Our guide to September 2025 at Walt Disney World offers a free crowd calendar, when to visit, red flag dates to avoid, new attraction openings & closures, plus Halloween events & early fall weather. We also cover what’s happening at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. (Updated August 17, 2025.)
Relative to summer, September is a good month to visit Walt Disney World due to off-season crowds for most of the month and seasonal events like Halloween. School is back in session, and wait times are low from Labor Day until crowds arrive towards the end of the month for the start of convention and group events seasons, plus early fall breaks. The September crowd calendar below makes this month a really attractive time to visit.
While every park isn’t going to be “dead” every day of the week, if you plan well, you can really avoid crowds during a September Walt Disney World visit. That also means shorter September park hours, but you can’t really argue with accomplishing more in less time. There’s only really one downside to September at Walt Disney World, and it’s a fairly big one.
That one downside is the weather, which is bad for two distinct reasons that we’ll cover in the next section. On balance, mid to late September can still be a very good time to visit Walt Disney World, but it’s not for everyone. You have to be able to tolerate (or gamble on) the weather in order to be rewarded with extremely low crowds.
Let’s take a look at what you can expect in September at WDW…
September Weather at Disney World
The downside comes in terms of weather. In terms of temperatures, September is better than June through August, but it’s still a gamble. It’s a lot like May in this regard: it can be temperate and pleasant, or insanely hot. Especially early in the month, it can be pretty hot and humid.
At the beginning of September, average high temperatures are 90°, with average lows of 75°. Towards the end of the month, the weather improves slightly, with historical highs of “only” 87° and lows of 72°. Add oppressive humidity that’ll fog your glasses the second you step out of your hotel room, and September is still a pretty undesirable month in terms of weather.
Suffice to say, if you’re visiting Walt Disney World in September, remember to pack accordingly, bringing the Frogg Toggs for the humidity…and ponchos for the rain so you don’t spend $179 on them at Walt Disney World. You can view day-by-day temperature and weather forecasts plus historical averages for Walt Disney World weather in September here.
September is also the height of hurricane and storm season. For each of the last three years, hurricanes have impacted operations at Walt Disney World at the very end of August or beginning of September. (Add last year to that list, as Hurricane Idalia offered a scare, but didn’t materially impact operations at Walt Disney World!) In recent years, Hurricanes Ian, Dorian and Irma have caused the parks to close.
You may want to consult our Visiting Walt Disney World During Storm Season article to navigate the afternoon showers (or worse) without them putting too much of a damper on your trip. Things get better towards the end of the month both in terms of humidity and storms, so your best bet is definitely to hold off on visiting until later in the month if you can.
WDW Seasonal Events in September
September 1 marks the end of Cool Kid Summer at Walt Disney World, which might have some of its dance parties and character encounters extended or made permanent. (It wasn’t really much of an “event” in the first place.)
To answer a common question: yes, you will see Halloween decorations if you visit Walt Disney World in September. Any day in September. However, the only park that gets decked out for Halloween is Magic Kingdom.
The big event for September is Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. In September, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party starts happening with increasing frequency. By mid-month, Magic Kingdom is closing early for MNSSHP a few nights per week. As discussed below, this really throws a monkey wrench into attendance dynamics.
Another event that’ll occur throughout September 2025 is the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival. This is a great way to graze and sample different cuisines, or attend instructive seminars, or other foodie special events. It’s also a great way to lighten your wallet, as it is very easy to spend a lot of money at Food & Wine Festival on these small samples.
Especially if you buy booze: not only can you spend a lot on the drinks, but the drinks might cause you to relax your credit card swiping hand and use it more freely on snacks. Not that we know from experience or anything. Check out our Guide to the 2025 EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival for more tips and tricks for this event.
EPCOT Food & Wine Festival once again starts ahead of Labor Day weekend, meaning it’ll still be fresh by the time September rolls around. This means weekends at EPCOT will be busier, as Floridians and Annual Passholders head to the park to eat and drink their way around the world. New booths will debut on September 28, 2025.
Speaking of which, that same weekend is when the RetroMagic Tencennial Event. This is held September 26-28, 2025 at Coronado Springs Resort, and will feature panels with former Imagineers, executives, and more.
Scheduled to appear at the event is an array of Imagineers, including Disney Legend Tony Baxter, Tom Morris, Kym Murphy, Tim Delaney, Paul Osterhout, Russel Brower, and Chris Runco. Important executives from the operations side attending include Disney Legend Tom Nabbe, Jim McCaskill, and Steve Baker.
We’ve attended RetroMagic in the past, and it is highly recommended. The event is like what Destination D23 used to be, with a focus on Walt Disney World as opposed to the company as a whole. It’s not for everyone–certainly not first-time tourists–but for history geeks, it’s a true treasure trove. It’s a great way for Florida locals and Annual Passholders to gain a greater appreciation for the Vacation Kingdom of the World and its rich history.
