October has become one of the busier months at Disneyland. After a quiet September, the crowds are back for the annual Halloween Time attractions and decorations, including the hard ticket Mickey’s Halloween Party event.
While crowds usually aren’t too bad during the week, weekends can feel downright summer-like in October. Be prepared for long lines if you plan on heading to the parks on Saturday or Sunday.
The Disneyland Resort anticipates big crowds on weekends throughout October. Extended hours and a full entertainment lineup are scheduled for only weekends and Columbus Day. Disneyland usually closes early on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays for Mickey’s Halloween Party, which is a separate admission event.
Dates To Avoid
Columbus Day Weekend – Disneyland is typically crowded throughout the Columbus Day Weekend holiday.
Weekends – Saturdays and Sundays are expected to be packed, but Friday crowds are usually moderate, as the park closes early at 7:00pm.
As for crowds during the Mickey’s Halloween Party event, they usually aren’t too bad at all. Ticket sales are limited, so the lower attendance means minimal lines.
October Crowd Calendar
For the forecast of crowd levels of any day in October, be sure to check out the Disneyland Crowd Forecast Calendar.
For real-time updates and information on current crowd levels and conditions at the park, check out the Disneyland Live Crowd Tracker.
Have you gone to Disneyland in October? How were the crowds? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
Image: HarshLight
I went to Disneyland, maybe 10 yrs ago the last week in October, it was awesome!! No lines. So we went again with our kids the 3rd week in October (2011), heads up: California and Utah have the week off from school= long lines. Sunday was ridiculous, during the week was better, but Fantasyland and Tomorrowland never lightened up! We waited 30 minutes for corndogs on Sunday, but the fireworks and fantasmic were worth it! We did not know that Utah also had the week off (we are from Cali) and were surprised when our hotel told us that ALL of the hotels in the area were booked!! And the Halloween party did make the crowds bigger.
Sunday looked EXACTLY like the photo posted above. All day.
Yeah what’s going on with Disneyland anyway? I mean the waits for some things mid-week in October is almost an hour! Doesn’t anybody work during the week anymore? If they’re unemployed I can’t imagine they can afford Disneyland. I remember the days when Disneyland was empty. It was amazing and magical. Does anyone know when its not crowded in October? The calendar is inaccurate. It says Monday is empty, but the crowd wait time meter shows its pretty busy.
From my experience, Monday-Thursday is still the best time to go in October. Weekends are a madhouse, and it gets busy on Fridays in the evening. We have attended the Mickey’s Halloween Party event and the wait times were only 10 or 15 minutes.
I just came back from DL… All I have to say is WTH its OCTOBER! We went W-F and everyday the wait line was about 30-60mins! And to top it off DL closed at 7pm for the Halloween party and everybody that left DL went to DCA. DCA lines went from 20-45mins to 60-180mins!! YES 180mins!!
Yep I concur with the posts here. We went from October 17th to 20th of 2012 and it was quite packed (I kept asking, “Damn kids why aren’t you in school?”). I can only think of one ride that had virtually no wait (Pirates of the Caribbean, including the weekend) but the rest were usually a half hour to an hour (sometimes a little longer). This article does seem to be misleading in the implication of “while crowds aren’t too bad during the week” equates to “lines of 5 to 15 minute waits”. I didn’t really wait an hour for most rides (longest wait for me I’d say was 45 minutes-of course not on the 20th since that was a Saturday) although a half hour to 45 minutes I’d say is rather excessive during a SCHOOL week. I’d not say it’s due to the Halloween season, though, as we went to Disney World first week of December/2009 and it was not crowded at all (save for the Magic Kingdom, as the day we went had about half the rides being half hour to forty minute wait times, although this subsided around 2 p.m., then virtually all had the longest wait being 20 minutes, yet most were just 5 to 10 minutes, for the rest of the day). For wait times, best time to go is September. We last went to Disneyland in first week of September/2003 (first day was that Wednesday and apparently school started THAT day) and there were NO wait times, period. 5 minutes for each ride…I went on each one literally three or four times)
Just a heads up, Utah has an annual fall break that is called UEA. It is for the teachers. Most kids are out of school from wed to the following Monday and it seems like every family heads to Disneyland. It has actually been nicknamed “Utahn’s escape to anaheim” week by the locals. It’s crazy busy that week!
We just spent our third disney vacation in october. This time was thr most crowded. Lines during the week were still a 30+ minute wait! Since disney opened up the discounted tickets to locals it has really gone downhill. Bathrooms weren’t maintained, litter was apparent and lines -everywhere- were crowded and long. Made for a bit of a bummer vacation. Disney- do away with your discounted tickets!!
I go the last Monday in October every single year and do the Mickey’s Halloween Party. I do not buy a full day ticket as well because it is completely pointless. Mickey’s Halloween Party is the absolute best version of Disneyland that exists. It’s cheaper than a day ticket and includes parking. You get to come in full costume (only time of year it’s allowed for adults), walk on to EVERY SINGLE RIDE. I mean it, there is not a single second of waiting for any ride there. I went on Splash Mountain and at the end of the ride they looked at us and said “You want to go again don’t you?” and just sent us right back through without ever getting out of the log. Every year I go back thinking “This will be the year it’s crowded AF” and every year I’m proved wrong again. They only sell something like 1000 tickets and then they’re “sold out”. So by 6 o’clock, all the yahoos who paid for a full day ticket, and the mouth-breathing POS annual passholders get kicked the F out and we get to spend the next 6 hours in an empty park. It is the only time I now go to Disney because it’s just simply better.
My brother wants to go on the 11th of november on veterans day. Will this be a madhouse???
I don’t want to go if it’s super busy!