advice on October please

[maleficent55]

We are in the process of contemplating our first ever OCTOBER trip.
We've done April, July, August, November and December but never October, nor have we ever experienced halloween time at the parks so also of course no Halloween Party.

Hoping to get fed back on weather and crowds and just general advice.
I already booked 5 nights at the GCH, new will as always use Genie+ and DAS. And this time we would be devoting a day JUST to rest and a cabana at the pool. Which makes me think of one specific question: I know you can do 1/2 day cabana rental but can you choose between the first or second half? And are securing them as quick as Trader Sams or the Blue Bayou?

Thanks ahead of time. We may just do this anyway to have the experience.

 

[Cal-Pie]

My advice for October:
1-pack your patience
2-lower your expectations about what you can accomplish (even with genie+)
3-attend OBB, in my opinion, it's the saving grace of an October trip

I've had great luck with the weather, just needed a light jacket in the evenings. I have no experience with cabana rental.

 

[meeshy1342]

Kind of expanding on Cal-Pie's advice: try and save some LL's for the evening (or try to stack them if possible) - when we were there in September, LL's for many attractions were fully booked for the evening/night by early afternoon. We started booking evening LL's mid-morning before heading back to the CGH for a swim/nap.

Halloween is such a fun time in the parks, but the crowds can be VERY crazy so be ready for it!

 

[Mle8308]

I went in October 2022 and it was hotter than WDW. It was at least 88 degrees each day. It was extremely crowded (it was the only time we could go), you will need Genie+, it was very busy. BUT - it was a great trip and we had a wonderful time. The people I was with had previously lived in the Anaheim area and weren't as surprised at the weather, they said it could be all over the place that time of year. We checked the forecast before the trip and were prepared. Never needed anything more than a t-shirt and shorts, even at night. Oh, and no fireworks during the week. Can't help with the cabana rental, we didn't have time set aside for a pool day at GCH though it would have been perfect! Have fun!

 

[Lisa24jks]

Cal-pie's advice on packing your patience is NUMBER ONE. Usually, when I see people complain about crowds during certain months, I'm like, "Okay, but it's still not that bad?" Unless they're talking about October. I went in both September and October this year, and October was far worse crowd-wise. We still had a great time, but you definitely have to brace yourself for it a bit and realize that it's not always going to be a breeze. Genie+ & DAS will be a HUGE help, even more so than normal, but even with that you'll still want to prepare yourself for crowds. (Do things like eat meals at oddball times, early lunch or late dinner, if you're doing quick service.)

Definitely do Oogie Boogie Bash if you can get tickets, as it really completes the whole spooky season vibes at Disneyland and the treat trails and parade are absolutely worth it, IMO.

Weather can be... variant. But it can definitely get hot (hotter than September even), so just keep an eye on the weather as you get closer to your dates and prepare accordingly. (If you're doing costumes for Oogie Boogie Bash, have a backup outfit in case it's too sweltering.) Stay hydrated and cool!

(Also, if you have the time/money/inclination, I do recommend the Happiest Haunts tour if you can take it on a day where there are scheduled fireworks. You get reserved standing area for the fireworks and it's FANTASTIC.)

 

[katyringo]

October is BUSY. If you find yourself there over the typical fall break time in mid October you can really face some crowds. We did in 2022! Great time tho and oogie boogie bash is worth it. You will also have Halloween stuff in the grand lobby.

 

[maleficent55]

Cal-pie's advice on packing your patience is NUMBER ONE. Usually, when I see people complain about crowds during certain months, I'm like, "Okay, but it's still not that bad?" Unless they're talking about October. I went in both September and October this year, and October was far worse crowd-wise. We still had a great time, but you definitely have to brace yourself for it a bit and realize that it's not always going to be a breeze. Genie+ & DAS will be a HUGE help, even more so than normal, but even with that you'll still want to prepare yourself for crowds. (Do things like eat meals at oddball times, early lunch or late dinner, if you're doing quick service.)

Definitely do Oogie Boogie Bash if you can get tickets, as it really completes the whole spooky season vibes at Disneyland and the treat trails and parade are absolutely worth it, IMO.

Weather can be... variant. But it can definitely get hot (hotter than September even), so just keep an eye on the weather as you get closer to your dates and prepare accordingly. (If you're doing costumes for Oogie Boogie Bash, have a backup outfit in case it's too sweltering.) Stay hydrated and cool!

(Also, if you have the time/money/inclination, I do recommend the Happiest Haunts tour if you can take it on a day where there are scheduled fireworks. You get reserved standing area for the fireworks and it's FANTASTIC.)

All advice so far is so good

And based on your advice I’ll definitely look into that tour, honestly I never have because an October trip has never happened. Almost did in 2014 but that one got bumped to December

 

[starlite_]

Good luck soldier.

 

[Aspencreek]

Good luck soldier.

