Advice please...Oct/Nov Trips

[Tinks1984]

Hey guys and gals

Just some general advice from you all please...

In our previous WDW trips, we've always gone during April/May. We're looking at returning in 2014 (I know, I know, it's ages away! ) and at first we were all set for May again, until I mentioned I'd like to go when Halloween kicks in.

We then thought about this and the rest of the party are now in agreement that we'd like to go and try it out around this time. Also, my DD (who will be 2 and a half at the time), I assume, would cope a little better with the temperatures, as I assume it's not quite as hot as it is in May?

Then, it got thrown in (after watching You Tube!) that maybe we should wait and do Christmas. So, which celebration do you all prefer and why? Halloween or Christmas? Also, is it sometimes possible to fit both in during one trip, as I know they sometimes cross over quite close? We'd be looking to go for about 16/17 nights staying on-site.

Any advice you all have would be a great start for my research, as I have no idea at all about this time of year at WDW!

 

[DisFanJen]

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

• Location: Magic Kingdom Theme Park
• Type: Indoor, Outdoor

Dates: Select Nights September 11–November 2, 2012

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

• Location: Magic Kingdom Theme Park
• Type: Indoor, Outdoor

Dates: Select Nights November 9–December 21, 2012

I'd say doing both in one trip is VERY possible.


Oh, don't forget:


Epcot® International Food & Wine Festival

Location: Epcot Theme Park
Type: Indoor, Outdoor, All Day

Dates: September 28, 2012–November 12, 2012

(Hmm, wonder why the last one didn't take the formatting?)


It has to be about the best time of year to visit but remember that the closer to Halloween it gets and the busier the party is.

The biggy to remember though is that the 4th Thursday of November (22nd) is Turkey day (Thanksgiving) and again around the time it's packed so don't go too late in the month.

EDIT:

Oh a couple more public holidays for you to be aware of:

Second Monday in October - Columbus Day
November 11 - Veterans Day

Not sure what effect these smaller holidays have as my subs to Touring plans have lapsed

 

[joolz1910]

We are going 29th Oct - 12th Nov this year. We are doing MNSSHP on 2nd Nov and MVMCP on 9th Nov, plus it's the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot while we are there and Eat to the Beat. I will do a full trip report when I come back.

 

[DisFanJen]

And now to answer your other question...

Of the two parties I prefer Halloween hands down. It's more fun, with the characters in costume the candy trails, etc. And the Boo to You parade has to be one of the best night time parades ever!

Hallowishes is also pretty amazing with the 'Ghost Host' narrating.

That's not to say that the Christmas Party isn't any good. I do in fact tend to go in December (though partly as it's when my DVC use year wraps round). This year however I'm going in late Sept\Early Oct to do Halloween & F&W.

If you're up to the higher crowds for the later Halloween Party then I say go for it an try and go to both parties. But if you have to choose one I'd say Halloween.

 

[queendisney]

do both as PP said..
This time of the year is def my fav time to go and we just love the Epcot Food and Wine Festival.
We are going Sept this year because is a big birthday for me and I just wanted to celebrate it out of the country, otherwise we would have been going in November again.
If I had to chose though, I would go for the Christmas one as I love Christmas, but watching the headless horseman galloping (well its a fast trot really) down Main Street and the fireworks are also worth going to see MNSSHP for! If you go to MNSSHP then take an extra suitcase to bring the sweets home in

 

[Tinks1984]

Hmmm, that's the thing, with my DD only being young, I wasn't sure on the crowds for the Halloween party, only with it being so close (if we wanted to fit both in) to the 31st and it being very busy. I have no idea how she'd cope with it all, and in all honesty, would she not be petrified, even though it's only Mickey & co

I totally forgot about Food & Wine Festival also, that'll be nice to check out too I imagine.

Generally, what is the weather like during these times? I know it's never exact, but does it rain often?

Thanks for the information so far everyone!

