October... not anymore!

[Leo!]

HI all,

I've just returned from the world. I was there from 8 to 15. I had very busy days in the parks and it was complicated to do everything: dining, riding without fastpass, even purchasing food. Lines with +60 minutes for the big rides, extra magic hours from 1 to 3 AM (kidding?) and a sold out MNSSHP on monday. Really HOT days (+90/95) without a cloud in the sky.

But the worst of everything... BRAZILIAN TOURS everywhere, following their flag even inside the rides. Chanting, pushing, trying to skip lines... too much.

That's why... I've decided, after 5 consecutive years goin' to WDW (and some of those with more than 1 trip)... 2015 won't be a WDW year and we won't be there in october anymore.

I'll start planning for 2016 soon... wondering a better time to go... May?... Early November?...

Thanks everyone for the tips, help, during my countdown!

 

[dreynolds1982]

I was there nearly the same time frame (Oct. 9 - 14) and it was a mess, but unfortunately, there just aren't many times of the year anymore where the crowds are light. October used to be a fantastic time to go, as did May, early December, etc. Now, nearly every time of the year has crowds.

The tour groups are annoying, but I found them to be easily avoidable. Just look for those flag poles they carry and go the other direction haha. Interestingly, I noticed easily twice as many of those groups at Universal than I did at Disney.

The lines on some of the popular attractions made it tricky. I think this is in part due to FP+, which has increased standby times on the e-tickets.

All-in-all I've noticed the increasing crowds trend over the years so it didn't detract from my trip too much. Just took a little extra planning and a little more patience.

I will say this, crowds or no crowds, and this is no fault of Disney's, but people in general are getting more and more obnoxious. The more rude, thoughtless, etc that people get, the harder it is to tolerate the crowds at the parks. Pretty sad, but just the state of things these days I suppose.

 

[Chernaboggles]

We were there in that time too, (Oct 7-10) and didn't really notice the tour groups, but we had to limit our park time somewhat because of the heat. The heat also made the crowds seem worse than they were, because so many people were already irritable and uncomfortable.

 

[A W Reezy]

We went from September 29th - October 5th, and it wasn't that bad. I know a lot of schools got out for Fall Break the week after went (and the week after that). Which could be a part of the problem. Typically, we like to go the Saturday after Thanksgiving and stay a week. It's usually cool and not very crowded!

 

[abeachchick]

HI all,

I've just returned from the world. I was there from 8 to 15. I had very busy days in the parks and it was complicated to do everything: dining, riding without fastpass, even purchasing food. Lines with +60 minutes for the big rides, extra magic hours from 1 to 3 AM (kidding?) and a sold out MNSSHP on monday. Really HOT days (+90/95) without a cloud in the sky.

But the worst of everything... BRAZILIAN TOURS everywhere, following their flag even inside the rides. Chanting, pushing, trying to skip lines... too much.

That's why... I've decided, after 5 consecutive years goin' to WDW (and some of those with more than 1 trip)... 2015 won't be a WDW year and we won't be there in october anymore.

I'll start planning for 2016 soon... wondering a better time to go... May?... Early November?...

Thanks everyone for the tips, help, during my countdown!

What's wrong with the Extra Magic Hours from 1:00 to 3:00? Those are my favorite nights.

February is my favorite time to go.

 

[Tinkerbella16]

Honestly the secret is out about November too! Oct and Nov used to be such quiet months but with Columbus day, Jersey Week, free dining, marathons and F&W, it just isn't what it used to be.

I would have to say the week after Labor Day weekend is the most quiet you are going to get anymore. You'll still have the heat but its dead and in the afternoon, Soarin was only a 10-20 minute wait! I looked at the app because I am thinking of trying for that week in the future.

Sorry you did not have a very magical trip.

 

[Clamman73]

Next year I'm thinking first week Nov to see Christmas decorations...getting a little tired of all the pumpkinfest every time.

 

[COrunner]

October has definitely been busier and busier as more schools do the october break. We did an October 2010 trip and the only annoying part was the BTG's, but there wasn't the crowd volume.

