Crowds during October??

[domesticdiva]

Hey there
I posted earlier about October at FW this year and I read that it is VERY busy during Columbus Day and the fall break. We haven't made our ressies yet and am wondering if I should change our plans to avoid the crowds? When is the fall break? We were planning to go down from the 5th to the 17th but since our plans are tentative at this point, I'm wondering if we should reconsider our dates..hmmmm. Our last trip to Disney was in 2006 during Memorial Day and the parks were quite crowded I was hoping to avoid that this time. What do you all think?
Thanks in advance!!

 

[ntsammy5]

My kids have been out of college for years so I'm not sure about fall break time, but that seems early. Columbus Day weekend will be crowded, but other than that that October is generally not crowded. We've only been at the beginning of the month before though.

 

[2goofycampers]

fall break is different in each school district. the free dining plan is over by then. but any holiday weekend tends to be busier, so Columbus weekend will bring in extra folk.

 

[TheFlame]

Just from our experience, like I posted earlier, it was very crowded the whole week of Columbus Day last year. The Fort was full the week before we got there, the week we were there and the week we left.(we left a day early, on the Monday after Columbus Day, and even though I had just canceled Monday night on our way out, the guy behind me in line was told he would have to park his rig in the overflow until Tuesday morning because the campground was full and he could not check in a day early!) I didn't stick around to find out why he couldn't just have had my site for one night. I would have been furious!

As far as Fall break, our kids did not have Fall break until that next week, we just kept them out and went anyway hoping it wouldn't be crowded. We thought it would get crowded later in the month because of all of the school Fall breaks and Halloween and the party. We have found out that some schools start fall break in Sept. so you just can't predict the crowds that time of year. A few years ago it might have been a very off time to go but now the MNSSHP has become very popular. It runs from sometime in Sept. through the end of Oct. so I think that the whole month of Oct. has a tendency to be crowded now. It may be different this year with the economy and the price of gas!

You should not plan your trip around what I say or anyone else says. Go when you can or want to. I thought I did my research and read lots of advice on this board and others to go at an uncrowded time. In the end it didn't matter. We went at a great time and had a blast, it was just crowded!

Based on our trip a couple of months ago in January, there must not be an off time anymore. Go when you want and have a great time. At least it is not as crowded then as other major holidays and spring break!

 

[Tent Camping Mom]

I think everybody in our county goes to WDW during fall break. Our fall break is the first full week in October. When we were first given fall break (about 6 or 7 years ago) we went to WDW and there were no crowds, everything was practically a walk-on. Now with more schools adopting a fall break, there are definitely crowds during the first-second week of October.

 

[~Kristina~]

No fall break for us. We get Labor Day and that's it until Thanksgiving.

 

[MomofPirate&Mickey]

Seminole Co. Schools here in FL used to have the 1st or 2nd wk of October off, but then again, they started school at the beginning of August or end of July. That being said, the state passed a law that schools couldn't begin until no more than 2 wks before Labor Day. So now, we have a fall break during Thanksgiving. Since the kids were only in school for 3 days anyway, they now get that entire wk off. Oh yippee!!

 

[PanFanAL]

It looks like that may be where we are heading here in Alabama. It is good and bad. We both work for the school system. My wife is a teacher, so this was a good time for us to go on vacation. It is much harder for her to be off than me. And summers are so hot.

 

[TheGreatGonzo]

Just an FYI-
The Half-Term (holiday) dates for much of England's Schools this year appear to be during the last week of Oct. (10/27 - 10/31). This probably won't affect the Fort except for maby the cabins, since it's tuff to tow your Caravan on the route from England to WDW, but it could affect attendance at the parks. With a week off there are a large number of Britts who will go to WDW. I've noticed on many late Oct. trips in the past, I heard a lot of British accents. This holiday usually falls on one of the last two weeks of Oct.

 

[ntsammy5]

Yeah, it's easy to forget that Europe & South American vacations also impact the parks in big ways too.