Who went this past October? I have ?'s for you.

[DeterminedOne]

Thanks friends. Your replies are very helpful to me. DH and I are in total disagreement on this. I say we go toward the end of October. My arguments are cooler temps, fewer people, special events (MNSSHP, F&WF). Plus, we're planning lots of recreation aside from the parks (golf, park tours) and I don't want to deal with the heat and humidity. The package we're securing allows three meals per day. I'd rather not deal with busy restaurants or not getting the ADR's we prefer. But DH says we should go by October 4th. His argument - Value verses Regular season hotel pricing. Good point. But I'm willing to pay a little more to be comfortable. Guess I'm spoiled by our trips in February and November when the weather was really nice and crowds pretty much didn't exist. As I indicated, we've visited in Oct. before toward the end of the month. It was hot then so I can only imagine how hot the first part of the month will be. I'll let you know what we decide.

 

[madge]

If you traveled to Disney October '05 please answer a few questions for me.

1. What dates did you visit?

September 29-October 7

2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel?

yes, we flew on Thursday PM and came home on Friday AM

3. Did you stay on site? If so, where?

Swan and Port Orleans-Riverside

4. What was the weather like?

hot, humid, and sometimes rainy

5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport.

overall, I'd rate it a 5 or 6. The parks were busy, but not jam-packed crowded. The Swan was not busy when we were there, but the days following our trip it was sold out. PO-R was crowded. The restaurants were impossible, no PS to be had for popular restaurants.

6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again?

We've gone in October for the past several years. It is our children's Fall break. I would travel to WDW again.

7. Anything else you want to add?

We are going in December 2006.

We also traveled during the free dining promotion, which compounded our priority seating issues. We LOVE WDW in the fall, though!

[/QUOTE]

 

[SqueakyMouse]

1. What dates did you visit?

2nd week of October

2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel?

Nope, drove since we had the 3 kids along -- ended up being more expensive than flying but far, far less stressful

3. Did you stay on site? If so, where?

ASMu -- our first stay as a family at a value. Our kids loved it as much as prior stays at deluxes. Go figure!!

4. What was the weather like?

Beautiful...pretty warm and still a little humid but not as bad as during our late May trip

5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport.

Resort was EMPTY during the week (fewer than 6 other people in the main pool around noon most weekdays) but totally packed over the weekend (had to cruise the parking lots for more than 15 minutes to find a parking spot at lunch time on Friday). Water parks were surprisingly crowded mid-week -- more so than in May, which is saying something (8 in morning/10 in afternoon). Parks were busy during the week (8) and almost uncomfortable over the weekend (9). We had ADR's or ate CS at off-peak times. We saw many people without ADR's turned away from TS restuarants. We had absolutely NO trouble getting CS quickly at off times. After talking to a number of other guests at our resort, we learned that not only were lots of kids on fall break (like ours) but most FL schools were closed for a long weekend. When you combine this with the Food & Wine Festival AND MNSSHP's, you get large crowds.

6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again?

While the crowds were somewhat of a surprise (have not experienced crowds like this in Oct. before), the pleasant weather and Halloween festivities more than made up for this. We tend to alternate between the beach and WDW at this time of year. Originally, we'd planned the beach for this year; but the kids over-ruled us!! Looks like we may be doing WDW more often now.

7. Anything else you want to add?

Definitely make plans to attend at least one of MNSSHP's. Prior to this past fall, I couldn't understand why some families attend more than one. Well, there's absolutely no way to see and do everything during just one party if you have your family in tow!! Also, be sure to dress up and have fun!! We're already planning our costumes for next year.

Also, make ADR's for all TS meals you may want to enjoy. This has become critical at ALL times of the year.

 

[ncbyrne]

We flew down on Thursday, Oct 13 and flew back home on Monday, Oct 24. We stayed at Coronado Springs. We booked there after reading so many great things on these boards, but I did not like it. We asked for a bldg. close to the restaurant, but got the bldg. the furthest away and our room was on the top floor- it was a true hike up to the restaurant. We like POR much better. The Food and Wine Festival is awesom - we spent many, many hours in Epcot because of it. Loved Soarin' too! The weather was great for the most part - except of course Hurricane Wilma that arrived on our last day!! Not fun, definitely NOT fun being held hostage in our room by the weather! But...it was probably the quickest hurricane in history, because by late afternoon we were out shopping in DD and the sun was shining thru the clouds again. We would definitely opt to go in Oct again.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Plus, we're planning lots of recreation aside from the parks (golf, park tours) and I don't want to deal with the heat and humidity.

