October girls trip

[madame_jedi]

My mom, adult sister and I are thinking about going to DL for 5 days in late October during my sister's school break. The schedule would look something like this assuming the Halloween parties are Mon, Wed, Fri and assuming they are in DL. If the parties move to DCA we would switch party days to DL.

Mon Oct 23
Arrive mid day and go to the Halloween party

Tue Oct 24
DL

Wed Oct 25
DCA

Thur Oct 26
DCA or DL

Fri Oct 27
Half a day in one of the parks
Evening flight home

I have only been to DL once before and that was in June last year so I am not really sure what to expect from a fall trip. Here are the things I am curious about.

What is the weather like?

What are the crowds like? (I assume there will be some since it is close to Halloween)

Should we expect a lot of refurbs?

Should we get park hoppers? (We didn't park hop at all last June as we found there was lots to do in both parks. However, I'm wondering with the Halloween parties, if we will want to have them)

What are we missing in terms of shows since we will not be there on the weekend? Should we plan the trip to include one weekend day?

Is the Halloween party worth it for adults? My sister and I loved MNSSHP in WDW but I Know the fireworks get cancelled more in DL and since many of the special characters are out during the day I'm wondering if it's a good use of time and money. Should we put the money toward park hoppers instead?

I am a planner so I have already read lots of articles about the parties, weather, etc but I would love some first hand input.

Thanks guys!

 

[figment_jii]

What is the weather like?

It can be anything from super hot to cool (I haven't really experienced "cold" periods during this time, but there's always a first...)...personally, I'd bring layers in case you're there during a cooler than normal period.

What are the crowds like? (I assume there will be some since it is close to Halloween)

How late in October? A fair number of schools have breaks in October, so I would go expecting crowds. I don't think you'll be dealing with capacity-level crowds, but I wouldn't go expecting things to be walk-on either.

Should we expect a lot of refurbs?

There always seems to be something undergoing refurbishment. Most likely, depending on how late in October you're going, IaSW might be down getting it's Holiday overlay installed. Jungle Cruise may also be down (also getting a holiday overlay installed).

Should we get park hoppers? (We didn't park hop at all last June as we found there was lots to do in both parks. However, I'm wondering with the Halloween parties, if we will want to have them)

That's a tough call...I'm a big fan of park hoppers and always end up hopping at some point during the day.

What are we missing in terms of shows since we will not be there on the weekend? Should we plan the trip to include one weekend day?

At this point, we don't really know what F! schedule will be, but historically things like F! and fireworks are only presented on weekends (Fri to Sun, none on MHP). WoC is usually presented nightly.

Is the Halloween party worth it for adults? My sister and I loved MNSSHP in WDW but I Know the fireworks get cancelled more in DL and since many of the special characters are out during the day I'm wondering if it's a good use of time and money. Should we put the money toward park hoppers instead?

I really like the Halloween Party (there are rumors that it might move to DCA, but the DL website still lists the party as being at DL even after they updated the year on the website, so I'm hoping it'll stay in DL). Some of the characters are out during the day, but not all of them and not necessarily in the same costume. Mind you, everything and anything can change, but this was my comparison of the 2016 MHP and MNSSHP parties.

 

[madame_jedi]

Thanks that's helpful!

 

[PHXscuba]

I know I felt DCA was very crowded during a Friday MHP night in October last year, as there was nowhere else for people to go. As long as you adjust expectations (there are no more "dead" times), it shouldn't be too bad overall. Weekdays are generally a good choice.

I've done DLR with and without parkhopping, and I think if you have an MHP plus 3.5 days you could do without. Spend the first two full days one in each park, and then decide which park gets another full day and which a half based on what you got done or want to repeat. No idea what entertainment will be running until about 4-6 weeks ahead, which makes it hard to plan! I could see them offering Fantasmic more days this fall since it will just have reopened. Fireworks are the most likely event to be weekends-only, between the winds and the agreement with Anaheim not to run them all year every night.

PHXscuba

 

[madame_jedi]

Did you feel like DCA was only crowded at night or was it crowded all day on party days?