SEPTEMBER REFURBISHMENTS & NEW ATTRACTIONS
For an idea of what’s going to be closed in September 2025, check the Walt Disney World Refurbishment Schedule. Just be warned that this doesn’t fully cover the construction all around Walt Disney World—just ride and entertainment closures. The big ones are Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
As a fair warning, that refurbishment calendar doesn’t reflect the full scope and scale of construction at Walt Disney World. The parks are just now ramping up their next development cycle, and that is already evident when walking around Frontierland in Magic Kingdom, Dinoland in Animal Kingdom, or towards Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
While the guest impact won’t be nearly as bad as the last development cycle, there will be visible construction walls, closures, and more. See Walt Disney World’s 5-Year Plan: Construction, Closing & Opening Dates for New Lands & Rides for everything you need to know.
The biggest additions for 2025 are all open as of September 2025. This includes Test Track 3.0 at EPCOT, which recently reopened following a year-long reimagining. There’s also Villains Unfairly Ever After and the Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure, which are stage shows at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. There are also newly-opened bars, GEO-82 at EPCOT and the Beak & Barrel Pirates of the Caribbean Tavern at Magic Kingdom.
The highlight of the year is also at Magic Kingdom: Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away, which is Walt Disney World’s first night parade in roughly a decade. Starlight pulls inspiration from Main Street Electrical Parade and SpectroMagic while featuring modern technology and fan-favorite characters.
We love Disney Starlight Night Parade and highly recommend making a point of watching it during your trip. The parade isn’t perfect, but it has great “bones” thanks to a celestial soundtrack and excellent floats. It’s a worthy addition to Walt Disney World’s legacy of nighttime entertainment, and we cannot get enough of it. See our rundown of the Best Starlight Night Parade Viewing Spots & Tips to Beat Magic Kingdom’s Massive Crowds!
For an overview of what else is on the horizon, see What’s New & Next at Walt Disney World in 2025 & Beyond.
SEPTEMBER 2025 DISNEY WORLD CROWD CALENDAR
There’s no color-coded September 2025 crowd calendar for Walt Disney World at the top of this section because that’s reductionist and doesn’t give you the full picture of Walt Disney World attendance trends. WDW crowd calendars are less reliable due to how Disney manipulates attendance patterns, staffing, closures, and ride capacity.
It’s better to offer an explanation of what to expect crowd-wise this fall at Walt Disney World. This is doubly true because each park varies (especially during this time of year) and there are also differences between crowd levels as measured by wait times and “feels like” crowds or congestion.
That’s the bad news. The very good news is that September 2025 is the best month of the year to visit Walt Disney World from an objective perspective. (From a subjective perspective is an entirely different story due to the weather forecast!) Literally the entire month sees below average crowds. Even Labor Day weekend (August 29 to September 1, 2025) draws far smaller crowds than most other holidays.
Last year, Labor Day was downright dead at Walt Disney World. Labor Day was a repeat of the Fourth of July holiday weekend, which was one of the slowest stretches of the entire year at Walt Disney World. History will not repeat itself to nearly the same degree, but as we explain in the following post, Labor Day Weekend Isn’t Busy at Disney.
To that point, the last week of August 2024 was the slowest at Walt Disney World since the last week of September 2021. The same week in 2023 was barely busier, with a 25 minute average and 1/10 crowd level versus a 23 minute average and 1/10 crowd level last year. Both weeks were incredibly slow–the two least busy weeks since October 2021!
There are several reasons why we actually like Labor Day weekend from a subjective or holistic perspective, including the start of the EPCOT Food & Wine Festival, Extended Evening Hours at DHS, Destination D23, and more. See One of 2025’s Best Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World Just Got Better! for a full rundown of reasons why we’d recommend the window around Labor Day.
There’s really no terrible time to visit as far as the September 2025 crowd calendar goes. The beginning of the month will be busier than August as a result of the holiday weekend, and the end of the month will see another spike due to ticket deals and seasonal attendance trends (getting closer to fall break; weather starting to improve from summer).
The time in between, will feature some of the lowest crowds of the year at Walt Disney World. In terms of the crowd calendar, this is one of the last bastions of the off-season at Walt Disney World. Average weekly crowd levels will be 1/10 to 3/10 during this date range.
If you’re purely concerned about crowds, we’d recommend going from September 2-12, 2025. You’ll note that this is immediately after Labor Day, despite our praise for the holiday above. Even though Labor Day is slow by holiday weekend standards, there nevertheless is a slight spike from Friday through Monday. Still lower than 90% of dates, but elevated as compared to the 10 days that follow.
The second half of the month will get progressively busier. If history repeats itself, the turning point will be Saturday, September 13, 2025. It’s not as if it’ll be like flipping a switch, but for reference, crowd levels went from 1/10 on September 12th last year to 4/10 on the 14th. Adjusted for days of the week, that’s September 13, 2025.
This might seem counterintuitive, because normally the weekends are slower at Walt Disney World. That’s still true, but the key difference in late September is that a multi-month Florida resident ticket deal is winding down. These are “use it or lose it” tickets, and they expire on September 27, 2025. Locals tend to work on weekdays, so the last couple weekends of validity tend to spike as a result.
