Vacation advice

[twinmomplus2new]

Looking for some feedback here.... I have ap's for all of us That I will activate December 5th so they will expire December 5th 05. Heres my question..... I was planning on doing the last week of October at MNSSHP and getting my Disney hater Dad to The Boardwalk with us for 3-4 days. After reading some of the recent trip reports of people coming back from this, They all seem to be saying it's fairly crowded..This will be my 2nd year in a row going December 5th through the 12th. I love this time of year!

If crowds and accessibility are hot topics for me, should I stick with December next year. or go for October as I had originally planned ahead for? Any advice?

[Happy Birthday Cat]

I would suggest going a little earlier and taking advantage of the AP's. While the holidays are a great time to visit WDW, so is the Halloween season. But if you are worried about the crowds and still want to use your AP's, what about going at the end of November and making December 5 the last day of the trip? Next year Thanksgiving is the 24th so you could still get in a good trip after Thanksgiving and ending around the 5th.

I'm sure whatever you do will be enjoyable but not having to buy AP's next year will make it all the more fun.

HBC

[poohj80]

Our local schools get a Fall Break which is usually the 2nd and 3rd week of Oct (depending on school system) and a ton of those families went to WDW this year (I know because so many co-workers asked me for advice when planning trips). They said the parks were fairly crowded during this time so I assume other states have Fall Break as well. Also, the F&W festival will be going on. We went the first week of Oct this year to do MNSSHP and crowds were fairly light.

[Granny]

I think HBC had a great suggestion. If your Dad is a Disney-hater, at least I hope he's not a Holiday-hater! The decorations, as you have seen, make the setting all that much nicer at that time of year.

But I'd try to take advantage of the AP's if at all possible...too expensive for just one trip!

Good luck!

[laceemouse]

Please remember that the hurricanes this year may have added to the October attendance as so many folks had to re-schedule. I don't know very many places that have fall breaks, it is really only in the south where schools start so much earlier in August. No one up here has a fall break, one more reason I beg DH daily to let us move back south Only have to get the job offer and we are gone LOL. Anyway, your family may love F&W, I would love to try it some day! Also, October is warmer and nicer for swimming, which our family loves at WDW.

[twinmomplus2new]

I really, really wnted to take advantage of my Ap's for a longer stay. So October would be the ideal time. However the crowds. I never thought about going closer to the beginning of October, maybe thats a thing to consider. I better make up my mind soon, that 11 month window is nearly upon us!

As for my Dad, he hasn't been to Disney since 1992? And before that NEVER. He never went when we were kids. Anyway he went on a staurday before Christmas after driving from Longboat key. ( I heard from my stepmom. That It was so crowded they couldn't move and he hated every second of it.) And then drove back to Longboat key.

I just think If we get him to the Boardwalk and he could stroll over to epcot and be there when it wasn't insane we may actually convert him.

It's a misson in life I must Convert all my familial Disney haters, so far I have been pretty successful!

[kda]

If you end up going during F&W, avoid the weekend at Epcot.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally posted by twinmomplus2new
Looking for some feedback here.... I have ap's for all of us That I will activate December 5th so they will expire December 5th 05. Heres my question..... I was planning on doing the last week of October at MNSSHP and getting my Disney hater Dad to The Boardwalk with us for 3-4 days. After reading some of the recent trip reports of people coming back from this, They all seem to be saying it's fairly crowded..This will be my 2nd year in a row going December 5th through the 12th. I love this time of year!

If crowds and accessibility are hot topics for me, should I stick with December next year. or go for October as I had originally planned ahead for? Any advice?

With the exception of Saturdays, I didn't have a problem with the crowds during the end of October. I was there Oct. 20 - 29. THe only rides where I needed fastpass were Test Track, Space Mountain, and Splash Mountain really. Sometimes Buzz Lightyear and Big Thunder needed it too but, not really. Peter Pan and I think Pooh needed it too but, I waited until MNSSHP to do those. I had toured SSR with my guide when I was there and he gave me some of those anytime fastpasses and I actually had a bit of a tough time using them.
If you go to MNSSHP, you'll still be fine with all the rides. I went on 10/24 and 10/26. The longest waits I had was about 5 minutes for Peter Pan and 10 minutes for Space Mountain. THe only reason why Space Mountain was that long was that it was around 11:30 and they had already closed one side. Everything else was a walk on for us.
While it may have been more crowded than previous Octobers (I dunno since I've never gone in October before), the reports of crowds have been exaggerated IMO.