October visit

Brummiechris

New Member
Original Poster
Looking to try and visit DLP next year, and trying to way up when is best to visit. It’s got to be in the school holidays. I want to go during the October half term as the price will be cheaper for me as opposed to May or summer holidays.

Has anyone been during October half term? Is it really cold? Really bad time to go?

I’d like to see it dressed up for halloween and it’s my sons birthday around that time so would like to tie it in. We are from the UK so weather/coldness won’t affect us as much haha.
 

cjkeating

Well-Known Member
Looking to try and visit DLP next year, and trying to way up when is best to visit. It’s got to be in the school holidays. I want to go during the October half term as the price will be cheaper for me as opposed to May or summer holidays.

Has anyone been during October half term? Is it really cold? Really bad time to go?

I’d like to see it dressed up for halloween and it’s my sons birthday around that time so would like to tie it in. We are from the UK so weather/coldness won’t affect us as much haha.

For a school holiday I think it is quite a good time to go especially versus the summer. Personally I prefer it being a bit cooler as you can always warm up as opposed to the summer if you hit a heatwave and it is 40 degrees.
 

Brummiechris

New Member
Original Poster
For a school holiday I think it is quite a good time to go especially versus the summer. Personally I prefer it being a bit cooler as you can always warm up as opposed to the summer if you hit a heatwave and it is 40 degrees.


I’m exactly the same, I like it a bit cooler and can’t stand the heat so summer, heatwave and lots of people doesn’t sound great. Thanks for replying.
 

AndyS2992

Well-Known Member
We always go the first week of November so the week after and the weather is always cold, even when the sun is out so coats are a must. October is great time to go with all the Halloween additions however the half term school break is very busy, though not as busy as Summer or Christmas, so there's that. If you're staying in a Disney hotel then make good use of extra magic time, Fastpass and get to shows and parades 30 minutes before they start and you won't have any issues.
 

Swissmiss

Premium Member
Just thought I’d jump in because my experience in the past year with crowd levels has been very different - we went for a day during the October half term and lines we’re some of the longest I’d ever experienced at DLP (I knew a few other parties there for a longer stay at the same time and they confirmed the same for other days as well). We were there for a long weekend 2 weeks ago and most of our waits were under 10 minutes and only the occasional longer wait, but longer was only 20-30.

I still agree that October is a great time to go - particularly for the Halloween decorations - but wanted to give you the different perspective on crowds so that you can manage expectations if necessary for your son.
 

Brummiechris

New Member
Original Poster
Just thought I’d jump in because my experience in the past year with crowd levels has been very different - we went for a day during the October half term and lines we’re some of the longest I’d ever experienced at DLP (I knew a few other parties there for a longer stay at the same time and they confirmed the same for other days as well). We were there for a long weekend 2 weeks ago and most of our waits were under 10 minutes and only the occasional longer wait, but longer was only 20-30.

I still agree that October is a great time to go - particularly for the Halloween decorations - but wanted to give you the different perspective on crowds so that you can manage expectations if necessary for your son.


Thanks for the replies.

I don’t think the queues will matter too much as we’ll go for 3 nights and 4 days. At least I’m hoping the length of stay will nullify the queues as we’ll be able to go back later on.

Kids will be 4 and 2 so the rides won’t matter as much. They’ll be amazed by the atmosphere and characters and shopping for new teddies.
 

Communicora

Premium Member
The decorations are lovely and it is fun to see some villains out and about. The crowds were a bother, but October is a lovely time to visit. It is quite nice to be at a Disney park and feel a bit chilly. I hope you have a great trip!
 

AndyS2992

Well-Known Member
My wife and I are going over Thanksgiving. How are the late November crowd levels? This would be during a week day.
Not too busy at all. November is usually the quietest month of the year. Strange blip last year where the place was full of Spanish people for some reason but for the last several years it's always been nice.
 

Swissmiss

Premium Member
My wife and I are going over Thanksgiving. How are the late November crowd levels? This would be during a week day.

That would be completely outside of European school holidays, and given that you said you’d be there on a week day, you shouldn’t experience much in the way of crowds. Do think of layering clothes though as it will likely be cold but there is always the occasional sunny « warmer » day.
 

fradz

Well-Known Member
Every year I've been going sometime around the 22-27th of November (and avoiding weekends), so in short:
+ parks are pretty empty
+ it's already the Christmas season with all that it entails,
- it can get cold
- parks close out quite early compared to summer
- beware of potential refurbs
 

Jeff456

Well-Known Member
I did October 29th to November 2nd last year, first 3 days including the 31st the crowds were not too bad at all, Thursday was noticeably busier and Friday for some reason was rammed, it was unpleasant and busier than I have ever seen any of the WDW parks. It was hard to move let alone get on any attractions with any sort of reasonable wait time. We left at 1pm we didn't really need to leave until around 4pm to get the tunnel back but it was pretty unenjoyable. Happy to be corrected but I think rule of thumb is fridays and weekends are much busier!
 

Ag11gani

Well-Known Member
I did October 29th to November 2nd last year, first 3 days including the 31st the crowds were not too bad at all, Thursday was noticeably busier and Friday for some reason was rammed, it was unpleasant and busier than I have ever seen any of the WDW parks. It was hard to move let alone get on any attractions with any sort of reasonable wait time. We left at 1pm we didn't really need to leave until around 4pm to get the tunnel back but it was pretty unenjoyable. Happy to be corrected but I think rule of thumb is fridays and weekends are much busier!

The 1st and 2nd of November are public holidays in the majority of Europe, which would probably be why you saw an increase in crowds on a those days.
 

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