Category — 4. Halloween at Disney World

WHAT IS OCTOBER LIKE AT DISNEY WORLD?

Late October has some of the best times of the year to visit Disney World, with nice weather, low-ish crowds, low-ish prices, and fun special events.

The rest of the month is not so good, as

• The first two weeks are still in the peak of the hurricane season
• The second through fourth weeks see extra crowds from fall breaks, and
• The weekend beginning 10/9 sees both higher crowds and higher prices from Columbus Day.

Note also that picking the right park to visit each day is critical at this time of the year. See this, and use the comment form below to ask me about your specific dates!

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WHAT IS SEPTEMBER LIKE AT DISNEY WORLD?

September at Disney World combines lower crowds with low prices, and typically also has nice deals as well.

This makes it a great month for returning visitors.

But it has lousy weather, combining continuing summer heat and humidity with the peak of the hurricane season, making me not so keen on the month for first time visitors who may never return.

Note also that picking the right park to visit each day is critical at this time of the year.  See this, and use the comment form below to ask me about your specific dates!

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MNSSHP DATES IN SEPTEMBER 2020

While as of this morning, Disney World’s official calendar only goes through August 17, September dates are beginning to leak.

One unofficial calendar that I have found to track quite well with actual operating hours shows the Magic Kingdom closing at 6p on the following September dates:

• Tuesday September 1
• Friday September 4
• Monday September 7
• Friday September 11
• Sunday September 13
• Tuesday September 15
• Friday September 18
• Sunday September 20
• Tuesday September 22
• Friday September 25
• Sunday September 27
• Tuesday September 29

The odds are pretty high that these  represent September 2020 dates for the 2020 version of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (“MNSSHP”—for more on this party, see this), as they are fully consistent with the 2019 and 2018 patterns.

OPENING DATE FOR 2020 EPCOT INTERNATIONAL FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL

I should have noted this when I published about possible August 2020 dates for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, but analysis of the same sources suggests that the 2020 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival will open the week of 8/23 in 2020, likely on 8/27 or 8/28.

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While as of this morning, Disney World’s official calendar only goes through July 20, August dates are beginning to leak.

One unofficial calendar that I have found to track quite well with actual operating hours shows the Magic Kingdom closing at 6p on the following August dates:

• Thursday, August 13
• Saturday, August 15
• Tuesday, August 18
• Friday, August 21
• Tuesday, August 25
• Friday, August 28

The odds are pretty high that the last four represent dates for the 2020 version of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (“MNSSHP”—for more on this party, see this), as they are fully consistent with the 2019 pattern, and largely consistent with the 2018 pattern.

The first two dates are off pattern—based on 2018 and 2019, one would have expected to see the first Party Friday the 14^th, not Thursday the 13^th, and Saturday parties are quite rare—I can recall seeing them only at the end of October.

Moreover, if both these are parties, there would be an unprecedented six parties in August—compared to five in 2019, and four in 2018. But I would not read too much into this, as a way for Disney to grow earnings year over year is to have more parties.

Magic Kingdom closes at 6p for reason other than parties—for cast member appreciation events, and, more rarely, if a big-pocketed convention is in town and buys out the park for the evening.

Based on all this, I’d put the odds at greater than 90% that the last four dates will be the 2020 version of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, about 80% that the first date will be, and about 50-50 that the Saturday date will be.

The party dates for 2019 were announced on Tuesday, January 15, 2019, so we may get the official answer to this quite soon.

(Update February 9–the Disney calendar is now out through 8/17, so the first two 6p closes are official–although the official 2020 party dates have not yet been released.  For thoughts on September dates following the same approach, see this.)

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On March 7, Disney announced that the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land would partially open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on August 29.

Crowds in the new land will be a mess, and likely will spill over into the other thrill-style rides at that park. While I don’t see much impact on the other parks, no one knows for sure, and the dates folk have fall breaks will probably be worse than I had originally forecast.

I don’t see a huge impact outside the land itself, as the partial opening will make visiting specifically to see Star Wars less attractive, and many people will move their October trips to avoid the mess entirely.

While I don’t see much impact on the other parks, no one knows for sure, and the dates folk have fall breaks will probably be worse than I had originally forecast.  I have bumped up my crowd forecasts for October by a point for each week.  See this for more.

WHAT IS OCTOBER LIKE AT DISNEY WORLD?

Late October has some of the best times of the year to visit Disney World, with nice weather, low-ish crowds, low-ish prices, and fun special events.

The earlier part of the month is not so good, as

• The first week is still in the peak of the hurricane season
• The first three weeks see extra crowds from fall breaks, and
• The second week sees both higher crowds and some higher prices from Columbus Day.

Note also that picking the right park to visit each day is critical at this time of the year. See this, and use the comment form below to ask me about your specific dates!

[Read more →]

Updated June 25, 2019.

On March 7, Disney announced that the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land would partially open at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on August 29.

Crowds in the new land will be a mess, and likely will spill over into the other thrill-style rides at that park. While I don’t see much impact on the other parks, no one knows for sure, and the Labor Day weekend that immediately follows opening day will likely be the busiest such in Disney World history.

I don’t see a huge impact outside the land itself the rest of the month, as it is hard to take kids out of school in September, the partial opening will make visiting specifically to see Star Wars less attractive, and many people will cancel their September trips to avoid the mess entirely.  See this for more.

WHAT IS SEPTEMBER LIKE AT DISNEY WORLD?

September at Disney World combines lower crowds with low prices, and typically also has nice deals as well.

This makes it a great month for returning visitors.

But it has lousy weather, combining continuing summer heat and humidity with the peak of the hurricane season, making me not so keen on the month for first time visitors who may never return.

Note also that picking the right park to visit each day is critical at this time of the year.  See this, and use the comment form below to ask me about your specific dates!

[Read more →]