Tell me about your 2014 October WDW trip!

[V2000]

Let me know about your experience!

I may be over worried about planning my October 2015 trip this year. With magic bands, FP+, reservations, and party nights, I feel the need to plan plan plan!

Your experience can help me decide. Tell me, did you go to MNSSHP? What date and what was the crowd level? Did you go to Epcot's Food & Wine Festival? What date and what was the crowd level?

Did you go on a EMH day/night? Do you think it impacted the crowd level?
Would you have done anything differently?

Share any other details about your October trip! I'd love to hear about it!

 

[V2000]

Also, how was the weather during your October trip?

 

[iheartbklyn]

We went October 3-7. First park day was MK on October 4th (on a Saturday! Bad planning on my part) but the waits were minimal (no more than 15 minutes for anything we went on). We had FP for Cinderella, Rapunzel, Anna, Elsa, and 7DMT. Those all went smoothly no issues with Magic Band at all. Worst crowds were during parades and fireworks but still very doable. We did MNSSHP on October 5th and it seemed much more crowded than the day before at MK. Enjoyed it but it wouldn't be a must do again for us. I didn't pay attention to EMH hours for that trip so I can't speak on that. Weather was beautiful, I think it sprinkled for a few minutes the first day we were in the parks but it was while we were at BOG lunch so it didn't effect us. We got really lucky with the weather! I also don't think it got above 80 degrees any day.

 

[iheartbklyn]

The only thing I would have done differently for our trip would have been to extend it and take a break day in between park days. This was what our itinerary looked like:

10/3 travel day, hotel, pool, etc.
10/4 MK all day. RD til 10 pm ish
10/5 lunch at DTD, BBB at DTD, then MNSSHP until 10ish again (we were BEAT)
10/6 AK RD 1 pm then back to the hotel to swim, DTD for dinner
10/7 travel day back home

We accomplished a LOT at MK (met every princess except Mulan) but I really wish we had gone to HS to do a few of the must do attractions there. Also we somehow went to AK without riding Expedition Everest??? But my daughter was probably too short anyways now that I think back on it. Also we didn't do the Haunted Mansion at MK, didn't even think about it until we got home and my daughter asked to go back and do it. I had no idea she wanted to or even knew what it was! I wish we had done more rides in the end of it all. We did 7DMT three times, Dumbo once, teacups once, IASM once, Magic Carpets once, Safari at AK, a few shows and that was pretty much it. We were so focused on characters that it pretty much took over the trip (which is fine because my daughter LOVED it! and she was the perfect age to interact).

To summarize - go on more ride and take some breaks between park days if you can!

 

[Disneyliscious]

Tell me, did you go to MNSSHP? What date and what was the crowd level?

We have been to MNSSHP on Tues and Thurs nights and it was great. Rode numerous rides back to back with no wait, saw the fireworks, parade and enjoyed the scenery.

Also, how was the weather during your October trip?

Absolutely, positively, 100% perfect. 1 small rain shower on one day and low 80's with no humidity. Warm enough to swim but no hot, sticky, sweaty weather.

**We did 2 nights of MNSSHP because its MUCH better than 1 MNSSHP and 1 MK day. On one night we did the party stuff and the other night we do the rides/shows with no wait. Its cheaper to do it that way if you dont mind missing the non MNSSHP fireworks/parade.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

When are you going in October? We usually go at the end of September/ beginning of October. It was pretty rainy the first half of our trip last year. In 2013 the weather was beautiful. In 2012 it has hit and very humid with lots of afternoon/evening downpours.

We did go to MNSSHP last year. We usually go every other trip, but we just didn't feel like it was worth the cost anymore.

We try to go to Epcot at least twice on our trip and plan to replace a meal or two with F&W festival snacks. For the shortest waits go for lunch on a weekday.

 

[Lillian Gracey]

DH and I went in October from the 15th through the 26th and got married at Sea Breeze Point in front of the Boardwalk on the 17th. The weather was beautiful! A little hot at times, but not unbearable. It never rained and was almost never cloudy. It was 80's and sunny the whole time. The crowds were great too, especially at night. EMH nights at MK were practically dead and on a Saturday too! We went to MNSSHP on a Tuesday and the crowds weren't bad and the rides were practically walk ons. We accomplished so much in our first weekend due to lower crowds. It was a perfect trip! October is a great time to go! You'll enjoy it!

 

[hpfan100]

My hubs and I were there for our honeymoon October 3-7. We went to animal kingdom on the 4th for am extra magic hours. It was empty for almost the first 3 hours and it was chilly. Afternoon crowds were higher but still manageable. We went to Epcot on the 5th and enjoyed food and wine with low waits most of the day. I believe we had am extra hours that day too. Weather was nice for the most part. One day is was very humid almost felt like august. We did not do the Halloween party but we did see the special fireworks from the Poly club lounge. October is a great time to go.

 

[DisneyPeachNJ]

Let me know about your experience!

I may be over worried about planning my October 2015 trip this year. With magic bands, FP+, reservations, and party nights, I feel the need to plan plan plan!

Your experience can help me decide. Tell me, did you go to MNSSHP? What date and what was the crowd level? Did you go to Epcot's Food & Wine Festival? What date and what was the crowd level?

Did you go on a EMH day/night? Do you think it impacted the crowd level?
Would you have done anything differently?

Share any other details about your October trip! I'd love to hear about it!

We were there Thursday-Sunday in early October.
We went to the Halloween party on Friday, the lines for the rides and candy were very short.
It was warm enough for shorts during the day, needed a thin hoodie at night.
The first day at F&W was waaaaay too hot for us and we had to leave early.

If I had the option this year, I would've gone back in October again.

 

[txlibrarian]

We went Saturday, October 25th-Friday, October 31st. Weather was perfect, Epcot was packed on Saturday but we did an amazing Party of the Senses (so good we are going back this year) so didn't have to fight the crowds at the booths. Also can recommend Tutto Gusto Italian lunch. Did not attend MNSSHP as we were an adults only group but did do all the parks at rope drop and went back to AK at night which was so fun. Can't wait until they open it at night regularly. Park hopped to Epcot seveval times for lunch and/or dinner so was able to sample all the booths at least once.

Didn't really think the the F&W seminars we did were worth the time so won't be doing those this year.

One of the magical highlights of our trip was on the way out of Ecpot after the party we decided to go into the character spot in Future World and were the only guests there at the time and got photos with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy all at the same time.

Hope you have a great time.

 

[JediBonas]

We've gone the last week in Oct in 2013 and 2014 and loved it. We didn't do any parties but did EMH pretty much every day. Weather was beautiful, a little hot for us actually, and I didn't think it was that crowded. We're going in Nov this year and I'm actually nervous since we've had such great luck in Oct.

 

[Mikie]

We traveled Oct 12-18 last year. That means we caught the Sunday-Monday of Columbus Day weekend and the subsequent week.

Weather was beautiful - not the super hot humid Florida heat at all, but definitely warm enough to swim. One day was drizzly/cloudy most of the day and one day had intermittent downpours. 6 more days of just beautiful!

Much more crowded that prior September trips I've had, but not wall to wall. I do believe if I had no touring plan or strategy to park days, I would have experienced at least some more heavy crowding.

We were a large group with kids as young as 2, so we were not very nimble and couldn't go from 8am to midnight. We used a combination of Touring Plans and EasyWDW crowd predictors to pick parks, which meant we primarily avoided all EMH parks and specifically chose to go to MK on party days, although we did not attend the party. Daytime crowds there are very manageable on party days and even though my family grumbled a bit ahead of time about going on short days, they were plenty pooped after arriving at rope drop, non-stop rides and shows, lunch break in the A/C, more rides and shows right up until 7pm closing - dinner at a nearby resort and back "home" around 9.

We went to Epcot on a Thursday and a Saturday, doing some of Future World and some of World Showcase each day. We ate and drank at the special F&W booths, but didn't do any other special events. On the Saturday, it literally got to be shoulder to shoulder in parts of WS, especially in certain walkway areas where the path narrows to funnel you through a gate or passage. We can handle a crowd of stationary people at a parade, but maneuvering through all that is not my cup of tea!

