No resort availability 9/30-10/06

[guangs]

Is it normal for all disney resorts to have little to no availability the first week of october? I went to disneyworld.com and tried to book a room for 9/30-10/06 and there was only availability at POR. None of the other resorts had availability! Does that mean the parks will be crowded?

 

[RachelTori]

Is it normal for all disney resorts to have little to no availability the first week of october? I went to disneyworld.com and tried to book a room for 9/30-10/06 and there was only availability at POR. None of the other resorts had availability! Does that mean the parks will be crowded?

Yes, with the start of Food & Wine, they will probably be a bit crowded! You might try to adjust your dates - if there's even one night unavailable, you'll get the "no availability" message for the entire stay. Play with the dates, even break them into 2 separate ressies: try 9/30-10/2; 10/2-10/6 for example. Don't get discouraged - and don't give up!

HTH!!

 

[coliebird]

I believe that is also part of the free dining period. I'm sure a ton of people are taking advantage. Try to call Disney reservations rather than going on line, they might be able to help.

 

[guangs]

Thank you I will try that. I didn't realize the food and wine festival was that big a deal.....guess I was wrong.

 

[justKim]

Thank you I will try that. I didn't realize the food and wine festival was that big a deal.....guess I was wrong.

Yeah, me too. I was hoping for a nice quiet long weekend (you know, relatively quiet for WDW) and I completely forgot about F&W and MNSSHP. We will be at Boardwalk that weekend. Now you're scaring me with the idea of the resorts being packed.

 

[minnie61650]

MNSSHP(Mickey's No So Scary Halloween Party) also starts Septemper 30.
Good Luck.
Linda

 

[AaronandJessica]

MNSSHP(Mickey's No So Scary Halloween Party) also starts Septemper 30.
Good Luck.
Linda

I think it is like that because of the free ends ending that week!

Jessica

 

[cnaumann]

I think that October is a lot more crowded that the Unoffical Guide claims. Over the last several years, more and more school systems have been going to either year-round school or starting school in early August. Most of these school systems offer a 'Fall Break' either the first or second week of October. It it a given that when kids are not in school, the parks will be crowded.

I do not have enough experience to judge how many people are in a park, or what a really heavy day looks like. When we went to Disney two years ago in early October, the parks seemed very crowded. By 11:00am on several days, it was difficult to move around in the area between Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad (and Big Thunder Railroad was not even opened), and the waits for the major attractions were approaching 90 minutes. However, on other days, the crowds seemed fairly light.

The Unoffical Guide claims that the peak wait time for the first two weeks in October should be about 35-64 minutes, depending on the day of the week. I think they need to do more research.

The parks can handle enormous crowds, if the crowds are expected and Disney isn't in one of its woe-is-me, we-have-to-make-cutbacks moods. I think that Disney as well as the Unoffical guide are being a little slow to acknowledge the growing number of school systems that offer a Fall break, and they are not staffing the parks and extending the hours accordingly. There is nothing more frustrating than to stand in line for nearly an hour only to find that the ride is not loading at full capacity. Oh, I guess there is one thing more frustrating, it is having the park close at 6:00pm on top of that.

But don't take me too seriously; I have pre-vacation jitters. I am going to Orlando the first of October and I just know that the airlines are going to go bankrupt and won't honor any tickets and that they will not be flying anyway due to strikes and I will not able to find any gasoline if I drive and I will get stuck somewhere in the middle of Floridia where there is no electric power due to natural gas shortages and I will get hit by a Hurricane and we will not be able to go outside because of an encephalitis outbreak. And the parks are still crowded! (Which Disney Character am I?)

 

[TammyC]

Expedia shows rooms available at Yacht, Boardwalk, AKL, Saratoga, WL, FW, Dolphin and CBR. I like looking them up at Expedia because it will show you exactly which nights are sold out, and what categories are available. Choose "more search options", enter Lake Buena Vista as the city and put the word Disney in the hotel name box, and your results should include all the on-site hotels plus just a few more.

 

[vatmark]

I tend to think that the disney site only has so many rooms available to be booked through the site. I don't think it necessarily means there are no rooms left. But I could be wrong.

