First week of October?

[poohluvr]

We are planning a trip to WDW Oct. 4-9. Has anyone gone at this time? Can anyone tell me what to expect?

 

[ainmama2001]

We are always there the first week in October. It's usually a nice light crowd level, but last year it was much busier. I think it was because it was the same time as the Food and Wine Festival.

 

[lfama]

We went last year from October 13th-15th. The crowd was moderate, it wasn't jam packed, but it wasn't empty, either; however, my parents went the week before us, which was Columbus Day Weekend, and they said it was packed and extremely hot. (The weather when we were there was not unbearably hot or anything, it was nice.)

 

[texhanddoc]

I have never been during this week, but I am going Oct 1 to 8 this year also. I think the feeling that I am getting is that Columbus Day weekend is busy due to it being a holiday and the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. However, "busy" may be relative. If you read the Unofficial Guide, it states that the crowd level on the first week of October ranges from 4 to 6 (10 being the highest like Christmas to New Years week). I had a friend go during the middle of October last year and stated it was an "ideal" time. I have also spoken to a number of disney CMs who stated that early October is their favorite time.

My impression is that with good planning and reasonable expectations, you will have a fantastic time no matter when you go.

 

[cobbler]

Busy and hot!! We went 10/1 - 10/8 last year. It wasn't horrible busy but busier than we are used to. Also quite warm, which I like but it made youngest ds a little cranky.

You might also have a good chance at rain. It rained everyday we were there last year. Not all the time but it did everyday. It is hurricane season after all

 

[joanchris]

We were there oct 8-15 and it was hotter than I had expected (seemed to run about 5 degrees over what weather.com said was "average"), except for, of course, the day we went to Blizzard Beach when it was cool! Parks seemed pretty busy to me, but I haven't been there in over 10 yrs......so I've got nothing to compare it to! We had very little rain when we were there, really only rained for a few hours one day, as we were leaving Blizzard Beach to go back to the room to rest for the halloween party...stopped raining by the time we got to MK at 4 pm

 

[MomofKatie]

We are always there the first week in October. It's usually a nice light crowd level, but last year it was much busier. I think it was because it was the same time as the Food and Wine Festival.

It was the last week of the "Free Dining" promotion (also the last few days of Value season). It was also the week leading up to Columbus Day, and the Jewish holidays. Lots of schools now get this week off for a Fall Break, as well. And, as you said, it was the first week of F&W Festival, as well as the first few Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Parties. All those things combined to make the first week of 10/05 busier than it usually was. We were there with everyone else, in the heat and humidity (and RAIN!!)- but it was still much less busy than summer or Christmas!

 

[poohluvr]

I went the last week of June, do you think it will be less crowded than it was then? It was crowded in June, but we handled it pretty well. We saw almost everything we planned on seeing.

 

[MomofKatie]

I went the last week of June, do you think it will be less crowded than it was then? It was crowded in June, but we handled it pretty well. We saw almost everything we planned on seeing.

Definitely MUCH less crowded than the end of June.

 

[imatoad]

We've been there Oct. '04 and '05, and going back this Oct., our favorite time. We were there for a short 2 nt. stay over Christmas this year, nothing will be as bad as that crowd, Christmas Eve day and night were just crazy, so Oct. will be a cakewalk.

 

[poohluvr]

Definitely MUCH less crowded than the end of June.

Thanks, that's exactly what I was hoping to hear!

 

[remfam5]

We were also there this past Oct. 8-14. We are from Oregon, so the weather to us was VERY HOT! I think it was 90% humidity. Also, I did a lot of researching prior to our trip, and thought that the crowds were quite large compared to what the guide books said. You definitely felt the crowds on the Columbus weekend!

 

[madge]

We are always there the first week in October. It's usually a nice light crowd level, but last year it was much busier. I think it was because it was the same time as the Food and Wine Festival.

Disney's "Free Dining" promotion caused an increase in the early October crowds last year. Several states across the South have a Fall Break, and if I am not mistaken, there is a Jewish holiday that falls in early October as well. All of those things, combined with the Food & Wine festival and MNSSHP, created large crowds.

the heat was miserable, too.

 

[danjoan14]

We went the first week of October in 2004. It was wonderful. It was hot, but very little crowds. In October of 2005, we tried Columbus day week (8th - 15th). That was a big mistake. The parks were busy all week due to the Fall Break for the southern schools. And it was hot......90 all week. But it's always going to be hot in Florida. This year we are not going to make the mistake of going during the Columbus Day week. We are planning the last full week in October (22nd - 29th). Hopefully we'll have better luck with the crowds this year.

 

[momfor4]

We are planning to go to WDW Sept. 30- Oct. 7 . That is the week before Columbus day- do you think that week is really busy too? Gosh, now i am wondering if we should change dates- but i wanted off-season rates and we actually will do parks sun to fri and leave on Saturday- so we wouldn't even be there for a full weekend! Does that sound crazy to do this with 4 kids ages 4-8??

 

[IwannaseeMickey]

We were there last year Oct. 1-7 and I thought some days were very crowded, not so much in the morning, but by 2pm, it was long lines everywhere. The weekends were bad as well. It was also HOT HOT HOT. I'm from teh south, and know what heat and humidity are and it was there 10fold.

I'd go again then, but I'd plan a little more on how to manage the parks.

 

[TikiGoddess]

We were there Oct 1-7. It was plenty hot, but I didn't think the crowds were bad at all. More than we expected, but we didn't really have to wait for much. We did MGM on a Sunday and walked on pretty much everything but RNR. There were people there, but it wasn't at all packed. MK was great on Tues. and Wed. and a little more crowded on Thurs. We did Epcot was the most crowded. Still the waits were like 20 min. and we walked on Figment and Universe of Energy as well as the Mexico ride. We also saw tons of characters there. The only ride w/a wait was Soarin of course. Be sure to get a FP early. We got one around 12:30 and they were gone by 1 we heard. We also did AK the day we left. We thought it seemed congested upon entry, but I think it was more the flow of the park. We didn't really stand in much of a line for anything there. I read these boards right before we left and was freaking out about it being crowded, but we a great time and felt the crowds were very manageable. Much better than summertime! The biggest surprise for us was how hot it still was! We're going back in Jan. only for the cooler weather.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

We went the first week of Oct. 2004 & loved it! We didn't need Fast Pass & were able to do A LOT! We did see an increase in the crowd levels starting on Thursday before Columbus Day. This year, we'll be getting there the Fri. before Columbus Day & staying through the 14th. Our Fall Break was moved back a week since '04.

 

[neworleans_ray]

we went the first weekend in october 2001 and the park was almost completely empty. however, this was a few weeks after 9/11. on several rides we didn't have to get off if we didn't want to.

 

[Ilovestitch]

We went this past October 28-31st. We had never been in October- WE LOVED IT!! Beautiful weather, low low crowds, loved the halloween decorations and MNSSHP, LOVED the Food & Wine Festival!

It was warm yet not too hot. Warm enough to swim, just a little chilly when you stood outside the water.

We will definitly be going in late October from now on.