Both of my kids birthdays is Saturday Oct 7 and we wanted to take a 2day 1park each day trip to disneyland. We are considering going sometime between the last 2weeks of September or the first weekend of October which is their actual birthday. We'd like to go Sat & Sun. Not going to go to Mickeys Halloween party.
Which time has smaller crowds? Least amount of rides closed for refurbishment? Fantasmic, fireworks, world of color shows?
OC1999
"HalloweenTime" starts on September 15th and goes through Halloween. In the beginning the crowds are going to be lighter than they are later into October, so this is a better time to go. But if you hoping that one of those weeks will provide you with an empty park with every ride a "walk-on" that is not going to happen..unless we happen to get a lot of rain and even then it can be quite busy.
As to giving you an exact date between those three. In all honestly it won't really matter one week to the next during this time. As any given week could vary a bit due to factors such as weather but unless you are a regular you would not really notice any difference. So pick the date that works best for you. But unless you are trying to also book hotel or travel arrangements wait a few weeks to make a final decision. As they post their calendar about 45 days in advance. This generally will also include any rides that are scheduled to be closed during those days as well.
The one thing I will say is that both Fantasmic and World of Color have Dining Packages that also get you a special reserved viewing location. These are limited and they open up reservations 60 days in advance, and with Fantasmic coming back they are filling up within a few days of being available.
Now, the wild card this year is California Adventure. In preparation to move the actual Halloween Party over there in coming years, they are adding several things for HalloweenTime. This will most likely increase the crowds over what they normally would be. However, again from one week to the next it really won't matter what week you chose.