1st week of Oct Crowds

[JerseyJanice]

I'm hoping for the best, but I think crowds will be insane during that first weekend and the following one.

A lot of school districts in my area (north Jersey) are closed 10/3 and 10/4 for Rosh Hashana. The 45th Anniversary of the opening of the Magic Kingdom is 10/1. The last performances of MSEP in Florida probably forever are scheduled that week. You have the Food & Wine Festival, and 10/10 is Columbus Day.

Had I realized that all this would be going on when we booked it, I would probably have chosen another week for our trip. But c'est la vie! We'll get through it.

 

[cel_disney]

5-11th for us...I'm in denial about the crowds and the lack of planning I have been able to do..

We will be okay if we miss MSEP -it's fine but we are not die hards..

We do not want to miss SW FW / Desert Party.

We must hit FEA.

We have APs so I have adjusted our plans to go into the parks every day but not stay all day - take advantage of our FP and then get out if we have too...and maybe come back for 'late night'...

 

[HatboxHaint]

Went same time two years ago. The worst thing crowd wise we experienced was at MK around 5-6pm. We had an ADR at GranFlo around 8PM. This was a party night. We decided to bus over to MK from CBR around 4pm for a couple rides. The bus was packed. Getting into MK was wall to wall with day guests coming out and party-goers coming in...it was the worst I've seen mainstreet because there were folks going both ways. Maybe the main street by-pass was open but I didn't think about it. Once we got in we went back to dumbo and barnstormer and those were walk-on's and rode them over and over. Then it was time to head out.....Getting to resort monorail platform was not too bad, but something happened with the monorail and we got trapped on the monorail platform with about 100 people in front of us and 100 behind us for about 30 min just standing there, kids needing to go potty and hot/sweaty, it had just rained so it was like a hot shower out there, etc....it was not pretty. Shoulda took the boat to GranFlo!!! We made it to our ADR on time tho and had a great meal. Transportation/Timing make a big difference, but sometimes you can't control those things.

 

[HatboxHaint]

I'm hoping for the best, but I think crowds will be insane during that first weekend and the following one.

A lot of school districts in my area (north Jersey) are closed 10/3 and 10/4 for Rosh Hashana. The 45th Anniversary of the opening of the Magic Kingdom is 10/1. The last performances of MSEP in Florida probably forever are scheduled that week. You have the Food & Wine Festival, and 10/10 is Columbus Day.

Had I realized that all this would be going on when we booked it, I would probably have chosen another week for our trip. But c'est la vie! We'll get through it.

We have our fall break from school that week and I always think it has to be better than spring break or going in summer but I'm not as confident this year!

 

[vrajewski10513]

Were there 10/1-10/8! I'll be happy if theres "moderate" crowds or less.

 

[Tia1977]

We'll be there the tail end and following Columbus Day week. We're used to level 8-10 crowds, so I'm not expecting anything we can't handle. But, with the way ADR's flew off the shelf (I had problems even booking on the 180 mark. And my TA friend had all kinds of ADR trouble for these two weeks with her clients), how room & AP discounts were sparse, and with general talk of higher than ever fall crowds; I agree with no less than high moderate on any day. And crazy/wonder if it'll reach capacity MK on Sun 10/9 (last MSEP, locals off the next day for holiday). We were there a couple of weeks ago and I probed various CMs. They talked of a record fall time coming. And, something def has Disney's attention bc we got a FD BB booking...for early next June. Who'd of ever thought of FD for the summer! My take is they're trying to sway the growing fall crowds back. Don't get me wrong, I'm so looking forward to F&W and MNSSHP. Any time there with family is magical. But, I'm prepping for it to be like our summer trips...with slightly better weather.

 

[megster1123]

We're the the 3rd-8th. I saw the initial crowd predictions months ago and was content...but since the updates came out I've already adjusted my mindset and expect it to be beyond busy. I figure, that way I'll be prepared, the crowds won't be a surprise and no one will feel letdown from having to adjust the plan.

Anything less than crowded will then turn into an unexpected treat.

 

[tlmadden73]

I went the first week of October 2014 and found it more crowded than other visits (but those other visits WERE in "low" crowd times (late January and late August).

While we got plenty done and had only a 10 minute wait for walking up to the Crystal Palace for dinner, the congestion was what got me. Strollers parked everywhere around Fantasyland (to the point that Cast Members had to move strollers from an impromptu parking lot that formed near Small World (clogging that narrow walkway between it and Peter Pan).

I had a 2-year old, so we weren't waiting in the "big" lines anyway.

We had a great time and you can always work around the crowds if you are smart and just try and go where the crowds aren't.

 

[HatboxHaint]

One reason I started this post was the one of the hosts of the backside of magic podcast mentioned he knew of a lawyer convention at wyndham bonnet creek (for maybe september timeframe) that was cancelled due to enough of the attendees expressing concerns over Zika. He said it was like over 600 rooms that was cancelled and kinda wondered if anyone else had heard of big event cancellations or families cancelling over Zika fears?

 

[Delirium]

It's going to be crazy busy.

