Mid-October Booked?

[PintoColvig]

I snagged a room, tiks, etc. for Oct. 8 -17th using the package deal that's been offered. I'm saving $500 on the total cost but I'm stuck in a value resort. I've been checking the wdw website daily to see if the deal has been extended to the moderates. When I checked today, the only place available on the whole property was a cabin at Ft. Wilderness. That was also the case when I check for a room only reservation. So, does this mean that the resorts are sold out and I should expect a crowd during the so-called off-season? Or is it because I'm staying for a longer time period and Columbus Day falls in the middle of it? Anyone have an idea?

 

[PintoColvig]

bump

 

[fosse76]

Full resorts does not equal full parks. If all the resorts were sold out...and all the guests were evenly divided between the four parks...and no one from a non-resort was let in...the crowds would still be extremely manageable. Keep in mind, these parks are designed to accomodate 50,000 people or more each.

Also, from what I understand, deals and discounts are only available for certain resorts and only for a certain number of rooms. So the resort could be completely empty except for the discount rate rooms, but if you book using the discount might show up as sold out. That's because those discount rooms are not available.

 

[PintoColvig]

Full resorts does not equal full parks. If all the resorts were sold out...and all the guests were evenly divided between the four parks...and no one from a non-resort was let in...the crowds would still be extremely manageable. Keep in mind, these parks are designed to accomodate 50,000 people or more each.

Also, from what I understand, deals and discounts are only available for certain resorts and only for a certain number of rooms. So the resort could be completely empty except for the discount rate rooms, but if you book using the discount might show up as sold out. That's because those discount rooms are not available.

I realize that the parks can accommodate lots of people. I'm just surprised that very few rooms are available on property for that time of year. I didn't just look only for vacancy in discounted rooms, I also checked for room-only vacancies. FW cabins were all that were available when I checked. :shrug:

 

[laynalee07]

I am going Oct 12-20th and have the same feelings as you on the crowd issues for this time of year.. DH and I booked ADR's back in early July and alot of places were already booked up...
I thought this time of year would have been a little more slow-paced... guess I was wrong.:shrug:

 

[imamouse]

Oct used to be value season, but has crept into regular season. I went the week of Columbus Day for years and it felt like I had the parks to myself. I have pictures of park icons with no other people walking past.

Now, the secret is out about Oct and the crowds are higher, but still managable. As for the discounts - only a certain % of rooms per resort (and not all resorts) will apply. It's all about demand and supply.

Have a great trip. The weather will be perfect.

 

[erstwo]

Lots of school systems now have "Fall Break" sometime in October, I know ours does. Half of my neighborhood will be in Disney the second week of October!

I know what you are going through though. I was NOT booking a "deal" package and could not get "room only" at the Poly, Contemporary or Wilderness Lodge any week in October! Same thing for the first two weeks of December (usually touted as a low attendence time!)

Weren't all of these weeks (October & early December) bounceback weeks? I can't remember!

 

[PintoColvig]

Lots of school systems now have "Fall Break" sometime in October, I know ours does. Half of my neighborhood will be in Disney the second week of October!

I know what you are going through though. I was NOT booking a "deal" package and could not get "room only" at the Poly, Contemporary or Wilderness Lodge any week in October! Same thing for the first two weeks of December (usually touted as a low attendence time!)

Weren't all of these weeks (October & early December) bounceback weeks? I can't remember!

We're doing Fall Break, too, even pulling the kids out of school for three days of the previous week. :wave:

I've tried every which way I can--room only; room and tickets; room, tickets, and dining--but nothing but cabins in FW. I had my pickings in Oct. 2003. Now, five years later, the secret on Oct. is apparently out.

I wonder what bookings off-property are looking like.

 

[diddy_mouse]

Our anniversary is Oct. 8th and we had originally planed on heading down to celebrate, but we had to move the trip back to Feb '09. :shrug:

Anyhoo...When we were down for out honeymoon in '05 things were very manageable but I do remember that our resort (POFQ) seemed very busy with people. I know we had arrived the day before Columbus Day and I think Rosh Hashanah was around that time as well.

Even though the beans have been spilled about October it still is a wonderful time of year to visit. I look forward to when we head back (for real this time) for an anniversary.

 

[ugotzme]

dont forget oct is now food and wine event. not so scary and buick golf tournament. it use to be a great time of year to go now it seems that november is the time.

 

[DivineMadness7]

I do agree with the statement that just because on-property hotels are booked does not necessarily mean crazy crowds. During the summer rush, you have a lot of off-property guests and locals. I doubt there is as much of that in October. We'll be going the 18-26 and I'm not worried about crowds.

I'm not expecting the parks to be dead, but I don't really think there are predictably super slow times anymore. We've been in November twice, the 1st and 2nd weeks and it wasn't that dead. It wasn't insanely busy, but it wasn't slow either. We tried to call a few months ago for November and found limited availability, had better luck with October. We were told by the CM that conventions often book the Disney hotels this time of year, filling them up and they have little impact on crowds.

All you can do is keep trying to call back and check. People may cancel as it gets closer. Good luck!