September or October????

[wdwmickey]

My DH and I are planning a trip to DLR to celebrate our 20th anniversary. I need help from the experts in choosing September or October.

When do the Halloween parties usually start (and which nights of the week) and when is Haunted Mansion usually down for the "holiday face lift".

Any other info to help a choose a month (crowd levels, weather, etc) would be great

Thanks so much!!!!

 

[sonnyjane]

This past year DLR had the Halloween decorations up from Sept. 16th until Oct. 31st. The first Halloween party was Sept. 30th. They haven't released the schedule for 2012 yet, but expect something similar. In 2011 the parties were mostly on Tuesdays and Fridays, with a few exceptions.

Both Space Mountain and Haunted Mansion will close after Labor Day in order to be ready for Halloweentime. Haunted Mansion takes longer. Space only needs to be down for a few days. If you wanted to see both of those rides in their non-holiday version, you'd have to go before Labor Day.

Halloweentime is becoming more and more popular. If you're not interested in going to a Halloween party but want to see the decorations, go in late September for lower crowds. If you do want to go to a party, early October would be your best bet. The party on Halloween day is usually the most popular.

 

[Sherry E]

My DH and I are planning a trip to DLR to celebrate our 20th anniversary. I need help from the experts in choosing September or October.

When do the Halloween parties usually start (and which nights of the week) and when is Haunted Mansion usually down for the "holiday face lift".

Any other info to help a choose a month (crowd levels, weather, etc) would be great

Thanks so much!!!!

I posted this detailed answer to another DIS'er in our Halloween Superthread a couple of days ago:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43718920&postcount=3181

It addresses dates and things.

As for crowds - as sonnyjane said, Halloween Time is becoming more and more popular. I have seen it get much more crowded just over the last several years. Some folks say that October is too busy for them now, but it's kind of up to the individual person/group to decide what is too crowded.

As for weather - September and October in SoCal can be very unpredictable. It could be blazing hot, like in the upper 90's or higher. It could be raining. It could be gloomy and in the 70's. It could be windy. There could be wildfires happening, which affect the air quality. I have seen all of these weather conditions occur, so you never really know what you will get with each year!

 

[CrazyDuck]

id choose Sept if I had a choice... Oct is a busy month nowadays. My kids Fall Break is the first full week in October and I know a lot of people from Hawaii use that week to hit DL. We'll be there! Plus at the end of our week there will be Gay Days! Woo Hoo!

 

[wdwmickey]

Thanks so much! That's exactly what I needed to know!