Columbus Day Weekend 2020

[hcompton]

Planning a trip in October over Columbus Day weekend when my daughter has a fall break. We’ve always done Disney World the last week January for less crowds.

My question - how bad are the crowds that weekend (October 9-13)? Also, how much of an impact does Food & Wine have on Epcot? We typically get to the parks at RD and go back to room 3-5, have early dinner, then park hop after dinner.

Also, my daughter will be 12 and not interested in dressing up for the MNSSHP, but would it be worth getting tickets just to be able to ride more rides with less wait times & Halloween themed parades/fireworks?

 

[SaintsManiac]

It is one of the busiest times of year. It is also hot.

Avoid Epcot on Saturday night.

The Halloween parties are notoriously busy. I think if you have a good plan and follow the party thread on here you would have fun!

 

[CML's mom]

We went Columbus Day 2018. We knew it would be busy and went with the attitude that we wouldn't be able to do everything, but honestly it wasn't bad. Due to her days off, we only went to 3 parks. We managed quite well with our FP. We were surprised at how hot it was!

 

[MomOTwins]

Bad.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

We go that week every year, it’s our fall break as well. It is a busy time, each year it seems to get busier. That being said, it’s a great time to visit. As someone said I would choose another day other than Saturday to visit Epcot. Really busy that day. The weather is warm but doesn’t seem as humid. With a little planning it’s totally manageable. Have fun!

 

[hcompton]

Thanks for the feedback. We normally have a pretty good plan with FP, ADRs, etc and hoping to be able to hit most of what we want to do.

 

[marjorieeeee]

Because of my work schedule, lately I’ve only been going on holiday weekends, like Memorial Day and Labor Day. I’ve been able to get all of my favorites done, and eat good meals. I can’t imagine Columbus Day being much worse.

 

[emily nicole]

Used to be our go-to week every year. Got more and more crowded every year. 2017 was the last time. After experiencing 10/10 crowds at MK.... (per touring plans report of it afterwards) ... never again. We had a 45 minute wait for Figment on another day if that tells you anything! Summer is actually better than fall break these days.

 

[Darklord77]

We went last year Sun-Wed of Columbus Day weekend. Busy. Not Xmas jammed packed, but 8-9/10 at least. We didn't go to MK that trip so I can't report on crowd levels there. Epcot WS was busy as expected later in the evening. The wait at the food booths was really unpredictable. One time a booth would have a line 15 people deep. The next time you walk by it would be a ghost town. After the initial morning rush, SWGE crowds were not bad. However, that was prior to Rise of the Resistance opening. AK had normal to slightly high crowds in my opinion. We go during the Memorial Day holiday a lot. Columbus Day is busier.

 

[storey13]

We were planning on going this year 10/10 thru 10/19, but our school's fall break was push forward by 2 weeks due to a new Missouri law preventing public schools starting before the Missouri State Fair. So now we'll be going 10/24 through 11/1. I'm not sure if that is going to be better than the Columbus Day week or not. I am thinking so based on touring plans data, but we'll see. I've heard the Columbus Day weekend can be a bit busy, but I also heard that the weekdays aren't too bad after the holiday.

 

[SarahC97]

We went that week in 2016 and it was crazy -- on par with holiday weeks such as Thanksgiving in my experience. Plan well and you'll be just fine!

 

[WawaCoffee]

Looking to visit around the same time.. would the crowds for the week after the holiday (13th - 18th) be any better, or do the Columbus Day crowds linger throughout the week?