Just Got A Little More Excited!!

[rosie2283]

So I am 30 days out until DH and I surprise our kidlets with a trip Disneyland for their first time and all this talk about the crowds at Disney was making me nervous. So after checking the crowd calendars and reading post after post, I decided it probably wasnt going to be as bad as I thought. One bonus that I did find though is that October 6 (which is a Thursday) DL is showing hours of 8am-Midnight and to top it all off...FANTASMIC will be playing that night!! Yipee!! We are spending 8 days there and are planning to visit other parks in the area for the weekends (to avoid crowds) but were going to try to get back to DL on either Sat or Sun so the kids could see the show. Now, it is looking like I can avoid the DL and DCA crowds and still get to see FANTASMIC!! I just can't say it enough! I feel like I could just burst!

 

[aristocat65]

We'll be there around the same time as you, except we can only stay 2 nights this time. You're so lucky to be staying for 8 days! Have a wonderful trip

 

[ducky_love]

Can I share your happy dance?

A month out my DH finally said he wants to spend all 7 days at DL and I can plan whatever I want! I'm so happy!!

 

[Sherry E]

Not to be Debbie Downer, but just to kind of shed a different light on this so you will be prepared....

If Disneyland has a closing time of midnight on a Thursday in early October, it's because they are expecting big crowds! That's the Thursday leading into Columbus Day weekend, which will attract lots and lots of guests.

Aside from that, the first half of October is expected to be busier than the second half. Many of the hotel discount offers that were sent out by Disney Destinations did not cover the first 2 weeks of October. They only covered the second half of the month - again, another sign that DLR expects big crowds for the first 2 weeks, because they will not offer really good discounts for times when they expect really big crowds, and instead will send out the offers for times when they need to attract visitors.

Also, one of our DIS'ers - specialks - recently did a poll here on the DIS, asking when certain school breaks were going to happen. And the results of the poll clearly showed that many kids were going to be out of school in the first 2 weeks of October, more than the other poll options.

Again, please don't see this as my trying to put a damper on your excitement! You will have a great time anyway. It sounds like you will have plenty of time in the parks, though, so there will be lots of time to do everything that you want to do, crowds or no crowds! If you mentally prepare for crowds, you will be ready to deal with them if and when you should encounter them, and it won't seem so bad. I just wanted to make sure you knew the reasons why it probably will be crowded when you are there, at least for some of your days.

I guess I would just say that it probably won't be as bad as you originally thought it might be, crowd-wise, but it's also not going to be as uncrowded as you might be thinking it will be now.

 

[disneymom0104]

We will be there that week, too! So excited! I'm okay with a more crowds- most of the days we are there the park closes at 6-8 so I will be thrilled with one night that is midnight!

I am hoping the schedule isn't completed for eveything yet- Aladdin isn't listed at all yet- I was hoping to catch it at least once! Just a month to go

 

[larina]

8 days, how wonderful!!! You'll have a great time!

 

[rosie2283]

Not to be Debbie Downer, but just to kind of shed a different light on this so you will be prepared....

If Disneyland has a closing time of midnight on a Thursday in early October, it's because they are expecting big crowds! That's the Thursday leading into Columbus Day weekend, which will attract lots and lots of guests.

Aside from that, the first half of October is expected to be busier than the second half. Many of the hotel discount offers that were sent out by Disney Destinations did not cover the first 2 weeks of October. They only covered the second half of the month - again, another sign that DLR expects big crowds for the first 2 weeks, because they will not offer really good discounts for times when they expect really big crowds, and instead will send out the offers for times when they need to attract visitors.

Also, one of our DIS'ers - specialks - recently did a poll here on the DIS, asking when certain school breaks were going to happen. And the results of the poll clearly showed that many kids were going to be out of school in the first 2 weeks of October, more than the other poll options.

Again, please don't see this as my trying to put a damper on your excitement! You will have a great time anyway. It sounds like you will have plenty of time in the parks, though, so there will be lots of time to do everything that you want to do, crowds or no crowds! If you mentally prepare for crowds, you will be ready to deal with them if and when you should encounter them, and it won't seem so bad. I just wanted to make sure you knew the reasons why it probably will be crowded when you are there, at least for some of your days.

I guess I would just say that it probably won't be as bad as you originally thought it might be, crowd-wise, but it's also not going to be as uncrowded as you might be thinking it will be now.

Oh you're not being a downer at all!! I am prepared for crowds that week but, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think the crowds will be as bad as a Saturday in July?!

SHERRYE - what are your opinions on touringplans.com crowd calendars? I know you are a veteran and have visited multiple times. Do you think that they are close to being accurate?

 

[oumagic]

I have been researching that week (we are there 10/2 and leave 10/7). I am hoping that the late hours on Thursday are not due to expected high demand but because they are closing the park early 3 nights that week! It is closing at 6PM on Mon/Tues and 7PM on Friday (2 Halloween parties and a private event).

That is awesome that they are having F! on Thursday. I was hoping for a 2nd night of Fireworks as well, but it looks like fireworks will be on Sunday for us and F! on Thurs They don't have all of the showtimes posted yet. I am really hoping that Aladdin will play that week; it was on break when we were there last fall.

I am excited for our trip and am glad you are too! I am expecting it to be busier than the September week we went last year but not summertime-busy.

 

[rosie2283]

I too am hoping for Aladdin, but just being able to see Fantasmic! on the Thursday is bonus enough! We were not going to the parks on the 1st and 2nd and going to do Legoland and Universal on those days to avoid the higher crowds and spending the rest of the week at the park. I was expecting it to get busier as the week went on due to the long weekend but I think the late night Thurs is definitely going to help with that. I know it seems like the crowds are going to be higher than normal, but the DISboards is the only place I see that they are saying the crowds are going to be very high. Every other website is showing that the crowds are low to moderate. I guess we'll see, either way we are going to make the best of it!!