October Crowds

Steamboat Marti

<marquee><font color=purple>Chick-In-Charge Wannab
Joined
Jun 27, 2005
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We are contemplating October 13 - 20 2018; search feature did not work! How are the crowds at this time?
 
October is usually very busy because of the not so scary halloween parties and the fact that locals go a lot more too because october is usually the first time in months where the weather gets somewhat cooler. But honestly these days it seems like disney is packed no matter what time of year you go except end of august/early september because parents don’t want to pull their kids out of school right when the new year starts.
 
Avoid Columbus Day and the weekend prior and I think you'll be fine. Avoid WS on Sat as Food&Wine attract crowds of locals. This is 'Our Time' and I find crowds to be the same or lighter than the first week in March which is when we used to go. CD and the weekend prior will be noticeably more jammed.

Bill From PA
 
Not *quite* spring break busy, but still VERY busy. Rope drop is your best friend. Steer clear of the federal holiday.
 

We will be there that week. We have been the 2 weeks after as well. Because of MNSSHP and Food and Wine it is busy, but not terrible. Avoid EPCOT Friday night and the weekends. We made the mistake of trying to go to EPCOT for a little while on the Saturday afternoon we arrived. BIG mistake! Never again.
 
Oct is busy. But manageable. As mentioned, avoid epcot Friday nights and the weekend. its nuts. If you go right when they open at 11am though, you'll be fine.

I love Oct and I love MNSSHP, as I've been quite a few times. But one thing I also dislike about both is that MK closes early at least four days in a week. Which means that MK is so packed on the non-party days. Ridiculously packed. :crowded::crowded::crowded:

Still, weather in Oct is soooo gorgeous. It makes everything so much more enjoyable when the weather is nice. :beach:
 
An additional thought, we stay at Board Walk and we'll hit WS on a Fri night. Usually we're not driven out by crowds but if we are, we're an easy stroll from BW or DHS. Also, we go hit WS on Sun which isn't as bad as Sat. Can't get enough of F&W and the concert series.

Bill From PA
 
An additional thought, we stay at Board Walk and we'll hit WS on a Fri night. Usually we're not driven out by crowds but if we are, we're an easy stroll from BW or DHS. Also, we go hit WS on Sun which isn't as bad as Sat. Can't get enough of F&W and the concert series.

Bill From PA
We did a split stay F&W October of '16, BC/BW.. We lucked out, booked right at 7 months.. Tried that again right at 7 Months, no way, nothing, still on waitlist. Impossible with HS Toy Story coming in now. Oh well, very content with our AKV/BLT split stay this year. SO looking forward to F&W!:dance3:
 
We are going to be there that same week. I am nervous about crowds because I heard there is a big convention that week this year (it isn't normally held that week)... called Gartner. Thousands of extra people will be there taking up resort space, etc. I think Gartner's dates this year are Oct 14-18. I honestly don't know how much this effects crowds in the parks, but like I said... it makes me nervous. I don't know what to expect with that factor, and I have no idea if crowd calendars have taken it into consideration.
 
We were there last October 10/25 -11/3. That week was nowhere near spring break busy. Crowds, but totally manageable.

That’s good to hear, we’re going October 20-27 this year and this is our first fall trip. We’re staying at the Poly and plan on rope dropping and taking breaks midday. I know there’s no real “slow” time anymore, but this is reassuring!
 
I think October continues to get busier each and every year. We were there the week of Columbus day in 2016 (left on the 14th) and it was really busy. So busy, we really didn't ride anything we didn't have a fastpass for. It's a Small World has almost a two hour wait. Not what I would call enjoyable. We're steering clear of October from now on due to our experience on that trip. But how busy it feels is very subjective, so you really have to go for yourself and find out. My advice would be to prepare for it to be busy, plan for it, and you'll be fine!
 
That’s good to hear, we’re going October 20-27 this year and this is our first fall trip. We’re staying at the Poly and plan on rope dropping and taking breaks midday. I know there’s no real “slow” time anymore, but this is reassuring!
We're going Oct 23-30 for our first fall trip! Doing 3 nights at Pop and 4 nights at Beach Club. I'm just expecting a lot of people so I can prepare myself mentally.
 
We will be there Oct 21-28 at BLT and I’m hoping it’s not spring break packed! Been in October once before but that was 7 years ago....I don’t remember it being terrible but things change :(
 
We are going to be staying at Port Orleans Riverside from Sept 26th - Oct 17th. Really can't wait to see the Halloween transformation, we have been in Disneyland Paris at Halloween before but this is our first trip to WDW at Halloween.
 


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