 

[keishashadow]

Sept. 29th-Oct. 9th for us. With the added park hours I'd assume a bit heavier crowds. Otherwise why would Disney extend hours? Touring Plans also revised their projections for higher crowds. Still, it shouldn't be too bad.

My concern is whether or not it will be intense searing heat/humidity 1st week of Oct. We went 1st week of Sept. a few years ago and it was intense and we're from AZ so used to heat but WDW was worse!

Have done AZ-hot, it's bad but in Orlando we find ourselves outside for such long periods of time it's deflating.

Cannot resist

It's not the heat, it's the humidity

I'm hoping for the best, but I think crowds will be insane during that first weekend and the following one.

A lot of school districts in my area (north Jersey) are closed 10/3 and 10/4 for Rosh Hashana. The 45th Anniversary of the opening of the Magic Kingdom is 10/1. The last performances of MSEP in Florida probably forever are scheduled that week. You have the Food & Wine Festival, and 10/10 is Columbus Day.

Had I realized that all this would be going on when we booked it, I would probably have chosen another week for our trip. But c'est la vie! We'll get through it.

Other than the long line I waited in for special pins on the 40th @ MK, the 40th, it was basically a non-event but our flight didn't get in until late AM. Met my friend who was there for rope drop and some special merchandise. she said it was a zoo but cleared out quickly. Thought it might have been locals who then went to work after snagging their loot.

 

[lovin'fl]

what is MSEP?

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

what is MSEP?

Main Street Electrical Parade, It's ending so some are going to be coming to MK just to see it.

 

[ZerasPride]

We will be there Oct. 1 through the 7th. Was hoping for lower crowds but doesn't look like that will be the case. We are normally early September visitors but it was so hot last September that my crew was melting and begged not to return during that time frame again.

We are a party of 4 -- early risers and plan on rope drop and lots and lots of downtime. I'm not one to enjoy Disney transportation so I will have my Uber app at the ready if needed. For me nothing is worse than standing on a crowded bus (or at a crowded bus stop) when you are tired and just want to get back to your room at the end of the night. After this trip, we will be giving the parks a break and cruising for a while. We loved our DCL cruise back in January.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Other than the long line I waited in for special pins on the 40th @ MK, the 40th, it was basically a non-event but our flight didn't get in until late AM. Met my friend who was there for rope drop and some special merchandise. she said it was a zoo but cleared out quickly. Thought it might have been locals who then went to work after snagging their loot.

I was there on 10/1/11, and it was horrifically crowded on Main Street trying to watch the rumored "special" fireworks that didn't happen. It took a long time to exit and get back to our resort. I nearly took a panic attack from the claustrophobia I was feeling being such a huge crowd and barely able to move.

I liked getting the vintage park maps, but beyond that, it was not worth dealing with trying to get out of there that night.

 

[ktate82]

We will be there Sept 23-Oct 8. The last time we went was the first week of June and was busy (and hot!), so we took breaks everyday in the afternoon. We are planning to do the same thing this time too. I expect MK to be packed on Oct 1, but we will make it.

 

[cajunbaby1]

Checking in Sept 29th-Oct 9th and sooooo can't wait. I do remember that Saturday's at Epcot can be nuts, esp if a lot younger folks are out drinking, so keep an eye on the little ones.

 

[Chant124]

Worried about the crowds especially at MK the 1st week of October, even more so since WDW change MK hours from 8AM-11pm recently.

So will 1st week of October be crazy crowded due to:
1. Fall Break Crowds
2. MSEP leaving
3. Other?

Or will it be not so bad or offset due to:
1. General down trend in attendance
2. Zika Virus worries
3. Other?

October has always been my favorite and best time to go....Not to crowded and decent weather. I went Last December and froze my butt off!

 

[aroundtheriverbend]

One reason I started this post was the one of the hosts of the backside of magic podcast mentioned he knew of a lawyer convention at wyndham bonnet creek (for maybe september timeframe) that was cancelled due to enough of the attendees expressing concerns over Zika. He said it was like over 600 rooms that was cancelled and kinda wondered if anyone else had heard of big event cancellations or families cancelling over Zika fears?

Haven't heard anything substantial about cancellations yet, but nervous chatter seems to be ramping up especially with the confirmed case in Tampa yesterday. We're supposed to be going to Universal for a weekend and then WDW 10/9-10/15. Travelling with a big group and not sure if we're going to have some people dropping out....

 

[Mflowers92]

Unfortunately another family added to the mix here. We're September 29 - Oct 7. I'm hopeful strategic planning can help avoid crowds. I managed to get the fastpasses I wanted for my trip, and due to the length of the trip, I'm not worried that we won't be able to do everything we want to do. If it were just me, I wouldn't sweat it at all, but it's my partners first time, so I feel all this pressure to make everything happen, whereas normally I wouldn't care if I missed Illuminations, Wishes, or honestly even the last MSEP. I'm hoping to get some short line riding in at MNSSHP (because we don't care about M&Gs), but we'll see.

It breaks my heart that Zika may have to make some postpone their trip, but there's a naughty part of me that's hopeful that it could scare away some of the crowds.