Least expensive week to visit in October

[abmitch01]

I plan to visit in Oct when it's cooler and the crowds have settled down. Anybody have an opinion on which is the cheapest week to go? Not interested in any of the Halloween extravaganzas, so that week can be avoided. TIA

 

[Marionnette]

I plan to visit in Oct when it's cooler and the crowds have settled down. Anybody have an opinion on which is the cheapest week to go? Not interested in any of the Halloween extravaganzas, so that week can be avoided. TIA

MNSSHP runs 3-4 nights per week beginning in September (so much for avoiding any week with a Halloween extravaganza). The Epcot Food & Wine Festival starts in late August and runs thru early November. The Gartner Symposium is in the middle of October and several schools now have a "fall break" that occurs in that month. October is anything BUT uncrowded. In fact, it's so popular that Disney doesn't even offer *free* dining during the month because they don't need to.

You may want to re-think going in October. But if that's your only choice, no one week will be cheaper than another. Tickets cost the same. Food costs the same. Hotels cost the same. Your airfare might be less expensive one week or another but overall, no one week has an advantage over any other when it comes to October.

 

[kristenrice]

Airfare in October is ridiculous this year. We are going October 19-26 and right now, our flights are almost $600 r/t from Grand Rapids. Fortunately, I bought our tickets quite a while ago and got them for $310, but I have never seen them this high, this far out. Last year, I paid $280 for the same week and $250 the year before. It's going up, but in the last three years, I have NEVER seen it over $500 unless it was a very last-minute fare. On the way down, there is only ONE flight that still has WGA fares left at $314 one-way...and there are 2 left! The rest of the WGA fares that day are SOLD OUT! On the day we are coming home, there is only ONE flight on SWA that is under $300 ONE-WAY ($264) and there are only 2 seats left at that price. Almost all of the WGA fares that day have less than 3 seats left too! So not only are those flights crazy expensive, they are popular too!

 

[Ben E N]

plan to visit in Oct when it's cooler and the crowds have settled down.

I think you will be surprised by how not settled down the crowds will be during that month. Some report it being worse than the summer.

 

[Lynn in MI]

I was there in October and there again this past weekend. Crowds were pretty much the same. The weather was a tad cooler in October but the crowds were no different. I'm flying from Detroit Oct. 20-28 and as @kristenrice said, the airfare is ridiculous this year.

 

[kristenrice]

I was there in October and there again this past weekend. Crowds were pretty much the same. The weather was a tad cooler in October but the crowds were no different. I'm flying from Detroit Oct. 20-28 and as @kristenrice said, the airfare is ridiculous this year.

I'll see you there!
We fly from GRR on Delta to Orlando but we connect in Detroit. My kids were laughing at me because we leave on a 5pm flight out of GRR and then we have a 2 hour layover at DTW. They said, "Mom, why don't we just DRIVE to Detroit...it's only 2 hours!" Well, it's more like 2.5 and if you hit traffic/construction/accident, it could get a lot longer. The non-stop leg from DTW leaves at 8pm and since the kids don't get out of school until 3pm, we would have to make the trip without any delays in order to get to the airport by 6pm. That's too close for my comfort...plus, it was $30 cheaper to fly out of GRR.

 

[straychicken]

We are going the first week of October (Sept 29 -Oct 6). We booked an agency offer but we could have gotten free dining with our check in date. We didn’t want the park hoppers and should come out ahead paying out of pocket. You could potentially still get free dining at certain resorts.

 

[wendow]

I plan to visit in Oct when it's cooler and the crowds have settled down. Anybody have an opinion on which is the cheapest week to go? Not interested in any of the Halloween extravaganzas, so that week can be avoided. TIA

It will be cooler but unfortunately, crowds won't have settled down at all in October. In fact, they will be going strong. October has become a very busy time at WDW. I don't think any week in October will be cheaper than another.

 

[abmitch01]

how is November (avoiding Thanksgiving) in Disney? Would that be a better time to go?

 

[wendow]

how is November (avoiding Thanksgiving) in Disney? Would that be a better time to go?

