Thinking of October - tell me the good, bad and ugly

[Micheme]

Ok

Thinking of planning a trip for anniversary (just 2 adults) I want to know about the beginning of October.

Weather? Crowds? Any planned event (like soap or cheerleading people), Park Hours, Discounts available ... anything.

thanks so much

 

[eller]

We love October! You still have warm weather, T-shirt and shorts all day; you won't have to think about a jacket/sweater.

However, we go mid- to late-October because you can enjoy the Epcot Food and Wine. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party is fun, too! We have kids, but I don't go to WDW for the kids. I would go to MNSSHP by myself!

I can't think of anything we didn't like about your trip in 10/2001. We are planning on going back in October this year.

Good luck!

Lori

 

[Kim&Chris]

October is an incredible month to visit Disney. The weather is gorgeous (no more "oven" weather like in the summer months), and it's still warm enough to swim!

You picked a GREAT time of the year! Enjoy

 

[AMClvsMKY]

We have been there a few times for the first week of October - our favorite time to visit. Weather is great - not hot like August but warm enough to swim without getting chilled. It is value season for the resorts and the parks are not crowded!! Both times we stayed in the ALL STAR resorts and didn't experience any "groups"( cheerleaders, etc)

 

[Bete]

We've done October twice in the last three years. The crowd level is very manageable.

I find the weather a little unpredictable. It's warm most of the time. It can get down right hot at times and to the other extreme down right cold.

I agree with the other poster that mid to end October is better because of the Epcot events and Halloween. Universal has an excellent Halloween event all through the month.

I believe October has become regular season, now. This means you won't get the best rate for resort but not the highest, either.

Your biggest perk will be that Mission Space should be open by that time.

There have been golf tournaments at the beginning of the month; so, crowd level can get high if that occurs. This is a popular convention time, too.

October is better then the prime times like summer, spring breaks, Christmas, etc.

 

[jennymouse]

We went the LAST week in October 2002 and had very low crowds. MNSSHP was fantastic and the Food & Wine Festival was awsome too. I read lots of reports about the first week of October being busy due to Golf Tournament & conventions.

 

[Poohfanatic]

We went Oct 9-14 and it was great. Low crowds if you plan well, and I agree, MNSSHP is fantastic, go if you can. We missed the Food and Wine Festival, but it is cool too. Have fun!

 

[kaabost]

We went this past Oct. Actually, the last day of Sept. through the first week of October. We loved it! We got value rates because our first night was in Sept. (value season). Parks had low crowds and they were open more hours than DH wanted them to be (hehe). I can't think of a single complaint.

 

[poohangel]

I am so glad to hear this, I just booked an offsite hotel for October 24-30. This is only our second trip and will also be for our anniversary. HAVE FUN!!

poohangel

 

[Pat_Elliott]

Out of four trips in October, the last in 2002, I offer the following:

The Good: It's Disney! But more important, it's a low attendance period, meaning light lines, uncrowded restaurants, inexpensive resorts, good bang for your buck. Also, the Food and Wine Festival is always delightful. Finally, Halloween on Pleasure Island is one of those special nights of the year. To me, anyway.

The Bad: The weather, if you go for the warmth of the Florida sun. We found the temperature to be all over the place. One day it shot up to 85 and I was unprepared, resulting in sunburn on the head and lots of sweating in blue jeans. Yet two nights later, it dropped into the lower 50's. Note, these aren't terrible things, they just require extra planning. Also bad: lots of attractions closed (e.g. COP, Timekeeper) and lot's of renovations. Note that most of the good and the bad is simply the trade-off for going during a light-attendance period.

THE UGLY: Stay the heck away from the period surrounding the PGA tourny.

That said, I'll personally never go any time other than September or October. Unless I go another month....

 

[Tess]

I think it was the first weekend into the 2nd week of October. Our year wasn't a big hit for us. We went for our anniversary and were welcomed with a tropical storm. Actually, the storm had been raging for 2-3 days, we got the end of it. It poured buckets on our arrival day (very scary descent in an airplane), was gray and overcast with showers the second day, finally had sunshine off and on the 3rd day, and cleared nicely by day 4 and held for day 5.

October is at the tail end of hurricane season and this tropical storm was a remnant of a hurricane. It was our 2nd tropical storm in Florida--the other happened on a family vacation in August. Come to think of it, the weather this past June was horrid also--maybe it's just us!

We enjoy all our trips--weather is just an annoyance.

Crowds were fairly light (compared to other trips in June--we've been during the 1st, 2nd, and predominantly 3rd weeks & August, third week). We didn't encounter any unruly groups of any sort. It was a lovely vacation/anniversary trip for us.

 

[KathyFP]

We loved October early Nov. Weather is great, crowds are minimal and discounts are deep.

 

[pegasusEH]

We've been the first 2 or 2nd & 3rd weeks of October a few times. Weather has usually been great. We did have a couple of pretty cold days in 2000 (I think it was) and have had the odd rainy afternoon.

 

[Happy vacationer]

I would say you have picked a wonderful time to go. In 2000 we went the last weekend of September/beginning of October. The weather was wonderful and we only encountered 1 brief shower. Weather was in the 80's. The only annoyance we found were the love bugs but they are managable.

December 2002 we went the first week of December. I will never do it again. Yes, the crowds were low (but no lower than the September crowds of 2000) and the weather went from 68 to 82 one day and then to 50 on our last day and that was during the day time hours! I will always go in September or October if I can continue to get my husband to agree to WDW vacations.

 

[Micheme]

ohhh thanks so much for all the info, i can alway count on DISer's to give me the straight talk.


Now all i got to go is talk my husband into it and finance the trip!!!!!

 

[eeyore0062]

I can only think of good, there was no bad or ugly at all!

1)The crowds were moderate.
2)Some discounts through mousesavers.com were available.
3)The weather was beautiful... 80's during the day, and high 60's at night, and the humidity wasn't overly high, either.
4)Only 2 times of rain... once in the afternoon and evening, and the other in the evening and night.
5) The only outside event I can think of was the PGA tournament, but it really didn't affect attendence in the parks. It ended on the 20th of October.
6) The Food and Wine Festival is held from around the 20th of October through mid November.
7) The Not So Scary Halloween Party is held twice a week in the evenings at the MK starting the end of the 2nd week of October.

Nope, can't think of anything that was bad or ugly, AT ALL!

 

[angey77]

We went the first weekend of October last year, my boyfriend and myself.
The good -
Not a whole lot of crowds. Wait times are hardly anything, especially for the great thrill rides like ToT, RnRC, Space Mountain. I think this is due to in part most people there either have pre-schoolers with them since school is in session and others are senior citizens.
Weather is beautiful. A little warm at times, but its Florida, what could you expect? And the entire time, it rained for 15 minutes on one day.
Got an AP discount for $99 a night, Port Orleans French Quarter, water view.
MNSSHP. Enough said.
Conventions seem to add to the low park attendance. Many resorts were full, but no one was in the parks because they're all conventioning!
Its easier to get the front of the monorail with low attendance. We rode three times.
The bad, and the only bad -
Park hours are too short. We had to attend MNSSHP just so we could see MK at night! But it does leave time to resort hop and such.