I used Mesaboy2's wonderful "Fastpass Strategies, priorities. . . " thread to help me choose attractions, EasyWDW Cheat Sheets to plot a general path around each park, air-conditioned meals or shows as our afternoon "break", and the crowd calendars to choose my days. It added up to a fantastic trip!!

 

[FeralCatRogue]

Let me know about your experience!

I may be over worried about planning my October 2015 trip this year. With magic bands, FP+, reservations, and party nights, I feel the need to plan plan plan!

Your experience can help me decide. Tell me, did you go to MNSSHP? What date and what was the crowd level? Did you go to Epcot's Food & Wine Festival? What date and what was the crowd level?

Did you go on a EMH day/night? Do you think it impacted the crowd level?
Would you have done anything differently?

Share any other details about your October trip! I'd love to hear about it!

I went to MNSSHP on Halloween last year and put a report up, it was quite busy since it was sold out but that didnt effect things any:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3346949

I went to F&W and enjoyed almost a samplying of everything, we were there every day almost we alwasy get there at about 11am and stay til 2/3pm so we beat the crowds.

Can't really speak to EMH much, I never really notice a difference in crowd level between night emh and regular crowds, and am not a morning person so i rarely ever see morning EMH except when i use it for AK since thats a short park day.

 

[MataHari22]

Let me know about your experience!

I may be over worried about planning my October 2015 trip this year. With magic bands, FP+, reservations, and party nights, I feel the need to plan plan plan!

Your experience can help me decide. Tell me, did you go to MNSSHP? What date and what was the crowd level? Did you go to Epcot's Food & Wine Festival? What date and what was the crowd level?

Did you go on a EMH day/night? Do you think it impacted the crowd level?
Would you have done anything differently?

Share any other details about your October trip! I'd love to hear about it!

I normally take my WDW trips in October. I love that time of year and have always had beautiful weather. Last year was the first time I went to MNSSHP. I loved it! We went on 10/28. It was a sold out night, it was more crowded than I thought it would be, but not bad and we had a wonderful time. I only did one character meet, because I wanted to ride the rides and see the parade and Hallowishes rather than meet the characters. I did not do the trick or treat trails. I got there early, so we could get in at 4pm, and I made my 3 FP+ from 4-7pm.

My EPCOT days were 10/24 and 10/25, Friday and Saturday. I can say I would not do F&W on a Saturday again. It was very crowded, long lines at the kiosks, hard to find a spot to try and eat your food, and often shoulder to shoulder trying to walk around where the food was. I didn't want to do it, but had no choice because we were supposed to meet up with friends that day, and they ended up canceling anyway. I had to go against park recommended days quite a bit on that trip, and this trip, I'm really trying not to do that.

I honestly cannot remember about EMH and crowd levels.

This year, we are going in November so that we can experience MVMCP, I have always wanted to go for Xmas and New Years, but I cannot deal with those types of crowds. I only hope that we have as nice a time as we have had going in October.

Hope you have a wonderful trip.


ETA: We went 10/21-10/29 and our actual park days were 10/22 - 10/28 last year.

 

[Marnm02]

We went Oct. 20-27. Overall, crowds were steady and the highest I've seen so far in the Fall, but not unbearable like you'd see in Summer or at Christmastime. We did MNSSHP on Oct. 26, which was the only party last year that didn't sell out ahead of time, and it was pretty crowded. That was the only time that crowds approached the unbearable level, but I still wouldn't call them unbearable. I think the sold out parties definitely would've been though. F&W was busy, but the WS is so big and spread out that we were never really bothered by the crowd levels. I never went to EMH parks because I didn't have hoppers and used crowd calendar recommended parks. But, some of the people in our travel party did EMH and reported that crowds were very mild within the EMH timeframes.

 

[maryandtyson]

When are you going in October? We usually go at the end of September/ beginning of October. It was pretty rainy the first half of our trip last year. In 2013 the weather was beautiful. In 2012 it has hit and very humid with lots of afternoon/evening downpours.

