Wow! October must be busy! Any advice?

[leighe]

Last night DH surprised me and said that for my birthday he wanted to take me on a quick trip to Disney - our last "just the two of us" trip before the baby comes. I have fall break the week of October 17-21 and DH could take time off the last part of that week so we decided on October 19-23. We mainly just want to relax, eat in a few favorite restaurants, and of course shop for the baby who we now know is a girl! I knew it would be busy being October and on such short notice. We were thinking a moderate would be great becaue I really don't want to spend a ton of money with the baby coming in January.

OMG! NO moderates at all - at any rate - AP, AAA, rack - nothing! Our rather limited options seem to be a studio at SSR, a Ft. Wilderness cabin, or deluxe water view or regular savannah at AKL. We have stayed at AKL before and LOVED it but DH was wanting to try something new. GF LV and a one bedroom suite at BC was available but more than I wanted to spend.

So I guess the question is SSR or Ft. Wilderness? (Keeping AKL in mind as somewhere we already know we love, of course!)

 

[goofie4goofy]

This is due to the PGA Tour which will take place Oct 17-23rd. I also think there is a Michelob lite tour in the beginning of the month too.

 

[Epscot]

I have fall break the week of October 17-21...

Along with the PGA tournament, I think Fall Break is also contributing to the October crowds. It has gotten very popular with school systems here in the south over the last few years. Two years ago, my son in private school got a full week and the local public schools got 2 days. Last year and this year, both the private schools in the area and the public schools are getting the full week.

I've seen others from GA & AL post here on the boards about their week-long Fall Break. They seem to be falling either Oct 10-14 or 17-21. My son's is the same week as yours. Fortunately, we booked CSR several months ago.

 

[Chicago526]

It also a popular time for honeymoons, as October is the 2nd most popular month for weddings (June being #1). I can attest to that, we will be there that week on our honeymoon! It's not "Disney" but did you try checking the Swan or Dolphin? At least you'd have access to the transportation system.

 

[leighe]

This is due to the PGA Tour which will take place Oct 17-23rd. I also think there is a Michelob lite tour in the beginning of the month too.

Oohhh - that explains a lot. We tried the Swan and the Dolphin and couldn't get anything. Oh well - I'm sure something will work out.

 

[jwfla422]

This issue has been addressed on the boards over the past few weeks. Not only are the events mentioned going on but there are some big conventions in addition to the F&W Festival. Very, very busy month at WDW and the resorts. Sept & Oct are very busy convention months at the S/D. I know there is a very large computer related conference going on at the Dolphin in October.

 

[Lynn4Mel]

On top of all that has been said there is the Junior National Tae Kwon Do Championships going on at Wide World of Sports until the 22nd . I can remeber which day it begins. All I do know is that DD12, who is a 2nd degree balck belt in TKD tried to tell me that I should have adjusted our travel dates so she could go watch.... don't think so.... I am hoping the last week won't be as crowded... we'll see about that one too. Oh well, no matter what I AM GOING TO HAVE FUN!!!!

 

[leighe]

Ok - well from this morning until now (I just emailed our TA back) there is only Music and the one bedroom suite at BC left. BC is out of the question - I just cannot justify spending $2400 on a room for four nights when we're having a baby in a few months. So I guess I'll book Music and hope for the best. We were wanting a relaxing resort vacation but I guess we can spend more time in the parks.

 

[elmsmith]

Just got back from Disney. Have been the same exact week the last 3 year and this year was noticeably more crowded. In the afternoons, there were 30-40 minute waits for the major attractions.

 

[NJBlackBerry]

PGA Tour (The Funai Classic) has their HQ at The Polynesian. The Gartner Group ITExpo is at the Swan and Dolphin, and they have taken many of the rooms there and at the Yacht, Ceach and Boardwalk (I registered on the first day and got the Yacht Club). They have a pile of rooms held at CBR also.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

I just checked on the Dolphin website, and there are rooms available from Oct. 20-23 - for as low as $179/nt. Would you consider spending your first night at ASMu, then switching for the other three nights?

Just a thought!

 

[minnie61650]

Ok - well from this morning until now (I just emailed our TA back) there is only Music and the one bedroom suite at BC left. BC is out of the question - I just cannot justify spending $2400 on a room for four nights when we're having a baby in a few months. So I guess I'll book Music and hope for the best. We were wanting a relaxing resort vacation but I guess we can spend more time in the parks.

