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crowds in beginning of October?
- Thread starter analise
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Walt Disney1955
Well-Known Member
2009 I was there at that time. Pretty good I would say. Definitely you are out of the summer rush. You have to deal with the Halloween parties at night in the Magic Kingdom but I honestly don't remember the lines being bad at all when we were there that time.
Thanks!
crxbrett
Well-Known Member
Also remember that the Food & Wine Festival is in full swing then so Epcot also sees big crowds, especially on Fridays and Saturdays.
Here is a quick glimpse of past (and future for 2018) crowd levels for the first 10 days of October using TouringPlans' data. They use a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being totally dead and 10 being absolutely packed and capacity crowds. 2018 is only a prediction.
**note** The average crowd levels for the past 5 years (2013-2017) since crowds have gotten heavier in the past few years compared to prior years before is 5 out of 10 for all four parks. Also, crowd levels have for the most part actually been noticeably down this year compared to 2015-2017, so there is a chance this year could see levels of 3 and 4 like 2014 and before.
Here is a quick glimpse of past (and future for 2018) crowd levels for the first 10 days of October using TouringPlans' data. They use a scale of 1 - 10, 1 being totally dead and 10 being absolutely packed and capacity crowds. 2018 is only a prediction.
**note** The average crowd levels for the past 5 years (2013-2017) since crowds have gotten heavier in the past few years compared to prior years before is 5 out of 10 for all four parks. Also, crowd levels have for the most part actually been noticeably down this year compared to 2015-2017, so there is a chance this year could see levels of 3 and 4 like 2014 and before.
Was there last year about the 2nd week of October... EPCOT was very crowded if you went in the evening because of food and wine... AK was more crowded than usual because of Pandora.... Studios wasn't too bad though that may not be the case now with Toy Story.... MK was a mix, we could do some areas as pretty much walk ons early in the day (space mountain and future world) while Fantasyland never seemed to lose the crowds. Mine Train was never a reasonable line so you better get a Fastpass for it if you want to experience it without waiting more than an hour.
If you decide to do a party then the best nights are going to be Sunday, Monday and Tuesday will be the least crowded days for the party. Avoid Friday and Saturday party days as they tend to be the most crowded.
In general the parks aren't as empty as they used to be because of a combination of international visitors and some schools in the US having fall breaks, I know when we have been there when Texas was having their fall breaks their seemed to be a mini surge of Texans showing up.
If you decide to do a party then the best nights are going to be Sunday, Monday and Tuesday will be the least crowded days for the party. Avoid Friday and Saturday party days as they tend to be the most crowded.
In general the parks aren't as empty as they used to be because of a combination of international visitors and some schools in the US having fall breaks, I know when we have been there when Texas was having their fall breaks their seemed to be a mini surge of Texans showing up.
JohnyKaz2078
Well-Known Member
October is more busy than it used to be. When I visited in 2017, I made the absolutely TERRIBLE mistake to visit Magic Kingdom on a Saturday. Space Mountain had a wait of 160 minutes, Seven Dwarfs had 130 minutes and even Aladdin sat at 45 minutes most of the day. Epcot wasn't something out of the ordinary (except the 50 minute wait for the Land (!)), I didn't visit HS but now it's going to be more busy with Toy Story Land and the crowds in Animal Kingdom were up due to Pandora. So definitely avoid weekends and Fridays and try to visit on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.
Lol I’m a Texan. We get a fall break in November though not October. Thanks for the info. We’re just there for 4 days so I hope we can squeeze as much in as possible.
This is great info. Thanks
crxbrett
Well-Known Member
You're welcome. Hope the crowds are light and you guys have a ton of fun!
HwdStudio
Well-Known Member
October crowds are no longer light. Go prepared and if you do experience light crowds consider yourself lucky.
Does all of Texas have their fall breaks in November, because when we fly out we usually go through DFW and each time we do it in October I would swear we are on a Disney bus because of all the parents and kids... especially on the return flight when it is very easy to tell who is coming from Disney. I even asked some of the folks traveling and was told they had were on their fall break. I suppose it's possible they had an overnight layover at DFW, but it wouldn't have been a connect on the day we left because I'm pretty bad about hitting redeye flights to save money and not waste time.
Walt Disney1955
Well-Known Member
When is a light time anymore then? They honestly need to do something about that. Whether that be adding a few dark rides or something to spread out the crowds. I've said it many times, WDW has the space to be able to spread crowds out while Disneyland doesn't and they have more rides per park and less lines. It isn't rocket science.
JohnyKaz2078
Well-Known Member
People-eating dark rides are expensive to make. HS will be adding 2 new rides (MMRR will just replace GMR), Epcot 1 (GoTG will replace the Universe of Energy) and MK will be adding 1 too (Tron). WDW is massive and has 4 parks. Disney always has to do something for all the parks. Adding 3 new rides in MK will mean not a new attraction for another park for quite some time. Something that will have much greater result in spreading crowds is a 5th park. WDW has 20 resorts and they keep adding new ones. That means more and more people have the ability to stay in leading to higher crowds.
If you're asking for the best times to visit, they are: Late January-early March, mid-August to mid-September and pretty much all of November (except Thanksgiving Week).
We’re in Houston. Our break is in November. Maybe you’re right about Dallas. I honestly don’t know lol.
correcaminos
Well-Known Member
October is increasingly more crowded than it used to be. More fall breaks at schools now than there used to be. The F&WF is a huge draw. The last few October trips (our anniversary month so we go now and then) were busier than our early summer trips, no joke.
As stated, there seems to be no more "down times" compared to even 5-10 years ago or so.
As stated, there seems to be no more "down times" compared to even 5-10 years ago or so.
pax_65
Well-Known Member
The frequency of the Halloween parties in Magic Kingdom has increased demand for late nights. When we went in October a few years ago, the Magic Kingdom was only open late 2 or 3 nights during our trip (closed for the party most of the other nights). So obviously, on those nights when the Magic Kingdom is open late, expect HUGE crowds.
JohnyKaz2078
Well-Known Member
The frequency of the Halloween parties in Magic Kingdom has increased demand for late nights. When we went in October a few years ago, the Magic Kingdom was only open late 2 or 3 nights during our trip (closed for the party most of the other nights). So obviously, on those nights when the Magic Kingdom is open late, expect HUGE crowds.
Yeah, I noticed that
