In my experiences it had. I go almost every year late September/ October. FoP was a near walkon this year. Smugglers Run walkon. Everest walkon. Universal seemed about normal, but we had Express. HHN had hour long lines on a Wednesday.
Right, Disney offers Free Dine this time of year because it's super busy on its own.
Free dining hasn’t occurred in October for years, your thinking of September.
This is true. Maybe it is the same, but it still doesn't feel equivalent somehow though.
It's simple IMO. October got crowded because of Not So Scary at Disney and HHN at Uni. Disney isn't having Not So Scary this year and Boo Bash just doesn't draw in the crowds.
Thank you for your perspective. It makes sense to me that many people would keep away from Disney until things are back to normal, or something like it (I'm one them). Based on what you say, Universal's pandemic strategy, which has always been less cautious than Disney's, may be paying off, at least in the short term. I don't think the current situation is revealing of how things will be in more usual times, however.
Not So Scary didn't either. Special events make slow times less slow, but they don't turn them into busy times.
Ummm...yes, it did. People wouldn't have been complaining about what were originally much lower attendance parties feeling crowded if they didn't draw people.
Octobers got really busy the last few years. So why were they?
The parties drew people *to the parties.* They didn't transform middle-of-a-Tuesday October into peak attendance.
How many October’s have you been to recently? I’ve been going nearly yearly for over 5 years, and compared to my other trips (early Dec, Feb, May) October was always the most crowded.
And there's a heck of a lot of blackout dates too. Also, I'd be willing to bet they don't bring back free dining.
I have been to WDW in October once in 2016. It was as hot, and as crowded if not more than the Summer. We have never been back in October. I am almost positive that the ever increasing crowds in October is one reason why DVC changed the point charts so that for 2022 both the traditional summer vacation period 11 Jun-31 Aug is now the same point cost as 1 Oct-22 Nov.
According to Touring Plans, October 2019, the last October prior to the pandemic, had average crowd levels of 3.7 out of 10. This isn't a matter of opinion. You're statistically, mathematically incorrect.
That's one of two primary differences. The other is that EVERY guest had FastPass, but only a subset of guests will have Genie+.
They absolutely did. Not peak, but very busy.