So I said when I returned I would post objectively about my October crowd experience...

[Farro]

Trip dates 10/25-11/3.

Yes, it's definitely more crowded than previous October visits.

That said - we never felt that it was mobbed or insane. Biggest crowd we encountered was MK on a non-party night, to be expected.
Epcot was quite pleasant during the day on Sunday and Monday.
Animal Kingdom was full, but easy to navigate.
DHS was DHS, not my favorite.
A few days we did stand-bys with less than 20 minute waits.
The last week of our trip was less crowded.

Somebody needs to do something about Starbucks - longest lines of the trip. Add them to the hotels, or something, obviously we want it!

Monorail worked great for us the entire trip.

We found everything to be very clean.

Didn't really run into rude people.

Always seated on time for dinner, even Ohana and California Grill.

Memory Maker - loved it, got fantastic pictures.

Biggest let down this trip was the weather. Just too darn cold. Majority of days we could have worn pants, or shorts with light jackets. Nights were just plain cold. Warmed up towards end, but who cares?

And also, we came home with the plague!!! I have never gotten sick at Disney, and we rarely ever get sick at home. Had flu shots like normal...two days before leaving Micky is stuck in hotel room with sore throat, cold, flight home he was horrible with fever/aches. This week I have the worst flu I've ever had.

Not our greatest trip ever, but no fault of Disney.

We will be going back in 2021, late April/early May this time. Or 2020 if we just can't take it anymore!

 

[Nohal]

Thanks for your review. We were there 10/16 - 10/24 and felt it was very crowded. We usually go in September but had to switch due to the hurricane. I think this accounted for the crowds as I thought October was a "slower" month.

It was stinking hot our first couple of days so we wore shorts. Our last two days were really cold which is the same as you encountered.

Sorry you all ended up sick.

I have to agree with your account on Starbucks. Don't know the answer as its really the only place to get coffee (other than the resorts) first thing in the morning. Maybe they need a few more around the parks. It was crowded there no matter what time of day I went.

 

[SaintsManiac]

The Starbucks problem is why I stocked up on individual cold brew bottles for next week. Don’t have to worry about it at Cabana Bay, though! Wish Disney would add more locations.

 

[Farro]

The Starbucks problem is why I stocked up on individual cold brew bottles for next week. Don’t have to worry about it at Cabana Bay, though! Wish Disney would add more locations.

I'm addicted to Cool Lime Refreshers...a word about that - only the Starbucks in MK has the Cool Lime flavor for the refresher, the rest only have the Very Berry Hibiscus or Strawberry Acai. Both of those are good, but I like Cool Lime the best. I took the boat from Polynesian one morning just to stand in line at Starbucks for one. Thank god for park hoppers!

 

[allsaintsatx]

Trip dates 10/25-11/3.

Yes, it's definitely more crowded than previous October visits.

That said - we never felt that it was mobbed or insane. Biggest crowd we encountered was MK on a non-party night, to be expected.
Epcot was quite pleasant during the day on Sunday and Monday.
Animal Kingdom was full, but easy to navigate.
DHS was DHS, not my favorite.
A few days we did stand-bys with less than 20 minute waits.
The last week of our trip was less crowded.

Somebody needs to do something about Starbucks - longest lines of the trip. Add them to the hotels, or something, obviously we want it!

Monorail worked great for us the entire trip.

We found everything to be very clean.

Didn't really run into rude people.

Always seated on time for dinner, even Ohana and California Grill.

Memory Maker - loved it, got fantastic pictures.

Biggest let down this trip was the weather. Just too darn cold. Majority of days we could have worn pants, or shorts with light jackets. Nights were just plain cold. Warmed up towards end, but who cares?

And also, we came home with the plague!!! I have never gotten sick at Disney, and we rarely ever get sick at home. Had flu shots like normal...two days before leaving Micky is stuck in hotel room with sore throat, cold, flight home he was horrible with fever/aches. This week I have the worst flu I've ever had.

Not our greatest trip ever, but no fault of Disney.

We will be going back in 2021, late April/early May this time. Or 2020 if we just can't take it anymore!

We were there the same time as you were and I also got sick on the trip. Took tons of dayquil and mucinex and muddled through, because it was Disney World after all, but on a "positive" side I couldn't swim in the GF pool because I was sick BUT it was so cold we wouldn't have went in the pool anyway! Win/win? The cold wasn't too bad when we were walking around the parks,but sitting on the balcony of our room, for instance, was a little sucky.

 

[Deanie1]

Wow, I am leaving for the World in 2 weeks. I’d better pack a mix of clothes! We were hoping for some pool time. Bad news for my Starbucks addicted sister. Just how long are those lines?

 

[neverlandsky]

Sorry you all were sick. You definitely weren’t alone. By day 3 I was sick with the plague. This is the first week I’m finally better from it. It was nasty. Thank goodness for packing the cold meds while there 10/14-10/21 first trip.

Agreed we didn’t even bother with a Starbucks at the parks because lines were long. Would love a Starbucks option at the resorts.

 

[cigar95]

Hope you won't stop posting just because you're not going back for a while.

 

[auntfrannie]

I was there the first week of October and was also disappointed in the weather. It was actually warmer in Pittsburgh than it was in Disney!

I will be the voice against adding Starbucks to the hotels. We stayed at BLT and popped over to the Contemporary for Joffrey's. Starbucks is too strong for me!