Just want you to have a heads up about the Funai tournament. It was October 20-23 or so this year. They had one of the courses down for refurb for about 6 weeks before the tournament. During the tournament it is obviously very tricky to get a tee time, and if there is bad weather then you are really in trouble! Be sure to watch for the tournament dates so you can plan around it!

 

[Stepharia]

If you traveled to Disney October '05 please answer a few questions for me.

1. What dates did you visit?
2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel?
3. Did you stay on site? If so, where?
4. What was the weather like?
5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport.
6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again?
7. Anything else you want to add?


I'm planning a trip for October '06. We've been to Disney in Oct. before, but a lot has changed since then. I'm curious as to how the new dining/ticket option have influenced attendance levels. My first thought is to visit before the 4th of the month to take advantage of value season rates. But if the latter part of the month is less busy, less hot, etc., we will consider that as well. TIA for sharing your experience.

1. Sept. 30 - Oct. 8

2. Yes, Delta. We left on Friday and came home on Sat.

3. Yes (always), ASMu

4. Hot and humid. We've been there 3 times in Oct. and this was by far the hottest. I actually looked forward to coming home to 56 degree weather.

5. Parks - 7 busiest Oct we've been but nothing like the summer months. Part of that could have been from the fact that it was the last week of free dining plus the food and wine festival started.
Hotel - 5 hotel wasn't that busy
Restaurants - 5-7 depending on the restaurant that we were at
Airport - 3 we flew out at 7:00am and flew back home at 9:30pm. (I wanted as much time as I could get)

6. I would definitely go in October again because we love MNSSHP but next trip we are planning for late Nov./early Dec.

7. Don't miss MNSSHP. I will not do Epcot again at night during the food and wine festival with dd7. We walked through part of it and there seemed to be alot of intoxicated people that were rude and obnoxious. Love Epcot though.

 

[WDW LOVR]

If you traveled to Disney October '05 please answer a few questions for me.

1. What dates did you visit?
2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel?
3. Did you stay on site? If so, where?
4. What was the weather like?
5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport.
6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again?
7. Anything else you want to add?

I'm planning a trip for October '06. We've been to Disney in Oct. before, but a lot has changed since then. I'm curious as to how the new dining/ticket option have influenced attendance levels. My first thought is to visit before the 4th of the month to take advantage of value season rates. But if the latter part of the month is less busy, less hot, etc., we will consider that as well. TIA for sharing your experience.

We were there Oct 19 - 23. Yes we flew, Wed and Sun. Stayed on site at BWV (We're DVC members). Wed and Thurs, weather was hot and very humid, Fri and Sat it was cloudy (hurricane Wilma was a comin), but only got some rain Friday afternoon and Saturday evening and it really didn't stop us from doing anything. I would say the crowds were a 3-4, except for Saturday at Epcot, which is typcially busy because of the locals showing up for the Food and Wine Festival. Would we do it again? Yes, already have the ressies for Oct 8 - 13, 2006. The Food and Wine festival is great, the weather is usually very nice (there is the hurricane threat though), warm in the day time and cool in the evenings. Crowds are not bad, except for the above mentioned Saturday at Epcot.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

1. What dates did you visit? Oct. 13-16
2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel? We drove.3. Did you stay on site? If so, where? POP Century
4. What was the weather like? A little hot during the day (low 80s) and beautiful at night (70s)
5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport. Hotel: Check in lines were long but moved quickly (we were in line no more than 15 minutes). We were able to check in early (around 1 PM). MGM and AK were not crowded. Epcot was not crowded until Saturday (Food and Wine Fest makes it pretty busy on the weekends). MK was fine on the weekdays, we did not attempt on the weekend.
6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again? We have gone to WDW in October the last 3 years in a row. The weather is nice if you go mid-October, and we enjoy the Food and Wine Fest.
7. Anything else you want to add? I've gone at the beginning of October and thought it was way too hot. In fact, last year we ended up not going to the parks until 5 PM (we were there the first weekend of the F & W Fest). I highly recommend mid OCtober or later (early November is wonderful!).

