Late October or Early November?

[JibberJabberer]

After doing a bit of searching on this forum, I've seen several posts indicating that late October gets pretty busy (at least later in the afternoons) due to the Halloween events in the evenings. I would not be interested in participating in these events.

I had previously been considering going to Orlando in late October and spending 8 days there as follows:
October 21 - 25 (Saturday - Wednesday): Disney
October 26 - 28 (Thursday - Saturday): Universal and Wet 'N Wild
This would be my second time at Disney (last visit was 7 years ago) and my first at Universal.

My plans are to stay on site at Disney until Wednesday and then transfer to a Universal resort on Wednesday night. So I would have FOTL access, but if possible I would like to take the regular queues at least once to see all the theming since it will be my first time at Universal.

Would I notice a significant reduction in crowds if I bumped my dates forward a week as follows:
October 28 - November 1 (Saturday - Wednesday): Disney
November 2 - 4 (Thursday - Saturday): Universal and Wet 'N' Wild

Or would the week after that be even better?

Early November seems to be the way to go, except for one major concern: Will it be too cold for the water parks and pools? I love water parks and being able to spend one day at a water park is very important to me. I'm not sure if I'd spend much time at the hotel pools, but with the earlier closing hours at that time of year it's a good possibility.

Any advice (or other things you can think of that I should be considering) would be greatly appreciated!

JibberJabberer

 

[damo]

Remember that the weeks around Halloween are very busy at Universal.

 

[JibberJabberer]

Remember that the weeks around Halloween are very busy at Universal.

LOL! Gee, thanks. That was kind of the point of the whole post. But I realize it was excessively long so I don't blame everybody for not reading it.

I've already pretty much made my decision anyway.

JibberJabberer

 

[Hug the Mouse]

We went in November 2003, around the 7th I think, and it was great. Walked on to most rides. I hate lie-ups so this was great.

Weather was pleasant but we didn't really do any waterparks/pools. We plan on returning this year Nov2-12th and spending 2 or three days at US/IOA.

 

[damo]

LOL! Gee, thanks. That was kind of the point of the whole post. But I realize it was excessively long so I don't blame everybody for not reading it.

I've already pretty much made my decision anyway.

JibberJabberer

Haha. I guess I just skipped over the first two lines didn't I? Sorry about that. I agree with your decision. It is a sound one.

 

[JibberJabberer]

We went in November 2003, around the 7th I think, and it was great. Walked on to most rides. I hate lie-ups so this was great.

Weather was pleasant but we didn't really do any waterparks/pools. We plan on returning this year Nov2-12th and spending 2 or three days at US/IOA.

Thanks, Hug the Mouse, I appreciate the input! I did some searching in the Disney forums as well but it seemed like nearly all of the November related threads dealt more with the Thanksgiving time frame. It's reassuring to hear from somebody who's been there earlier in the month. I figure I'll give it a try and, if the weather is especially cold and I can't make it to a water park, I'll survive! It's only one day, after all, and it's not like there's a shortage of things to do in Orlando. I'd rather have the lower crowds.

Damo, You, I'm not sure about... Just kidding! I appreciate the attempt to help.

JibberJabberer

 

[mulanrouge]

We were at IOA on November 1st last year. It was great. We went at 9am, and had done the whole park in about 2 hours, riding almost every ride. So we took our time going around the second time. We were able to ride every ride twice by 2pm. Low crowds, small lines and GREAT weather, absolutely perfect!!

 

[JibberJabberer]

We were at IOA on November 1st last year. It was great. We went at 9am, and had done the whole park in about 2 hours, riding almost every ride. So we took our time going around the second time. We were able to ride every ride twice by 2pm. Low crowds, small lines and GREAT weather, absolutely perfect!!

Thanks, Mulanrouge, that sounds great! I just booked my rooms for both Universal and Disney today, although I'll still be keeping an eye out for better deals as my dates get closer. Now for the fun part... planning what all I want to do while I'm there!

JibberJabberer