Fall 2016 planning (continuation of 2016 Free Dining Watch)

[wdw4rfam]

Can anyone tell me just how bad it will be Thanksgiving week? Family of 5, 3 kids between 6-12 for the next trip.
We are not rope drop people, but maybe we will have to be this trip.

Thoughts? I know the crowd calendars are not out yet for November on easywdw but has anyone gone that week in the past? any trip reports to share?

We were there the Thursday before, till the Saturday after this year. I will say it was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. After 15 trips, this was the first that we rope dropped. It really did help a lot. We didn't do it every day, but most. They predicted 9 and 10's on the crowd calendars, and I really didn't think it was that bad at all other than the security lines getting in the parks in the mornings. Don't be afraid when you see the crowd calendars, it was totally manageable.

 

[CaraMiaBelle]

Does anyone know if you can put credit into your magic band now to help save for your extra spending. I have fully paid for our fd package but would now like to add extra credit for drinks now if that's possible.

I'm not positive, but I think you might be able to add Disney gift cards, so even if you can't put credit in per se, I would look into buying some of them.

 

[ELSA711]

We were there the Thursday before, till the Saturday after this year. I will say it was nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. After 15 trips, this was the first that we rope dropped. It really did help a lot. We didn't do it every day, but most. They predicted 9 and 10's on the crowd calendars, and I really didn't think it was that bad at all other than the security lines getting in the parks in the mornings. Don't be afraid when you see the crowd calendars, it was totally manageable.

Thanks! We go often so this isn't a once in a life time trip. We typically have about 6 must dos at MK since my parents are going for the first time and after that it's a wing it type trip for ambience.
My DD said she doesn't like crowds, maybe we should go at Christmas, LOL
I told her we are safer at Thanksgiving, hopefully that was accurate.

 

[Sharongal74]

Last time we went I booked via a cm and she asked about birthdays but they were months away and she said doesn't mean you can't celebrate them! My girls loved it. They each picked a day and wore the buttons. My DD who will turn 16 3 weeks before we leave has asked if she can get a button. Is there a way to add it that online or do I need to call or just ask for a button when I get there?

 

[CandiceF]

I just celebrated my 40th in November at CBR.

Happy 40! I guess Disney is a popular place to turn 40! Maybe because it makes us all feel like kids again.

 

[CaraMiaBelle]

Can anyone tell me just how bad it will be Thanksgiving week? Family of 5, 3 kids between 6-12 for the next trip.
We are not rope drop people, but maybe we will have to be this trip.

Thoughts? I know the crowd calendars are not out yet for November on easywdw but has anyone gone that week in the past? any trip reports to share?

I left the Sunday BEFORE Thanksgiving and that Saturday at MK was insanely mobbed to me.
I would definitely take advantage of a couple rope drop and extra magic hours mornings. And plan those FP well!

 

[wdw4rfam]

Thanks! We go often so this isn't a once in a life time trip. We typically have about 6 must dos at MK since my parents are going for the first time and after that it's a wing it type trip for ambience.
My DD said she doesn't like crowds, maybe we should go at Christmas, LOL
I told her we are safer at Thanksgiving, hopefully that was accurate.

We did the week before Christmas one year and I can tell you it was nowhere near as bad at thanksgiving. Don't get me wrong, it was crowded, but nothing like I was expecting.

 

[ELSA711]

We did the week before Christmas one year and I can tell you it was nowhere near as bad at thanksgiving. Don't get me wrong, it was crowded, but nothing like I was expecting.

Thanks, but due to school schedules and the kids getting older we have to go during closures. Which would mean the week between Christmas and New Years. I think at that point it is a toss up between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
We are going to try a June trip to in 2017 so we can compare accurately moving forward for the best time to go for my family.
It's tough, no more pulling the kids from school for us. The work is just crazy that they have in school now.

 

[SunnieRN]

Can anyone tell me just how bad it will be Thanksgiving week? Family of 5, 3 kids between 6-12 for the next trip.
We are not rope drop people, but maybe we will have to be this trip.

Thoughts? I know the crowd calendars are not out yet for November on easywdw but has anyone gone that week in the past? any trip reports to share?

We've been there for 19 days over spring break, including Easter. This was of course madness, as many of those days the MK reached capacity and was closed down by 10 am. We would never have chosen that time to go, but my son in law was in country, on leave from Iraq and requested WDW for his leave.

We got there before rope drop by at least 1/2 hour to an hour. That way we could get through bag check!! But there wasn't one must we missed, mostly due to arrival pre rope drop.

I wonder how the crowds will be with free dining for the week of December 10th?

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

I wonder how the crowds will be with free dining for the week of December 10th?

