Crowds Over Columbus Week

[jpcns50]

I just heard from a family member's co-worker that they tried to book a vacation at Disney during Columbus Week and they had a very hard time finding a hotel room on property. Of course, I don't know all of the details regarding what hotel level they tried. I am very nervous if all hotel rooms on property are gone for that week. I know that week tends to get a little busier, but all in all, I thought October was a quiet time.

Are there a lot of conventions that week or can I expect a HUGE amount of people in the parks???

[gmgdisneymom]

We are going that weekend (actually the whole week before) because of the school schedule. Our kids are off thursday for the jewish holiday and friday for a teacher in service day so it was a great time to go - i wonder if a lo of other schools have the same schedule

[msmac6798349]

We are headed down 10/7-10/14 and had a terrible time getting a room. I think they might have something going on there. Wish I knew if a convention was heading in and on what days?

[jpcns50]

I really hope there is a big convention!! I arrive on October 10th and leave October 18th.

I will be at Coronado Springs. Anyone else staying at Coronado during that time?

[Strmchsr]

I think I need to sticky this phrase - "The availability of rooms on property in no way, shape or form, indicates crowd levels."

WDW only makes available the number of rooms they can book. They don't want to have 100% availability with staff, rooms, etc if they only feel they can fill 70%. If they do their homework right they should always be near 100% availability for any given time of the year.

All of that said, mid-to late October has become VERY popular in the last few years with fall breaks, MNSSHP, etc. The crowds are moderate during the week to moderately heavy on the weekends. Columbus Day weekend, like any holiday, tends to be more crowded.

[briguy]

The Gartner IT Symposium runs Oct 12-17. It is a large (10-20k people) conf for IT professionals, and rooms are blocked at Swan, Dolphin, Boardwalk, Yacht and Beach, Coronado, and Carribean.

The good news is that while it ties up hotels and makes DTD become crowded in the evenings, it does not drive park crowds.

It is there every year that week, and the Tues of the week one park closes early for a conf attendee only event (this year it is DHS).

[Goes4FastPass]

I think I need to sticky this phrase - "Disney World is always crowded. You can embrace it and have a good time but you can't wish the crowds away."

Disney may adjust some capacities to fit antitipated higher and lower demand but these days familes head to Orlando when there's even the smallest 3 day weekend school break - and when there's no break at all.

[MomOfAPrincess502]

We went last year a few days before Columbus Day Weekend. The Thursday and Friday crowds weren't bad, but Saturday through Tuesday it was very crowded. We are going October 2-8 this year so hopefully we will not have big crowds to deal with.

[MaxPower]

Regarding the crowds in the park, a good rule of thumb used to be that the parks were less crowded if school was in session. Now, however, schools across the country operate on very different schedules which include fall and winter breaks not so sommon years ago. Sometimes you may see a lot of kids you did not expect to see, even in October.

[Dyanna]

We went this very week last year. It was more crowded than I had thought but very manageable. The longest wait we came across was for Soarin & Peter Pan at 90 minutes. If you grab fastpasses for these rides you should have no problems at all. If you have not done so already, get tickets for MNSSHP. It was well worth the extra price for admission!!!

[jpcns50]

We definately plan to go to MNSSHP....we went last year on our Honeymoon and it was definately one of the highlights of the trip....

Thank you for everyone's input!!!

[Jeff G]

We happened to be in WDW a few years back over Columbus Day weekend just by coincidence. WE arrived the weekend before and the parks were fairly quite Sunday -Wednesday. Thursday we noticed a definite upswing in crowds. The Friday before was very crowded. Saturday and Sunday was a mob scene at the parks. We went to EPCOT and the MK on Saturday and both were gridlock with hour+ waits for most rides. We stayed for the fireworks at the MK and becasue of how full the park was they actually had us exititng behind main street even though the park was open for 2 more hours. Sunday we tried EPCOT & AK and both were packed.

From the times I've been to WDW this was busiest I've ever experienced it even compared to Labor Day weekend and mid-July.

[thrillme]

We went to EPCOT and the MK on Saturday and both were gridlock with hour+ waits for most rides. We stayed for the fireworks at the MK and becasue of how full the park was they actually had us exititng behind main street even though the park was open for 2 more hours. Sunday we tried EPCOT & AK and both were packed.

From the times I've been to WDW this was busiest I've ever experienced it even compared to Labor Day weekend and mid-July.

Oh swell. I WAS looking forward to the trip This may be our last trip for a long time.

[joonyer]

We have been before during the Columbus day weekend (before and after) and found the crowds very manageable compared to Memorial day and summer crowds. We are going again that weekend this year (because we have a school break then). The parks are not empty to be sure, but by using fastpass smartly and getting to parks early, we never waited more than 15 minutes for any attraction. We love going in October.

[sandeecheeks]

Two years ago we were there the week before and it was wonderful - believe it or not but line ups were only about 5-10 min. We also noticed the park getting very busy on the Thursday before the long weekend and thankfully that was our last day. A lot of people we talked to were from the IT convention. Also, your Columbus Day is Canada's Thanksgiving. We get an extended long weekend and a number of schools (at least in our area) tack on a couple more days on either side of the holiday. That's why we ended up there in October. Keep your eye out for us Canadians...