 

[bntlyclg89]

1. On our honeymoon from 10/16 thru 10/23
2. Sunday to Sunday, flew down American, no delays even with Wilma
3. On-site--POFQ
4. I found it to be pretty humid and fairly warm.
5. Overall I would rate it a 7 for airports, resorts and parks
6. Yes
7. Disney dining did not work for us. Way too much food (even though I'm sure we saved $) not worth it if you're stuffed and miserable.

 

[GoofyGirlnPrincessV]

If you traveled to Disney October '05 please answer a few questions for me.

1. What dates did you visit? 10/3 - 10/7

2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel? I drove up, I only live 2 1/2 hours south of Disney

3. Did you stay on site? If so, where? Stayed at POFQ again

4. What was the weather like? There was a tropical depression over Central Florida all week. We cancelled our CP breakfast since it was raining so hard.

5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport. I think it was about a 6, we went to MNSSHP and that seemed busier by a little bit. Restaurants weren't to busy, I got a ressie for CRT lunch no problem. Hotels wasn't busy at all. Check in took all of 2 minutes.

6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again? I am planning to go again that same time next year. I am packing my crocs & rain gear just in case and pray for no tropical depressions. I think it was a great time of year and plan on doing MNSSHP again!

7. Anything else you want to add?

 

[theycallmered]

If you traveled to Disney October '05 please answer a few questions for me.

1. What dates did you visit?
2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel?
3. Did you stay on site? If so, where?
4. What was the weather like?
5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport.
6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again?
7. Anything else you want to add?
:

1. We were there from Oct. 26th to the 30th.
2. We flew out of MN on a Wednesday and back from FL on a Sunday.
3. We stayed at ASMo.
4. The weather was GREAT! Only once did I wear pants and by noon I was warm enough that we went back to our resort so that I could change. Oh, and it never rained once. Like I said, it was GREAT weather.
5. The parks were probably like a 4ish. EPCOT was a bit busier than the rest because of F&W Fest and AK was definetly the least busy, especially in the morning. The hotel was never that busy. Never once was the line for breakfast more than 2 people deep. The airport was not busy either, but then again we are orginally from Chicago and are use to O'Hare busy.
6. October, in my opinion, is a great time to travel to WDW. The weater is still warm yet becoming more mild as the month goes on.
7. Have fun on your trip!

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

1. What dates did you visit?October 15-20 on land and October 20-23 at sea
2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel?We flew from PHL on Saturday to go and sunday to come back
3. Did you stay on site? If so, where?We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter
4. What was the weather like?The weather for our week was beautiful. Sunny everyday and warm
5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport. I would give the crowd levels a 4. I didn't think it was very crowded. The airport was busy, but moved quickly. We did Magical Express and that went fine. We always found a table easily in our hotel food court and I don't think we waited for any rides longer than 15 min
6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again?October is my favorite month to go to Disney World!! We plan to go back October 2006
7. Anything else you want to add?Other than crowds and weather, we have another favorite reason to go during October now. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party(MNSSHP). We went for the first time this year and loved it. The picture in my signature is of that night. We stayed until just about midnight and the had a blast. We walked right on most of the rides that night, too.

 

[loriandmatt]

1. What dates did you visit?
2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel?
3. Did you stay on site? If so, where?
4. What was the weather like?
5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport.
6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again?
7. Anything else you want to add?

