Just returned last week!

[luvdisney73]

My daughter and I took a "girls only trip" the first week of October to celebrate her recent college graduation from nursing school. We arrived on October 1st and departed on the 7th. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside in a Royal Room. We were very pleased with the room and resort. We used Disney's Magical Express and it was great! We have already booked for next year at Port Orleans Riverside! I have to say the crowds were more than I expected for October, especially on the 5th and 6th. We attended the Villain's Sinister Soiree during the Halloween party on the 2nd and it was worth every penny. The fireworks and parade viewing area that was included in the Villain's Soiree price was well worth the cost of the party. The desserts were fun and meeting the Villains inside Cinderella's Castle was the highlight of our trip. I will book another Villain's party if ever given the chance to go again. We did not receive the free dining plan because Port Orleans was excluded from the free dining and we had already booked our Royal Room so we did not change our location. We did receive 30% off our resort room. I love the dining plan but we felt we were eating all the time. For our next girls trip, we have decided to use two dining credits for better restaurant choices and to split a counter service between us on the other days. We loved BOG for dinner and we will for sure try for a reservation again next year. Ohana's was also well worth one table service credit. We were disappointed in Askerhaus character dining at Epcot. I rate that the worst restaurant during our trip. For a counter service, Wolfgang Puck at Downtown Disney was the best, followed by Columbia Harbour House at MK. I think a waste of table service credits would be Sci Fi for the food but the atmosphere makes up for it. I would like to hear from others that have been in late September concerning the crowd levels. We may bump our trip back a couple of weeks next year.