Hey everyone. Need some help, we are trying to plan our trip and are unsure if the last week of Oct/first few days of Nov, the first full week of Nov (marathon), or first week of December would be best.
Our main concern are kid rides and meeting princesses. Being able to see Santa Mickey and catching food and wine fest are a plus but the crowd that week with the marathon looks a little worse.
December has much better crowds but I’m worried about shortened park hours, less stable weather, and less entertainment going on.
The last week of Oct/ first of Nov is nice but we’d miss Santa Mickey (would get Halloween).
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. Our little girl will be 3.5 at the time. We went Sept 2016 with her and it was the greatest week ever, she asks to go back almost everyday so we want to make sure we can get the most out of the trip.
We went that same week in Nov last year. The parks were not empty but they were not terrible either. I did not notice much with the marathon week except special busses for them in the morning. The weather was perfect!!! Tanks and tees during the day and maybe a light sweater at night. Did not see one drop of rain either! After doing all of the lines research and having a TP we did not wait more than 20min for anything. Did not do princesses but I’m sure you could work it out with RD and FPP. Good luck!
Thank you, the last 2 times I’ve been have both been September trips which are pretty empty. So just a little worried what an increased crowd would mean for us. The better weather will be a huge plus. I’m used to terribly hot temps and rain everyday.
If you are there with a toddler - I think the shorter hours will be in your favor - even without the toddler. I would do December. More Christmassy and the shorter hours will allow for a bit less of a harried pace - especially with smaller crowds
We went on Halloween and then went on November 1st. The park changed over night from Halloween to Christmas, if that helps you any. I live in Florida and I wouldn’t plan my trip on the weather because it can be any one of the four seasons in November and December.
Truthfully, I would go any of those times, and just make a good plan and make sure to take a break in the middle of the day.
I will tell you that this past year everyday that I have gone it has seemed crowded so don’t get your hopes up for being able to just walk on anything or into anything. Just make a good trip plan. Disney has priced things to even out the crowds, and they have been consistently more crowded during the traditional non-crowded times and less crowded than usual during the heavy crowd times, which makes for lots of people all year long.
I go twice a month on the weekdays, just so you know my perspective.
We were there for Halloween last year, and really wanted to get Christmas decorations this year - but with work it’s much easier for us to go earlier. We are leaning towards the week of Halloween, which puts us a few days into November, so still getting to see x-mas will be a very nice addition.
The last 2 times I went were in early September during the week so I’m a little spoiled of being able to just walk up and do whatever ride I want 3 or 4 times without any lines.
This time we’ll have our daughter (and no babysitter while we do big rides) so it’ll be a lot slower pace, smaller rides, character meets. I will gladly trade a few minutes in line for less chance of rain and not quite so miserably hot.
Yes, not being miserably hot is a good thing. We went in September last year too and people brought towels to wipe the sweat off all day.
We really loved our Halloween Day visit. It was a little crowded, and there were some unique looking people there due to being Halloween, but then we stayed overnight at the Pop Century and the kids received Trick or Treats at the registration, and then during the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party everyone cleared out of the hotel area and we had the pool all to ourselves and we were able to watch Wishes from the pool. It was a very memorable evening for my kids.
Then we made it to the “rope drop” first thing the next morning when went to Magic Kingdom and it was a huge treat to see the Train Station all decorated in poinsettias and Christmas Wreath. What the cast members must have had to do to pull that off knowing that the Halloween Party ended at midnight! That particular day the crowd was very do-able and the weather was perfect.