Crowd levels Halloween weekend?

[goofyfordisney]

Hi all,

We are leaving on Friday for our 1st ever Halloween trip to DL!

Just wondering what kind of crowds we should expect?

TIA!

 

[Disney Dreams]

Well... let's put it this way:

I just read your post aloud to DH who replied without missing a beat a simple sentence that I would be banned from the DISBoards if I quoted word for word, but was very accurate. He does have a way with words... unfortunately, not always Disney-esque words (especially when relating to crowds).

So... let's just say...
I would expect it to be extremely crowded.

DH said he'd like a second shot: "Tell them to expect a boatload of people." And he means a very, very, very big boat.

Just go, have your "must see" list, expect the crowds, and roll with it. You'll be at Disneyland!

- Dreams (and her DH)

 

[jennine]

We just finished our 3 day tour of DLR this past Wed, Thur, Fri. Wednesday was slightly busy, Thursday was dead and Friday......OMG! Shoulder to shoulder people!!! I can't even imagine what it is like at Christmas or in the summer. Wow! We made some good use of park hopping and a few fast passes, but minimum ride wait times were 30 minutes for most and over an hour for others. We used our FP for Indy, were on our way to walk right on when it broke down. So our quick hop on turned into about 45 min!! Although it was well worth the wait!

Anyhow, if that gives you any help I'm glad!! Good luck and have fun!

 

[Krissy Marissy]

Weekends in oct have been insane! And that was without the big draw of it actually being Halloween. So I'd expect it to be pretty darn crowded. Thankfully for your sake it is going to be fairly cool this weekend. Get there ealry, collect fp's and get ready to ride the wave. Enjoy your trip!

 

[cccdisney]

We are going to be there this weekend also! We are driving down late on Wednesday and will be in the parks on Thur/Fri/Sat. Depending on how we feel we might go in for awhile on Sunday morning before driving home.

I am expecting HUGE CROWDS all three of those nights since DCA will be closed for the ToT party. But I am in high hopes that Thursday (before 5) will be much slower. Maybe I am just dreaming. We will be staying at GCH and plan on doing the MM on Thursday. Both parks don't even open until 10 am on Thursday so we don't even need to get up early!

We have been during very busy times and know how to deal with crowds. Get your FP's and go with the flow.

 

[Brady's Mom]

If you're staying at the GCH you can also use MM on Sat., too. That would give you some really nice - EARLY - touring hours when the park would be much less crowded.

DH and I were in DLR in mid-July and we LOVED the early mornings - we got the most stuff done and it was cool and uncrowded. Give it a try - it's worth it!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Hi all,

We are leaving on Friday for our 1st ever Halloween trip to DL!

Just wondering what kind of crowds we should expect?

TIA!

We will be 8 of the wall-to-wall people...except Friday night when we are at the trick or treat party!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I may be part of the wall of humanity on Saturday, maybe even for the Trick or Treat Party Friday night depending on how the week goes.

 

[cccdisney]

If you're staying at the GCH you can also use MM on Sat., too. That would give you some really nice - EARLY - touring hours when the park would be much less crowded.

DH and I were in DLR in mid-July and we LOVED the early mornings - we got the most stuff done and it was cool and uncrowded. Give it a try - it's worth it!

We plan to, but quite honestly it is so hard to get my family out the door that early! We might even try for Sunday morning since we gain an hour of sleep that night (change the clocks - fall back! )
We might even leave the parks at a decent hour on Halloween night (since I'm sure it will be a madhouse!) and try to get to bed early. Then with that extra hour . . . . maybe we will make it to the gates by 7am!

 

[goofyfordisney]

Thanks everyone...I guess if I could handle summer crowds and the week between Christmas and New Year's, I can handle anything, right??

We'll be going with the flow, for sure!

 

[Spacepest]

I got back from a week's vacation in Anaheim on Friday.

I have never seen Disney so crowded in October. We usually go the middle weeks of October. We ended up going to DL and DCA with park hoppers on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and could not believe the crowds. Very busy, and after 5 p.m., it was packed with wall to wall people. Also, Toontown and the Matterhorn ride were closed down for the fireworks.


My birthday was on the weekend and we skipped going on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, free ticket or not. It was simply too crowded. By noon we could see long lines in Downtown Disney to get into both parks, and from our hotel room saw bumper to bumper traffic in all the streets surrounding the parks! Weekends must be a zoo in there!

 

[Leshaface]

I've been at Disneyland for every holiday, except New Years Eve, and that was seriously the worst I've seen it!!

This seriously can not be all for the new changes (fireworks/spacemt) that have occurred, right??

My DH and I left the park every day around 11am to take a break from the crowds...DCA was never too bad, but DL was the worst!

Good luck!

 

[moviegal226]

Also take note that Friday October 30 is Nevada Day, an official state holiday here in Nevada. So lots of us take the opportunity to crowd into Disneyland Halloween weekend.

Last year is was almost unbearable - really bad lines for everything. The Haunted Mansion had a 2 hour + wait on Halloween night. Be prepared, but you can still have tons of fun!

 

[goofyfordisney]

Well...the crowds were much better than I expected! Don't get me wrong, it was very crowded...but, much better than other times that we've gone in the summer and the week between xmas and New Year's.

We were able to do everything that we wanted to do with the help of a few strategic fastpasses!

We had a great time--so glad that I finally went to see what it is like at Halloween.

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Well...the crowds were much better than I expected! Don't get me wrong, it was very crowded...but, much better than other times that we've gone in the summer and the week between xmas and New Year's.

We were able to do everything that we wanted to do with the help of a few strategic fastpasses!

We had a great time--so glad that I finally went to see what it is like at Halloween.

Let me know if you have any questions!

We were there too!!! I was pleasantly surprised on how little the crowds were. I would say there were definitely more people than last month, but no where near Xmas or summer crowds. The only time I felt crowded was at fireworks and F! on Halloween night.

 

[cccdisney]

We were there also! I didn't think the crowds were that bad during the day. We were there Thursday - Sunday Morning.
I just happened to be in the exact same spot on both Friday and Saturday night (near HMH) at 9pm when the first Fantasmic started. Friday was MUCH busier than Saturday night. Maybe because Southern CA's AP's were blocked out on Saturday? Maybe people just wanted to be home on Halloween? Thursday night wasn't too bad at all. We were able to get a bench to watch the fireworks at 6:30 (they were at 8pm that night).
We didn't do the ToT Party at DCA. But when checking into GCH the CM gave us info about the trick or treating they do at the resort hotels! That was fun! They had games, about 8 - 12 candy stations at each hotel, a cat walk at GCH to show off your costumes, etc. The best part - it was FREE! You did have to show your room key at every station though. It was strictly for the guests of the three Disney hotels.
Anyway, I would definitely go again on Halloween.

 

[TheZue]

We just got back as well. Most of our trips have been in May and I was honestly shocked how okay the crowds were after reading the board. The only thing we NEEDED a fast pass for was Space Mountain, the rest were just convienience. The only night that had the traffic guys out was Friday...that was enough for me.