Best Dates To Go To DL In October

[Zena Wright]

We just came back from DL in December and had a blast, the Christmas decorations were fabulous. we are planning to go again in October.

When is the best time to go as far as crowds go and are the Halloween decorations up at that time?

Also are there any good shows or special events worth doing?

Please give any advice about going in October so I can start planning, I think I am addicted to the planning as much as I am addicted to DL, lol.

Thank you Zena Wright

 

[mariezp]

We used to go in October but it seems the month has gotten progressively more crowded so I am not really sure which would be the least crowded part of the month. Just guessing that the first week is when all the Halloween activities are starting to kick in so it might be a bit more crowded than mid October. I would also asume the last week might be busy with everyone trying to get in one last visit for Halloween festivities.

HM is up and running with it's NBC overlay by the first of the month. The park is pretty well in full Halloween decoration by the first of the month. Still too early to tell what might be down for refurbishment.

As far as events that might add to the crowds, here's what I found listed (from one of those other boards) on their calendar for last year:

October

Gay Days at Disneyland (unofficial event) Friday, October 5 through Sunday, October 7. Event attendance will be higher at Disneyland on Saturday, DCA on Sunday (link).
Mickey's Halloween Treat. October 5, 12, 19 and 26; 7:30 PM - 11:30 PM and October 4, 11, 18, 25, 29, 30, and 31; 6:30 PM - 10:30 PM Tickets are $39 per person if purchased the day of the event. $29 advance-purchase tickets currently available through the Disneyland Web site (click on the "tickets" link). $27 discounted tickets are currently available to Annual Passholders via the Disneyland Annual Passholder Web site, and to Disney's Vacation Club Members at the Disneyland Resort ticket booths.
MousePlanet night at Mickey's Halloween Treat (unofficial event) Friday, October 12. Join your fellow MousePlanet readers and MousePad members at Mickey's Halloween Treat to kick off MouseAdventure weekend. More information is available on our MousePad discussion boards. (Link)
MouseAdventure. Sunday, October 14. Registration is now closed.
CHOC/Disneyland Resort Walk in the Park Sunday, October 21 (link)
Nevada Day. Friday, October 26. All Nevada public schools closed to commemorate the admission of the state of Nevada into the union, possibly resulting in unusually high crowd levels at the Disneyland Resort. (link)
2007 UEA convention. October 29 to 30 (in Utah). Many Utah public schools close so teachers can attend the Utah Education Association convention, which creates a four-day weekend for the students. Expect the resort to be busy that weekend—some claim 'UEA' stands for 'Utah Escapes to Anaheim.' One reader has told us that his Utah school district is closed for a "Fall Break" October 11 – 15th, so crowds may be more dispersed throughout the month than in past years.



I do remember that weather is fantastic at that time of year. Hope you have a great time whenever you decide to go!

 

[Casey's Mommie]

We went last Oct 14-18th. It was crowded. A lot of schools in Arizona have a Fall Break in October. I think they ALL go to Disneyland. If I were to go again to see the Halloween Decorations I would go at the end of September. Last year they were up by Sep 21 I believe.

 

[mindylovesmickey]

Would it be just as busy right at halloween?

 

[mystic_path]

Honestly... I found the first week to be the best. It was probably the quietest you would get in Oct. Like others said above, there will be the Gay Days weekend, then the Mickey's halloween treat, as well as Fall break for students. The park will be very crowded for the remainder of the month. I did find that there were loads of characters out, and as for shows and such I am not sure if they increase some shows for the halloween season, but I still know they have their parades, Fantasmic, the Fire Works and the Aladdin musical.

 

[imjen]

My guess is the first week, before the gay days crowds hit, or the last week, after most of the school fall breaks. Utah's UEA this year is the 16-17. That always draws a lot of crowds. There are always a ton of different school breaks the 2nd and 3rd weeks. We went the week before Halloween last year and it was really quiet until Friday, when the crowds starting packing in. I'm guessing most weekends are this way, though.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

October is a crowded month these days. Seems like there are people who get lucky and hit a few days where it's not. But it's hit and miss. We went the week a few days after Gay Days and it was SLAMMED packed. One day we just gave up and went back to the hotel it was so bad.

A few year ago we went towards the end, probably the week before Halloween. It was crowded then too. As someone else said a lot of kids have Fall break during that month. I love all the halloween stuff, but we can't stand the crowds. Were planning on doing a November trip instead next time.

 

[Sally_fan]

I will be watching this thread because we are trying to plan an October trip this year as well. We have tenatively chosen a week but it's not set in stone. Thanks for posting this!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

We were there Sept. 21-24, Halloween Decorations were up from day 1 of our trip ~ lot's of Aussie's and New Zealander's but not bad at all and still a little too warm.

 

[Sally_fan]

Anyone have any idea as to when the Halloween decorations actually go up?
And a question for DisneyMomma81....was the Haunted Mansion the holiday version when you were there?
Thanks!

 

[Zena Wright]

Thank you everyone for your wonderful advice and info this really helps me with my planning. We loved Christmas and can't wait to see Halloween.

I guess if we go at the very end of Sept into the first week of Oct that should be somewhat safe but then again you can never predict crowds at DL, when we went this last time it was suppose to be value season and the crowds were suppose to be somewhat small but it was as busy as ever and when I asked a CM she said 2007 didn't seem to have a slow time, I guess that just means there's a whole lotta DL addicts like us out there, lol.

Thanks again everyone.


Aloha Zena

We just came back from DL in December and had a blast, the Christmas decorations were fabulous. we are planning to go again in October.

When is the best time to go as far as crowds go and are the Halloween decorations up at that time?

Also are there any good shows or special events worth doing?

Please give any advice about going in October so I can start planning, I think I am addicted to the planning as much as I am addicted to DL, lol.

Thank you Zena Wright

 

[kylieh]

We were there Sept. 21-24, Halloween Decorations were up from day 1 of our trip ~ lot's of Aussie's and New Zealander's but not bad at all and still a little too warm.

Our spring school holidays for 2008 (at least in NSW, ACT, SA, WA, NT, and New Zealand) are Monday 29 Sept to Friday 10 October inclusive. The states of Vic and Qld start 1 week earlier - Tasmania is early September.

During this 3 week period, and depending on the Aussie and Kiwi $$$, there will be approx 35-40,000 Aussie & Kiwi short-term visitors the USA, around 20,000 will be tourists, most of which will spend some time in Anaheim.

 

[lucysdad]

We're going to be there 10/4-10/10. We're WDW folks and this will be our first trip to DLR. We're coming just to see the Halloween decorations and NBC. I really wanted to go to WDW for the Halloween decorations, but it is soooo crowded in October now. We have friends who were at DLR at the same time in 2007 and loved it. It wasn't overly crowded at all. I hope we get that lucky because the crowds make me cranky and a cranky mom takes all the fun out of Disney!
Lucy's Mom

 

[disney-super-mom]

We've gone during the last week of October (usually the last 4-5 days of the month) the past two years, and have found the lines for rides to be very tolerable with an average wait of about 10 minutes. We went to Fantasyland on Halloween day afternoon, and didn't wait for any rides longer than 10 minutes except Peter Pan, and that was only about 15 minutes.

Many schools have fall break the second and third week of October, but if you go during the very last few days of the month, it's a very pleasant time to visit. We also went to Mickey's Halloween Party on Halloween night, and it was pretty fun. The lines for the rides were VERY short during the party, and we got a TONE of candy, but the lines to meet characters were rather long, so we didn't do too many of those.