What's going on at DCA today? 10/12

[StarlitNight05]

I've been tracking wait times to prep for an upcoming trip, and today (10/12) I'm noticing insane wait times at DCA. For example, as of about 6pm Goofys Sky School is 100 minutes, RSR is showing 165 and GotG is 150 minutes. Yikes! I wonder what's going on?

 

[katyringo]

It's October and starting fall break week. We did this week in 2022 and it was very busy

 

[goooof1]

Also, a holiday weekend !!

 

[kikismom]

Well I guess this is my reminder to never go this week again. I say things like that all the time but then years pass and I wonder if it's really that bad. We went this week October 2021 and I was the absolute worst, I swore I would never go again either week around Indigenous People's day. I think like half of our schools around us are on some sort of a short break right now.

 

[StarlitNight05]

Ah, I forgot about Indigenous Peoples day and other fall breaks. That makes a lot of sense.

 

[sky13]

I'm here right now and was wondering the same thing, heard that Incredicoaster was down for a lot of the day as an explanation for why it hit 100 minutes at one point around 8pm-ish. All the queues were insanity, even lightning lanes were super backed up.

Disneyland was also mildly insane though less so than DCA.

Heading back into the parks today for my last day... wish me luck!

Seriously though, I still got lots done yesterday with lightning lane, rope drop (and early entry as on site) and being in the park for the few hours before park closing. I left the parks around noon when the crowds felt crazy, and only went back around 7pm when crowds were still crazy but I had LLs I had been stacking all day.

 

[Iceman93]

I was there yesterday and it was one of the worst days crowd-wise I can remember in a long time in both parks. Once someone reminded me about Columbus Day and how every state except California has Monday off, it made more sense.

Ironically, I got to have lunch at the Magic Key Terrace (which I usually find hard to get into on the spurt of the moment), because apparently so many of the guests swarming the parks were not Magic Key holders. We ended up leaving the parks around 8pm to seek dinner in Downtown Disney, knowing that, if nothing else, Splitsville is always available as a walk-up. Nope! Twenty minute wait for a table there, too! Which we took and had, as always, a fabulous meal, but the place was as crowded as I've ever seen it.

 

[LKing]

Once someone reminded me about Columbus Day and how every state except California has Monday off, it made more sense.

According to Pew Research, only 16 states observe it as an official public holiday.

Our school district has Monday as a professional development day for teachers (ie. student free day).

 

[SL6827]

Are the best and worst times of the year to visit DL and WDW similar?

 

[LKing]

Are the best and worst times of the year to visit DL and WDW similar?

No

 

[SL6827]

No

Oh, really? That was not the answer I was expecting. Interesting.

 

[Aspencreek]

We did a trip in late October 2022 and it was INSANE! OBB was fun, but outside of that it was our worst ever DL trip due to the crowds. Vowed to never go again in October, but we love the Halloween vibes so this year we went at the end of August instead.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

We did a trip in late October 2022 and it was INSANE! OBB was fun, but outside of that it was our worst ever DL trip due to the crowds. Vowed to never go again in October, but we love the Halloween vibes so this year we went at the end of August instead.

End of august was so nice this year. September wasn’t terrible either. October is insane.

 

[kikismom]

End of august was so nice this year. September wasn’t terrible either. October is insane.

How was the weather end of August? I'm from a mild climate and don't do well in extreme heat. I've always wanted come come in a summer month because our availability is so much better for vacations then but tend to skip it due to heat.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

How was the weather end of August? I'm from a mild climate and don't do well in extreme heat. I've always wanted come come in a summer month because our availability is so much better for vacations then but tend to skip it due to heat.

It’s usually hot in August. Sometimes you get lucky. It’s usually hot in September and October too, but not necessarily every single day. Some days are more mild temps and some days are super hot. Can really be a crapshoot, but I always tell people to plan for heat just in case.

 

[Aspencreek]

How was the weather end of August? I'm from a mild climate and don't do well in extreme heat. I've always wanted come come in a summer month because our availability is so much better for vacations then but tend to skip it due to heat.

We got super lucky on our trip at the end of August and had highs in the low 80s. Couldn't ask for better than that, especially since just days after we left they had a mini-heatwave come through and it got up over 100 for a week. But that is the exception and it isn't usually that hot.

 

[twodogs]

We are here now. Yesterday, TSMM was down almost all day, and then has been down all day today (never opened today). Incredicoaster was also down, as was Webslingers at one point. Crowds are always insane this weekend anyway due to the holiday. At DL yesterday, Indy did not open until several hours into the park day. Matterhorn, MIckey and Minnie and several others were also down at park opening. Add that to HMH only doing VQ, and the holiday, and it made for crazy crowds.

We did well with EE and using LLs as best we could with modifying. But crowds were definitely insane and wait times were nuts. At one point when RSR came back up last evening, the wait was 145 minutes. People had LL MEP from early morning TSMM breakdown, so those are good on just about everything other than RSR, so lines were long everywhere.

 

[KPeterso]

Reading all this makes me glad that we ended up with other plans on Saturday so we had cancelled our park reservations for the day!

 

[twodogs]

Reading all this makes me glad that we ended up with other plans on Saturday so we had cancelled our park reservations for the day!

I would never go this weekend if I didn’t have a high school aged kiddo who doesn’t want to miss any school. We go every year as it is our only chance to come from Texas when she has a day off during Halloween season and OBB time. But it is always absolutely insane!

 

[KPeterso]

I would never go this weekend if I didn’t have a high school aged kiddo who doesn’t want to miss any school. We go every year as it is our only chance to come from Texas when she has a day off during Halloween season and OBB time. But it is always absolutely insane!

We are locals with Magic Keys, so we can come anytime. I book most Saturdays and then as the day gets closer, I will figure out if it will work or if other plans come up. So going on a really bad day is not the worst thing in the world, but we can skip them just as easily.