Halloween week...how crazy is it?

[threeboysandagirl]

We are planning on our first fall trip and our first MNSSHP! I’m thinking the week of Halloween (10-27 to 11-3). How bad are the crowds in late October?

 

[mousehockey37]

Well, Food and Wine is going on as well, so it gets rather busy. Remember, there's no slow time in WDW anymore. Also, the parties that week will be the MOST expensive ones of the season. If you aren't booked by now, you'll have to get on it. Also, the parties that week WILL sell out. So make sure you nail down what you're doing and be ready to get the party tickets when they are released for sale.

 

[Disneyliscious]

We last went in 2015 and these boards had me thinking it was going to be a nightmare. There was talk of how bad the crowds had gotten in recent years. I was almost depressed going in to this.

But when we got to the party (3rd week of October, around the 25th I believe) it was AMAZING. We watched the parade (2nd one), fireworks, did the dessert party, rode BTMRR back to back 6 times, rode every other ride in the park that we wanted (except 7DMT) and had a BLAST! Party nights are great. Went to AK the next day at opening and was done in 3.5 hours, riding every ride in the park (no shows).

The one caveat during that time of year? Do NOT go to MK on a non party day. We did that and omg, every line was 120 mins+. THAT was the nightmare.

Edit: We planned our trip in June for October. We even got a reservation for 'Ohana.

 

[KCF1216]

I was there 10/31-11/3 last year. We just did 2 park days at MK and AK and then went on a cruise. We had previously been in April 2016. I thought the parks were much less crowded than April.
We stayed at Contemporary and they had a bunch of Halloween activities for kids during the afternoon and evening. We did MK before the party on 11/1 and around 5 there were a lot more people there but during the day it felt very uncrowded to us. We did AK 11/2, we hadn’t picked which park until that morning and were able to do pretty much everything but Pandora either standby or same day fast passes.
The weather was also great. I thought it was a great time of year to visit!

 

[kangamangus]

We went 10/29-11/6 in 2016 and it was one of our best trips! The weather was a little warmer then I thought it would be, but it didn’t bother us. We did MNSSHP on 10/31 and loved it! Followed a touring plan and got one of the best parade viewing spots. The crowds were very reasonable and although weekends with F and W were busy we just hopped somewhere else. We would definitely go again that week!

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

We went Oct 28th-Nov 5th last year and the crowds were not bad! I agree with others that there is no "slow" time at Disney any more, but the crowds were much less than our previous trip (the first weekend in May... cheerleaders everywhere).

The only time I felt the crowds was when we went to Epcot on Saturday November 4th. Holy moly I felt like a sardine in World Showcase. We were able to grab a last minute FP for Illuminations or we would've never found a decent spot to see the fireworks. It was crazy that the Food Booths had lines of over 50 people when we were able to walk up to all of the booths with no wait during the day on Halloween. Just avoid Epcot on the weekend during F&W!!!

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

We went last year 10/27-11/1. This was our first trip over Halloween. We loved it! Except a cold front came through, and we froze. We went to Epcot for lunch on Sunday and Monday, and the crowds were fine. I knew to avoid evenings on the weekends. We did MK on a non-party night, and it was pretty busy. I wanted to go though because we had never seen HEA. We did a dessert party to avoid some of the crowds around the hub during the show. The best part of going over Halloween was going over to Fort Wilderness Halloween night. People were in costumes and trick or treating. It was a great atmosphere!

 

[jerseygal]

In October this year, it will probably be NEXT to impossible to get reservations at either Boardwalk Inn, Beach Club Resort, Boardwalk Villas, or Beach Club Villas due to F&W popularity,combined with opening of Toy Story Land opening in June. Will TRY for Boardwalk Villa and Beach Club for our October trip at 7 months, but VERY VERY DOUBTFUL. LOVE being within walking distance of Epcot and HS, but we are thankful that we have reservations secured at Animal Kingdom Jambo, our "home". Very tranquil there, enjoy that aspect very much and really enjoy the Jambo Pool!

 

[threeboysandagirl]

We went 10/29-11/6 in 2016 and it was one of our best trips! The weather was a little warmer then I thought it would be, but it didn’t bother us. We did MNSSHP on 10/31 and loved it! Followed a touring plan and got one of the best parade viewing spots. The crowds were very reasonable and although weekends with F and W were busy we just hopped somewhere else. We would definitely go again that week!

I was thinking about doing MNSSHP on Halloween as well!

 

[NikkiDP]

There will be crowds but they will be manageable. We were just there for our honeymoon and would notice a surge in crowds in the afternoons so just make sure you take a break in the middle of the day. If you go to Epcot for Food & Wine, get to the WS at 11 exactly. We did the entire WS while stopping for food and drinks with no crowds. If you plan to go in the evenings be prepared for crowds. Nothing that was too crazy but there was definitely some congestion. We did MNSSHP twice, the Friday before Halloween and Halloween night. The price will be expensive and likely to sell out so once tickets go on sale I recommend buying pretty quickly. Both parties were crowded but again not unmanageable. Halloween was definitely worse and some of the lines for food and rides were a bit lengthy for reduced capacity but significantly better than a regular day in the park.

 

[disneylover102]

When we went in 2013, it really wasn’t bad. (We were there the 23-31) Epcot was busy because of the Food and Wine Festival and MK was busy on Saturday because of the weekend but the other days didn’t even have that many long lines.

 

[Farro]

We were there 10/25 to 11/3 last year.

It was a little more crowded than it used to be, but totally manageable.

Epcot during the days did not feel crowded at all throughout World Showcase and at night on weekdays was pleasant also. The smaller rides had less than 30 minute waits, and we just did rope drop for Test Track and fast passed Soarin - easy.

MK on party days was great. MK on non-party day was still great in the morning, we have pics of empty walkways, and not even too bad in the evening, but we did feel the crowds during the HEA show - like, can't move, shoulder to shoulder, almost made me crazy crowds - that was the only point in our trip that we felt annoyed. Day after Halloween felt empty! Sat right down on Main Street right when afternoon parade started - my avatar picture is from that day!

Animal Kingdom felt crowded in spots, but honestly with no fast passes we got on Everest, Dinosaur and Safari with waits under 30 minutes both days we were there. Love that park.

DHS - we only went on a Saturday for a few hours - it was fine, did not feel overly crowded.

We went to the party on a Thursday (10/26) - AMAZING!!! We walked on every ride, with only a 15 minute wait for Haunted Mansion. No lines for candy either!!!

Would definitely choose that week again if we were to go back again in October. But we've been in October a few times, so now we want to go in May. Plus we had a cold snap during this trip - ugh, that put a damper on things!

Overall, an excellent week to go to Disney!!!