I'm wondering the same thing about those dates. We're booked Dec. 10-18. Trying to find the sweet spot after PopWarner but before the crazy Christmas crowds.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Thoughts? I know the crowd calendars are not out yet for November on easywdw but has anyone gone that week in the past? any trip reports to share?

easywdw does have the November crowd calendar posted
http://www.easywdw.com/nov16-v3.jpg

 

[OnceUponATime15]

I'm wondering the same thing about those dates. We're booked Dec. 10-18. Trying to find the sweet spot after PopWarner but before the crazy Christmas crowds.

We're doing Dec 8 - 13 for that very reason hoping to beat the really big crowds headed to the World for Christmas break...
We have decided AoA (family suite) for Dec 8&9 hoping for a RO discount, then switching to CSR (1 bedroom suite) with free dining Dec 10-13.

We usually go about the same time in December when we do a Christmas visit, (2012/13/14) and so far the crowds have not been an issue. But I notice a general crowd increase in 2016 over all, so it's anyone's guess as for crowd level/impact this December...

 

[ldauksch]

We are also going 12/10 - 12/17. I'm hoping crowds won't be too bad since Christmas break doesn't start until the following week.

 

[cassie58]

Thanks, but due to school schedules and the kids getting older we have to go during closures. Which would mean the week between Christmas and New Years. I think at that point it is a toss up between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
We are going to try a June trip to in 2017 so we can compare accurately moving forward for the best time to go for my family.
It's tough, no more pulling the kids from school for us. The work is just crazy that they have in school now.

The week between Christmas and New Years is much busier than Thanksgiving. You are doing the right thing. We love that time with all the Christmas decor up. We have not found that week to be bad, especially if you do RD or early EMH, and if you have a plan for what you want to do with FP set up. When we were there last, we also took advantage of extended night hrs. as well a few times at MK, and had 5-10 min. waits after 11:00pm(that might be late for you kids, mine are night owls, so it worked out for us when we had a late brft ADR the next day). As experienced park goers, you will be fine, you can use the app to check wait times, and know where you can stop to grab a snack or take a break if needed. Hoppers are great to have to give you more flexibility. We found the day after Tday at MK more crowded than the holiday itself, not sure if people avoided it on that day, and decided to come the day after, but that was the busiest day for us. If you have not been at this time before, a good break from MK is to take the monorail to GF to see the giant gingerbread house. Also, the projections how on the castle, which we love, is even better with the Christmas additions at the end.

 

[SunnieRN]

I'm wondering the same thing about those dates. We're booked Dec. 10-18. Trying to find the sweet spot after PopWarner but before the crazy Christmas crowds.

Those were my thoughts also.

We are also going 12/10 - 12/17. I'm hoping crowds won't be too bad since Christmas break doesn't start until the following week.

Those are our dates also. I know it will be more manageable than Easter, lol.

 

[Amanda S.]

Thanks, I understand how the credit card link works, but I want to know if I can put credit on it now. I'm from Australia and our rate is dropping badly, so putting some aside onto the magic band now would be great. I also have a money card that I am slowly adding to, but I would rather keep that separate for the other parts of our 4 week trip.

You can't put credit on your band, you can however go to the hotel lobby every other day or so and "pay" your balance down with disney gift cards. It usually doesn't charge your credit card right away. We used the magic band (our linked credit card) to charge stuff and then every night I would go down with my disney GCs and pay the balance before they charged my card.

 

[jenkel]

We are also going 12/10 - 12/17. I'm hoping crowds won't be too bad since Christmas break doesn't start until the following week.

We were that that time last year Dec 13-21 and it was nice until Friday December 18th- the crowd level was insane. we did the mvmcp on the 18th, should have done it earlier in the week, but it was still fun.

 

[Kelly Anne]

Does anyone know if the second to last week(sept 18) usually crowded? I usually go in sept but noticed the last time I did in 2014 it was getting kinda busy.... Not sure about last year as I went in July 2015.

 

[BrookieM2001]

You can't put credit on your band, you can however go to the hotel lobby every other day or so and "pay" your balance down with disney gift cards. It usually doesn't charge your credit card right away. We used the magic band (our linked credit card) to charge stuff and then every night I would go down with my disney GCs and pay the balance before they charged my card.

I agree, I would be buying gift cards if that was an option. I don't know how the Australian situation changes things but I've heard a lot of people doing that, buying gift cards every month for whatever you budget for and then when the trip comes, you have a ton to spend!

You can also do what somebody mentioned, and get a Disney Vacation Account. You just make an account and then set up a deposit schedule every week or month, however you choose to save, and it goes into that account and it's ready for you to spend once you arrive! Again, not sure how the international currency issue would affect that but it's definitely something I would look into!

 

[cshell624]

Last time we went I booked via a cm and she asked about birthdays but they were months away and she said doesn't mean you can't celebrate them! My girls loved it. They each picked a day and wore the buttons. My DD who will turn 16 3 weeks before we leave has asked if she can get a button. Is there a way to add it that online or do I need to call or just ask for a button when I get there?

You could call and ask them to add a birthday celebration to your reservation and just ask for the button when you get there. A trip to Disney sure would make for a "sweet" sixteen birthday.