I think you will have fun at All Star Music!
When your little girl is a few years old you may even want to stay at All Star Movies for a few days with her. Preschoolers love it. It is like a Disney Movie Fantasyland.

All Star Music is my favorite.It is quieter because more couples stay there. I love staying at the Clypso building. It is closer to the pool,food court and bus stop.

Here is a site with a map of All Star Sports and All Star Music.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/allstarmap.htm
Scroll down.All Star Music is at the bottom of the page.
The Calypso buildings at All Star Music are #1 and #10 are nearest to the food court and bus stop.
They are the preferred buildings and cost about $12 extra per night.
The Calypso pool at ASMU has Donald Duck.

Bus rides are quite short from the ALL Stars according to PassPorter.com

All Star Buses-CBR buses---POPbuses--PO buses--- Contemporary
MK 20 min---- 20 min-----25 min------10 min---20 min(mono)
Epcot 10 min-- 15 min-----20 min------10 min---15 min
MGM 10 min----12 min-----15 min------15 min---20min
AK 10 min------20min-------15 min----15 min---20 min
DTD 15 min----20 min------20 min-----15 min---35 min

It only takes 10 minutes to get to Epcot,MGM and AK from All Stars.
MK is 20 min away. That's the same amount of time it takes on the monorail from the Contemporary.

I am 55 years old and travel several times a year. I often stay at 4 star hotels.
So the deluxe resorts do not have anything special for me.
All Star is like being in the heart of the Magic and that is where I want to be.

I have visited WDW more than a dozen times with the 1st time in Oct. 1971. It was brand new. I've stayed at FW, Disney Inn, a few the of Hotels on hotel Blvd., CBR and the towers at the Contemporary. I got to see the MK from my balcony at the Contemporary and I'm happy I got to experience it once. I just prefer the All Star Resorts.
The theaming is pure Disney.
My last 4 visits have been at The All Stars and this fall when we take dd,dsil, and our grandson age 3 we are staying at the All Stars Music. I thought about AKL and even though we can well afford AKL I just wanted Alex to experience the Disney Magic at the All Stars on his first visit.
Where else can one find Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse at the pool?
Have a great time at Disney!
Linda
AKA All Star Goddess

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Did you try Pop?

 

[leighe]

I just checked on the Dolphin website, and there are rooms available from Oct. 20-23 - for as low as $179/nt. Would you consider spending your first night at ASMu, then switching for the other three nights?

Just a thought!

Yes, yes, yes! That sounds great! I'm going to look right away!

 

[imatoad]

Oh well, that's it, I'm not going, cancelling all reservations for my 10/9 Poly check-in. Nope, not gonna put up with all of you clogging up the restaurants, making attraction lines longer, crowding the pool and beach. HA, you must be kidding, look, Disney is crowded, bottom line, yes maybe Oct. is becoming more popular, but it can't and won't be anything close to June, July, or August. Go, have fun, relax, I know I am.

 

[Jennygt]

Oh well, that's it, I'm not going, cancelling all reservations for my 10/9 Poly check-in. Nope, not gonna put up with all of you clogging up the restaurants, making attraction lines longer, crowding the pool and beach. HA, you must be kidding, look, Disney is crowded, bottom line, yes maybe Oct. is becoming more popular, but it can't and won't be anything close to June, July, or August. Go, have fun, relax, I know I am.

Rock on imatoad! I am right with you!! 10/6-10/10 I think that it willbe awesome!! Think positive!!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I just checked on the Dolphin website, and there are rooms available from Oct. 20-23 - for as low as $179/nt. Would you consider spending your first night at ASMu, then switching for the other three nights?

Just a thought!

Thank you for posting this.

 

[leighe]

Right now we're booked for the 18th and 19th ( I talked DH into adding a night) at Music and then the Dolphin the 20th-23rd. I'm sure we're going to have a good time! We were just there in July so if something is too crowded no biggie. Plus with me being pregnant there are a lot of things I would normally do (TOT, RNRC for example) that I can't anyway. I'm just mainly looking forward to the fireworks, food, and shopping for the baby!

 

[stage manager]

It's not just the schools in the south. My kids are off for a long weekend here in Indiana and we are heading down 10/20-23. We snagged what was apparently one of the last rooms at CBR. Who cares if they are crowds, none of them will be the college students I am currently teaching and no one is doing any of the plays I'm producing here, so it's got to be better and more relaxing than staying home and going to work.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Thank you for posting this.

No problem!

Leighe - YAY! So glad you were able to grab that Dolphin room! We stayed there for the first time this past July, and really enjoyed the resort.