Ugh....I thought I had a plan

[email_shell]

Well thanks to all of your wonderful suggestions I made plans for 11/12-11/19. Now apparently my in-laws (who are planning to go with) might not be able to take the week off...thanks to MI deer season. Ok so Jersey Week is the week before, Thanksgiving the week after. This would push the trip either to the end of October (is that still hurricane weather?) or beginning of December (Pop Warner and cooler temps). Is Halloween a busy time of year...do I need to move it to the 22nd of October...what a fiasco.

What would you do?

 

[midnightlouise]

We're going the week after Thanksgiving & hoping for the best this year, but we've been at Halloween before & it was great. Good luck sorting out your plans!!

 

[nkereina]

October is still hurricane season, but so is November. I'd rather go in October but we are going in September, due to free dining. October has cooler temps, the crowds are fairly low and the average rainfall for the month is significantly less than the summer months and September. But October is also the Epcot Food & Wine Festival which may draw bigger crowds to Epcot, and also Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party goes on about every other night at MK, which means the PM parade and fireworks are during the party (which you need to buy separate tix for). The benefit to going in December is the Christmas decorations and even cooler temps, which is a plus for me. The Pop Warner factor is a turn off for me though. So my choice would be October, and avoid Columbus Day weekend because that's prob. the worst weekend crowd-wise in October.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Go without your in-laws if they insist on staying home for deer season.

 

[email_shell]

The in-laws are a big help with the kids but don't think it didn't cross my mind... It is more of them being able to get vacation time than them wanting to stay home.

If I needed to choose between 10/22-10/29 or 10/29-11/5 what would you do? Before or after Halloween?

 

[nkereina]

The in-laws are a big help with the kids but don't think it didn't cross my mind... It is more of them being able to get vacation time than them wanting to stay home.

If I needed to choose between 10/22-10/29 or 10/29-11/5 what would you do? Before or after Halloween?

I don't know how busy Halloween makes WDW. It's on a Monday this year, so I think it would be less busy than if it were on a weekend. If you want to catch MNSSHP or the Food & Wine Festival, I would go 10/22-10/29. If you want to avoid those, then 10/29-11/5 is probably better.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Mnsshp > mvmcp

 

[sumsmommy03]

Well thanks to all of your wonderful suggestions I made plans for 11/12-11/19. Now apparently my in-laws (who are planning to go with) might not be able to take the week off...thanks to MI deer season. Ok so Jersey Week is the week before, Thanksgiving the week after. This would push the trip either to the end of October (is that still hurricane weather?) or beginning of December (Pop Warner and cooler temps). Is Halloween a busy time of year...do I need to move it to the 22nd of October...what a fiasco.

What would you do?

I would go without the in-laws!! We went the week before Thanksgiving this year and it was PERFECT!!! Low crowds, beautiful warm sunny weather

 

[robinb]

You might want to look at when Food and Wine starts because that might make one weekend better than another. That being said, I think that October is a dandy time to go to WDW.

 

[gonesaleing]

Of New Jersey week.

I have been down twice during NJ week and would go again, hands down. It's still warm enough to swim... our last trip we made 2 visits to blizzard beach and the parks are not that crowded. We never waited longer than 15 minutes for any ride.

Don't buy the hype that tv sells about New Jersey. Most of us really are nice, respectful people... we just pronouce it 'chauwklate' instead of chocolate.

 

[pmickus]

I live in VA not NJ and we always go during Jersey week. I don't know why people think it is so crowded. We never wait more than 20 minutes and just use the FP system.

 

[Granfan]

Exactly when and what is Jersey Week, please? Is it a sports teams event or what?

 

[lynn46356]

We were there during Pop Warner week this year. I was afraid but never during the week did we have a problem with them. Yes, we did see parents/children/cheerleaders/football players but it did not have any impact on our trip whatsoever. We stayed at Pop Century and did not run into them that I am aware of. I have read and read about them at WDW but really unless you are staying at one of the resorts that they are located at I would not have a problem going again during that time frame. We arrived on Thursday 12-2 and departed on Friday 12-9 so we were there when they were and had NO problems! Happy Planning!!!!!!!!

 

[Colleen27]

If you have school-aged kids, make sure you take a look at the testing calendar before you choose dates. October is standardized testing month in Michigan, so leaving on the 22nd might conflict with that.

 

[DebbieB]

Exactly when and what is Jersey Week, please? Is it a sports teams event or what?

It's not an event and it really doesn't have anything to do with WDW directly. It's a week in November when kids in NJ have off some school days off so many families decide to go to WDW that week.

I went Oct 23 to 29 and the crowds were low during the week.

 

[cjsm&d]

Well thanks to all of your wonderful suggestions I made plans for 11/12-11/19. Now apparently my in-laws (who are planning to go with) might not be able to take the week off...thanks to MI deer season. Ok so Jersey Week is the week before, Thanksgiving the week after. This would push the trip either to the end of October (is that still hurricane weather?) or beginning of December (Pop Warner and cooler temps). Is Halloween a busy time of year...do I need to move it to the 22nd of October...what a fiasco.

What would you do?

The odds of a hurricane in late October is tremendously slim. We alwys used to go for our anniversary (Oct 24) and the weather was great every year. If you are into pools or waterparks Thanksgiving and after tends to be a bit colder. Otherwise, the week after Thanksgiving is not super crowded.

 

[Antonia]

Dying to know exactly why they have to stay home for deer!

 

[email_shell]

Antonia - As unbelievable as it may seem to most of the USA, the opening day of Deer Hunting is a state hoiday in Michigan.

The kids actually even get the day off of school (November 15th). Most men take that week off for vacation to go to hunting camp.

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Kymm1111]

I've gone during both weeks. I love actual Halloween at Disney and going to the not so scary party on Halloween. If you go the oct/nov week you have the benefit of seeing Christmas decorations! You go to sleep Halloween eve and wake up and the Christmas trees are up in the parks. It's awesome! Either week will be fine with moderate crowds. Plan on hitting Epcot during the week and not weekend because EVERYONE comes for the food and wine festival (which is totally awesome).

 

[TCups4Me]

We've been during Jersey Week and the last week of October and loved both. Both had good weather and low crowds - maybe a bit lower the last week of October. F&W only really affects weekend crowds. It's a great event and we always hit it during early afternoon during the week with no waiting. It could be a huge yummy perk to your trip!

Just remember, all the dates you are throwing out there are good. Plan on hitting some of the parks early to beat the most crowds, use FP and use the special event nights at MK to your advantage. We found those days at MK to be light because most people without the special tickets avoided them! Yes, you miss the fireworks, but that wasn't a huge deal to us.

Happy Planning!