So, is the general consensus that there will probably not be Free Dining offered in 2020, since SWGE will be open then? I believe this year there are summer dates but not anything in the fall.
I’m asking for my own personal planning purposes, of course. I was beginning to plan on going the week after Thanksgiving 2020 because that seems to be a common time for Free Dining to be offered. If it is not offered, I think there will be better dates for me to go.
I have never been when the Christmas decorations are up, so I want to do that next trip. I also want cooler weather and less hurricane risk (Went September last year and feel like I’m pushing my luck if I do that again). I prefer lower crowds, but can deal with a little higher crowds when the weather is nice. If there is not free dining, I’m thinking that mid-November may be better than early December.
Those of you who have been in November-December, is the weather typically nicer in November? Looking at historical weather, it seems like November is more likely to give me moderately warm-hot days and cool nights where December is more likely to have cooler days and nights. Obviously there are no guarantees, but that is my impression. I would like warm enough weather to swim comfortably but not so hot that I am sweating all day when outside.
Christmas decorations will be up in November, right? I seem to remember reading that they go up pretty quickly after Halloween. I think there is even a week between Halloween and the start of MVMCP nights, but maybe the decorations are not up then. I don’t really want to pay for party tickets so it would be nice to not have to work around party nights if I want to see fireworks at MK.
The other plus for November would be catching the end of Food & Wine at Epcot.
I guess the only thing to watch out for is when Jersey week is scheduled in 2020.
I’ve been in November and december. On average the weather is warmer in November but there can still be cold periods. For my last 4 day trip the end of November 2 days were what I would consider swim weather in the afternoon and 2 days were what I would consider too cold to swim. On my 2 other November trips it was also a mix but more than half the time, it was warm enough to swim in the afternoon. December is dicier but there can still be afternoon swim days. Most of this is luck based on how the weather falls the week you are there, it I think you increase your odds the earlier in November you plan. It seemed to me that most (if not all) of the Christmas decorations were up when I went at the end of November. As I recall, most of the decorations were up during my past mid-November trips but those trips were a number of years ago so I can’t remember all the details.
I think the likelihood of 86+ degF days is pretty low even in early November, which is the main thing I want to avoid.
I went at the end of Jan-early Feb 2016, and the weather was fantastic. I didn’t remember just how cool it was until I looked back at photos and saw that I was wearing jeans most days! We stayed at the Swan, and the pool is not heated quite as warm as Disney pools, so we only swam 1 day, which was the only day it got up to 80 degrees. I’ll swim on cooler days if the pool is warmer. It’s vacation from the cold north, so I feel like it would be nice to swim, but if it is too cool to swim that probably means it is perfect weather for walking around the parks.
I have started a couple trips on 15 Dec and went thru until a couple days before Christmas. Crowds start to increase quite a bit by 20 Dec +/- a day. Dec 15-18 or 20 are devine. Warm, low crowds. SWGE may change all of that this year. Our Dec weather was always 80+ degrees - not hot enough for me to swim, but the kiddo didn’t mind. Nights can be chilly, especially in Epcot WS.
Have also been for F&W and MNSSHP which we really enjoy. We were there late Oct early Nov, for 10 nights in 2018 and we had several days where it was 92 degrees. Weather is a gamble in FL during the fall and winter months.
For Christmas decorations, I think it depends on what you’re looking for exactly. By Nov 4 2018, MK was completely decorated, but Beach Club and POFQ were not… so if you are doing resort touring, go later in nov.
Not really interested in the resort touring, just parks, so that’s not a big deal if they aren’t all decorated.
I think the worst part about the hot weather in September and summer is that it doesn’t really cool off at night so even early mornings are hot. I think the mornings being cooler will be nice even if it does get a bit hot late in the day.
Weather wise, there’s not a huge difference between the two. In either month you could see 80 or 50 - or both in the same week. Except for Thanksgiving and Christmas week, historically, the crowds are about the same - but with the opening of SWGE somewhere in the Oct-Dec time frame, all bets are off. We went the week before Thanksgiving week, and all of the park decorations were up and the resort decorations were starting to go up; by Thanksgiving, everything will be up. Other than MVMCP, none of the special Holiday events/shows will start until after Thanksgiving.
Good to know. I haven’t really looked at the different seasonal stuff that goes on at Christmas. I’ll have to check on that and see if any of it is something we would want to do.
I’m not real interested in mvmcp since it sounds like the crowds are really bad. I’d be more likely to go for a DAH or EMM. It was kind of annoying in September that there were 3 nights where MK closed early during our trip.