How subjective are crowd levels

[javaonline]

How much creedence should be given to poster's estimates of crowd levels? Isnt it all subjective based on where you are, and what park you went to on a particular day?

I frankly dont know what to expect in October anymore. Ive heard anywhere from "we walked onto rides with no wait" to awful crowds that were on par with summer crowds.

I guess Ill prepare for a scale 10 day and hope that its less than that.

 

[KimWDW]

I think to a certain extent it can be subjective, but there are guidelines you can go by. If kids are out of school, it's going to be crowded. Holidays, crowded. Weekends, a little more crowded.

In October, I think the only real crowded time is Columbus Day weekend, but the crowd is nothing compared to summer.

I know what you mean about subjective. We went the 3rd week of October last year. I read a post here a while back where someone else was there too and said it was crowded. We thought it was empty! But, then again, we arrived at park opening every day, stayed away from EMH parks, used fastpass, and left the parks around 3pm every afternoon to swim. We walked on most rides and never waited longer than 15 minutes. So, was it empty or did our plan just work really well for us?

 

[Devil_Dog99]

While one person's 'walk onto everything' is another's 'wall to wall people', most of the crowd estimates you read here are accurate if you average them together for any given period.

That being said, October is probably both. It all depends on when in October you go. There is a PGA golf tournament in the middle of the month - more crowds. There are some South American tour groups that like October. Plus Disney is trying to push their convention facilities. October is a youneverknow type of month.

I would say your strategy is good. Have you checked the Unofficial Guide's calendar?? They give crowd estimates for every day of teh year at each of the parks. That might be helpful as well.

 

[javaonline]

While one person's 'walk onto everything' is another's 'wall to wall people', most of the crowd estimates you read here are accurate if you average them together for any given period.

That being said, October is probably both. It all depends on when in October you go. There is a PGA golf tournament in the middle of the month - more crowds. There are some South American tour groups that like October. Plus Disney is trying to push their convention facilities. October is a youneverknow type of month.

I would say your strategy is good. Have you checked the Unofficial Guide's calendar?? They give crowd estimates for every day of teh year at each of the parks. That might be helpful as well.

I made the arrangements while reading the UG. Most days are in the 5,6 range for the length of stay. Reading this board has me questioning that strategy.

 

[BlindTyldak]

Really the only way that you can really say for sure what a crowd level is is to try to find out how many people were in the park at a later time. :/ There's so many different factors that people don't account for all the time . . . example, one day in October our group split up in the MK. I followed the Unofficial touring plan at first, but later threw it out the window because it really didn't apply when you're going with a disabled person (way too long waiting at some places, much shorter at others, touring plans are pretty pointless when it comes down to the CM's, not the crowds). So I based my impression off of how crowded the walkways were. Couldn't move hardly at all. But my sister, touring at the other end of the park, said Adventureland was empty and the kids rode the carpets 3 times in a row at 11:30 AM. As for actual crowd levels that day, speaking to CM's at the end of the trip about the prior week, we were told they were the equivilent of mid-June due to hurricane reschedules throughout the whole time . . . but because we played with a plan, they seemed low to us some days and high others (pretty much mostly in the MK).

So even aside from the actual hard numbers, it's totally up to perspective, timing, and unknowable crowd patterns.

 

[donna in Oz]

We love October. I think your strategy of planning for the worst and hoping for the best is a good one.

We've made four trips in October, and each time we avoided the Columbus Day holiday week-end. Crowds were average, certainly not crowded but not "walk-ons", either.

The Food & Wine Festival tends to congest things a little, but the World Showcase seems to suffer most from that event.

Great weather, crowds are bearable . . . . we'll keep October on our list of favorite times to visit. At least, for now!!

 

[javaonline]

So the UG has the Saturday before Columbus Day (Oct 6th) in the MK rated as a 5...so that's where we were headed....would we be better off waiting til the tuesday after Columbus Day for MK to be at "5" again?

 

[KimWDW]

Do you have a park hopper? Saturday morning might not be bad because it's a travel day for so many. But I'd stay away from the MK that afternoon.

 

[javaonline]

Do you have a park hopper? Saturday morning might not be bad because it's a travel day for so many. But I'd stay away from the MK that afternoon.

MK stays open til 11 that day. We've got 2 young kids, so we're planning on being there at park opening, then leaving for naps and rest time, and coming back late afternoon/early evening.