August thoughts

[mouse-logic]

I've been in Jan., Feb., April, June and November. But never in August.

Obviously, it's going to be hot....we can handle that. And, we can probably expect the daily afternoon thunderstorm. That's ok too.

Can anyone shed some light on the good and bad aspects of your mid-August visits?

We have a 25 person GG set for Aug 15-20 at the BCV.

Also, anyone have any idea as to when the August hours schedule will be released?

Thanks to you all.

[BMan62]

Hours should be posted early February (first few days.)

Mid-late August is getting into prime Tropical System season....may be more than the daily T-showers....

In any event, enjoy your GG!!!!

[mouse-logic]

Thanks for the response, and yes we thought of the potential for TS and hurricanes. We got nailed by a TS during a June visit a few years back -- two days in ponchos running from pavillion-pavillion in EPCOT. Still a bunch of fun though

[disneymom15]

Last time we were there in Aug was 2008 (13th-17th). Weather was very hot and humid. Crowd level wasn't all that bad. Spent alot of time at the resort pool.

[TikiGoddess]

We were at WDW from Aug 10-18 last year -- and it was H.O.T. Plan on taking an afternoon break or doing attractions like the Hall of Presidents.

We didn't get to enjoy AK that much -- the weather was just too unbearable the day that we went. It is a VERY hot park with less air conditioning to hide in.

Beware free dining crowds. August was very busy when we were there but manageable... then free dining started, and we noticed a big bump in crowds during the EMH hours.

Hope that helps!
Kathy

[faline]

We were there towards the latter part of August and found it to be quite busy. It is, of course, hot and humid.

[mouseketeer mom]

We go every August and yep, super hot, but I can't take the heat and have found it manageable. There are so many opportunities to duck into air conditioning. We start early, take time to swim, take it slow if we have to. I just find you will need to either pack extra or plan on doing laundry because your clothes get wet and gross from sweating and then you feel disgusting going into the air conditioning. We always liked to change before going out in the evening. And it does rain daily and one year we were there for Hurricane Fay and still found it wonderful to be in WDW. August has always been manageable for us.

[mouse-logic]

Thank you all for your helpful feedback. As usual, I came to the right place for all my Disney-info. Intercot absolutely rocks!

[Melanie]

We were there Aug 1-8 last year. I think everyone has hit the high points - very hot (One of my son's developed a terrible rash because of the heat), humid, crowded, daily rain. Be sure to take precautions for the heat!

But with good planning, taking advantage of EMHs, fastpass and making multiple ADRs, it was a great vacation. We went back to the hotel pretty much every day for a break.

I hope you have a wonderful Grand Gathering!!!

[TiggerCat]

Hot and crowded but the parks are open later and there is usually more entertainment. I like mid-Aug since it the crowds start to dimish a little. The only problem is it is prime time for tropical storms.

Enjoy.

[DizneyRox]

There is a general theme that it's going to be hot, and while I know a lot of people say, "Oh, we can handle it!" I don't know if most really understand what hot is in Florida. We're talking mid to high 90's by 10am or so, and close to 100% humidity.

We go in July every year and when we're planing, we always say, Yeah, but it's not that bad... Then when we get there we ask ourselves if it was this hot last year?

The storms are the downer in late August. July, it's an afternoon thunderstorm, no biggie, but during hurricane season, that's not always the case.

[MarkC]

We've been to WDW in August several times. Yes, it is hot but it is in most of the country at that time. The main difference is you are now out in it several hours a day. Get to the parks at opening (which is good advice every day) and take a swimming or nap break in the afternoon. Go back to the parks in the evening.

You will be pleasantly surprised by the low crowds if you take advantage of fastpass, etc. I prefer October but have no problems going in August.

[Jasper]

2 quick points:

First, as has already been said, mid-August crowds do drop off. However, with smaller crowds come more attraction refurbishments. Be sure to regularly check the refurb. page here at Intercot to see what will be down while you are there.