If you can work around Columbus Day and Thanksgiving, November will be better than October. The big problem with October is all the fall breaks the schools have now. All seem to be in October.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

Airfare in October is ridiculous this year. We are going October 19-26 and right now, our flights are almost $600 r/t from Grand Rapids. Fortunately, I bought our tickets quite a while ago and got them for $310, but I have never seen them this high, this far out. Last year, I paid $280 for the same week and $250 the year before. It's going up, but in the last three years, I have NEVER seen it over $500 unless it was a very last-minute fare. On the way down, there is only ONE flight that still has WGA fares left at $314 one-way...and there are 2 left! The rest of the WGA fares that day are SOLD OUT! On the day we are coming home, there is only ONE flight on SWA that is under $300 ONE-WAY ($264) and there are only 2 seats left at that price. Almost all of the WGA fares that day have less than 3 seats left too! So not only are those flights crazy expensive, they are popular too!

We are going a little earlier in October. We are also flying out of GR and I agree on prices! I booked the day they released our flights. Now my DS said he might want to bring a friend. I thought why not, then I went to check airfare, and it's over $600! So I said we can't afford that and his admission ticket! If we invite friend I don't want to ask them to pay. So we probably won't invite anyone.


We've had the best luck with crowds the week after thanksgiving. It's been a few years so that may have changed.

 

[kristenrice]

We are going a little earlier in October. We are also flying out of GR and I agree on prices! I booked the day they released our flights. Now my DS said he might want to bring a friend. I thought why not, then I went to check airfare, and it's over $600! So I said we can't afford that and his admission ticket! If we invite friend I don't want to ask them to pay. So we probably won't invite anyone.


We've had the best luck with crowds the week after thanksgiving. It's been a few years so that may have changed.

We are actually flying Delta out of GR. When SWA released their prices, they were over $300 o/w so I booked us on Delta for $162. Then, later in the afternoon, I looked at SWA again and they'd dropped to $147. It's OK, though, because the Delta flight gets us to Orlando at 10:30pm instead of almost midnight on the SWA flight. The extra $45 for the three of us is totally worth it! Our Delta flight is now up to $220 I think.

 

[abmitch01]

we decided firmly on November. Boy, I remember 20 yrs ago (the last time I went in October because I didn't have kids yet), October was a ghost town, it was great! Disney's just grown so much, there is no ghost town time anymore it seems. I'm hoping flights on Election Day will be cheap because people will want to be home to vote, so I'll absentee ballot it and fly away, lol

 

[Mickeypooh99]

We are actually flying Delta out of GR. When SWA released their prices, they were over $300 o/w so I booked us on Delta for $162. Then, later in the afternoon, I looked at SWA again and they'd dropped to $147. It's OK, though, because the Delta flight gets us to Orlando at 10:30pm instead of almost midnight on the SWA flight. The extra $45 for the three of us is totally worth it! Our Delta flight is now up to $220 I think.

I noticed the same thing with southwest. I booked tickets first thing in the morning, and then they dropped. I was able to modify them and get a refund. I'd definitely pay that much extra to arrive early. We are arriving at 11:30 PM. If we did delta we'd have to pay for at least 1 checked luggage. I usually like to bring 2, and not do carry on because it's easier. We definitely aren't getting the great flight deals we used to get with southwest. We used to drive to Detroit, but there is no significant savings now. I love GR airport, and we can have someone drop us off so no parking fees.

 

[kristenrice]

I noticed the same thing with southwest. I booked tickets first thing in the morning, and then they dropped. I was able to modify them and get a refund. I'd definitely pay that much extra to arrive early. We are arriving at 11:30 PM. If we did delta we'd have to pay for at least 1 checked luggage. I usually like to bring 2, and not do carry on because it's easier. We definitely aren't getting the great flight deals we used to get with southwest. We used to drive to Detroit, but there is no significant savings now. I love GR airport, and we can have someone drop us off so no parking fees.

