October trip! Yay?

[klitteral2009]

So we have been going to WDW for 2 years now (I know, still babies on these boards!) and have gone in January. The last week. We love that time of year and all that it offers. Low crowds, affordable prices, decent weather (although this past January we had a few nasty cold rainy days). We can't wait a whole year to go back so inthink we've decided to go the first week of October. Has anyone had a similar experience? I know Josh predicts 4's and 5's mostly as far as crowds go, but are those still quite manageable? We're mostly a RD family and our kids are really flexible as far as what we do so there are very few MUST DO rides, especially since we've already been once this year. I guess I just wanted some insight on this time of year overall. I do know that EPCOT crowds soar because of food and wine but I doubt well have much trouble as we will only be there 4 days and only spending time in EPCOT one day, whichever day is predicted to be lowest. Any help is appreciated!

Also we loved MM+ and the 3 FP worked well for us.

 

[weswife]

Hello!

We are October fans! We have went in Oct. the last 2 years, we always went in April. WE love love love Oct!!!

2012 we went the first 2 weeks of Oct., the weather was beautiful. Sunny and hot! Just a little rain in the afternoon a few times. We found the parks not to be crowed compared to our past trips in April and May.

2013 We went the last 2 weeks of Oct. It was warm and sunny. We did find it rained every afternoon on this trip. The rain did not last long and was not cold. Crowds were very manageable!

This year we are returning the last week of Oct and into Nov! We have enjoyed the MNSHP! It was a blast last year! I hope to maybe see a glimpse of the Christmas decorations.

Have fun planning your trip!

 

[wdw4rfam]

We like October too. We are booked in September this year, in hopes of FD. But if that doesn't happen our default dates are October 23-nov2. We like the crowd levels in September and the FD if its offered. But if the price ends up close depending on discounts, I'd rather go in October for weather.

 

[iheartMagicKingdom]

We love October. We gave been going every October for the past 5 years. And we will be there again the last week of October. Love...Love...Love

 

[set1208]

We get the MNSSHP tix for one day instead of a park tix which saves us a few dollars. We go to the parties with the intentions of getting in all the great rides because of the super short lines. We don't care about the parades or fireworks or the long character lines. We blew through the park so fast last year. It was great. We had a relaxing day by the pool, a late lunch then got in right at 4 and the kids made it until 11-11:30.

 

[klitteral2009]

We get the MNSSHP tix for one day instead of a park tix which saves us a few dollars. We go to the parties with the intentions of getting in all the great rides because of the super short lines. We don't care about the parades or fireworks or the long character lines. We blew through the park so fast last year. It was great. We had a relaxing day by the pool, a late lunch then got in right at 4 and the kids made it until 11-11:30.

I had considered doing this but wasn't sure how crowded the parties were. I had read several places here on the DIS that they seemed to oversell the parties and there were wall to wall people.

 

[weswife]

We went to MNSHP last year on Oct 28! It was not crowded at all. We went to each candy spot and still had lots of time for rides! We went to the second parade as it was less crowded and while families were enjoying the parade the ride lines were shorter! We enjoyed the party it was worth the $$

 

[pooh4evr]

We were there last October 9-18th . The weather was great. We were surprised at the crowds, we were there in 2011 too, and the crowds were far less that trip. We dd have MB, and FP+ this trip, and used them well. We hated the party, it is a never again for our family. We had high hopes, I read everything on easywdw and here to prepare for the evening, but it was awful. Lines for candy were very long, a 20 min wait for Rapunzel turned into an hour, finding a spot in frontierland for the late parade was very difficult ( it was very crowded) and we were less than impressed with the 2 seconds of the headless horseman. For us it was a complete waste of money. October is not the low crowds easy trip it used to be. At leat in our experience. I miss being able to go the first weeks of December.

 

[klitteral2009]

We were there last October 9-18th . The weather was great. We were surprised at the crowds, we were there in 2011 too, and the crowds were far less that trip. We dd have MB, and FP+ this trip, and used them well. We hated the party, it is a never again for our family. We had high hopes, I read everything on easywdw and here to prepare for the evening, but it was awful. Lines for candy were very long, a 20 min wait for Rapunzel turned into an hour, finding a spot in frontierland for the late parade was very difficult ( it was very crowded) and we were less than impressed with the 2 seconds of the headless horseman. For us it was a complete waste of money. October is not the low crowds easy trip it used to be. At leat in our experience. I miss being able to go the first weeks of December.

I'm trying to prepare myself for crowds...We have been spoiled with our late January trips. And we usually go for 7 days and this will just be a short 4 day adventure so I think we're going to omit HS altogether to use time more for MK and EP. Of course its still a ways off but I always plan early and continue to do so for months ahead of time lol. I think I'm leaning more towards skipping the party. I think arrival day is going to be a resort day for us. Swimming, eating and relaxing before opening and trying to spend as much time as we can in each park. We're not much for parades and fireworks usually but I do want to catch the new FoF parade for sure! Need to start looking for good spots

 

[cdndisneymum]

We only go in October; we go for Halloween, because Trick-or Treating in Ontario requires wearing snow suits!!
You will LOVE going in October!

Cheers

 

[wdwgoofydaddy]

We would love to go in October but it is just too hard to pull the kids out of school. When they were younger it would have been easier but now being in grade 6 and 4 it is getting to be a bit harder. Plus we are also coming from Ontario, Canada so a short trip will be too costly.

Sigh..... Wish I could attend the Halloween party.

 

[klitteral2009]

We would love to go in October but it is just too hard to pull the kids out of school. When they were younger it would have been easier but now being in grade 6 and 4 it is getting to be a bit harder. Plus we are also coming from Ontario, Canada so a short trip will be too costly.

Sigh..... Wish I could attend the Halloween party.

I am so thankful we live within driving distance (13 hours but still...) The kids will be on their fall break that week or we'd be waiting too. I take DD 11 out of school in January but she's a great student and makes up her work. It may be more difficult to go again in January as DD 5 will just be starting kindergarten this year. Luckily the week we were gone this year it snowed something awful and she didn't actually miss any school anyway! If only I could order snow like that every year

 

[MandiC]

We would love to go in October but it is just too hard to pull the kids out of school. When they were younger it would have been easier but now being in grade 6 and 4 it is getting to be a bit harder. Plus we are also coming from Ontario, Canada so a short trip will be too costly.

Sigh..... Wish I could attend the Halloween party.

I can't speak for 6th grade but my 4th grade daughter didn't skip a beat once she came back from vacation (and we took her out of school the Friday we left and Monday-Friday the next week). Her teachers were really good about sending what they could with us for her to do on the plane/when we weren't busy. I don't know how Canada is but in the US the first month back to school in the fall is usually all review and the Halloween party starts in September.