June better than October?

[kkmcan]

After this past years huge October crowds and park closures, does anyone think that June (first week or two) will actually be less crowded than Oct?

We are trying to plan our 2010 DL trip and it comes down to early June or Oct 11-15. The crowds were unbelievable last Oct! I don't care to do that again so maybe June won't be so bad.....

But, there's the opening of WOC to think about.
Can anyone help me chooose?

Thanks,
Kelly

 

[azdisneylover]

Any way you can do both? Take a trip a mini trip for a couple of days, and a bigger trip for the next?
I think it would depend on what you would like to see and do, when to go. If you want to see the Halloween decorations, and go to the Halloween party, then go during October. Keep in mind the park hours for both months. I would think either month during the week would be less crowded. Have a great time planning!

 

[Sherry E]

Kelly - I hate to say it but I think WoC is going to affect crowds greatly all year long, as long as it is a novelty. On the one hand, it seems like the crowds would be out of control in June because that is closer to when WoC debuts, BUT since October at DLR has been a madhouse for the last two years anyway - because of the Halloween stuff - I suspect that October 2010 will be even more of a madhouse because of all the Halloweentime fans (unless DLR, for some reason, scales down the Halloweentime stuff this year, which I don't see happening) AND the WoC masses. I think October and probably the holiday season are going to be PACKED like we have never seen because of the holiday/WoC/tons of AP holders 'triple whammy'....until the economy gets a little better and people can plan vacations away from DLR and until the newness factor of WoC wears off.

So just to pick the lesser of two evils...at least June won't have any holidays attached to it that would significantly bring in crowds. I say go in June! Plus, the weather will likely be more pleasant in June, whereas in October it can sometimes be so hot.

 

[kkmcan]

Oh man this is such a hard choice! No way we could do both. We just got back from a huge WDW/DCL Christmas trip and we weren't even thinking we would be going to any Disney parks this year. But we were asked by some friends that we travel with a lot if we could do a Disney trip this year with them. And I'm not turning down a chance to go to Disney, that's for sure!

Dh complains about us going to DL again but he always looks forward to it as it gets closer and then gets really excited that we're going on vacation. He always has a good time.

Can't take the kids out of school anymore for vacations. It's just too hard now that they are older with the work load they have. So that's why it's down to early June which is right after school gets out or Oct which is our Fall school break.

If I could afford it, I'd book WDW for a week! The airfare kills it for us (from Az).

Thanks for the info Sherry.

 

[Mugglemama]

personally, if it were me, i'd definitely do early june as opposed to october. but i don't mind missing the halloween decor and activities. if you could do later june (after AP's are blocked) that would probably be even better.

of the last two trips we've made to DLR, one was mid August (Monday thru Friday), and the other was the last 2 days of september (a Monday and Tuesday). the september trip was so crowded that i really felt like we wasted our money on that visit. the august trip the year before was crowded, but it was still a lot more enjoyable.

 

[lulubelle]

I would go with mid June, too.
Don't forget all the grad nights and school groups that come in late May to early June. I've read on the boards that mid to late June was an ideal time for weather and crowds. At least for those who have to adhere to a childs school schedule.

Have fun planning!

 

[IBLarsen]

Wow, I have no actual input, but very interested in this thread! We went the first week of Oct this past year and it was SO very crowded as OP stated! I have avoided summer due to crowds, but it sounds like that if we survived last October that we may be ok to handle the summer crowds. That is just very suprising to me that the two time frames can even compare!
I'm not so afriad of summer now....

 

[Eeee-va]

Do YOU have any preference? I think they'll both be pretty darned busy but I don't know which will be worse--I don't think anyone knows that for sure. If your October dates are during fall breaks, I think even weekdays might be surprisingly crowded (I'd expect Columbus Day to be worse than normal). Then again, depending on how early you go in June, I'm not even sure about how even weekdays will be.

So in short, if there's one option that YOU (or your travel companions) prefer, I would probably just do that. (I found the park quite crowded in mid-to-late June (around Father's Day)...but that doesn't mean it was any better than October.)

If nothing else, I would think that World of Color will PROBABLY be easier to attend in October, barring early closures for Halloween parties...but there's not even any guarantee of that. And I would think that Disneyland may be busier in October, with the Halloweentime offerings drawing people to DL and perhaps fewer people devoting as much time to WoC, which would keep them off the rides. (Though rumors are that there will be a Fastpass-type system which would help people view the show without a wait, but would also keep people from waiting around for hours for the show, which means there might be considerably MORE people roaming the parks--I doubt too many people would come in at park opening to get their "Showpasses" and then go home until showtime.)

If I were YOU, I think I'd probably go for June, since it looks like you've never been around summer but you went for Halloween a couple times. But if you're going in early June, you may miss the regular summer things anyway (and might even have fairly early closings to contend with).

(If I were ME, I would go in October to be able to dress up at the Halloween party, though, because I never have. )

 

[DLR29]

Here's a question. Could you go in mid-July? or late July or even early August? My guess, based on last year's crowds and crowd predictions for this year, is that those time periods might actually be less crowded than June or October. Just a thought.

 

[kkmcan]

Hmmmm..... I haven't even thought of going in July. The one year we did June (2nd- 9th) it was pretty darn hot. So I assume July would be even hotter?

I always thought the mantra was to avoid summer months at all costs! Now, I can't believe I would even consider July. But it looks like things are changing and Oct is one of the worst times to go.

We've seen Halloweentime and the Trick or Treat party twice now so I don't need to see those. Mid Oct just happens to be a time when we can go because the kids are on fall break.

I'm thinking June will be better. Maybe the 2nd, or 3rd week because SoCal Ap's are blocked.

Thanks for all the responses!

 

[Sherry E]

Hmmmm..... I haven't even thought of going in July. The one year we did June (2nd- 9th) it was pretty darn hot. So I assume July would be even hotter?

I always thought the mantra was to avoid summer months at all costs! Now, I can't believe I would even consider July. But it looks like things are changing and Oct is one of the worst times to go.

We've seen Halloweentime and the Trick or Treat party twice now so I don't need to see those. Mid Oct just happens to be a time when we can go because the kids are on fall break.

I'm thinking June will be better. Maybe the 2nd, or 3rd week because SoCal Ap's are blocked.

Thanks for all the responses!

I really do think October will be worse than June in terms of crowds, so I think you are right to go then (especially in the first couple of weeks). It is a quadruple whammy - Halloweentime/AP Holders/various Fall breaks/World of Color crowds. June doesn't have that much stacked against it. This past October was so crowded, as you know (I witnessed it myself) just with the various Fall breaks, AP holders and Halloweentime fans. So add the WoC visitors on top of that and it sounds like a formula for a madhouse to me. But I do think that crowds will probably be bad all year to a degree because of WoC and the massive number of AP holders. It is just that the periods which were already crazy crowded (like October and December) will be that much worse. I don't think there is any way around that.