We have done October trips twice, once in 2011 and last week (sigh, this time last week we were heading to ToT before our Dine with an Imagineer). I don't know why, but this trip was noticabley much more crowded than our trip in 2011 which was during the same week. IMO, you are better off booking what you think you want when your 180 day mark hits in April and then as it gets closer or while you are there tinker around with them. If you want, you can hold back on 2 or 3 credits to book more on the fly. Although you may not get a restaurant you think you want, you may be impressed with a restaurant you may never have thought of. I wouldn't leave all 8 TS credits to chance. You would be staying long enough to book a lot of what you may want and also tour more on the fly. It's the best of both worlds.
On another note, AKL is our all around favorite resort. The atmosphere, the smell of the lodge, the food options, the savannahs, the rooms, the pool is all just awesome. Sure, it's not on the loop or an EC area resort so you do have to take a bus everywhere, but the travel times are not nearly as bad as the "haters" will lead you to believe. Infact, we found that the bus transportation was just as fast to most places as any other resort. It gives you a chance to be all about Disney by day and feeling a bit removed and relaxed from Disney at night. We just stayed at BWV and while walking to and from EC and DHS was nice, the bus to MK and AK felt like it took forever and the bus to and from DTD was a nightmare.
