WDW in October

[Winchester24]

My fiancé and I have been planning our honeymoon for the 2nd week of October. We booked the room, chose a dining plan, purchased the tickets and made our ADR's. We also bought tickets to the Halloween party because I was really excited to see the parks decorated for Fall. This is our first trip in 20 years and our first WDW trip together. Since booking I have seen several posts discussing the overwhelming crowds due to F&W and MNSSHP, and now I am terrified. This is our first trip there together, it took a lot for me to convince my FH to go, and I am afraid he is going to hate it and it will be a miserable week. I'm not sure we can change our dates because our work schedules are really different...not sure what to do, but definitely in panic mode and need some advice. I'm sure I am coming off as a big fat whiner, but with working full time, going to school and planning a wedding I am exhausted and heartbroken at the prospect of either having to reschedule everything or going and being miserable. Any advice would be really appreciated.

 

[Samantha Egbert]

Congratulations on your first trip together and your honeymoon! Touring Plans is your best bet to plan your day and check crowd levels for each park for each day. MNSSHP can be brutally busy on certain dates, but generally speaking the first two weeks of October, November, and December are your best bets to see the holidays in all their glory without the unbearable (to us) crowds. Don't stress about this too much and don't be terrified. It's very difficult to have a miserable vacation at DW. In my experience it has more to do with your attitude and your company than anything else. As far as F&W is concerned: don't go on a weekend and don't stay until park closes (at least on Fridays and Saturdays) if you can help it. We have noticed that once 7:00 hits the drunks are out in full force and it is irritating due to a full day of drinking. My advice is not to reschedule since you have so much on your plate and your work schedules. You will have the time of your life. Just go prepared, but don't overbook yourselves and it will be perfect. : )

 

[Winchester24]

Congratulations on your first trip together and your honeymoon! Touring Plans is your best bet to plan your day and check crowd levels for each park for each day. MNSSHP can be brutally busy on certain dates, but generally speaking the first two weeks of October, November, and December are your best bets to see the holidays in all their glory without the unbearable (to us) crowds. Don't stress about this too much and don't be terrified. It's very difficult to have a miserable vacation at DW. In my experience it has more to do with your attitude and your company than anything else. As far as F&W is concerned: don't go on a weekend and don't stay until park closes (at least on Fridays and Saturdays) if you can help it. We have noticed that once 7:00 hits the drunks are out in full force and it is irritating due to a full day of drinking. My advice is not to reschedule since you have so much on your plate and your work schedules. You will have the time of your life. Just go prepared, but don't overbook yourselves and it will be perfect. : )

Thank you Samantha! We are planning on doing a different park each day and a couple of those will be 1/2 days so we can spend some time at the resort or just sleep in a bit. I'm nervous about the sea of people at F&W I have been hearing so much about, we are only going to Epcot during the week though so hopefully that will help. We had been planning on starting late morning (on some days) and staying until closing at MK & AK, is that a terrible idea? Should we be trying to hit those earlier in the day? I can handle pretty much anything, I work with lots of children and have tons of patience, my FH on the other hand...I'm really afraid he is going to hate the crowds.

 

[ALegrande]

I won't sugar coat anything- it can be RIDICULOUSLY crowded at F&W some days, and October has become the new "hot" month to go to WDW. Also, it still is usually HOT here lol like temperature wise, so just be prepared for that. I think its good you are planning days to sleep in and relax- that will help. Hit F&W in the morning on a weekday and as someone said, be prepared to leave around dinner time and it won't be so bad. Staying until closing at AK will be fine, MK will be crowded especially if you are doing MNSSHP. Are you doing that party during the week? The earlier in Oct, the better. As the other poster said- just go into it knowing there will be crowds, and you will be OK. Take advantage of things like Disney Springs and things around your resort and other resorts (we love going to Trader Sam's at the Poly to have drinks and watch Fireworks!) to mix things up and not feel like you're constantly in the parks waiting in lines. You will have a great time and it will be magical! Tell absolutely everyone you come into contact with that you are there on your honeymoon and they will give you so much pixie dust it will make the crowds seem like a minor annoyance. Have fun and congratulations!!

 

[Samantha Egbert]

Thank you Samantha! We are planning on doing a different park each day and a couple of those will be 1/2 days so we can spend some time at the resort or just sleep in a bit. I'm nervous about the sea of people at F&W I have been hearing so much about, we are only going to Epcot during the week though so hopefully that will help. We had been planning on starting late morning (on some days) and staying until closing at MK & AK, is that a terrible idea? Should we be trying to hit those earlier in the day? I can handle pretty much anything, I work with lots of children and have tons of patience, my FH on the other hand...I'm really afraid he is going to hate the crowds.

We are planning the same exact thing with half days and some sleep time so obviously I think that's a great plan! We are not morning people so starting early is never in our plans to be honest. I get rope drop and riding the popular attractions as soon as the park opens and making ADRs before park opens to do so but it just isn't us. So we normally start in the parks at 10:00/11:00 and stay until it closes. We have even stayed in MK until 2:00am and there was NO ONE there. (I haven't seen those hours there lately so that's a bummer.) That was in the first two weeks of November so a little different.

Animal Kingdom has had some great evening additions in the last couple of years, like Rivers of Light, and has made it more popular all the way through close. Hollywood Studios just had Toy Story Land open this year so you can bet that is going to be nuts. Those are two important things to keep in mind as far as large crowds go. Also, like ALegrande said, October is a popular month now. We go the end of October through the beginning of November because we have MNSSHP, MVMCP, and F&W all in the same week and a half. It's like 3 trips for the price of one and it isn't as expensive as other times of the year, although it isn't value season.

There are ways to beat some crowds though. Magic Kingdom has MNSSHP on select nights in October and during the day before the party it's historically been pretty dead because people do not want to pay for a whole day when they can't stay there all day. I believe they kick you out at about 6:00pm on those nights. For all of the evening shows and parades if you have some extra cash you can get the dining packages and get reserved priority seating for those events. You can also go on days that aren't as popular like during the day of the weekdays at Epcot like I mentioned. And if you aren't like us and are morning people it is a great way to deal with some crowd levels. I can't speak personally to them though.

What dates are your trip? Look them up here: https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world