Postponing trip until October....I have questions about the parks

[w8ting4pooh]

We have to postpone our August trip until Columbus week. I'm really bummed.

We were going for two weeks in August but DH has to transfer to a new department at work. They allow NO vacation time in August. The kids go to various camps and activities all thru June and July so we can't move it up.

Is Columbus week busy? We are going to get tickets for MNSSHP and the kids are already trying to decide on costumes.

We were planning to stay at Grand Floridian to watch the fireworks every night. I guess they don't have them as often in October?

Are Eride and EE more worthwhile during October? We tried both in July and it was sooo crowded that we planned to skip them in August.

I'm off to find trip reports for the MNSSHP.

 

[markºoº]

We went late October this year and had a great time. Weather was certainly better than August! Although still very warm, it was not nearly as bad.

We also did MNNSHP party. While DS and I enjoyed it, we both liked the Christmas party better. DS is 11 - maybe younger kids would get into dressing up and enjoy it more. We used MNNSHP mostly for doing rides - little or no wait later in the evening. I would recommend staying from doing MNNSHP on a Friday or Saturday as those tend to be the busiest days.

Don't forget the Food & Wine Festival at EPCOT will also be going on. DS and I had fun sampling all the different foods from around the world.

I can't speak for Columbus weekend, but otherwise I thought the crowds, while larger than what we've experienced in the past, were manageable. We used FastPass as much as possible and never waited more than 15-20 minutes for a ride.

I forgot about fireworks. MK had fireworks every night we were there. There were special fireworks on the nights MK had MNSSHP and Wishes on all other nights.

 

[campinggal]

Sorry your trip got moved!

We went in October last year and loved it! The weather was perfect- low humidity, 85 degrees and lots of sun.

We went the week after Columbus Day week. I had heard that it was 'crowded for October' which is known for its low visitors. I think if you are use to going in the summer- you might not think it is very busy.

You are correct that they don't have the fireworks as often but at least four nights out of seven they did. We saw them twice- once from the Poly beach and once at the MK.

MNSSHP is a blast!! Last year tickets went on sale in late April but only Halloween night actually sold out (and that was in Aug or Sept). We went on a Sunday night and it was awesome- walked onto rides and saw the Fireworks from a very uncrowded Main Street. I think MNSSHP were on Sun, Tue and Fri last year. Friday is always said to be more crowded due to many locals joining in the fun.

EE day is great- we only used it for MK and had all the Fantasyland rides done before the park opened at 9 it seemed. Might be a bit busier during Columbus weekend. They didn't have Eride nights when we were there in October. Park hours are also a bit shorter than they are in the summer.

Hope that helps!!

Have a great time!

 

[las3888]

We think October is the perfect time to go. Columbus day weekend may be a tad more crowded, but I don't think it's really that noticable. The weather is perfect, crowds are relatively light...definitely our favorite time of year to go.

It seems they usually have fireworks at MK at least on the weekends, you should be able to see the at least a few times while you are there.

Good luck and don't be surprised if you are an 'October' convert once you go!

PS - the wine and food festival is a nice bonus that time of the year as well...

 

[4greatboys]

Sorry you had to postpone your trip but I think you will like Oct. MNSSHP is a lot of fun--although try no to hit one on a Friday night. We went on a Sunday night and I though it was going to be so crowded. There was a ton of people on main street, strollers everywhere but they were mainly waiting for the parade most every ride was a walk on--Fantasyland had a little more of a wait but not bad.
I dont know how big your kids are but we also hit Halloween Horror nights at Universal (just me and my 2 oldest 16 and 13). Way different from MNSSHP but it was a blast.
No E ride nights in the off season, only EE mornings (we never hit those, cant get the teens out of bed, lol) but we still got to ride everything we wanted to.
It will still be warm in FL but it wont be summer hot--which is a good thing. I think your going to enjoy your Oct trip!

 

[justhat]

We were there 10/15-10/20 and like another poster, it was supposedly 'crowded for October' because of the Fairytale Package. Actually, it was about the same as the crowds when we were there Presidents Week (excluding President's Weekend and Presidents Day). However, a huge blizzard that weekend cause lots of flights out of the NE to be cancelled (as was ours back to DC from Orlando) and when we extended our reservation 3 more nights, the CM said many people called to cancel/postpone their reservations, so that may have made the crowds lighter that week. Still though, having been there during spring break and NYE, the crowds in October were very managable. The food and wine festival started when we were there, so it was nice to be able to sample the different foods. We went to MNSSHP on a Thursday night (10/16) and they had another on Sunday because we ate dinner at CG and watched the party fireworks from there. They had Wishes Friday and Saturday night (not sure about Wednesday since we got in late that night), so for our stay, they had fireworks everynight. We did use EE sometimes, but since I was 5 months pregnant I was often too tired to get up for EE and stay out all day, but on the days we skipped it and got to the parks around 10, we didn't have any major crowd problems. There weren't any ERide nights when we were there, but I'm not sure how the rest of the month was (when they were, how crowded, etc.). The weather during October was great, it didn't rain once, the highs were around 82, humidity was low, and evenings were in the high 60s. Have a great trip (even though you'll have to wait a little longer)!