Secondly, don't forget that as you get into the final week before Labor Day attendance levels will start to go up. Check the attendance levels here at Intercot to see past levels. You do not want be at WDW over Labor Day.

Oh, did I mention it will be hot and humid that time of year? (I just had to throw that in since most others are as well)

[cfoshe]

My family likes going late July and early Aug. We general to value season costing. We hit the parks early and stay late with out breaks. We always say that we are going to take afternoon breaks, but once in the parks, we hate to leave, so we stay. I tend to see more aggervated people with the heat, even in my own family.

[bruin1344]

Crowds arent bad at the parks. Its very hot and humid. It thunders almost everyday but sometimes its not a direct hit. The waterparks are very crowded. I was able to handle the heat because of staying hydrated, eating TS and CS indoors, very the parks in the mornings and evenings, and there are enough indoor attractions at the parks to keep cool except for AK. You may want to skip Lights Motors Action and Indiana Jones at DHS. The heat was unbearable in those attractions.

[pixiesmimi]

We always go in late August and manage with the heat and rain showers. Not much different from where we live. But we always manage to sweat out a Hurricane or TS around the time we go. Have managed to avoid them so far though. This year we are going a little earlier and predict it will be even hotter.

August hours are out now.

[SillySymphony]

On the whole, August is a great time to visit. Many of the lower 48 have already gone back to school which can make for better touring conditions. For the longest time, my family vacationed exclusively in August due to our main occupations. As bona fide New Englanders who are already experiencing the onset of Fall in late August, a WDW visit catapults you back into "summer mode". Now.. I'll be honest.... weather has seemed to become less predictable and we have even canceled WDW vacations at the last minute in anticipation of Hurricane Bessie or Tropical Storm Moose.... So... my suggestion is to book "Room Only" reservations which have a far more lenient cancellation policy than WDTC does. Moreover, you might consider steering clear of airlines which do not allow you to cancel for weather-related events or, at the very least, allow you to keep money on account.

[c&d]

We've gone in August and once you accept that you are going to be hot you'll be fine. We found what worked best for us was to spend time at the hotel pool or water parks during the day and head over to the parks in late afternoon. We definitely took advantage of the night magic hours.

We found the crowds to be very light, compared to April when we normally go. I don't think we ever waited more than 20 mins for a ride and really didn't use FP's that much.

We were down when they thought a hurricane was coming and it was amazing to watch how WDW gets ready. It was similar to the holidays when one day it's normal and the next it's completely decorated. All the hanging baskets were down, outdoor furniture gone.

One more thing drink plenty of water.

[Disney_Barbie]

We've been during every season in the past, and for us, DEAD OF SUMMER is the best! In our opinion, at least. We love the killer heat (granted, we're crazy heat-lovers and ACTUALLY prefer it to be at least over 85 ), it makes the pools and water parks SO MUCH BETTER. And the park hours are so amazingly late during the summer, that we choose to hit up the water parks or lounge by the resort pool by day, then have a nice dinner and stay in the parks until the wee hours of the morning. It's perfect for us!
The only down side in my opinion is the free dinning (which we never take advantage of) but it makes you HAVE to plan out all your dinning plans well in advance, cause you will NEVER get a walk in. And in our experience the dinning plan is a sore spot for many guests. I can't even count the number of times I've seen guests yelling at cast members regarding dinning/snack credits etc. Granted, we've seen "dinning arguments" other times of year as well, but they tend to occur most often during free dinning, since almost everyone is on the dinning plan. We always opt for TinW personally, just turns out to be a better deal for us.

[Ms. Mode]

August is our usual time to go, in 2008 we had record breaking temps. Because it's peak time the parks are open late; the best way we found to handle it was go early to the parks, stay until 2pm..go back to the resort for a couple hours to cool off (nap or pool) and then head back out to the parks around 4 or 4:30.