 

[ThumpersWorld]

We just got back this past Monday. Our previous trip was October 2010 and our trip before that was May 2008. So our last few trips have always been in May and October. We are planning on going back October 2013. So May and October are our favorite times to go. But I have to say that our trip in October 2010 was my absolute favorite. We went to MNSSHP when my younger son was 2 1/2. He loved it! Loved dressing up and trick-o-treating in the park. He actually lasted until about 10-10:30 and then fell asleep in the stroller. What we did that day was spend more of the day at the hotel pool and then he took a little nap in the early afternoon. We headed to the MK at 4 and stayed until 11:30pm I believe. The temperatures were slightly lower than in May but it was still pretty hot. Perfect in my opinion. Oh, one more thing. We went the first week of October. The F&W at EPCOT can not be missed.

I have been in December pre kids. I loved the decorations but I don't think we'll go back at that time again b/c I really enjoy the warm weather and it was really too cold to swim. Also I have heard from friends that you don't want to go Christmas week because of the crowds. They even had to shut down the parks a day or two because it was so crowded.

My vote is for October but May is a close second.

 

[Tinks1984]

We are going 29th Oct - 12th Nov this year. We are doing MNSSHP on 2nd Nov and MVMCP on 9th Nov, plus it's the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot while we are there and Eat to the Beat. I will do a full trip report when I come back.

I'll look forward to reading about it Joolz! And what is Eat to the Beat?

 

[Tinks1984]

We just got back this past Monday. Our previous trip was October 2010 and our trip before that was May 2008. So our last few trips have always been in May and October. We are planning on going back October 2013. So May and October are our favorite times to go. But I have to say that our trip in October 2010 was my absolute favorite. We went to MNSSHP when my younger son was 2 1/2. He loved it! Loved dressing up and trick-o-treating in the park. He actually lasted until about 10-10:30 and then fell asleep in the stroller. What we did that day was spend more of the day at the hotel pool and then he took a little nap in the early afternoon. We headed to the MK at 4 and stayed until 11:30pm I believe. The temperatures were slightly lower than in May but it was still pretty hot. Perfect in my opinion. Oh, one more thing. We went the first week of October. The F&W at EPCOT can not be missed.

I have been in December pre kids. I loved the decorations but I don't think we'll go back at that time again b/c I really enjoy the warm weather and it was really too cold to swim. Also I have heard from friends that you don't want to go Christmas week because of the crowds. They even had to shut down the parks a day or two because it was so crowded.

My vote is for October but May is a close second.

Thank-you for that, nice to see your DS was ok at the party. And I like the plan for the day, definitely something to keep in mind for DD's stamina!

 

[DisFanJen]

I'll look forward to reading about it Joolz! And what is Eat to the Beat?

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...up-at-epcot-international-food-wine-festival/

Your Google-Fu is not strong...

 

[DisFanJen]

...Generally, what is the weather like during these times? I know it's never exact, but does it rain often?

It's about 29 - 32c on average and on the times I went there was a pretty heavy downpour at around 3pm for around 20 - 30 mins and then all was good again.

It was so punctual that after the first day or so you could actually see people planning to be inside just before it happened.

 

[Tinks1984]

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...up-at-epcot-international-food-wine-festival/

Your Google-Fu is not strong...

Haha, I'm a lazy thing aren't I? Thank-you for the link!

 

[DisFanJen]

Haha, I'm a lazy thing aren't I? Thank-you for the link!

No problem.

I could have said it's a bunch of free concerts but it's so much better to see the line up.

One year I got to see the beach boys (well, beach boy as I think only one of them is an original member of the band) play which was pretty cool.

 

[queendisney]

WEATHER
we normally always go November and the weather in the day is upper 70's into the low 80's but obviously this can vary..buts is always warm to hot. It is one of the times in the year where there is hardly any rain, but of course it can! If you look at the weather graphs for this time you will see it is a month where there is normally the least rain of all months..We have never experienced the afternoon rain that you get during the summer months at this time of the year. The evenings are a tad less easy to predict as they can get quite chilly. But we have been for 3 weeks on a trot most times and had times when the whole time has been very warm in the evenings and times when we have needed to take a jacket or top the whole time..

