Thinking of surprising the kids with a october visit!

[natenapril]

Hello everyone!

We are considering surprising the kids with a visit during October and going to the Halloween Party. We are a family of 5 (2 teens and 1 preteen) so which hotel would be best? We are trying to stay on a budget since we just went to WDW in Feb.
We will be using the Salute tickets. So we will have three days for both parks.
We haven't been to Disneyland since 2008 so we are really looking forward to this trip! We stayed at HOJO the last time we went and liked the ease of walking to the park and the price of the room.

Any tips for the best days in October as far as crowds?

 

[SMD]

Are you going to add a Halloween party? In a 3 day stretch in October, DL could conceivably close early on 2 days. It also brings crowds. You may want to shoot for earlier in October, though we don't really know what crowds or promotions will be like after the 60th, I'd assume most of October will be busy since there was only a partial Halloween overlay last year.

 

[figment_jii]

October is traditionally a pretty busy month because of unofficial/official events, school breaks, and overall popularity of HalloweenTime at DLR. There are a few things we know about at this point:
Oct 1-2 (Sat-Sun): Gay Days (Gay Days is one of the largest unofficial conventions at DLR; there is usually quite a noticeable uptick in crowds during the event)
Oct 20-21 (Thu-Fri): UEA Convention (A lot of Utah schools are out of session, so there is often quite an uptick in crowds during this time)
Oct 30 (Sun): CHOC Children's Walk (This is a local event, but it really adds to the crowds on the day of the event)

There are also some schools that have fall breaks during October. I went last year the week of Columbus Day and it was one of the busiest times I'd seen in a while (reminded me of being there in July). So, October is a lot of fun with HalloweenTime, but it's not necessarily a quiet time in the parks.

 

[neonderlyn]

Desert inn and suites is very budget friendly and offers big rooms. It is nothing fancy, but its clean and offers a continental breakfast. We always go with this hotel because its so close to the entrance and its priced so well.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Desert inn and suites is very budget friendly and offers big rooms. It is nothing fancy, but its clean and offers a continental breakfast. We always go with this hotel because its so close to the entrance and its priced so well.

They have suites too.

 

[Spacepest]

To the OP...did you realize the Halloween party is a seperate ticketed event? Yeah, the parks and some of the rides will have a Halloween overlay, but the Halloween party is a different event. Halloween parties sell out if so if you want to go on a certain day buy them before you leave for vacation.

My personal opinion about October (after doing many visits during this month): avoid Columbus Day/weekend. Avoid Gay Days. Avoid all weekends. Go during the weekdays (Monday through Thursday). Avoid the last two weeks of October completely because of all the school breaks. If there are any marathon events (ex. CHOC walk) avoid those as well. All of these days will have high crowds (were talking summer level).

 

[natenapril]

To the OP...did you realize the Halloween party is a seperate ticketed event? Yeah, the parks and some of the rides will have a Halloween overlay, but the Halloween party is a different event. Halloween parties sell out if so if you want to go on a certain day buy them before you leave for vacation.

My personal opinion about October (after doing many visits during this month): avoid Columbus Day/weekend. Avoid Gay Days. Avoid all weekends. Go during the weekdays (Monday through Thursday). Avoid the last two weeks of October completely because of all the school breaks. If there are any marathon events (ex. CHOC walk) avoid those as well. All of these days will have high crowds (were talking summer level).

I do realize its a separate ticketed event. We have been to the Christmas one in WDW and really enjoyed the lower crowds.
However, I didn't realize so many schools ill be on break

 

[natenapril]

They have suites too.

Oh a suite would be nice! I have so much research to do. I guess things have changed a lot since we were stationed on the west coast in 2009

 

[natenapril]

Desert inn and suites is very budget friendly and offers big rooms. It is nothing fancy, but its clean and offers a continental breakfast. We always go with this hotel because its so close to the entrance and its priced so well.

Thanks. Ill look into it ! I'm goof with it not being fancy

 

[natenapril]

October is traditionally a pretty busy month because of unofficial/official events, school breaks, and overall popularity of HalloweenTime at DLR. There are a few things we know about at this point:
Oct 1-2 (Sat-Sun): Gay Days (Gay Days is one of the largest unofficial conventions at DLR; there is usually quite a noticeable uptick in crowds during the event)
Oct 20-21 (Thu-Fri): UEA Convention (A lot of Utah schools are out of session, so there is often quite an uptick in crowds during this time)
Oct 30 (Sun): CHOC Children's Walk (This is a local event, but it really adds to the crowds on the day of the event)

There are also some schools that have fall breaks during October. I went last year the week of Columbus Day and it was one of the busiest times I'd seen in a while (reminded me of being there in July). So, October is a lot of fun with HalloweenTime, but it's not necessarily a quiet time in the parks.

I had no idea that some of the schools have a fall break in Oct. Thanks for the heads up

 

[natenapril]

Are you going to add a Halloween party? In a 3 day stretch in October, DL could conceivably close early on 2 days. It also brings crowds. You may want to shoot for earlier in October, though we don't really know what crowds or promotions will be like after the 60th, I'd assume most of October will be busy since there was only a partial Halloween overlay last year.

Yes, we were going to splurge on the Halloween tickets

 

[natenapril]

I'm now wondering if maybe coming for Christmas season/party would be a better idea as far as crowds? Maybe early december?

 

[casagray]

I don't know how accurate this is - but it does seem to have the dates mentioned above as particularly busy times - so you might find it helpful for planning:
http://www.isitpacked.com/disneyland-crowd-forecast-predictor-calendar/

 

[natenapril]

I don't know how accurate this is - but it does seem to have the dates mentioned above as particularly busy times - so you might find it helpful for planning:
http://www.isitpacked.com/disneyland-crowd-forecast-predictor-calendar/

Thanks! Ive never seen that calendar before. I was looking at another one and some of the November dates look better for crowds and we can see the Christmas decorations instead

 

[pennym]

It's always really packed in October, also very hot. You can still get some golden time in the first hour or two at the parks, then use Fastpass. If you want to do Haunted Mansion Holiday without a wait, go first thing. In the afternoon and evening, the wait gets crazy!