October Mini-Trip

[Seeker615]

We have an opportunity to spend a few day in Orlando in October.
We have been trying to decide what we want to do for 3 nights. It would most likely be Oct 11-14.
Pricing everything out between Seaworld, Disney and Universal they run about the same.
I was leaning toward Disney as we have not visited the parks other then the Magic Kingdom in many years. I was pretty excited until I heard that the parks are super crowded in October. This really put a huge damper on going there now.
Can anyone enlighten me on how bad it can be or will we be okay? I don't want to go if it is going to be super crazy. We are in our 50's and my husband has no patience for super crowds and extra long lines everywhere.

 

[ghtx]

October is not the busiest time of the year. But, it is busy and crowded more or less year-round. There will still be long waits for the headliner rides, etc. But, you will still have a great time. You should go!

 

[loves to dive]

I will be some what crowded but manageable. If you do your 3 FPs you shouldn't have to wait in very long lines and I'm assuming you might not want to do the kids rides at MK anyway. Oct. will still have F&W going on at Epcot and it's worth a day there just to browse around the food booths.

 

[glocon]

If you went to mk for mnsshp, you could go probably from 4pm to maybe midnight depending on the day. Lots of people do the characters and trick or treating and dance parties, so ride lines should be shorter. And then you could see the cool Halloween parade too!
Then spend time at Epcot for f&w, and maybe a day at ak for Pandora.

 

[ArielSRL]

We are getting a small break this year in October so we are going down for just the Halloween party and a day at DHS for TSL.

 

[Seeker615]

Thanks - That sounds more hopeful. If we miss a few attractions here and there it is not a huge deal but there are a few we want to see for sure. I don't have any issues with fast pass and being it is the two of us we can manage more easily then having kids along.
I have been getting mixed reviews on going this time of year. Some people were like "avoid it" and it is super crowded!

 

[gharter]

We were there the 3rd week last year.
The weekends are very crowded at EPCOT due to Food and Wine.
During the week, the parks weren't too bad.
MNSSHP is hit or miss. I've read some night are not very crowded. The night we went last year was packed. the shortest wait at 7DMT was 45 minutes and the character meet and greets were long as well.
some rides had very short lines. As we were not doing meet and greets, I was happy to see lots of people in those lines.
The parade, stage show and fireworks were great.

 

[juuuliebeth]

My biggest suggestion is to go to MK on party dates, as that's when the crowds will be the lowest. If you need to see the fireworks, come back on a separate night, so you don't have to deal with the crowds all day. Non-party days at MK can be tough. I have done the party twice and don't feel the need to go again, at least for a while. They can be annoying to plan around, but I still try and take advantage of them in a different way.

 

[Seeker615]

Yes - I can get a discount ticket from the conference for the party so we might do that.
My biggest concern is being in a bottleneck crowd at any of the parks. My husband has no patience for that. If we miss a ride no biggie!

 

[KelNChrisKYDis]

We were there Oct 17-22nd last year, it was not bad. It was more crowded than I expected, but it was very manageable. It was also a lot hotter than I expected, too. Positive... it only rained once, for about 10 minutes, the entire trip. I know that time of year can be dicey.

 

[Seeker615]

We are still discussing this possibility. I think we will do the Halloween Party for sure. We can easily do it one evening after my conference. 3 days anywhere in Orlando is not cheap!