In short, you would be very unlucky to get rain in November. Its nothing like the summer months with its heat and humidity. Its a great tempreture with no humidity...WONDERFUL

 

[MickeyHammer]

Hi,

New to the board! We're planning for Oct/Nov 2013 and wondered if anyone knew what the dates were for MVMCP? Saw the earlier post from joolz1910 and thought it was a great plan to be able to do both MNSSHP and MVMCP in the same trip. We're planning on booking over the next couple of weeks but would be really gutted if we missed MVMCP by a day or two.

Thanks in advance

 

[joolz1910]

Hi,

New to the board! We're planning for Oct/Nov 2013 and wondered if anyone knew what the dates were for MVMCP? Saw the earlier post from joolz1910 and thought it was a great plan to be able to do both MNSSHP and MVMCP in the same trip. We're planning on booking over the next couple of weeks but would be really gutted if we missed MVMCP by a day or two.

Thanks in advance

The last MNSSHP is 2nd Nov this year and the first MVMCP is 9th Nov. I think it is more or less the same every year. I think if you book similar dates to ours, you will be guaranteed to be there for both parties

Welcome to the Dis by the way.

 

[MickeyHammer]

Thanks for the quick reply... Yeah I was thinking that... the only worry is we're already taking the girls out of school for a week and by leaving 10th instead of 9th would mean an extra day out of school... Food for thought

 

[joolz1910]

Thanks for the quick reply... Yeah I was thinking that... the only worry is we're already taking the girls out of school for a week and by leaving 10th instead of 9th would mean an extra day out of school... Food for thought

I think the first MVMCP has been as early as 6th before now. What are your term dayes for next Oct?

 

[Vixster]

I'm going 30th oct and doing the MNSSHP on 2nd nov we can also fit the MVMCP but decided not to as I think the Halloween one is more fun for the kids

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Hey guys and gals

Just some general advice from you all please...

In our previous WDW trips, we've always gone during April/May. We're looking at returning in 2014 (I know, I know, it's ages away! ) and at first we were all set for May again, until I mentioned I'd like to go when Halloween kicks in.

We then thought about this and the rest of the party are now in agreement that we'd like to go and try it out around this time. Also, my DD (who will be 2 and a half at the time), I assume, would cope a little better with the temperatures, as I assume it's not quite as hot as it is in May?

Then, it got thrown in (after watching You Tube!) that maybe we should wait and do Christmas. So, which celebration do you all prefer and why? Halloween or Christmas? Also, is it sometimes possible to fit both in during one trip, as I know they sometimes cross over quite close? We'd be looking to go for about 16/17 nights staying on-site.

Any advice you all have would be a great start for my research, as I have no idea at all about this time of year at WDW!

Just to add my 2 cents!

We're a family of Christmas lovers, and have been for Christmas twice and already planning a third trip in Dec 2013. The weather in 2010 was questionable (coldest Florida winter in 21 years... we had frost!), but it's normally warm enough to wear shorts and tshirts.
Crowd-wise, we have to go during the Christmas holidays as my Mum works in a school, and so it's the peak holiday period... yes it is busy, I won't lie, but planning does go a long way. My Dad thought I was a bit over-the-top with my planning in 2010, but it paid off and we got everything done that we wanted to.
We couldn't go to MK on Xmas Day 2010 as it closed at 11am due to being at full capacity. But we are also a family of late risers, so go figure!!

I can't comment on either party as I have never been (MNSSHP in October 2012 though!), but then again, we're not massive Halloween-ers, so that wasn't what convinced us to go in October this year! Haha!

We went April/May in 2003 and although I can't remember very much about it (I was 13!), Mum has said that April was much hotter than October 2000 (I was 11!)

And I'm sorry I can't help with how littl'un will cope! I have no experience with taking very young children to WDW (I don't have any, and my sister was 5 when we first went in 2000!)

This post has gone on for too long Anyway, I hope you can take something, anything from my waffle haha!

Steffi xx