Which weekend would you pick? Columbus or Veterans

[Domsmom]

Trying to plan a big family trip for next year Oct/Nov and was wondering which weekend is best. I have been many times during Columbus day weekend and it is super busy because of the Food and Wine festival. Thinking of going Veterans Day weekend (extra day off from school).

Which would you pick? THANKS

 

[tinkerbella16]

Columbus weekend gets packed! Veterans Day is not so bad. I chose Columbus weekend though, because you can catch the Halloween festivities during that time. Veterans Day is on a Wednesday this year, so it is in the middle of the week.. But now that I think of it, you might be better off doing Veterans weekend next year since it is Friday Nov 11th and there might not be too much going on- except Food & Wine could still be going on.

 

[mastermind307]

i feel it is very crowded this year during Columbis Day weekend. We arrived on Saturday and went toEPCOT, this day wasn't too bad. We didn't have to wait very long for a bus to or from EPCOT. We ate at Garden Grill and used our fast passes, we didn't go to the world showcase. Yesterday we went to Animal Kingdom. We had a pre-park breakfast at Tusker House. No issues with buses yesterday either. But AK became very crowded by 10:00, pathways were packed and long lines at rides. We were able to do stuff we wanted because I planned ahead. Then we get put to today, busiest I've ever seen. We went to Hollywood Studios. We didn't get as early start as I would liked, but we're at the bus stop at 8:50. Two buses came for HS but they were already full, the line was really long so the bus driver called to have a bus come straight to WL instead of stopping at CR first. When we finally get to HS it is very crowded. It is almost 10:00 by this time. We rose TSM using FP, met Mike and Sully, rode Star Tours using FP, and ate lunch at Sci-Fi. We left the park after eating, I told my family if we didn't have an ADR for Sci-Fi, we might have skipped HS altogether today. I've never been when it's this crowded, including HS during Star Wr Weekends.

Just a perspective from Columsbus Day weekend this year. I'd go with Veteren's Day.

 

[alopez926]

I have never gone on either holiday before, but I am going on Veteran's Day this year and it has been quite a challenge to book just about anything. Because of Free Dining, ADR's have been very difficult to come by. FP+ for the longest line attractions/M&Gs at MK were unavailable for the first 4 days of my 5 day trip. MK hours are very short due to all of the parties, making FP+ harder to come by. It's the last weekend of F&W. I hope the crowds aren't as bad as they might appear to be based on my planning challenges. But I'm not going again in November!

Edited to add: We are a party of 8. You mentioned having a large party so just be aware it will be even more challenging to book things during this time (national holiday, F&W, free dining, and a myriad of MVMCPs all coming together to create a perfect storm)