1. we were there 09/27 thru 10/06
2. yes. we traveled on the 27th and the 6th. that was a tuesday and a thursday.
3. yes. POP
4. not bad. warm enough to swim, not too hot. quite a bit of rain, some days more than just the regular florida 20 minute soaker. Not enough to ruin the trip even with a baby along.
5. i would say it was a 6-7. We have been there in very late Aug and early Sept before and prefer it being a bit more dead. Nothing like our June trip though. very doable and with fastpass, a breeze. Restaurants were nuts though. it was the very end of the free dining plan and ressies were very hard to come by. We don't mind eating at off hours, and are pretty flexable about types of food, so we were able to find something, but we were not always granted our first choice of restaurant of time. (never could get into the Sci-Fi or LeCellier - maybe next trip when they aren't giving away meal vouchers!) Airport didn't feel crowded at all. a breeze actually - even with a slight flight delay.
6. yes. but will likely be toning it down and be forced to go when we don't have to take the DS out of school. to much work to make up.
7. not much more than i already did. have a good time planning.

- lori

 

[cristbaby]

If you traveled to Disney October '05 please answer a few questions for me.

1. What dates did you visit?
Oct 1-9
2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel?
Yes - Sunday
3. Did you stay on site? If so, where?
Yes - Saratoga Springs
4. What was the weather like?
Hot and very humid
5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport.
8
6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again?
NO, and I would not go again at that time
7. Anything else you want to add?
that time was great for the food & wine festival but very hard on the impatient little ones. I think the free dining plan at that time made it very difficult. The restaurants were busy and it was hard to get the adr's we wanted even though we planned ahead of time

 

[disneyfav4ever]

1. What dates did you visit?

Oct 4th to 14th, so I checked in the last day of value season to take advantage of the rates.

2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel?

Yes, Tues going down and Fri coming back, had a delay and got stuck in Orlando for two hours, but wasn't bad.

3. Did you stay on site? If so, where?

All Star Music, which was good for the price. Decent food court, clean rooms. Stayed in the rock building though, and had five minute walk to buses.

4. What was the weather like?

Rainy the first couple days, nice the rest.

5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport.

I went at the end of free dining, so the TS were busy, but I had ADR's, (made 90 days out,) Le Cellier & Mama Melrose's were both turning away walkins, the parks weren't to bad, longest wait I had was 30 minutes to see Ariel at MK, and a 20 minute wait for Soarin at opening. Never had to wait more then 15 minutes for a bus, which only filled to capacity at opening and closing, but I always got on the first bus, and only went once without a seat.

6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again?

Yes, I really enjoyed it. I'm planning on going again next Oct.

7. Anything else you want to add?

Also went to MNSSHP twice and really enjoyed it. Once would of been enough to see the parade and shows, but I'm glad I went twice, more time to see characters (rare ones ) and ride lineless rides.

Also the food and wine festival is going on then, and I took advantage of that. I went to some of the wine tastings and cooking demos, tried about a dozen of the food booths, and went to Party for the Senses one night.

 

[canada_ang]

1. What dates did you visit? Sept 24-Oct 5
2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel? Flew NWA, Sat - Wed
3. Did you stay on site? If so, where? POP Century
4. What was the weather like? Hot (for us at least) - beautiful
5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport. 5
6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again? I'd go again at this time of year!
7. Anything else you want to add?

 

[freakylick]

1. What dates did you visit? 10/16-DTD; 10/17-10/21 Offsite for Non-WDW parks; 10/22-10/29 WDW
2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel? Drove
3. Did you stay on site? If so, where? When on-site, we were at POR
4. What was the weather like? The first week was beautiful weather, almost no rain, sunny and mid-80's for highs, lows in the 60's. Second week, Hurricane Wilma blew in on Monday and it was abnormally chilly most of the rest of the week...wore sweatshirts in the mornings and evenings, pants all week until it warmed back up at the end of the week, then it was warm enough to go swimming.
5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport. The morning that Wilma came through, the parks were closed in the morning, but opened up at 1pm...MK was empty that day (How many people can say that they did all of Fantasyland in just over an hour in the middle of the day?!). Due to opening late, they kept the park open 3 extra hours (till midnight) Other than that, I thought the parks had light to moderate crowds. We did some pretty good planning and never waited more than 20 minutes for any attractions. The restaurants were not too busy. Some empty tables at some restaurants (even more popular ones), other's were completely full. Hotel didn't seem full, but at such a large resort that's very quiet, it's hard to tell.
6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again? Absolutely.
7. Anything else you want to add? There are two downsides to October.
1-You are at the tail end of hurricane season. Obviously, the later you go in October, the less frequent the hurricanes...but it's always a risk anytime in October. Fortunately for us, the hurricane helped empty out the MK, they kept the park open later than originally scheduled and we ended up getting much more accomplished than if the hurricane hadn't come through.
2-Ride/Park Closures-Because it is the offseason, many rides go through rehabs (this is a risk any time of year, but more happen in the offseason). If you want to do Blizzard Beach, you need to go earlier in the month as it usually closes for refurbishment the last week or two of October and lasts well into November.