Annie

 

[HugsForEeyore]

But don't take me too seriously; I have pre-vacation jitters. I am going to Orlando the first of October and I just know that the airlines are going to go bankrupt and won't honor any tickets and that they will not be flying anyway due to strikes and I will not able to find any gasoline if I drive and I will get stuck somewhere in the middle of Floridia where there is no electric power due to natural gas shortages and I will get hit by a Hurricane and we will not be able to go outside because of an encephalitis outbreak. And the parks are still crowded! (Which Disney Character am I?)

I believe you are right about those Fall breaks. I know many who travel around Columbus Day since the kids are off, and others who travel around the Jewish Holidays when schools are off. I was originally booked the 3rd week of October, and when I had to move my dates to one day later, there was hardly a thing available, and only in king beds at one moderate. I changed my whole reservation to the 4th week of October, and almost every resort was available in all views/types.

So I agree that early/mid October has become far busier than prior years!

 

[princess mom of 4]

I am comforting myself with the assumption/hope that the Disney resorts might be booked solid due to the free dining, but the offsite hotels won't be, so the parks themselves might still be not too bad...sound logical?

 

[justKim]

I am comforting myself with the assumption/hope that the Disney resorts might be booked solid due to the free dining, but the offsite hotels won't be, so the parks themselves might still be not too bad...sound logical?

I like your thinking and I will pretend this is true whether it is or not!

 

[can'twait]

OK, you guys are scaring me now! I thought Mickey's Halloween party was not supposed to be scary?!

 

[Mom3X]

You guys are scaring me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We arrive on Oct. 2 & I was hoping for a not so crowded vacation. My kids have never been & I am pulling them out of school. Maybe I didn't research enough, but everything I read said Oct. was good to go. I have been 2x in June and it was miserable. Are we talking that kind of crowded? A ray of hope anyone?

 

[hiwaygal]

something else to consider...I know that the Poly is going through some renovations, and as this time of year is historically considered "slow", other resorts might be doing renovations too and that might affect the number of rooms available.

I also read somewhere that some of the Disney resorts were housing victims of Katrina, and that has probably had an effect on availability too.

Just some other things that might effect the rooms/resorts!

 

[cnaumann]

I am comforting myself with the assumption/hope that the Disney resorts might be booked solid due to the free dining, but the offsite hotels won't be, so the parks themselves might still be not too bad...sound logical?

I also tried booking a Hotel on Site at Universal for early October and got very limited room selections.

Even if it is only the Disney Hotels that are near capacity, you are still talking about nearly 30,000 rooms. (Ever wonder why extended magic hours don't work well?)


Just because it is sunny todays doesn't mean it won't rain tomorrow. --Eeyore

 

[SpectroMagic*o*]

I'm actually a little bummed about hearing how crowded the parks may be...me and my sis booked in sept-oct to try and get away from the crowds and take in all the little things we miss when we usually come during Spring Break. I just figured that it's the month that kids go back to school so parents arent just yet planning vacae's for them. Oh well, I guess I'll find out in 2 weeks!!!
ug:

 

[madge]

There are some problems with the Disney site right now, that might have an impact on resort choices.

I have no reason to doubt Len Testa and the crew at www.touringplans.com They have been right on the money with wait times for most of 2005, and adjusted their crowd predictions accordingly.

We have been every year in October since 1998, with the exception of 2001. We find the crowds very manageable during the week, and busier on the weekends. I wouldn't classify the crowds as June, mid-July, or Spring Break crowded at all.

 

[cnaumann]

I know that the Poly is going through some renovations, and as this time of year is historically considered "slow", other resorts might be doing renovations too and that might affect the number of rooms available.

I could understand this if a particular resort had no rooms when other resorts had plenty of rooms. I cannot believe that Disney would have enough room closed for renovations at all the resorts so that there were no Delux or Moderate rooms available.

I also read somewhere that some of the Disney resorts were housing victims of Katrina, and that has probably had an effect on availability too.

It is certainly possible that many people displaced by Katrina decided to go on vacation. However, how many people could afford an extended stay (early to mid October is 5-6 weeks after the storm) at a Disney Hotel?

While Disney may be offering free or discounted logding for some Hurricane victims during their slow season, I doubt that they would offer up so many room that they could not accomodate paying customers. (Corporations are funny that way.)