MNSSHP - October 3rd

[Memaw2Wm]

Just arrived back from our 5 day trip to WDW. Gee, I thought October brought moderate weather and low crowds ... I was WRONG!!!

I was seriously shocked by the crowds at WDW October 2-6 and the day time temps were in the 90's ... UGH!!!

MNSSHP on Sunday, Oct 3rd seemed really crowded to me ... people everywhere ... granted we walked onto TTA, Jungle Cruise and Splash Mtn ... but there was a 15-20 minute wait for the Haunted Mansion. There was a "walking" wait for Buzz ... maybe 10 minutes or so. I'd hate to be there when MNSSHP is sold out.

My grandson (9) wanted to ride the riverboat and hear the spooky tales ... we enjoyed the music by the Dapper Dans, but the spooky story wasn't all that great and the storyteller spoke in a terrible shrill "southern" accent ... according to my grandson he couldn't understand a word she said.

On our way into MK for MNSSHP we were "accosted" by a CM ... he was awfully chatty ... which I thought was kinda weird ... but then he asked if my granddaughter (7) and grandson wanted to be grand marshals in the 8PM parade!!! DGD said YES, DGS said NO!!!

So DGD ended up riding in a hay wagon with 7 other children, Donald, Daisy, Woody and Jessie. There was a second wagon with 6 other children (2 kids didn't show up). DGS really enjoyed the parade. We ended up watching both parades as DGD didn't get to see it the first go round.

 

[Minniespal]

Great report ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[Dreamer04]

That's great that DGD got to ride in the parade!

 

[luvmygirls]

Thanks for the trip report! How cool for your DGD!

You've made me a little nervous for next year now though! (1st trip to WDW, Oct 2-9, 2005)

I was hoping crowds would be moderate & that temps wouldn't be much higher than low 80's.. I guess when your going to the most magical place on earth you forget about those things though!

I'm curious, is Florida very humid, or just "hot"??

TIA!!
Shelly

 

[Memaw2Wm]

Humid and hot ... my sister was there last year for Columbus weekend ... it was hot then too ... even though that's "not normal".

We normally go the last week of August ... it's hot, but the crowds are smaller ... much smaller than I encountered this trip and not much hotter ... the evenings just didn't cool off.

I did enjoy MNSSHP and will probably go again in 2006 ... but I'll be better prepared for hot weather and larger crowds.

 

[dutton]

Hey memaw2Wm!! We were there that night also, and you totally summed up my feelings!! I too, was expecting moderate weather and low crowds but was definately surprised!! It was much hotter than I thought, and busier. We decided to not go again this time of the year for our next trip -- we prefer the 1st or 2nd week in December. I wanted to go when it was warm enough to swim, but I think I'll opt for smaller crowds, although several cm's said that 2 weeks ago it was dead. My parents went with us and couldn't handle being in the parks for long. We had a great time and I saw all the kids in the parade -- so cute!! We really loved the parade and wishes and had a good spot in front of the shooting gallery (which was closed - odd?) and watched wishes in fantasyland which was awesome!!

 

[Memaw2Wm]

Originally posted by dutton
Hey memaw2Wm!! We were there that night also, and you totally summed up my feelings!! I too, was expecting moderate weather and low crowds but was definately surprised!! It was much hotter than I thought, and busier.

Glad I'm not the only one that expected cooler weather and smaller crowds. We will probably go back in Oct 2006 to do MNSSHP again as Wm and Cissy had a great time ... I'll just be better prepared for heat and crowds.

We are however planning a trip the first or second week of Dec 2005 ... want to see Disney decorated for Christmas, go to MVMCP and miss the crowds ... bet the kids will swim even if it is a bit chilly, LOL!!!

There were a couple of conventions in town and someone mentioned that people might have rescheduled their vacation from Sept to Oct due to the hurricanes so that may have added to the crowds.

At any rate the kids enjoyed themselves and that's all that really matters!

 

[Twoears]

Hi there! We were at MNSSHP on the 3rd as well. I was terribly surprised by the crowds. We went this time last year and I don't remember it being as crowded. We had a good time, but I think we will skip it next year. We stayed at the Pop and it seemed VERY crowded. There were alot of workers staying there, it kinda took away from the magic.

 

[Memaw2Wm]

Originally posted by Twoears
Hi there! We were at MNSSHP on the 3rd as well. I was terribly surprised by the crowds. We went this time last year and I don't remember it being as crowded. We had a good time, but I think we will skip it next year. We stayed at the Pop and it seemed VERY crowded. There were alot of workers staying there, it kinda took away from the magic.

Yep, lots of people at Pop Century ... we stood in line to check-in on Saturday for 30+ minutes (we waited for a long time before I started to time the wait).

The CM who checked us in was very friendly ... unbelievably the line was even longer by the time we were checked in!

We were in Building A, 1950's section, room #1342 and were happy with our room ... pretty close to the food court and close to the parking lot ... although I have to admit we parked in the 60's section, rather than the 50's as it was right next to our building ... however I did park at the far end of the row.

There was an area along the sidewalk for unloading your luggage, but I noticed people appeared to be parking there, not just using the spaces to unload.

The grandkids LOVE the theming and want to stay there again.

 

[madhouserobey]

i was there on the 3rd also and thought it was crowded compare to rest of the parks .was there from9/25 to10/5 and that was the biggest crowd all week