DLR hotels sold out in October?!?

[jenhelgren]

I booked 6 nights at PPH for the third week of October last month and was hoping that we would be able to take advantage of a Disney Visa promotion or other discount at Disneyland Hotel or Grand Californian as the dates got closer. I checked our dates last night and both PPH and DLH are sold out already! I figured it might be a weekend thing since our dates have us checking in on a Sunday so I tried dates during the week only like Mon-Thurs, Tues-Fri, etc and both hotels still had no availability! Is it common for both hotels to sell out in October or is a sign that this October will be much more crowded than the past?

 

[iKristin]

What dates are you going? October is a busy month when it comes to off property and on property celebrations and events for different things

 

[tlovesdis]

I wouldn't be surprised if all three Disney hotels are sold out in October! October is one of the busiest months these days. Years ago it was a great time to go, but now it's just packed!

 

[Oswald23]

I can see dates available. But not for long timespans. But for 3 or 4 days midweeks there are rooms available. But I don't think they do discounts in ocotber.

 

[jammyjam25]

Gay Days is the first weekend in October and has special rates at all three on-site hotels extended all the way out through October 9 so if you're staying early in October that could be why. Later in the month is the charity walk, Columbus Day, Halloween, etc. that is drawing people to the park.

Edit: Just re-read your post and saw you mentioning the third week of October! Nevermind about the first part of my post!

 

[maltdizzy]

Been watching the room availability on-site slowly diminish for the dates we are traveling. They are booking up fast now that school calenders are set.

The best thing to do is book hotel only early and then get them to any promotional pricing later on. For some reason I keep putting off putting and now it's going to cost me $100 more (total) for a nicer room we don't need (but will enjoy none the less)

 

[Avery's mom]

We booked GCH for September 26-30 a several months back with tons of availability. Then, in July, I changed our dates to October 7-11 and there was still tons of availability. So, I have no idea what has happened between now and then to make the resort SO busy. Not only that, but the hours that have finally been released are crazy summer hours! Even DCA is open until midnight on Friday the 9th. I know that's to cover the overflow from DL because of the Halloween party that night - but I have never seen DCA open until midnight before! I was really hoping for shorter hours so we could take it a bit easier on this trip - but no luck.

 

[jenhelgren]

That was the reason I picked October also-the shorter hours make for a more relaxed trip. I was not planning on heavy crowds during the week in October-we avoided the actual week of Halloween and picked the week before because of all the MHP dates the week of 10/31 and I thought the parks would be busier but hotel availability is showing more the week of 10/24 than 10/18! Are we talking summer crowds? I might be changing our dates to January..lol!
Not that travel tendencies are anything alike at DLR and WDW but September is known as "slow" time at WDW and we found it to be the most crowded and miserable trip we have made to WDW the last week of September last year. Two years ago we visited WDW the week of Halloween and I expected at least MNSSHP to be crazy but the party we attended and the parks we extremely low crowds all week so we haven't had luck trying to be strategic and "plan around the busy times"

 

[Sherry E]

Regardless of how many people are in the parks, Disney still considers October to be part of the off season. Halloween Time is popular, but it's not as popular as the holiday season. The holiday season is peak season. Summer is peak season.

However, October has gotten increasingly busy and more crowded over the years. There is no getting around that fact.

This year you have to take into account the Diamond Anniversary festivities. Disney has cut its Halloween Time season down to a bare minimum, but it still advertising it as Halloween Time while keeping the focus on the Diamond Anniversary. Many people are flocking to the parks to see the Diamond Anniversary things, as they probably think the nighttime shows will end after this year (and they probably will not end after this year). The 60th Anniversary is pulling in a lot of people, so October will probably be even busier than usual. Many people will flock to DL to see whatever there is to see of Halloween Time.

Within any busy period of time you will likely find days that are less crowded or more manageable, but they are not always easy to predict. If you go in expecting that you will find extremely low crowds, you will be disappointed. Everyone tries to do the same thing -- avoid the times that are known to be extra busy, and they end up making the less busy times even more crowded!

A number of things can affect crowds (and hotel bookings), including weather and special events or festive seasons. There could even be events that we don't know about which are happening in Anaheim or nearby, and that could contribute to hotels being booked. Prior to last year we didn't know about RaverDay in December, for example, even though it has apparently been happening for years. We found out about RaverDay when a CM told another member of this forum that the hotels were booked on a certain December weekend, in part due to the RaverDay attendees (also in part due to other things too, but that was just one of the reasons).

 

[iKristin]

There's Gay Days, Halloween parties, CHOC walk, a conference weekend...it's a busy time

 

[Mjmdiva]

There is a conference weekend starting November 1. A lot of my coworkers and i are headed down early the last week of October. Our conference is at the Disneyland Hotel.