What You Need to Consider BEFORE Traveling to Disney World in September

Believe it or not, Labor Day is swiftly approaching. WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?!

Disney World crowds have been interesting this summer, with some days much emptier than you might have expected and others looking VERY busy. But what if you have a trip planned for September — when kiddos are generally back in school and some new things hit Disney World? Well, September can be a great time to visit, but there’s an important complication you need to consider.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, this Labor Day weekend (Labor Day is on September 4th, 2023) could be busier than any Labor Day weekend before. We’ve already seen the Orlando Airport hit some record-breaking crowd numbers this summer, so perhaps this comes as no surprise.

And it’s not just Orlando. On June 30th, a new record high was reached within U.S. airports when more than 2.884 million people passed through TSA checkpoints on a single day.

In fact, 2023’s crowds have gone beyond 2019 levels in some ways. The TSA actually screened 0.6% MORE passengers in June of 2023 compared to June of 2019.

Add to this the fact that many people use the Labor Day holiday as a chance to get out of town and/or visit places like Disney World, and you’ve got a recipe for complicated travel. Trying to fly on the most popular days during that period could not only be immensely crowded but also incredibly expensive.

If you want to try and save some money and avoid some crowds, you may want to avoid traveling on the Friday before Labor Day and Labor Day Monday itself.

According to data shared with The Orlando Sentinel, the most to least crowded days to travel around Labor Day weekend are as follows (this is based on an average of the data from the past 4 days):

1. Friday before Labor Day (most crowded).
2. Thursday before.
3. Labor Day Monday.
4. Sunday after.
5. Friday after.
6. Monday after.
7. Monday before.
8. Thursday after.
9. Tuesday after.
10. Wednesday before.
11. Sunday before.
12. Saturday before.
13. Wednesday after.
14. Tuesday before.
15. Saturday after (least crowded).

If all else fails, keep this in mind: if you look at the 7 days after and before Labor Day, “the Friday before Labor Day has been the single busiest day to fly over each of the past four years.” So you might be better off opting for a Saturday flight rather than Friday.

If you’re limited as to when you can travel due to your work schedule, this may not be ideal. But if you can work remotely or have enough vacation days it very well may be worth it to look at those travel days carefully!

If you will be traveling on the busier days, do your best to arrive at the airport with plenty of time to get through security (give yourself more time than normal!). Look for options like RESERVE Powered by CLEAR (available at the Orlando International Airport) that can help make your security process less stressful.

And know that things like parking at the airport or even getting food could be more complex, with parking spots filling up faster than you’d expect or food lines in the airport longer than usual. You can check parking lot statuses on the Orlando Airport website to see what locations are full.

Keep in mind that the Brightline Train that was set to connect travelers from South Florida to Orlando was previously going to start service to Orlando on September 1st, but that has since been delayed (potentially by 2 weeks). That could also impact how you travel this year.

We’ll keep an eye out for more updates and let you know what we find. As always, stay tuned to AllEars for all the latest travel news!

Don’t forget about this VERY important Orlando Airport tool before you fly!

What’s your LEAST favorite time to travel? Tell us in the comments!

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