We did go to MNSSHP last year. We usually go every other trip, but we just didn't feel like it was worth the cost anymore.

We try to go to Epcot at least twice on our trip and plan to replace a meal or two with F&W festival snacks. For the shortest waits go for lunch on a weekday.

We go the same week as Tarheel Girl (and we live in North Carolina, hmmmm). Very similar experience with weather, obviously. I love traveling in Sep/Oct. we didn't do mnsshp last year. It's fun, but we have done it a few times and decided against it. Avoid Food & Wine on Fridays or Saturdays. Other days are great!

I know the temptation to plan, plan, plan. My suggestion is to rough out your days based on your personal preferences and touring style. Book some meals and your top FPs. Then, let the rest go and have fun!

 

[V2000]

When are you going in October? We usually go at the end of September/ beginning of October. It was pretty rainy the first half of our trip last year. In 2013 the weather was beautiful. In 2012 it has hit and very humid with lots of afternoon/evening downpours.

We did go to MNSSHP last year. We usually go every other trip, but we just didn't feel like it was worth the cost anymore.

We try to go to Epcot at least twice on our trip and plan to replace a meal or two with F&W festival snacks. For the shortest waits go for lunch on a weekday.

We are going on October 22nd -October 25

 

[V2000]

DH and I went in October from the 15th through the 26th and got married at Sea Breeze Point in front of the Boardwalk on the 17th. The weather was beautiful! A little hot at times, but not unbearable. It never rained and was almost never cloudy. It was 80's and sunny the whole time. The crowds were great too, especially at night. EMH nights at MK were practically dead and on a Saturday too! We went to MNSSHP on a Tuesday and the crowds weren't bad and the rides were practically walk ons. We accomplished so much in our first weekend due to lower crowds. It was a perfect trip! October is a great time to go! You'll enjoy it!

You got married at WDW! That's amazing

 

[V2000]

I normally take my WDW trips in October. I love that time of year and have always had beautiful weather. Last year was the first time I went to MNSSHP. I loved it! We went on 10/28. It was a sold out night, it was more crowded than I thought it would be, but not bad and we had a wonderful time. I only did one character meet, because I wanted to ride the rides and see the parade and Hallowishes rather than meet the characters. I did not do the trick or treat trails. I got there early, so we could get in at 4pm, and I made my 3 FP+ from 4-7pm.

My EPCOT days were 10/24 and 10/25, Friday and Saturday. I can say I would not do F&W on a Saturday again. It was very crowded, long lines at the kiosks, hard to find a spot to try and eat your food, and often shoulder to shoulder trying to walk around where the food was. I didn't want to do it, but had no choice because we were supposed to meet up with friends that day, and they ended up canceling anyway. I had to go against park recommended days quite a bit on that trip, and this trip, I'm really trying not to do that.

I honestly cannot remember about EMH and crowd levels.

This year, we are going in November so that we can experience MVMCP, I have always wanted to go for Xmas and New Years, but I cannot deal with those types of crowds. I only hope that we have as nice a time as we have had going in October.

Hope you have a wonderful trip.


ETA: We went 10/21-10/29 and our actual park days were 10/22 - 10/28 last year.

Thanks! I was thinking about Epcot on a Saturday but will definitely avoid it.

 

[V2000]

We went Oct. 20-27. Overall, crowds were steady and the highest I've seen so far in the Fall, but not unbearable like you'd see in Summer or at Christmastime. We did MNSSHP on Oct. 26, which was the only party last year that didn't sell out ahead of time, and it was pretty crowded. That was the only time that crowds approached the unbearable level, but I still wouldn't call them unbearable. I think the sold out parties definitely would've been though. F&W was busy, but the WS is so big and spread out that we were never really bothered by the crowd levels. I never went to EMH parks because I didn't have hoppers and used crowd calendar recommended parks. But, some of the people in our travel party did EMH and reported that crowds were very mild within the EMH timeframes.

Yikes, I bet with the new Hocus Pocus show it will attract more guests too.