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Greyhound provides service from New York City to Ocean City. The bushas several stops in NJ and a few in DE.

The OC bus station is in West OC, but there is a $1 shuttle that will take you to Ocean City where you can catch a city bus for $1 a ride or $3 a day. The city buses will get you anywhere in town.

yes they will be open.

You are not allowed to grill on the beach in Ocean City.

No open fires or grills are allowed on the beach without a permit. You can get more information about regulations and permitting here: http://oceancitymd.gov/Fire_Department/FireMarshal/forms/BonfirePermit.pdf. Although this document focuses on bonfires, no fires or cooking are allowed on OC's beaches. You are also not allowed to grill within about 20 feet of any multi-unit building which means you cannot grill at most condos or motels.

Several city parks, including Northside Park, at 127th Street have picnic areas and grills available for free public use. There are also some condos and hotels that have grills and picnic tables on their land behind the dune line available for guests to use. The Windjammer at 46th Street is one such place.

The beach patrol is very unlikely to allow such a setup. I'd suggest working directly with a hotel to coordinate what you want or contacting the parks department to see if you could setup in a public park.

Parking will not be a problem in October, no matter where you stay. The convention Cetner is between 40th and 42nd Streets on the bay. It has a large parking lot that I doubt the Octoberfest will fill even at its busiest times. You can also take the bus to the Convention Center if you do not sty somewhere that is an easy walk there. The bus runs all day and night about every 15 minutes. It is just $3 to ride all day.

Some places to stay that are near the Convention Center are listed below. You can't go wrong with any of these places (they are listed by distance to the Convention Center):

The Castle In the Sand at 37th street is a great midtown location. The hotel is ocean front, but they have several building and several different types of rooms. They have lots of amenities. They have a large outdoor pool. http://www.castleinthesand.com/home.php

Quality Inn and Suites at 33rd street has nice ocean front rooms and indoor and outdoor pools. They have an indoor and an outdoor pool. http://www.qualityinn.com/hotel-ocean_city-maryland-MD063

Dunes Manor is a couple of blocks north of the boardwalk at 28th street, all rooms are ocean front with balconies. This is one of my favorite properties in OC, and the place I always recommend. My family stayed there a few months ago. They have an indoor/outdoor pool. It is a bit of a walk to the convention Center (15-20 minutes), but it is a great place to stay. http://www.dunesmanor.com/.

Trust me, with all the blowing sand on the beach, cooking out on the beach is not only illegal and it is also a sure way to ruin a good meal. 

The parking lot at the southern end of Ocean City is calleed the Hugh T. Cropper Inlet Parking lot.  Most people just call it the Inlet parking lot.  It has over 1200 parking spaces.  If you arrive early, you can get a good spot.  The charge is $2.50 an hour.  If you arrive early, sometimes you can get a free spot on one of the side streets up and down the main road.  You can also park just west of Ocean City in the Park and ride at 12848 Ocean Gateway (route 50) and ride the shuttle into town for $1 per person for an all day pass.

Trimpers indoor rides open at 1pm on weekdays and the outside rides open at 3pm on weekdays.  All the rides open at 12 noon on weekend.  Trimper's is home to the world's oldest continual running carousel. Be a part of history and be sure to ride it!  www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAQrA2_ClEE   The Jolly Roger pier rides open at 12:00 noon.  Be sure to ride the ferris wheel for an awesome view of Ocean City at the top.  (Bring a camera)

Different business open up at different times on the boarwalk. 

The restaurants that serve breakfast open around 6:00am
and the bike rental companies open around 7:00am
The stores that sell beachware open around 8-9am
Almost everything but the rides and lunch restaurants are open by 10:00

Starting this year, yes.

You can get your fishing license online fron the Maryland Department of Natural Resources or in Ocean City at the Oyster Bay Tackle Shop across from the Fountainhead condos near 116th ST.  www.oysterbaytackle.com  They can also reccomend what is being caught and where is the best place to catch them.  Lot's of great fishing tips on the page also.

If you have a laptop, you can find freeWiFi at the McDonalds on 32nd St and the Starbucks on Rt. 50 just over the bridge.

You can search the beach any time you like and in any area without a permit.  That being said, after 5:30 pm is your best bet to actually find anything.