How crowded will Disney World be during the first week of free dining?

Question

I think the free dining starts August 25th and that's when I'm going! I'll be there for a week. Do you thing it will be super crowded? Will it be like summer crowded or more or less? Thanks. =]

Answer 1

Last year the first couple of weeks were very low attendance.  However, the week of Sept. 14-21 was pretty busy.  The crowd calendar at www.touringplans.com shows crowd levels of 5s for during the week and 6s for the weekend.  They are usually pretty accurate.  You can view your dates there for free.  They give suggestions on which parks are best/worst on any given day.  They also have a few free touring plans that are helpful if you're not familiar with the parks.

The biggest thing is to make sure you have reservations for all your table service meals.  It's a bit late at this point, but you'll be out of luck or end up waiting at most restaurants even if park attendance is low without reservations, so you should try to get reservations.  Remember, basically everybody staying at the resorts will be in competition with you for dining reservations since it's free dining!

Answer 2

Are you talking about the Disney Dining Plan?  Cause that's been around for awhile.  It's usually discounted in late August because it's non-peak season practically free.  (When we went it was $100 per person for 7 days.)  Most visitors avoid the park during that time.  Mostly because of the humidity and the fear of hurricanes.  I learned my lesson during August 25- September 3, 2005 (Katrina just missed Orlando but we still felt the howling winds, rain, and lightning).  During that time, the parks were really dead.  Most of the rides were 5-20 minute lines during the weekdays.  But on the weekends, the lines can jump to 60 minutes due to the locals crowds.  Now, I go in November or in February to avoid big crowds and nicer weather.

Answer 3

it's probably gonna be pretty busy cause it's summer and its free dining.

Answer 4

not so much busy as it is in peak season ,which is usually feb,vaca.and spring break.