This isn’t the only ticket deal winding down in September. There’s also the Kids 50% Off and 3-Park Magic Ticket, which end on September 20 and 22, respectively. It’s hard to judge the standalone impact of these deals, as they also ended earlier last year, but the point remains that crowds spike in late September 2025 as people rush to use ticket deals before they end.
We’ve seen this trend play out in each of the last three years. It’s also most pronounced on Saturdays, which go from being the best day of the week to visit to the worst. As such, we’d highly recommend avoiding the parks on September 13, 20, and 27. Sundays aren’t usually as bad, but there’s another spike on Monday (that part is normal).
Across the board, weekdays will be progressively worse later in September–just not to the same degree as Saturdays due to the aforementioned ticket deals. The bottom line is that if you have the option to visit in the first half of September or the second half, you should definitely choose the first.
The contrast between those dates towards the end of the ticket deals expiring and the rest of September–otherwise one of the slowest months of the year–will be very stark. Crowds will feel even worse as a result. While these wouldn’t necessarily be ‘red flag’ dates to avoid during peak season timeframes like Spring Break or around Christmas, they’ll be about as bad as it gets during what’s otherwise the off-season.
Speaking of things to which we should call attention, Rosh Hashanah is on September 23, 2025 vs. early October last year. This means it’s slightly more likely that the last week of September will see a spike due to early fall breaks. Expect September 20-27, 2025 to be the busiest stretch of the month, but the last couple days of the month–or even the very beginning of October–shouldn’t be too bad.
In fact, we’d be more inclined to visit from September 28 to October 4, 2025 than we would the week before that. It’s not usually the case that crowds get better over the course of early fall, but that week in particular looks like one to target. At least, as contrasted with the one before it. Again, the expiration of those ticket deals are big drivers of attendance and crowds that catch a lot of fans by surprise.
We should note that October is a bit of a wildcard. The first week has been slower in the last few years, but it’s unclear how much of that has been driven by hurricane scares. Otherwise, October is a big month for conventions and other group events, plus fall breaks for various school districts around the country. This usually picks up closer to Columbus Day, though.
Still, busier is a relative term. The last full week of September 2025 will be worse than the rest of the month. However, if crowd levels hit 6/10, that’s technically true as the first three weeks will have crowd levels way below that. That’s exactly what we’re predicting–crowd levels averaging out at 6/10 or possibly 7/10 in the last week of the month, but with a wider range for Magic Kingdom (see below).
For Magic Kingdom, there’s an added wrinkle to the crowd calendar: Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP). On nights this event is held, the park closes to regular ticket holders at 6 pm. Consequently, Magic Kingdom is less busy during the day time hours on dates when MNSSHP is held, and more busy on days the Halloween event is not occurring.
We’d strongly recommend visiting Magic Kingdom during the day on Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party nights, and then bouncing to another park at around 4 pm. Animal Kingdom will always be your best option for lower-crowd evenings during the fall.
This might seem counter-intuitive, but it’s because the party is separately-ticketed. Typically, the biggest impact is felt closer to Halloween, so the phenomenon isn’t bad at all in September. We’ve reported on this phenomenon at length, seeing this play out every single day of Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party season, as discussed in Best & Worst Days to Do Magic Kingdom.
You can also expect EPCOT to have worse “feels like” crowds on weekends. This is particularly true when local Florida colleges like UCF have away football games. However, this does not show up on crowd calendars, which measure wait times. (These locals cause congestion but typically don’t impact wait times.)
EPCOT’s attendance will be lightest on weekdays during the day, with heavier crowds after work as locals turn out to graze at the Food & Wine booths. (This is something that is tough to convey via a traditional numerical crowd calendar for Walt Disney World.)
SEPTEMBER PRICING & DISCOUNTS
Since it is the off-season, September is also a great month to visit in terms of both pricing and potential discounts. You can check available discounts via Disney here. Disney isn’t the only place where September is the off-season, so expect cheaper airfare when traveling in September–make sure to visit ITA Software to search for the best prices.
As far as pricing goes, early to mid-September is considered “value” season and late September is “regular” or “fall” season for resort room rates and park tickets (read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post for ticket recommendations to avoid having to deal with seasonal pricing).
Overall, September is a one of the top months of the year to visit Walt Disney World, and we’d encourage you to visit if you can handle the heat and humidity. If you need to convince a spouse to make a spontaneous getaway, there’s really no better argument that I can think of than “that one dude on the internet said we should!”
In fact, mid-September is one of our favorite times of the year for our personal visits to Walt Disney World. For a while, we took trips to Walt Disney World during this time for 4 consecutive years, as those low crowds were too much to resist. Like a fine wine, September gets better as it “ages” with the best times to visit usually being towards the end of the month–mainly due to better weather even as crowds increase.
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
Are you a fan of visiting Walt Disney World in September? Have you found the crowds to be light? Is the weather this month bearable to you? Are you planning on visiting in September 2025 or is the potential for a hurricane too much of a gamble for you? If September is not your preferred month to visit Walt Disney World, which month do you like? Hearing your feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts or questions below in the comments!