End Sept/Beg Oct Crowd Question

[seashell724]

Okay. I have never come at the end of Sept and stayed into the beginning of October. I know there is F&W and Columbus Day which will make the parks busier. Is there also any tour groups or fall breaks that make the parks much busier? I was hoping to do most of our park days before the Columbus Day long weekend and use those days to do other things.
Do you think it will be okay during that time period or is it just plain madness. To compare-we have always done late Oct and beginning of November before.
Thanks!

 

[winthropf]

October starts what seems to me to be one large convention after another. This impacts the boardwalk area hotels the most, but doesn't seem to have a lot of park impact. The largest is the Gartner Symposium, this year scheduled for October 20-24.

 

[RolloTomasi]

This past September we visited the last week of the month (23-30). Crowds felt very light to me, even with F&W going on. Low wait times for just about everything except the biggies (FOP, SDD, Dwarfs). I think the advantage is that kids are definitely in school at that point and parents aren’t taking them out for quick stays that early in the year. We also just missed the Jewish holiday breaks, whic onviosukt shift every year so you may want to check those out. The one downside was that it was HOT. Over ninety every day. And even with that, wait time for Splash Mountain was never more than twenty minutes.

 

[gharter]

We were there mid October. Lots of convention crowd at the Swan and Dolphin. Parks didn't seem any more crowded than any other week in October. This was the hottest that I recall in October. Normally low 80s. We hit low 90s every day.

 

[JennyDrake]

Late September will still be hot but the crowds shouldn't me too bad. Anymore, I avoid ANY of October as it seems to be nothing by a madhouse.

 

[ManalapanDad]

We went two last weeks of September in 2018 and it was amazing compared to the four other times we were there last year we felt it was much less crowded and plan to go back again same time this year as well as few other trips

 

[WIll C]

We went last year end Sept/early Oct and it wasn't bad for crowds. The heat was far worse for us. The one night we did the MNSSHP it was busy but not horrible. We were very glad for the EMH we had one night in MK as it was great to have the park to ourselves. We didn't pay for any of the other extra hour events besides the one MNSSHP night but didn't really need it. We had FPs for most of the rides we wanted and didn't bother with any of the really long ones (FoP, 7D, etc). I wouldn't go back because it was too hot, not because of the crowds. We're going to try late winter instead this year.

 

[wfjny]

So, 15 years ago, my wife and I went the first week of October, and practically every ride was a walk-on.

Not so much so today. Typically still quieter, but they have found ways to fill up many of the over 30,000 Disney hotel rooms, and those 150,000 hotel rooms all over Orlando...

There does not ever really seem to be a slow time at Disney anymore. Not that you will not have a good time. Just setting expectations...

 

[darlaya]

So, 15 years ago, my wife and I went the first week of October, and practically every ride was a walk-on.

Not so much so today. Typically still quieter, but they have found ways to fill up many of the over 30,000 Disney hotel rooms, and those 150,000 hotel rooms all over Orlando...

There does not ever really seem to be a slow time at Disney anymore. Not that you will not have a good time. Just setting expectations...

Ah yes, the good old days. I remember them well, We use to love out trips in October where crowds were thin, waits were unheard of and we felt like we had the parks to ourselves. So glad we got to experience Disney in this way. Now thank God for Fast Passes that at least help with minimizing wait times. I am planning a late September/Early October trip and feel regardless of weather or crowds...I know I can have a magical trip adjusting my itinerary whenever necessary. It definitely helps having Fast passes, Park Hopping, using the MDE app and staying on property

 

[mike45248]

My wife and I were there 10/5-10/14 over Columbus Day and the crowds were a little busy but very manageable with FPs. The weather was very nice. Some days a little warm, but nice. The F&W part of Epcot was very crowded but mostly just on the weekends. We went to the F&W festival i think 6 days on the trip. We would go to the other parks in the day and ride using the FP system and then head over to Epcot to eat in the late day/evening. We did not use the Dining plan and don't think it would have saved any $$.