 

[maxiesmom]

I was there the first week of October and was also disappointed in the weather. It was actually warmer in Pittsburgh than it was in Disney!

I will be the voice against adding Starbucks to the hotels. We stayed at BLT and popped over to the Contemporary for Joffrey's. Starbucks is too strong for me!

I must have had the right timing as far as the weather goes. My trip was the 18th-24th, and while it was wet is was also warm.

I love having Starbucks, but I avoid the lines by getting there right at open. Or having it as a late night treat. A breakfast sandwich and a macchiato are a great way to start the day.

 

[dixielanfan73]

We were also there from 10/21 - 10/29. We also thought crowds were very manageable except for the Saturday afternoon that we arrived..EPCOT was the busiest we have ever seen it, lol but we absolutely expected it so no biggie. My niece and daughter also got sick that week. Both with fevers, my niece with a stomach thing and my daughter with a severe sore throat . The weather was very cold on a couple days but we kept telling ourselves it was better than being cold at home

 

[FastPasser.]

I must have had the right timing as far as the weather goes.

Your timing was great. During your seven day visit the actual recorded low temp average was a nice 73 degrees. But during the OPs ten day visit, it was a chilly 61 degrees, a twelve degree drop. It happened the very next day after you left. Maybe you should play the Lottery. It's the luck of the draw when selecting a time to visit WDW after Sept.

 

[DisBuckMan]

But during the OPs ten day visit, it was a chilly 61 degrees, a twelve degree drop.

Chilly? We call that "relief" here in the south.

We're headed down Thursday for a quick weekend trip to Universal. Forecast for Fri/Sat (our 2 park days) is high around 80, low around 60. Sounds pretty perfect.

 

[Dug720]

Glad you had a good time overall.

Alas, the weather is pretty much the one thing Disney can't control.

 

[mickeymom629]

We were there about the same time as you (I posted a quick report - 10/28-11/4).

Sorry you got sick during the trip - DS got a sore throat/chest congestion 2 days after we came back and two of us now have that.

Funny that we have completely different thoughts about the weather. We loved the weather being cooler since we were in the parks and it was so nice not to be hot! Yes, it was cold in the evenings at the beginning of our trip but some of us wore layers (I wore many since I'm always cold) and others in my group are always hot and thought it was perfect in shorts and t-shirt. Most in my group are not huge pool people and we didn't go to the pool in the evenings as much as I'd hoped (because of the cool weather). But we did go once after the park and on our last day, which was what I had planned and coincidentally the hottest - but I see that this was a day after you left. There was NO RAIN the entire week we were there except the drizzle on the day we arrived and the wee hours of the first park day. We thought that was FANTASTIC!

I agree with you about the cleanliness and crowds.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Getting sick can put a damper on things for sure

 

[DIShawn]

I was there 10/28-11/4 as well... thought the crowds were great. Seemed lower than when we typically go at the end of February. I was expecting it to be much higher based on all the other October comments over the past few weeks. The exception was MNSSHP which was crazy. I’m not sure what I was expecting but it wasn’t that. Weather was rough the first two days being chilly but then it warmed up. Overall it was awesome. I’ve been sick as a dog for the past week though. I don’t care as long as I’m sick after the trip, not during the trip!

 

[FastPasser.]

Chilly?

That was the average, it did get down into the 50s.

Chilly? We call that "relief" here in the south.

Oh I hear you. Being at the parks, in the heat and/or rain, every week throughout the summer, I'll take temps in the 60s once in a while.

 

[mom2rtk]

That was the average, it did get down into the 50s.
Oh I hear you. Being at the parks, in the heat and/or rain, every week throughout the summer, I'll take temps in the 60s once in a while.

And who could blame you. I bet it felt great. My favorite kind of day is sunny and 65.

 

[KimBean]

Trip dates 10/25-11/3.

Yes, it's definitely more crowded than previous October visits.

That said - we never felt that it was mobbed or insane. Biggest crowd we encountered was MK on a non-party night, to be expected.
Epcot was quite pleasant during the day on Sunday and Monday.
Animal Kingdom was full, but easy to navigate.
DHS was DHS, not my favorite.
A few days we did stand-bys with less than 20 minute waits.
The last week of our trip was less crowded.

Somebody needs to do something about Starbucks - longest lines of the trip. Add them to the hotels, or something, obviously we want it!

Monorail worked great for us the entire trip.

We found everything to be very clean.

Didn't really run into rude people.

Always seated on time for dinner, even Ohana and California Grill.

Memory Maker - loved it, got fantastic pictures.

Biggest let down this trip was the weather. Just too darn cold. Majority of days we could have worn pants, or shorts with light jackets. Nights were just plain cold. Warmed up towards end, but who cares?

And also, we came home with the plague!!! I have never gotten sick at Disney, and we rarely ever get sick at home. Had flu shots like normal...two days before leaving Micky is stuck in hotel room with sore throat, cold, flight home he was horrible with fever/aches. This week I have the worst flu I've ever had.

Not our greatest trip ever, but no fault of Disney.

We will be going back in 2021, late April/early May this time. Or 2020 if we just can't take it anymore!

Thank you for your balanced trip report. I leave in 14 days and keep watching the weather in hopes it isn't so hot. Just thought it was funny you said you were cold. I've been seeing high in 80's on AccuWeather. Is that not what really occurred? I'm hoping for a high of 70 and no more.