 

[PoppinsFan]

We have been there in the Spring, Summer & Fall. We have noticed the best time is the first few weeks of May. Spring Break is over, crowds are light. The weather is great, and Epcot has their Flower & Garden festival. Absolutely a beautiful time to visit. We were went the end of September last year and were surprised by how busy it was too.

 

[FrostyNaples]

October, Pfffff. Once you visit the World during Christmas, or any day the park capacity is reached, and entries are denied, they make ANY other time of year a walk in the park

 

[JasonDeyoung]

I was just there the 12-16th and it didn't seem that busy I actually walked right on everything except the mine train I had to fast pass that one but it did have a 35 minute wait one night. The late night hours are perfect times to go, once the parade and fireworks go off the park empties out and is empty. Go early mornings and evenings the parks tend to be less crowded. Plus food and wine was going on which if you do epcot early morning it's usually empty. Sucks you had a bad time

 

[BransonJ]

We will be there Wednesday for 6 days so see how it goes. I have only been in the summer so even If the crowds are like summer I'll make the most of it because the weather is showing to be low 80s high 70s which is perfect for me. Although I was anticipating low crowds.

 

[ImagineerDude]

We were there in early May and July this year. May was just as crowded as it was in July IMO and we dealt with more rain too! Not that it wasn't great with the Flower and Garden Fest and everything but I was amazed at how many kids weren't in school!

 

[Vtlsgns2]

It's becoming increasingly difficult to predict; however, crowd prediction calendars are still somewhat helpful.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

HI all,

I've just returned from the world. I was there from 8 to 15. I had very busy days in the parks and it was complicated to do everything: dining, riding without fastpass, even purchasing food. Lines with +60 minutes for the big rides, extra magic hours from 1 to 3 AM (kidding?) and a sold out MNSSHP on monday. Really HOT days (+90/95) without a cloud in the sky.

But the worst of everything... BRAZILIAN TOURS everywhere, following their flag even inside the rides. Chanting, pushing, trying to skip lines... too much.

That's why... I've decided, after 5 consecutive years goin' to WDW (and some of those with more than 1 trip)... 2015 won't be a WDW year and we won't be there in october anymore.

I'll start planning for 2016 soon... wondering a better time to go... May?... Early November?...


Please, please, please let WDW know about the Brazilian tour groups and your specific problems with them. If we don't speak up about this, then Disney won't do anything about it. So, please let them know. Sorry you had such a bad time in October. I don't blame you one bit. I've been in October 2 times and it was very hot and crowded, but we never ran into the tour groups.
Thanks everyone for the tips, help, during my countdown!

 

[kimberlymautz]

I was just told the same thing by someone at my job! We were planning on visiting about that same time next year but I've decided to make it earlier to attempt to avoid as much craziness if possible. I've been told January is the perfect time to visit if you want to avoid lines, but so many rides get shut down for maintenance it's insane. I'm sorry you had a crappy time, I'll let you know how the first week of September is next year when I get back!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Chanting, pushing, trying to skip lines... too much.

Never encountered them in great numbers, but by the sounds of it something needs to be done about this. Perhaps their large group numbers are intimidating to anyone who thinks about standing up to them.
Liken them to a plague of locusts

 

[kimberlymautz]

Never encountered them in great numbers, but by the sounds of it something needs to be done about this. Perhaps their large group numbers are intimidating to anyone who thinks about standing up to them.
Liken them to a plague of locusts

A friend of mine has friends in the military stationed in Brazil and apparently they all get sent some blasts from Disney to come and visit late September through November with some crazy discounts!

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

we were there from 10/4-10/10 and it was quite a bit busier than i remember it being in october. my brother and new sis-in-law are there right now (11/1-tomorrow) and they're saying it's not as busy as it was in early october but it's still busier than we're used to it. my brother has visited disney in october for about 7 of the last 9 years; dh and i lived down there for some time. we've all been surprised this year.

while we were there, we only saw one BTG and went the other way.

 

[Master Yoda]