Do I need a park plan for next week?

[k-herm]

Is October quiet enough that we can do as we please park-wise? Are the quiet/busy day guides more applicable to the busy summer months?

I do have a plan [based around askdaisy.net] already, but it would be helpful if I knew that we could have more flexibility. As I see it at the moment, to get MK on the quietest day, we'll have been in Orlando for a week!

Also, I think that our first weekend is Columbus weekend. Will that have a big impact on attendances? And there's the Food and Wine at Epcot too.

Am I making too much of this planning? Should we just do what we want when we want?

Thanks.

 

[rosiejo]

oh no you're going to Disney you definitely need a plan! You at least need to decide which park you are going to on which day - if you don't you could end up missing one altogether!

Tell us a bit more about your trip - how many days?
where are you staying?
How many are travelling?
Adults or children?
Have you been before?
Are you doing universal/ sea world or just Disney?

That should do for starters

 

[k-herm]

Thanks for the offer of help rosiejo

Maybe I didn't word things well - I'm not actually looking for help making a plan [I have one already], I was just wondering to what extent Simon's guide to busy and quiet days applies at this time of year.

For instance, would a quiet day in July be busier than a busy day in October? Or, in October is there that much of a difference between a quiet and a busy day anyway?

The only reason I ask is that some of the trip reports from this time of year say how quiet things can be. If it is that quiet, then we can [for instance] go to MK on the Monday instead of waiting for Thursday, which is supposed to be a quieter day.

 

[Miffy2003]

I have never been in October, but from what I hear it is quiet pretty much all the time. Why not play it by ear, have your plan as back up, but start off doing what you fancy doing rather than planning it? Then if it is busy you have your plan to revert back to.

Have a great trip. October looks like an excellent time to go

 

[rosiejo]

Hello

It is probably relative - a quiet day in the height of summer is probably equivalent to a busy day in slow times.

HAve you looked at the unofficial guide? I think their website is www.touringplans.com as they give each time of year it's own rating so you don't have to worry about comparisons.

We went in November 03 and stuck to the quiet days and it was very quiet - we didn't queue for more than 10 minutes for any ride - apart from pooh, with a fastpass, 45 minutes!!! My DH2B will not let me live that one down... oh yeah we have no kids

I'm sure you'll have a great time - just don't forget to fastpass :0)

 

[disneyholic family]

we were there in september and didn't need a plan...we played it by ear..
but then again, we've been to WDW 30 times so it makes no difference to us what we do or don't do...

 

[wicket2005]

I stuck to a plan based on quieter days back in July and it worked out really well. We too had our MK day planned for later in the week.

What I did was to go to the park which had the quieter day according to my plan, then hop to another park that had a quieter or average type of day later on in the same day or if everyone wanted to visit a particular park we went there. We ended up hitting MK a lot earlier.

The main thing is to get what you want done in a particular park by going on the quieter days then hop out to another and just see what you can get done.

This site http://touringplans.com/BestDays.htm lists the best parks to go to on particular days which may be of some help to you.

October will be a quieter time than in peak July but Disney is always popular no matter what the time of year.

 

[disneyholic family]

as i said, we were just there 2 weeks ago, and while september is quieter than october, i can't imagine that october has much more of a crowd...
the parks in september were totally empty....especially compared to 2 months earlier when we were there in july (when you pretty much can't move for all the people in the park)...

in september we could just walk on to almost every ride.....and some rides we rode on several times in a row without getting off....we rode kali river rapids 5 times in a row without getting off....and we could have stayed on had we wanted to.....it was lots of fun.....we all stayed on together.....3 groups of people (that is, the 3 different groups didn't know each other before getting in the raft)....we pretty much stayed on until everyone was soaked to the bone....

at test track we rode 3 times without getting off...

we did have to get off at splash mountain, but the run around was through the short cut and there was no line at all...so as quickly as you could run around, you were on..

one thing to note, when the crowds are light, they don't run some of the fastpass machines...there were no FPs during the week for Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Kali River Rapids, Tough to be a Bug, etc. (they had them during the weekend)...

 

[wicket2005]

.especially compared to 2 months earlier when we were there in july (when you pretty much can't move for all the people in the park)...

It is amazing how people experience parks differently. We were in Orlando from 16th to 30th July and had no problems getting on rides at all and in some cases going straight back on them. We did get to the parks early and follow the quieter days suggested by Simon. I would say the biggest difference would be in the afternoons, we had done all the rides we wanted to by mid morning when the crowds started to come in. The parks were more crowded during the pm but certainly not to the point that you couldn't move around. The crowds were that managable that we booked to go the same time again.

In fact I was expecting huge crowds and lines but it simply wasn't the case but then I had planned well which I think makes all the difference.

