Here now, yes, it's crowded!

[ruadisneyfan2]

Wow, I'm glad I read this. We haven't been to WDW during party times of year in a verrry long time. This year we're going early Dec for a very short trip: late Friday night until Tues. So really only 3 days of parks. Saturday in MK is always awful, EMH or not. Sunday is the party day and since we're bringing our 16 yr old niece who has been since she was 6, I really wanted her to see wishes. So we made Sunday our HS days for late EMH there. Then MK with early EMH and stay until we see wishes. I will need to rework our plan.
I can tell it will be crazy crowded because since August it's been slim pickens for ADRs. I do recall Disney offering FD for most of the fall right up until mid December, right? That probably explains it. I could easily get ADRs for our 2 night precruise stay in early March. You would think that would be harder to get with it being spring break time.

In 2013 we went for FD in Sept and made the mistake of not buying hoppers. It was packed. To the point that dh said he'll never go back. Even the kids were annoyed.
Good thing Disney has that happy amnesia where you tend to remember mostly just the good stuff.

 

[goofy4prez]

Well according to the crowd calendar I use, on easywdw, Magic Kingdom was in the red on 10/19. Of course, everyone uses different crowd calendars, so I don't know what the other sites said, but there was magic hours at MK yesterday, so that's always a clue that you wanna avoid that park.

However, it had Epcot in the green and you said it was crowded. I mean, World Showcase always seems relatively crowded to me, though, no matter when you go.

I use to study, cross check, double cross check, triple cross check, stress, plan, plan some more, and once again study and cross check sites like Easywdw and Touring Plans and then pick my park, plan my ADR's and everything else around those guides. After several years I have come to the conclusion that busy is busy and no longer use the calendar guides. Now I just pick my park and the day I want, make my ADR's around that, and then hit the targeted park at rope drop, leave in mid day to relax at the resort or DTD, enjoy a dinner ADR, and then head back to the park (or a different one). For those who love and use the crowd calendars please don't take this as an attack; it truly is not. But my trips are now a whole lot less stressful and have discovered I'm actually pretty good at planning my days out at WDW.

 

[AllieBee]

This was my first October trip (October 19-23), and I thought it was great! I am used to going in mid to late January, where the crowds are really low, and I admit that I was scared going into this vacation - but I was pleasantly surprised by the trip. The longest we waited in any line was 20 minutes for 7DMT. The only times that I thought the parks were bananas was on our departure day, and MK on Monday night for Wishes, but I was expecting both those days to be crazy. I understand that I don't have another October experience to compare it to, but I am an October convert! (I guess that makes me part of the problem, right? )

 

[dismom2+twins]

Wow, I'm glad I read this. We haven't been to WDW during party times of year in a verrry long time. This year we're going early Dec for a very short trip: late Friday night until Tues. So really only 3 days of parks. Saturday in MK is always awful, EMH or not. Sunday is the party day and since we're bringing our 16 yr old niece who has been since she was 6, I really wanted her to see wishes. So we made Sunday our HS days for late EMH there. Then MK with early EMH and stay until we see wishes. I will need to rework our plan.
I can tell it will be crazy crowded because since August it's been slim pickens for ADRs. I do recall Disney offering FD for most of the fall right up until mid December, right? That probably explains it. I could easily get ADRs for our 2 night precruise stay in early March. You would think that would be harder to get with it being spring break time.

In 2013 we went for FD in Sept and made the mistake of not buying hoppers. It was packed. To the point that dh said he'll never go back. Even the kids were annoyed.
Good thing Disney has that happy amnesia where you tend to remember mostly just the good stuff.

Plus, they had all the disney dining scalpers that were buying up ADRs and reselling them.

 

[jwfla422]

No need for a rant, but I am gonna state the obvious..... We have all read the numerous threads about how October ain't what it used to be....what I will say is, they were all right. MK was absolutely mobbed yesterday, as was world showcase. We're going to MNSSHP tonite and of course we're looking forward to it, but, we know it's gonna be a nuthouse.
As my wife said "I'd rather be in a packed Magic Kingdom then sitting alone at my desk at work"...well said my love, well said

OH I get your rant, totally! We were there that weekend just a few days before, Friday was ALSO a teacher planning day for many FL schools so dd and I headed over there and actually "lucked out" on Friday late afternoon at MK because as many commented they go on the days the park is opened late and not on MNSSHP days. We were in MK from about 3:45 until 6:30 and got on many attractions without FP and didn't wait more than 15 min for any of them but it was around the time people were leaving and the MNSSHP people started coming in.