Good luck indeed! We went in late October of 2022 and OBB was the saving grace of the trip but otherwise it was absolutely brutal!

 

[Geemo]

We are in the process of contemplating our first ever OCTOBER trip.
We've done April, July, August, November and December but never October, nor have we ever experienced halloween time at the parks so also of course no Halloween Party.

Hoping to get fed back on weather and crowds and just general advice.
I already booked 5 nights at the GCH, new will as always use Genie+ and DAS. And this time we would be devoting a day JUST to rest and a cabana at the pool. Which makes me think of one specific question: I know you can do 1/2 day cabana rental but can you choose between the first or second half? And are securing them as quick as Trader Sams or the Blue Bayou?

Thanks ahead of time. We may just do this anyway to have the experience.

The Halloween Party ticket sell out FAST! Many dates in just a few hours.
Set an alarm to know when ticket sales go live, to get a jump on things.

 

[starlite_]

Good luck indeed! We went in late October of 2022 and OBB was the saving grace of the trip but otherwise it was absolutely brutal!

I've read so many horror stories that even late sept seems tempting fate.

 

[maleficent55]

We booked Wednesday October 23rd to Monday October 28th

But also have the opportunity to do Wednesday October 9th to Monday October 14th too

Is there a noticeable difference?

 

[Cal-Pie]

We booked Wednesday October 23rd to Monday October 28th

But also have the opportunity to do Wednesday October 9th to Monday October 14th too

Is there a noticeable difference?

Definitely stick with the later dates, they will coincide with fewer fall school breaks.

 

[KPeterso]

AGree with packing the patience. And also to go with the later dates. 10/9-14 will be close to Columbus Day (Indigenous People's Day) and there will be a lot more fall breaks during that time. Those weekend days will be unbearable.

I am a local and October is my least favorite month to visit. Partly because we are not a big Halloween family. But more because of the crazy crowds all month. I swear there is massive Halloween FOMO at Disneyland each year.

 

[tarheelalum]

October is usually hot in the day, warm at night and very crowded all the time. If you are considering tickets to the Halloween party, make sure you take the day off they start selling tickets and be ready to login into the system with multiple devices the second it opens and be ready to wait for hours and hours. Literally, the second ticket sales starts, pacific time. I personally used 5 devices to login to try to get the tickets and two were able to get through to purchase. Also be sure to use the chrome bowser on all the devices. (Their ticket service doesn’t like Mac’s safari and other browsers which I learned that the hard way)

The Halloween party is at DCA so if you are not going to the party and you don’t have park hopper tickets be sure to book Disneyland reservations for that day because they will kick you out at 6pm if you don’t have a party ticket. The earlier party dates booked up earlier this year than the ones closer to Halloween.

The tickets sell so fast now because Disney is allowing ticket scalpers to buy and resell the tickets for massive profit instead of requiring names for each ticket sold and ID verification at the gates. The party is a lot of fun especially if you have not been in recent years but it also requires tremendous effort due to Disney allowing ticket scalpers to buy everything up which makes life for its real fans very difficult and leaves a really bad taste in my mouth after this past year’s experience and no desire to ever go through that again. Best of luck.

 

[Gypsybear]

Lots of good advice already....I will reiterate these though:

1) Pack your Patience
2) If doing OOB, pack a backup outfit (for changing weather)
3) It's better if you do DCA the entire day of your party nite (otherwise, you'll find few, if any LL options), same with dining at either park. Those who are jumping from DCA to DLR because of the party, will be mobile booking meals early.
4) Did you remember to pack your patience?

Have fun!!

 

[maleficent55]

October is usually hot in the day, warm at night and very crowded all the time. If you are considering tickets to the Halloween party, make sure you take the day off they start selling tickets and be ready to login into the system with multiple devices the second it opens and be ready to wait for hours and hours. Literally, the second ticket sales starts, pacific time. I personally used 5 devices to login to try to get the tickets and two were able to get through to purchase. Also be sure to use the chrome bowser on all the devices. (Their ticket service doesn’t like Mac’s safari and other browsers which I learned that the hard way)

The Halloween party is at DCA so if you are not going to the party and you don’t have park hopper tickets be sure to book Disneyland reservations for that day because they will kick you out at 6pm if you don’t have a party ticket. The earlier party dates booked up earlier this year than the ones closer to Halloween.

The tickets sell so fast now because Disney is allowing ticket scalpers to buy and resell the tickets for massive profit instead of requiring names for each ticket sold and ID verification at the gates. The party is a lot of fun especially if you have not been in recent years but it also requires tremendous effort due to Disney allowing ticket scalpers to buy everything up which makes life for its real fans very difficult and leaves a really bad taste in my mouth after this past year’s experience and no desire to ever go through that again. Best of luck.

Thank you for the amazing advice, some of which I knew, some not