 

[disneyholic family]

It is amazing how people experience parks differently. We were in Orlando from 16th to 30th July and had no problems getting on rides at all and in some cases going straight back on them. We did get to the parks early and follow the quieter days suggested by Simon. I would say the biggest difference would be in the afternoons, we had done all the rides we wanted to by mid morning when the crowds started to come in. The parks were more crowded during the pm but certainly not to the point that you couldn't move around. The crowds were that managable that we booked to go the same time again.

In fact I was expecting huge crowds and lines but it simply wasn't the case but then I had planned well which I think makes all the difference.

go in September and you'll see what i mean....yes it's POSSIBLE to avoid crowds in July, but it takes an effort (like getting there at opening, etc.)...
and we do that since we go every year in July (due to schedule constraints), but when you go at an uncrowded time (like september) you don't have to pay attention to when you're in the park....any time of day is EMPTY......totally and completely EMPTY....barely a soul around....at times it's almost too empty....

 

[disneyvillainlover]

I have never been in summer so my experience is the opposite... We always used to go around thanksgiving and into December.. once the TG weekend was over the parks were great no large crowds but we did notice an increase in numbers as the years went on.. went last year in October and made the mistake of going to the MK on what must have been a busy day as it was crawling.. 90 minutes waiting for Winnie the Pooh we arrived in Orlando on the 20th Oct. Even the locals were surprised how busy the MK was... but compared to summer this may have been quiet??? I think it is relative to what you are used to. I would use the evening EMHs if onsite and avoid the parks with Evening EMHs if offsite. the other parks were fine though .. just MK but this may have been due to no IASW as that ride does take a heck of a lot of people!!

Hope you have a great time. I think you will be able to be flexible

 

[wicket2005]

go in September and you'll see what i mean....yes it's POSSIBLE to avoid crowds in July, but it takes an effort (like getting there at opening, etc.)...
and we do that since we go every year in July (due to schedule constraints), but when you go at an uncrowded time (like september) you don't have to pay attention to when you're in the park....any time of day is EMPTY......totally and completely EMPTY....barely a soul around....at times it's almost too empty....

As soon as the kids have finished A levels and GCSEs, we will be FREE (yes!) to go whenever we want. We have been in February 3 times so do know what it is like going off peak.

 

[disneyholic family]

we went 3 times this year - July 10th to 24th, August 16th to August 28th, and September 9 to September 18th -- so we really had a chance to compare...

as you can imagine, it got progressively less crowded...August less than July, and September practically deserted...

 

[wicket2005]

we went 3 times this year - July 10th to 24th, August 16th to August 28th, and September 9 to September 18th -- so we really had a chance to compare...

as you can imagine, it got progressively less crowded...August less than July, and September practically deserted...

Thank you for reminding me again about your visits to Orlando. It is interesting to learn that in September Orlando is practically deserted. It makes you wonder how they manage to keep the parks running. Though in some of the recent September trip reports crowds have been reported.

As you say you are a frequent visiter to Orlando and, therefore, do not feel the need to do everything on your visits. However, for the vast majority of people these holidays are an once in a lifetime experience, it is therefore crucially important to plan to get the most out of your holiday.

 

[k-herm]

Thanks for all your replies. I certainly have a better feel of things now and will be more flexible with regards to following our plan.

 

[Shooby doo]

First of all I can safely say that Oct is definately different to Sept! Colombus weekend is just the same as you would expect a Bank holiday to be here!Also the closer that you get to our half term the busier it will be.Now I'm not describing Jun/Jul/Aug busy,but we would normally expect the last week in Sept to walk on most rides & 30-40 mins waiting on the biggies.1st week in Oct this may jump to 60 mins & by the 2nd/3rd week anything up to 90 mins.
We usually plan our days in advance but don't go as far as touring plans-in fact we are creatures of habit i.e. We always go clockwise from the top of Mainstreet when in MK.We do try to avoid the waterparks,US & IOA at the weekends as we have found that these can be really busy with the locals
HTH SD aw:

 

[disneyholic family]

We usually plan our days in advance but don't go as far as touring plans-in fact we are creatures of habit i.e. We always go clockwise from the top of Mainstreet when in MK.We do try to avoid the waterparks,US & IOA at the weekends as we have found that these can be really busy with the locals
HTH SD aw:

we also tend to begin with splash mountain and then back to adventureland, moving clockwise around the park..
one thing to keep in mind, regardless of crowd size, the fantasyland rides are always crowded....while in september we didn't use FPs on any of the rides we usually use them for (Splash, Space, etc - since they weren't operating for these anyway), we did use FPs for Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh....the FPs were working for these rides even during the most uncrowded times....while the standby line was shorter than in july (30 minutes vs. 90) there was a line that made using FPs important...

Thank you for reminding me again about your visits to Orlando. It is interesting to learn that in September Orlando is practically deserted. It makes you wonder how they manage to keep the parks running. Though in some of the recent September trip reports crowds have been reported.

As you say you are a frequent visiter to Orlando and, therefore, do not feel the need to do everything on your visits. However, for the vast majority of people these holidays are an once in a lifetime experience, it is therefore crucially important to plan to get the most out of your holiday.

nice post.....some people don't like to run their holidays like military operations......the original poster seemed to want to know that it was possible to actually relax and still enjoy the parks....while that's almost impossible to do in July, it is possible at other times of the year (e.g., second half of August, September, October, early December, and probably other times of the year, as well)....

by the way, regardless of frequent visits or not, i never feel it necessary to do "everything" on any of our holidays anywhere.....the point of a holiday for us is to enjoy being together as a family.....wherever we are, we do what we can and don't obsess over what we can't.....if i told you all the things we didn't see in london, you'd probably say that we never saw the city at all....nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves immensely....so was that a good holiday? a visit of a lifetime?....

i think that some people who visit Orlando actually don't enjoy themselves because they're so obsessed with doing and seeing everything there possibly is to do and see.....you see so many families who clearly are miserable as the parents push their kids to go go go go go.....the kids are hot and crying...the parents screaming about why aren't they enjoying themselves.....it's really sad....

some of our most memorable experiences are from the unplanned things.....sitting and having a drink and watching the world go by....the walt disney world go by that is......hopping on the monorail on a whim and riding round and round and chatting with whoever happens to get on....lots of interesting people......

and by the way, this was a lucky and unusual year...we normally only make it to WDW once a year (during our home visit to the states)....
the august and september visits were just my daughter and me....when we got back home (our expat 'home') at the end of july it turned out we had to be back in orlando on business.....so the two of us were so very lucky to 'have' to get back on a plane 2 weeks later and head back to the states for a 6 week trip that opened with the august trip to orlando......the week in WDW in september was unrelated to business.....but since the week right before that went so badly, we decided we needed one last treat, to end the trip on a proper high note....and so we headed back to orlando, for one last time before heading back home...
the trip with my daughter was certainly a trip of a lifetime and hardly ordinary.....


oh...one more thing....regarding the low crowds.....to give you an idea of how low, the Grand Floridian had only 19% occupancy when we were there in September......and that was despite the numerous conferences and conventions that were going on (and that by the way, is how they try to keep the parks and resorts going during off-peak times - conferences and conventions....and also by having much shorter hours and running the rides at much lower capacity ---for rides with two sides, only one side was working)...

 

[wicket2005]

nice post.....some people don't like to run their holidays like military operations......the original poster seemed to want to know that it was possible to actually relax and still enjoy the parks....while that's almost impossible to do in July, it is possible at other times of the year (e.g., second half of August, September, October, early December, and probably other times of the year, as well)....

by the way, regardless of frequent visits or not, i never feel it necessary to do "everything" on any of our holidays anywhere.....the point of a holiday for us is to enjoy being together as a family.....wherever we are, we do what we can and don't obsess over what we can't.....if i told you all the things we didn't see in london, you'd probably say that we never saw the city at all....nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves immensely....so was that a good holiday? a visit of a lifetime?....

i think that some people who visit Orlando actually don't enjoy themselves because they're so obsessed with doing and seeing everything there possibly is to do and see.....you see so many families who clearly are miserable as the parents push their kids to go go go go go.....the kids are hot and crying...the parents screaming about why aren't they enjoying themselves.....it's really sad....

Thank you. I would have to agree being together as a family is a top priority. We love being together whether it is a holiday in this country or one abroad. I think on a first visit to Orlando there is a definite need to 'do' everything especially if you don't know when you will be back hence the need to plan what you are doing, of course, not like a military operation but making sure you do get to do the things you specifically want to do.

As you have said in another post you have been 30+ times, we have only been fortunate to go 4 times. However, each and every time we have had a fantastic time but then we all get on well together and like doing the same things. I too have seen parents strugglying with screaming kids and I think it is important to know your family and know what it is capable of.

We did have a relaxing holiday in July because we did plan our visits around quieter days which is essential in July but also because we didn't need to do everything as we had already done it before which does make a difference. We just went on the rides everyone wanted to go on. We are also an extremely fit family, eating healthy and doing lots of sports together each week - this I feel helped us to be on the go from 7 am to 11 pm each day enjoying ourselves.

However, we are back next year and will will probably take it easier still because it will be our 5th time but we do enjoy being on the go all of the time, we are not the lying by the pool type of family.