Happy Labor Day! This is my favorite holiday of the year because I associate it with our annual Disney World trip. This year is the first in a long time we have not been heading to WDW sometime this week. I will be down in a few weeks for a travel agent meeting and some fun in the parks with some fellow agents so going this week seemed impractical.

“What is your favorite time to visit the parks” is a question I see often. Back when I planned my first trip I picked September as it was a ‘low crowd’ time according to my trusty Birnbaum’s book. My first trip overlapped Labor Day and September 11th anniversary and the parks were empty. It was a great time to visit and it spoiled me. The longest I waited all week was about 30 minutes to meet Mickey Mouse.  This great first September trip turned into a second one, then a third, and then I started adding in other months but always kept September as our regular month, and Labor Day week as our preferred week.

Through the years the crowds have picked up in the parks, in September and every other month as well. While it isn’t as slow as it was during the mid 00’s it is still the slowest time we have found all year.  There are lines but they are often short and FastPasses are relatively easily to come by and don’t start to run out till later in the afternoon with some exceptions (here’s looking at you Toy Story Mania). The hours used to be much shorter in September but have evened out over the past few years with the increase in crowds. While staying in the park till 2am may not be possible a midnight close is probable and the lack of other visitors will make up for missing those two hours.

I have been in the parks in most months of the year, February, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December.  I have visited for holidays including Valentines’ Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Patriots Day, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, and “holiday’s” only Disney fans know such as Pop Warner week and Jersey week. Of all those holidays Labor Day rules as my favorite time. The crowds are the lowest we can find and as you see we have tried a lot of months. The deals are the best we find all year, the usual offer of “Free Dining” is the best deal for our family and we like getting a lot of bang for our buck with the dining plan.

Is it hot? why yes, yes it is. It’s September, in Florida. It will be blazing hot, humid, and icky. But it’s worth every second of the heat to beat the crowds. I live in Tennessee, its hot and humid and sticky here too. You get used to it; we are often the same temps as Orlando most of the summer so it isn’t that bad to me. I spend less time in line and more time riding in the sweet sweet air conditioning.  What about hurricanes? Well there is that, and that is one of the reasons crowds stay away.  Hurricane season peaks around September and Florida is often the target. While Orlando is inland there is still the danger from rains and high winds, but in our time we have weathered 4 hurricanes/ tropical storms (including Katrina) WDW and never had any issues. WDW staff does a great job of keeping you informed and safe. I would not hesitate to go even with a hurricane brewing.

So what is your favorite time to visit the parks and why? Post in the comments below.