BUT EPCOT...on Saturday F&W, never again, insane, there were some areas that were so crowded & packed around WS it almost felt like a concert was letting out just to walk around the WS...absolutely crazy!! Lines were 100+ people deep just to get the little food items. We went with intentions to "eat around the world" but only ended up eating at American (LOL!)

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Plus, they had all the disney dining scalpers that were buying up ADRs and reselling them.

Didn't they shut them down?
I was expecting a huge release and sudden availability but it never happened.
We are scheduled for Epcot on Saturday of our trip so it seems my plans keep looking worse. FP selection is crappy now for all of our days with the first one not available til noon most days so Im not changing our fp but I am glad we have hoppers.
I think we'll skip WS this time.

 

[dismom2+twins]

Didn't they shut them down?
I was expecting a huge release and sudden availability but it never happened.
We are scheduled for Epcot on Saturday of our trip so it seems my plans keep looking worse. FP selection is crappy now for all of our days with the first one not available til noon most days so Im not changing our fp but I am glad we have hoppers.
I think we'll skip WS this time.

Yes, they shut them all down and I kept thinking there was going to be a huge release too! ADRs have been very tough for November this year. I could kick myself for letting go of a FP for Toy Story when I thought we wouldn't be at the park until the 3 pm time for it, only to change our plans 3 days later and now they are all gone. UGH! Keep checking the FPs because people change them all the time, just like the ADRs. It is sad though, stalking ADRs and FPs nonstop for months now. Finally got my last ADR I wanted 2 days ago for the exact time and day, so I figured the rest of the vacation will hopefully fall into place. Good luck and sending you some serious pixie dust for openings ASAP!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Yes, they shut them all down and I kept thinking there was going to be a huge release too! ADRs have been very tough for November this year. I could kick myself for letting go of a FP for Toy Story when I thought we wouldn't be at the park until the 3 pm time for it, only to change our plans 3 days later and now they are all gone. UGH! Keep checking the FPs because people change them all the time, just like the ADRs. It is sad though, stalking ADRs and FPs nonstop for months now. Finally got my last ADR I wanted 2 days ago for the exact time and day, so I figured the rest of the vacation will hopefully fall into place. Good luck and sending you some serious pixie dust for openings ASAP!

Thanks! I think we could all use some.

 

[V2000]

We went to EPCOT yesterday late afternoon/evening and did not think it was crowded at all honestly. We were able to move around and stop at seven kiosks (Scotland, Greece, Brazil, China, S. Korea, France & the Craft Beer pavilion) to try samples and waited no more than five minutes at any of them.

Also rode, Mission:Space, Test Track, The Land & watched The American Adventure ... All between 6:00 and 9:00. Not bad for three hours.

The crowd level did seem higher than a "normal" Monday afternoon/evening, but again ... Nothing I thought was crowded compared to near the weekend or on weekends by far. Weekends are when we (as locals) avoid the parks.

I was at Epcot 10/22 and I did not think it was crowded at all. It was comfortable for us. I noticed in the evening after 7pm the world showcase was a bit tight but late night always is and especially because it was magic evening hours for that Thursday.

We attended a sold out party on 10/23/15 and it was also comfortable for us. Low wait times on rides (under 20 mins).
The character photo waits were longer. 30mins +
Main street was the most crowded but I didn't see a problem. My biggest problem was not enough time to do everything.

For the party (entry at 4pm) I was able to:

• Dine at BOG
  
• Photo with Jafar
• Photo with Jack Sparrow
• Ride Pirates
• Ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
  
• Monsters Inc Laugh Floor
• Photo with Jack Skellington
• Photo with Jasmine
• Castle photos
• Fireworks
• Boo to you
• Hocus Pocus

 

[12disneybee]

And I'll bet it was cold! We were there in November 14 and people were not prepared for the cold. Even though it's Florida, we wore underarmor, coats and scarves...and we are from Pittsburgh, PA. My husband fought me on taking the underarmor, but even he wore it one or 2 days.
We were just at WDW this September and it was crowded, even though we were going to the parks that were supposed to be slow that day.

Pittsburgh Pa too!!!! We were there in September also,lol
We booked bounceback for next September at the CBR, DXDP again!

 

[Disneyalea]

Pittsburgh Pa too!!!! We were there in September also,lol
We booked bounceback for next September at the CBR, DXDP again!

Yay! Maybe I see your antenna topper when driving around. We have our trip booked for next September as well, except we will be touring the southwest and then visiting Disneyland 4 days. We're excited!