Is October always this busy?

[rlaeromech]

I was just there last week from the 16-21st and had a great time. But I was kinda suprised at how busy it was. Wednesday and Saturday at MK were packed. 60 minute wait for Peter Pan at 7:30pm on Saturday night. Touring plans.com had the crowd level at 5. Anyone else notice anything like this. Wednesday we utilized Fast pass and still rode everything we wanted to. The trip overall was great, it just felt like summer and not fall. Of course the record heat on Saturday didn't help.

 

[tink81]

The PGA Tour was there all last week. The FUNAI classic takes place on Disney's Palm and Magnolia golf courses. The PGA has a huge following, a lot of people (locals included) probably planned their vacation to be there to follow the tournament.

 

[Nut4Disney]

We were there the 10th - 16th and didn't think crowds were too bad. It is getting busier in Oct. than it used to be. For the week you were there, you had the Food and Wine Festival as well as the Funai golf tournament going on, so that may have contributed to the long lines.

 

[rlaeromech]

Yeah,

I thought about that. Funai Golf. It was also Biktoberfest in Daytona. Tuesday wasn't too bad and Thursday at Animal Kingdom wasn't too bad either. 30 minutes for Everest and Dinosaur was walk-on all day. Mainly Epcot and MK. Epcot Friday was busy because of the Food and Wine. We are planning on going back in Late January, early February so maybe it will be less crowded. At least it will be cooler!!!! 92!, WEW!!!

 

[JCrane]

Doesn't Magic Kingdom have EMH on Wednesday's and Saturday's? Maybe that had something to do with the late lines in the evening!?

 

[octoberbarry]

We were there last October and had the same experience. From what we were told, the increase in school systems doing year-round schooling means that October has become a 'vacation month', with schools regularly taking a week or two holiday at that time. So it has become the next 'spring break' time, though not as intense, with tourism being at a much higher level at family destinations in particular. So October is no longer the 'line-free' time anywhere, nor will it be again, most likely.

 

[metscool]

Doesn't Magic Kingdom have EMH on Wednesday's and Saturday's? Maybe that had something to do with the late lines in the evening!?

Nope it had it last night. I saw it before I went to PI last night. And it did not have MNSSHP those night either.

 

[metscool]

Yeah I noticed that too this weekend. I was going into Epcot Saturday and the lines to get into the parking lot was 20 min. Then Everest on Friday that was bad too. Usually I ride it on fridays because everyone is still in school and there is a 10 to 15 minute wait. But friday there was a 50 minute wait for that ride.

 

[PhiPackAttacka]

We were there last year from 10/29 to 11/6, I believe, and it was pretty crowded. Not like the summer, but up significantly from our previous trip in September '03. Somebody told me that there was a deal for Florida residents in October. Does that sound right?

 

[speck76]

October has become busier since more people are not vacationing in Aug/Sept due to hurricane fears....... Furthermore, special events like Food & Wine, Funai, and MNSSHP were designed to bring people in the slow season, and needless to say, this strategy has worked.

 

[Shaman]

Business is good!

Slow periods were nice....the last two years I've noticed that those periods haven't really existed anymore....not the traditional ones anyway....I wonder how well the competition is doing compared to Disney....

 

[luckyeye13]

Wednesdays and Saturdays have been particularly busy lately because they do not have any MNSSHP scheduled for those days, thus, all of the Guests who do not have Park Hopper tickets go on those days in order to see Spectromagic and Wishes and stay past 7 PM. As for the other parks, it is probably a combination of the reasons mentioned already and the Guests without Park Hoppers avoiding Magic Kingdom on MNSSHP days or, especially in the case of Epcot, crossing over once the park closes for the party.

 

[epscot]

Oct Crowds

We were there last October and had the same experience. From what we were told, the increase in school systems doing year-round schooling means that October has become a 'vacation month', with schools regularly taking a week or two holiday at that time...

My son's school system in TN is not year-round, but he gets a full week off in October for Fall Break. Instead of starting school after Labor Day like I did 25 yrs ago, he starts in mid August and gets a week in Oct, 2 weeks at Christmas and a week in the Spring. His school year ends a few days before Memorial Day.

My nephews in north GA started Aug 3 and will finish the Friday before Mother's Day.

 

[llrain]

October used to be nice and slow but its just that people are travelling more and more during abnormal times.
As said before, Disney is a company trying to make money and rebounding from 09-11 was prob a big to do behind the scenes, and it seems that the turnaround is almost here...They have done a great job in getting people
in the turnstiles even during what we would consider Off peak....there really isnt any off peak anymore down there....
there is always, always something happening down there....
Feb is pres week, March has spring break, april- JUNE now is F+G fest,
July is 4th of July, August is just everyone out of school so travel,
early sept is labor day, End of sept - november is F+W fest, that takes us to
Wonderful turkey week in nov, then Christmas kicks in....Disney pretty much has every month covered. And these 4th of july single holidays arent just single days of locals coming to parks....people are just up and going...


The days of slow parks, i think, is coming to a slow end and soon there will be no "off season" of which to travel during low times to disney....
All those charts and levels u see are historical only, Historical being the
key word....They dont seem to be updated that often by whoever reports these yearly periods

 

[rlaeromech]

all good points. Maybe time to add a park. I wonder if they ever do the math..... resorts hold this many people, parks hold this many people. Hmmm.. time to build another park, or add the existing ones. I was mainly curios as to whether or not anyone else noticed this, or if this WAS the slow season and I have NO IDEA what the summer is like. I actually went to EPCOT on August 11th, Saturday and it was slower than the 21st of October. I am in sales so I am all for Disney doing things that increases their $$$. Then they can continue to keep it so nice. When the parks are empty, they are not making money and it cost money to do things that nice. All the little things we love so much, really add up in the end.

 

[mhead]

I was there Oct 11-15 and it was much more crowded than it has been in previous October's

 

[lwalker8]

The Year of A Million Dreams advertising campaign may have contributed. They haven't done this kind of national advertising for the parks in some time. Plus the Disney Classic golf tournament was there at that time as others have said.:wave:

 

[imagineersrock]

60 minute wait for Peter Pan at 7:30pm on Saturday night.

Uhm... When does Peter Pan not have a 60 minute wait? :lookaroun

My friends and I had a good laugh at this the other night while playing in the parks... We pretty much walked on to every attraction in the park from Buzz, to Space Mountain, Philharmagic, Haunted Mansion, Splash and Thunder Mountain... But Peter Pan still had a posted 50 minute wait with a line that wrapped around the entire building. :lol:

 

[Tinkrbell]

I was there Oct. 12-14. The only line that was longer than 15 minutes was Soarin' & that was an hour. We practically walked right on everything.

 

[DolFan]

Was at Disney 2 weeks ago. We usually go first week in October and it is much slower then. It has to be the Golf tournament, Mickey not so scary, and the Food and Wine Festival. Epcot was crazy crowded everyday we were there. But MGM was hardly crowded, there was no wait at all for tower of terror in the early afternoon.