October crowds?

[DaisyJ]

Are you sure it is not midnight 30 days in advance? Our last visit was 2 years ago and it was midnight. Which means 6am in Germany, which is my normal get-up time so the first thing i do is try to get FP+ reservations.

Yes, I am sure. The booking window opens at 7am eastern time. Read the FP+ sticky at the top of this forum.

 

[DaisyJ]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/fastpass-frequently-asked-questions.3491680/#post-55337491

 

[CommanderXXL]

Ok, this seems to have changed since our last visit. That's not good for me . I still hope for a FoP FP+.

 

[Hopefully]

Like others have reported, we have gone in October for the last 12 years. Each and Every year was busier than the year before. Last October has been reported to be busier than last July.
It is busy.

 

[Farro]

I don't think anyone is being hyperbolic, but I completely agree everyone has a different idea. It's really about what you've seen before. if you've only seen it very crowded, it's not that much more or even less these days. but if you remember the 80s, then it's extremely crowded all the time.. It just depends on personal experience and it's hard to really qualify what you've seen or know. I personally use certain rides as the more crowded it gets, these rides that should have been replaced a long time ago sudden get very busy.

Oh, I have witnessed some hyperbole on these boards. It's natural to exaggerate to make a point.

 

[Farro]

Not a trace of hyperbole in my post. It is easy enough to look back at the MANY threads here about how crazy October crowds were.

I didn't mention your post specifically in my post.

 

[Delirium]

In 2016, we visited Disney twice. Once was a short 3 day trip starting on Memorial Day. the other was a 13 day trip starting October 1st through the 13th. The crowds were much larger Memorial Day week. While October has grown in popularity, and is busier than it used to be, some of the doomsday stuff you read on here is overblown. There was some weird stuff going on last year. The hurricane messed with a lot of schedules and made getting a meal at a food court at the resort virtually impossible. And, then the last few showings of the Electrical Parade occurred while we were there, so that brought in a lot of locals.

Is MK crowded on nights it's open late? Absolutely, because so many days it closes early because of the Halloween party. But, if you go there in the morning of a party date, then it's very manageable. With careful planning, utilizing rope drop and late nights, park-hopping, and a sound FP+ strategy, we were able to have virtual walk-ons on every attraction except Test Track (we chose Soarin and FEA as our Tier ones on our two primary Epcot days).

 

[Disneyfan101413]

We got married on Columbus day a couple of years go in Disney, and the wait times were not that bad. We were in the parks almost every single day as well. We were going to go in October this year, but decided to go earlier in the year! I would have loved to go in October which would have been great weather and what not! Not including the Not So Scary Halloween Party!

 

[SarahC97]

We went the last two weeks of October last year and I have to say...we'll never go in October again. it was so much more crowded than any of the crowd calendars predicted (easily twice as crowded every single day). I didn't have trouble getting the ADRs I wanted at 180 days, though. It was just that compared with the other years we had gone at that same time, it was really crowded. Without any discounts, it's just not worth it to us anymore to deal with the crowds.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

Yep - it's busy.

Food and Wine, Columbus Day (or Thanksgiving for Canadians), I think there's a marathon in there(?) and a lot of North American schools have a fall break and this includes post secondary schools in Canada. And don't forget Halloween season with its awesome decor and parties. The weather is a huge bonus as well.

It's busy.

I'm glad my DD has finished her schooling and now we can get back to early->mid November. I'm done with October.

Did I mention it's busy?

 

[Duck143]

We went October 2016 and it was insanely crowded. They even shut EPCOT off one Saturday because parking lots were full. The were routing people to other parks. We couldn't get to Via Napoli for our ADR that night. The weather was wonderful, but I think I will be planning for a different time of year next time.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Any suggestions on whether I should do the 10/6 Halloween party pre-cruise or wait and do either a MK day on 10/14 or the MNSSHP on 10/15? Or if it is miserable no matter what we can just skip the parks altogether and head home. We have done several MNSSHP in the past so I don't have a preference btwn that and doing a normal MK day. Just whatever will be least insane I guess.

 

[KimBean]

I think the reason you having a hard time finding ADR's is because of Free Dining. Even if the parks and resorts aren't full, if you go during Free Dining, the really good ADR's will be gone pretty quickly.

I have free dining and couldn't get reservations for 180+10 at 6am. Disney world is either going to be packed to gills Oct-Dec or disney hasn't released the usual amount of ADR's. I didnt even want anything too difficult.

Narcoosses was "booked" all of 12/3 but today magically has most times opened up. Keep looking and don't assume it is actually booked.

 

[Farro]

I have free dining and couldn't get reservations for 180+10 at 6am. Disney world is either going to be packed to gills Oct-Dec or disney hasn't released the usual amount of ADR's. I didnt even want anything too difficult.

Narcoosses was "booked" all of 12/3 but today magically has most times opened up. Keep looking and don't assume it is actually booked.

There is no free dining in October, except maybe the first few days? or not at all.

For what it's worth - we go 10/25-11/3 and we got all our dining for all 9 days, including Ohana and Be Our Guest lunch with no issues at all.

 

[Farro]

Any suggestions on whether I should do the 10/6 Halloween party pre-cruise or wait and do either a MK day on 10/14 or the MNSSHP on 10/15? Or if it is miserable no matter what we can just skip the parks altogether and head home. We have done several MNSSHP in the past so I don't have a preference btwn that and doing a normal MK day. Just whatever will be least insane I guess.

Really, please don't think it will be miserable, it won't be. Just crowds- with fast passes, rope drop, etc., it will be fine.
If you do a party it will be even better!

 

[KimBean]

There is no free dining in October, except maybe the first few days? or not at all.

For what it's worth - we go 10/25-11/3 and we got all our dining for all 9 days, including Ohana and Be Our Guest lunch with no issues at all.

I'm not sure why you quoted me here. I didn't say I had FD in October.

I replied to someone saying it's free Dining's fault. I was adding a hey I have free dining and couldn't get what I want either.

Yes, September has free dining and no real issues with ADRs there either. There is something afoot for the week after thanksgiving.

 

[Farro]

I'm not sure why you quoted me here. I didn't say I had FD in October.

I replied to someone saying it's free Dining's fault. I was adding a hey I have free dining and couldn't get what I want either.

Yes, September has free dining and no real issues with ADRs there either. There is something afoot for the week after thanksgiving.

The original post was about October, so I assumed that's what you were talking about.

 

[KimBean]

The original post was about October, so I assumed that's what you were talking about.

Yeah the OP had already been corrected that there was no FD in October. So no need for me to say it.

 

[Farro]

Yeah the OP had already been corrected that there was no FD in October. So no need for me to say it.

Okay.