closing–but it becomes clear that’s not feasible–it can be crushing to see that slip away. One of the reasons we are anti-spreadsheet is because we’ve seen exactly this scenario play out too many times.
While I did several full days from Early Entry until after park closing in August and September, my batting average was probably less than .500. And that’s just me, an adult who likes to power through whenever possible. Envisioning how we’ll do Walt Disney World as a family with a child in tow…I just cannot fathom full days during this time of year.
By contrast, I can do full days during the holiday season with ease. The temperatures are much more conducive to it, as are the fewer hours of daylight. Even if crowd levels are higher, that might only amount to an extra ~5 minutes of waiting per attraction. But if you’re spending an extra ~2 hours in the parks per day, you’ve more than offset the added wait times.
And although it’s tough to quantify, I’d argue that the whole vibe is merrier during that time of year, from guests to Cast Members. Silly as it might sound, I fully believe you feed off of the energy around you at Walt Disney World. It’s much easier to be reinvigorated and upbeat thanks to the collective energy in November and December than August and September.
Another issue that’s becoming more pronounced is park hours. There’s now fewer hours that the parks are opening after dark, which is the most pleasant time of day to do Walt Disney World during September.
I did Extended Evening Hours a couple times at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT during the most recent off-season, and it was the busiest I’ve seen it at either park–worse than the peak of spring break, despite much lower crowds during the day. I’m guessing there are multiple reasons for Extended Evening Hours getting busier, but the most obvious to me would be weather.
Eligible guests probably took midday breaks with the intention of returning to the parks in the evening. (Rather than staying all day, getting burnt out, and heading home before ExEH started, as often happens.) The influx of guests at the start of Extended Evening Hours would seem to corroborate this.
Equally concerning is how Walt Disney World quietly shortened hours in September. A lot of attention has been rightfully paid to Magic Kingdom closing too early or now opening at 9 am on most MNSSHP dates. Walt Disney World cutting hours at EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios is just as big of a deal–and one that has flown under the radar. It’s really unfortunate and if this trend repeats itself in September 2024–but not October, November, or December–it will significantly change the calculus on which of these times is the “best” to visit.
With all of that said, mid-August through late September remains a really appealing timeframe for a few reasons. First and foremost is that it’s consistently uncrowded. Yeah, it’s busier now than it was in 2008 or 2017, but relative to other months in the same calendar year, it’s #1 for crowds.
Unlike other months that were once the off-season but have since seen spikes (looking at you, January and October!), August and September are likely to stay uncrowded. The main factors keeping attendance down–school schedules and weather–aren’t going to change. Walt Disney World can’t get crafty scheduling runDisney, ESPN Wide World of Sports, conventions, or other events in September to buoy attendance, as the weather makes it a non-starter for so much.
Most schools are going to be in session during most of August and all of September, and parents are unlikely to pull their kids out after the new school year just started. For tons of people, it’s simply an undesirable time to visit, and that has remained true no matter how many times they’ve heard effusive praise about the early fall off-season. Many fans, perhaps the wiser ones, might view that as the Siren’s Song of September (and August).
Another is events. In an attempt to reverse the off-season lull, both Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween and the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival now start as school goes back into session. Again, that didn’t always used to be the case–it wasn’t even that long ago that both began in September, rather than August.
Finally, there’s pricing. If you look at the Cheapest Times to Go to Walt Disney World, you’ll see that the early fall off-season typically trails only the winter season. Even that is no sure thing, as superior discounts in mid-August through September can more than bridge the gap.
An arguably better comparison is how the early fall off-season compares to the final three months of the year. Not only are room discounts better and rack rates lower, but there’s a wider range of deals–like the recent 4-Parks Magic Tickets. Then there are significantly lower prices for hard ticket events like Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. It all adds up!
Ultimately, I can see why the early fall off-season is still such an appealing time for so many Walt Disney World diehard fans to take trips. It’s cheaper and less crowded, reminiscent of simpler days in past decades when prices and attendance were lower. The seasonal events are a ton of fun, and there’s something so satisfying about walking onto attractions with virtually no waits. You feel like a VIP.
Personally, I love the idea of August through late September. I see photos of us in empty parks that stir up fond memories, conveniently forgetting the heat we endured along the way. To some degree, I think that’s how nostalgia works–your mind savors the good and lets go of the bad, creating an idealized version of a past that never existed.
But like an egg on the Magic Kingdom sidewalk, this year’s memories of the heat are fried into my mind. It’s tough to see myself wanting that experience again. (Well, until I forget all about the weather but continue to remember the low crowds!)
In fairness, we have warned about weather and even made ‘qualitative’ recommendations to go later in September or October, avoiding the best stretch of crowds in favor of the likelihood of a more pleasant experience. Neither our Best & Worst Months to Do Walt Disney World nor our 10 Best and 10 Worst Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World in 2024 & 2025 recommend the weeks that typically have the absolute lowest crowds.
We’ve instead advised waiting until later in September when it’s slightly busier (but still slow relative to the rest of the year), late October, or the low-crowd windows in November and December. Even though none of those dates are as objectively uncrowded as mid-August through early September, they’re subjectively superior.
I’ll definitely be back for the start of the 2024 Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, but because I’m a blogger who doesn’t learn from past mistakes and that’s what my people do. When it comes to family for fun trips or recommendations to friends (including you all), it’s getting harder and harder to justify mid-August to late September without serious caveats. Even if you think you know what you’re getting yourself into…it’s tough to fully comprehend that heat until you’ve felt it. And by then, it’s too late!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Do you think it’s still worth braving the weather in August and September for the lowest crowds of the year at Walt Disney World? Or, would you take the slightly higher crowd levels but subjectively superior overall experience during the November and December lulls? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
