Hotels sold out = Parks crowded??

[wdwjenn]

I just looked at Disney.com and noticed that all hotels except FW and SSR are sold out for the dates we will be there in Oct:pumpkin:. Does that mean the parks will also be jammed packed?
I was hoping it would be a more managable crowd than in the summer months?

[Dyanna]

We are going the week of Columbus Day. Did not know until after we booked the trip that a lot of southern states have school fall recess this same week. I am assuming that the parks will be extremely crowded as the hotels are almost filled to capacity & that MK will be open until 3am on Sunday Oct 7th to accomadate the crowds. Hope this is not the case but it seems so. We will enjoy being there anyway.

[DizneyRox]

Occupancy rates and park hours are a good judge of crowd levels. I think you're on the right track.

I will say, in my many years of going (mostly July 4th week) I have never had as many trouble as I have had lately planning "off peak" vacations lately. I think I'm going to stick with the summer vacations I have grown to love.

[lockedoutlogic]

Not necessarily....

While the crowds have been consistently steady for 3+ years now....some portions of the year feature other things that book the hotels but don't necessarily mean huge park mobs....

There were at least 2 large national business conventions held at WDW each year...one i believe was in october and the other in january (memory's a little fuzzy on that one)....and that lead to several thousand rooms booked that didn't necessarily yield alot of traffic.

The halloween party attracts alot of locals and driving traffic...so that may increase the volume some....as does the EPCOT Food and Wine festival...which is great, but floods that park with frequent guests

But I know from personal experience that Oct, Jan, and Feb were busy convention months....

And even the Pop Warner and cheerleading crowds gobble up alot of rooms...but often don't have a tremendous amount of time for the parks....

hope that helps...

[LoriMistress]

Have you tried calling Disney directly? Have you tried looking at other websites to book your reservations at?

[pox24]

Take it from me, the parks will not all be crowded. Hotels are booked mostly bcause of the Halloween Party at the MK which is at night and the Food and Wine Festival which is at Epcot until Nov. We go Nearly every Oct and never had a crowd complaint. In fact My wife and I will be at the Poly on the 12th for 5 nights. Don't worry. Get in early, out by noon and go back in the evening and you'll sail through everything.:thumbsup: