But the end of summer doesn't need to mean the end of the fun for theme park fans. Even as the seasonal parks begin to call it a year, there's plenty left to look forward to for all theme park fans this fall. Here are six reasons why theme park fans should welcome the end of summer:
Kids in school mean fewer people in the parks*
No, this won't help you if your favorite park is closed, but even limited weekend crowds for this last month aren't as bad as the mid-summer crowds at many regional parks. And in Orlando? Well, this might have been a down summer for Central Florida's parks, but the first few weeks after kids head back are always among the least crowded days of the year. If you can get away to visit a park, now's a great time to go.
Oh, and that asterisk? Okay, readers in Southern California, we'll get to you next.
End of the summer blockouts
Many Disneyland and some Universal Studios Hollywood annual passholders have been blocked out from visiting the parks since June. But that's about to change. Many limited USH passes lift their blackout dates this week, and Disneyland's SoCal Select APs come back next Monday.
Which means, in Southern California, the return of kids to school also means the return of crowds to the parks — flipping the script from pretty much everywhere else in America. And with the wildly popular Disneyland Forever fireworks and Paint the Night parade closing on Sept. 5 (at least for a little while in the case of Paint the Night), look for the biggest crowds of the year on weekdays at the Disneyland Resort between Aug. 22 and Sept. 5.
But for local annual passholders, being at a crowded park beats not being able to visit at all.
Halloween is almost here
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party kicks off at the Magic Kingdom on Sept. 2 — that's less than three weeks away. HalloweenTime starts Sept. 9 at Disneyland, and Universal's Halloween Horror Nights starts Sept. 16 in Orlando and Hollywood. So we're just about a month away (or less!) from some of the most popular seasonal entertainment of the year. Pretty much every major regional park has something going for Halloween — extending the summer fun well into fall.
Don't forget the Food and Wine Festival
The 21st Epcot International Food and Wine Festival starts its record 62-day run on Sept. 14 this year, with more than 30 marketplaces serving food and drinks from around the world to park guests. Yeah, the place will get busy during the first few days of the festival, and on weekends throughout the run, but that's because this is one of those theme park traditional that fans circle on their calendars every year as a "don't miss."
Free dining at Disney World
If you're taking advantage of this offer, you had to have booked it weeks ago, but many Disney fans have made a tradition of taking advantage of Disney World's free Disney Dining Plan offer with qualifying vacation stays in late summer through fall at the resort. Fans can debate the value of the Disney Dining Plan over the years, but this deal's done a great job for the resort in bringing visitors during what used to be a sleepy time of the year for the resort's hotels.
It's worth noting that Disney is offering "bounceback" deals to resort visitors that include the free Disney Dining Plan offer on select weeks in the spring and summer next year. We'll see if that extend to the public offer for free dining next year or not. But for now, free dining remains a popular fall tradition at Disney World.
More attraction announcements
No matter where you live or whether the parks near you are staying open or not, you've got to be looking forward to all the new attraction announcements we will be hearing over the next few weeks. Six Flags usually rolls out its full line-up of new attractions for the chain in early September, and many other regional parks will be making attraction announcements over the next few weeks, as well. For Disney fans, the company just announced that Avatar director James Cameron will be introducing more details about the upcoming Pandora: The World of Avatar land at Disney's Animal Kingdom during the Destination D event at Disney World this November. So no matter what time of year it is, it's always a great time to talk about theme parks!
Got a question about theme parks? Robert's starting a mailbag column. Send your question/comment/conspiracy theories to themeparkinsider@gmail.com and we'll answer the best ones in an upcoming post.
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We will be at Universal Orlando for 3 nights and then spend a week on the Riverwalk in San Antonio.
Virtually all parks are closed everyday except Sat/Sun - and we are traveling on Sunday. At least Sea World was supposed to be open on Friday - Sep 2, but apparently this week they decided to close it that day. SO, many parks to go to, but open only 1 day, same day. So, NO I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT THE WINDING DOWN!
I'm visiting from NY the week of the 29th. That's not what I wanted to hear.
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