But if you ask me, those downsides are easily compensated for by the much smaller crowds and the manageable temperatures.

 

[MomofKatie]

1) 10/1-10-/8
2) We drove from NC on 2 Saturdays.
3) Always onsite!! We stayed at Pop Century, 90's building.
4) Weather was warm and HUMID!!! TS Tammy was the culprit- it rained every day, several times. Not really great weather overall.
5) Parks-5. We didn't wait more than 20 minutes for any rides or shows, but didn't get on Soarin' because of the wait times (by the time we got there, FPs were all gone for the day). Hotel-5. Food court was never really busy- busses got a bit packed, though. Restaurants-8. We were there during the Free Dining Plan promo- ADRs were VERY hard to get, but we never waited more than 10 mins past our ADR time to get a table, and we ate at some of the most popular places at the busiest times (CP, LTT during MNSSHP, Ohana, Chef Mickey).
6) October is a good month crowdwise- but if I had my choice, I'd go as late in the month as possible- cooler weather and drier skies!! Columbus Day weekend is busier than the rest of the month.
7) The BEST thing about going in October is Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party- we decided to go kind of last-minute, and it was the best time!! the parks are decorated so wonderfully for the holiday- HalloWishes, the special fireworks show, was GREAT. We walked on to every ride and show, DD got lots of photos and autographs with the characters, and she must have collected 10 lbs of candy at the Trick-or-Treating stations.

 

[ZoZo]

If you traveled to Disney October '05 please answer a few questions for me.

1. What dates did you visit?
2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel?
3. Did you stay on site? If so, where?
4. What was the weather like?
5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport.
6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again?
7. Anything else you want to add?

I'm planning a trip for October '06. We've been to Disney in Oct. before, but a lot has changed since then. I'm curious as to how the new dining/ticket option have influenced attendance levels. My first thought is to visit before the 4th of the month to take advantage of value season rates. But if the latter part of the month is less busy, less hot, etc., we will consider that as well. TIA for sharing your experience.

1 & 2. Saturday, 10/22 - Saturday, 10/29
3. Stayed at Shades of Green (miliatary only, I'm afraid)
4. Arrived two days before Hurricane Wilma. Sunday was very hot and humid, and we had a torrential downpour that night. Monday the "hurricane" went through (we got the edges, with about 50 mph wind). Parks opened at 2:00 p.m. that day. The rest of the week was beautiful; 75% and no humidity.
5. Because of the F & W Festival and MNSSHP, it was a bit busier than usual, but very manageable. Nothing (except Soarin') was very crowded. Hotel and airport were manageable.
6. I would definitely travel in October again. But realize, you always have the chance to experience a hurricane problem! But definitely worth it to go to the Halloween party (absolutely no lines at MK - unheard of!) and the F&W Festival. Very fun.

 

[Nennie]

1. What dates did you visit?
2. Did you fly? If so, what days of the week did you travel?
3. Did you stay on site? If so, where?
4. What was the weather like?
5. On a scale from 1-10 was it busy? Not just the parks, but your hotel,
restaurants, airport.
6. All things considered, do you feel it was a good month to travel to Disney
Would you do it again?
7. Anything else you want to add?

1. We were there 10/16-10/22 (Sunday-Thursday).
2. Yes, we flew in Sunday morning, and left Thursday night.
3. Beach Club Villas
4. Weather was great. Perfect for t-shirts and shorts, but not too hot.
5. The parks and hotel (i.e. pool) did not seem too busy, but the restaurants were ridiculously over-crowded. You need an ADR for TS, no way around it.
6. Great month for travel! Only caveat is that you must make ADRs.
7. It's F&W which makes Epcot more crowded, but it was a pleasant crowd.