Crowds and weather

[my3boyz]

So we haven't been to Disney in about 7 years. Recently I realized that there is a week in Nov. that my kids are out of school on Fri, Min, Tue, and the following Friday. So if we went to Disney then they would only miss 2 days. And it's the beginning of a new quarter so they would be starting new units and not miss tests or have much work to make up. So I'm getting all excited about low crowds, better weather Wohoo, then I check the calendar to see that it's the food and wine festival week and there's some half marathon. Does anyone know what that would mean in terms of crowds? Our only other option is spring break or summer so I'm comparing to those times.

The other question is what kind of weather are we looking at. I like to break up park days with pool relaxation days. Will it be too cold? Are the pools heated? Also, our family is 5 people so the average room doesn't work for us. I feel like AOA is going to be sensory overload after dealing with the parks all day. Since we're not doing the dining plan what are the cons to staying off site? Can we still do fast passes? I know we'll need to pay for parking but that's fine.

[curbsideprophet]

I would absolutely go in Nov if you are okay with kids missing a couple days.

Food and wine is over a couple months. I would probably just avoid EP on the last weekend if you happen to be there then.

Have you looked at any crowd calendars?

Have you looked into a DVC rental? Although if it is for this year not sure what the availability would be at this point.

You can still book fast passes off site. You will only be able to do it at 30 days though compared to 60 days for onsite.

[ilikedonuts]

Are you in NJ? That week is definitely more crowded then the rest of November because of the marathon plus NJ schools having off. It's not anywhere near spring break crowds of course but moderate crowds rather then light. Marathon weekend will be busy especially Epcot in the evenings for food and wine.

[ilikedonuts]

Last year it was like 90s but it can also be 70s. Really no way to know.

[my3boyz]

Jun 18, 2016 14:04:04 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

Are you in NJ? That week is definitely more crowded then the rest of November because of the marathon plus NJ schools having off. It's not anywhere near spring break crowds of course but moderate crowds rather then light. Marathon weekend will be busy especially Epcot in the evenings for food and wine.

Not in NJ and it's the week of Veterans Day so not the last week of food and wine. We're doing Universal too so maybe we can schedule universal days for the days of the marathon. I like my vacation planning and hate not being able to plan it all the way I want but it's probably worth it to avoid the horrible weather and intense crowds.

[ilikedonuts]

Jun 18, 2016 14:10:42 GMT -5 my3boyz said:

Jun 18, 2016 14:04:04 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

Are you in NJ? That week is definitely more crowded then the rest of November because of the marathon plus NJ schools having off. It's not anywhere near spring break crowds of course but moderate crowds rather then light. Marathon weekend will be busy especially Epcot in the evenings for food and wine.

Not in NJ and it's the week of Veterans Day so not the last week of food and wine. We're doing Universal too so maybe we can schedule universal days for the days of the marathon. I like my vacation planning and hate not being able to plan it all the way I want but it's probably worth it to avoid the horrible weather and intense crowds.

Epcot is slammed every weekend for food and wine. That's when all the locals come. Id just plan epcor for the weekdays. We will be there 10/28-11/8.

[ilikedonuts]

WDW prep school says

'November 6-13 - many schools in New Jersey have a couple of days off of school this week and families often take advantage and spend part or all of this week at Disney World in what's often called "Jersey Week." This time period also sees an influx of crowds for the Wine and Dine Half Marathon.'

They rate the week days as moderate and marathon weekend as high moderate.

[Deleted]

Here is just one of the crowd calendars for November. www.easywdw.com/easy/blog/november-2016-preliminary-crowd-calendar/

We are going Nov 12-20 and it seems like they all say it will be low-average to average crowds for those days.

[Deleted]

Jersey week can be crowded,but it's not an awful time to go if you follow a good touring plan using best days.

[lala]

You got lots of great advice but I want to add if you are missing election day please please please do not forget to send in your absentee ballot. Unless you're voting for Trump, in which case have a great trip!

[Wines Not Whines]

We're going during the same week. I think it will be more crowded than usual, because a lot of schools are closed for Election Day and Veterans Day, so more families will travel that week. But hopefully it will be better than Spring Break, Christmas, and summer.

[mslhb]

I don't think there is truly any low crowd time at WDW anymore! That week will likely be busy but it shouldn't be crushing Christmas crowd busy. We are also constrained by a school calendar (not that I mind taking DD out of elementary but I only get so much vacation for work). Our last trip was 1st week of June which was a moderately high time. We followed a crowd calendar to pick our parks, got there at rope drop and gamed fast pass+ where we could. This kept wait times relatively low. Honestly I would rather go with slightly higher crowds then crushing heat but that is just me. Weather wise November should be a great time to go. One trip we went 1st week of December and loved it. Highs were mid to high 70s and we swam every day.