We live about 4 miles from the GR airport and so it's super-convenient for us too. Even when we fly SWA, we don't need to check a bag, simply because we usually pack fairly light. Since we stay in a DVC room, I do laundry once or twice (depending on if we are in a studio or 1BR) so we get by with 3-4 outfits for a week. I order our toiletries (shaving cream, shampoo/conditioner, lotion, sunscreen, toothpaste,laundry detergent, etc) along with our groceries from AmazonPrimeNow so I don't need to pack them. I throw some small, sample sizes in our carry-ons, just in case. The way I figure it, I am buying the stuff anyways so instead of packing it and putting it in a bag that I have to check, I might as well pay the same amount and have it delivered to our resort. I hate dealing with extra luggage if I don't need it.

For this trip, we are flying home on SWA and since we are going to the Halloween party, the three of us will have a LOT of candy. I think I am going to need a checked bag for the way home so I am probably going to pay the $25 and check one on the way down too. It's not going to break the bank. We have (2) 20" spinners that can easily be used as carry-ons or we can check them. That's my only conundrum right now. I need to decide if I want to check one and pack it with some of the stuff that I would normally order, or if I want to just order the stuff and use it as a carry-on with just a lot less stuff in it.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

We live about 4 miles from the GR airport and so it's super-convenient for us too. Even when we fly SWA, we don't need to check a bag, simply because we usually pack fairly light. Since we stay in a DVC room, I do laundry once or twice (depending on if we are in a studio or 1BR) so we get by with 3-4 outfits for a week. I order our toiletries (shaving cream, shampoo/conditioner, lotion, sunscreen, toothpaste,laundry detergent, etc) along with our groceries from AmazonPrimeNow so I don't need to pack them. I throw some small, sample sizes in our carry-ons, just in case. The way I figure it, I am buying the stuff anyways so instead of packing it and putting it in a bag that I have to check, I might as well pay the same amount and have it delivered to our resort. I hate dealing with extra luggage if I don't need it.

For this trip, we are flying home on SWA and since we are going to the Halloween party, the three of us will have a LOT of candy. I think I am going to need a checked bag for the way home so I am probably going to pay the $25 and check one on the way down too. It's not going to break the bank. We have (2) 20" spinners that can easily be used as carry-ons or we can check them. That's my only conundrum right now. I need to decide if I want to check one and pack it with some of the stuff that I would normally order, or if I want to just order the stuff and use it as a carry-on with just a lot less stuff in it.

We are DVC owners too. I just pack way too much! I should probably stop doing that. I've never had stuff delivered. I keep thinking I'm going to try it. 4 miles is really close! We are about 20 miles. My husband used to work across the street by the Wendy's. He'd sometimes walk from work when going on business trips! Now his company moved down the road just on the other side of M37.

 

[Winchester24]

We are going in October for our honeymoon (2nd week). The comments on this post are scaring the daylights out of me. My fiancé and I haven't been in 20 yrs and he is nowhere near as much of a Disney fan as I am. If the crowds are as bad as everyone says I am really nervous he is going to hate it.

 

[Marionnette]

We are going in October for our honeymoon (2nd week). The comments on this post are scaring the daylights out of me. My fiancé and I haven't been in 20 yrs and he is nowhere near as much of a Disney fan as I am. If the crowds are as bad as everyone says I am really nervous he is going to hate it.

Crowds will be denser than you remember them being in October if you have visited there in the past. It's actually more crowded than the 4th of July!

However, that's not to say that you won't have an enjoyable visit. Avoid the Food & Wine Festival in Epcot on the weekends (crazy crowded and sloppy drunks). Make good use of FP+. Visit the MK on MNSSHP days (people without hoppers will avoid the park because it closes early to those not attending the party). Take the time for relaxing meals and romantic walks at your resort. I've been going in the fall for more years than I care to admit. Being flexible and willing to just go with the flow is essential, especially if you want your husband to agree to future visits!

 

[abmitch01]

I didn't mean to scare you! What if you try using the Touring Plans from the Unofficial Guide to WDW? I've gone during the kids' Feb and Spring Breaks when it is mobbed, using the Touring plans really cut down on time spent in line. I really like that book, everything you could ever possibly want to know about WDW plus fee apps for your phone to use in the park to guide you to rides with low lines, tell you which day at which park is least crowded, etc. For some reason I don't see that book mentioned much on here but I buy it every time I go.