Late October?

divinedi · #1 08-10-2011, 01:01 PM

I'm thinking of booking for late October, somewhere around the 25th

. Any opinions about crowds, large groups (cheerleaders, tour groups etc.) or other problems that we might encounter? I'm hoping it's far enough after Columbus Day (our Thanksgiving) that it won't be really busy anymore, is there anything else around that time that might make it a problem? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

!! Thank you!!

Strmchsr · #2 08-10-2011, 01:10 PM

Late October is fairly crowded. Not unbearable, but still hefty crowds. The MNSSHP is very popular, especially that near Halloween and the F&WF is in full swing at that time. Plus lots of schools do fall breaks in mid to late October. So, you can certainly go and have a good time, just don't expect small crowds. Also, the "free" dining promotion was issued for that time frame, which could make getting an ADR problematic if you haven't already. If you don't care about the dining plan or eating at TS restaurants, though, then that's not an issue.

ryca1dreams · #3 08-10-2011, 02:16 PM

We've been a few times in early to mid Oct and found it to be enjoyable. A little more crowded than September, but not much at all. The weather is great. MNSSHP is fun. It's our favorite time to go. Wish I could tell you more, but I'm also considering a mid to late October trip (3rd week) so I'm in the same boat you are as far as planning.

Oh, and like Chris said, there is the DDP promotion, so you may want to plan around those dates (unless you want the DDP).

alaMode · #4 08-10-2011, 02:55 PM

We visited WDW last year during the last week of October and can't wait to do it again this year! I thought the crowds were on the light side and the weather was beautiful. It was warm enough to really enjoy the pool, but not very humid. We attended MNSSHP on Halloween and we had a blast! It was sold out, but it didn't feel too crowded.

Only 79 days to go for us!

AllDisney · #5 08-10-2011, 03:17 PM

We have been this time of year as well. It's been a few years but don't remember the crowds being all that bad. We got everything done that we wanted and we are the kind of people that are in the parks when they open and leave when they are closing for the day.

The weather was perfect.

Hope this information helps!

Disney Doll · #6 08-10-2011, 11:29 PM

We were there that week in '08 and we thought it was a great time to visit.

MNSSHP does attract more crowds the closer you get to Halloween. However, if you plan for a weekday it's not bad.

FWF can get crowded in the evenings, but we found that it was nearly vacant during the afternoon. We'd head over to World Showcase around 11am and lunch our way around the world. It's a great event I highly recommend.

I don't think it was free dining promotion the year we went in late Oct so I'm not sure how that would affect crowds. I know we have gone in Sept. during free dining and it does make getting reservations difficult.

disneymomma2010 · #7 08-11-2011, 09:10 AM

We went during this time last year. We loved this time of the year and we are going agian this year! We felt the crowds weren't bad and the weather was perfect.

we also love the free dining

NJGIRL · #8 08-11-2011, 01:13 PM

EPCOT (World Showcase) is very crowded anytime after 5:00 at night and any time on the weekends. Last year was the worst I have seen and we have been going the last two weeks in Oct since 92. This year we switched our trip to two weeks earlier because of the crowds. Oct is no longer the slow time.