I may have picked the wrong time to go....

[eargal]

I am locked into going from November 5 to November 9th. Staying at the HOJO for the first time. We've stayed at many area hotels previously.

It is a multi-generational trip and I try to chose off season times to limit crowds. My concern is really with the decorations/holiday theming and with the possibility of Space Mountain being down to un-do the holloween theming.

I am hoping that the Christmas decor will be up to please my mom. When they take the Halloween stuff down is there a lag before the holiday stuff starts to go up?

I read about the Halloween theming on Space Mountain this year. It sounds like fun and I am sad to miss it however, my bigger concern is the possibility that they will have to close SM to un-do the Halloween theming!

Any information is appreciated!

 

[Sherry E]

I am locked into going from November 5 to November 9th. Staying at the HOJO for the first time. We've stayed at many area hotels previously.

It is a multi-generational trip and I try to chose off season times to limit crowds. My concern is really with the decorations/holiday theming and with the possibility of Space Mountain being down to un-do the holloween theming.

I am hoping that the Christmas decor will be up to please my mom. When they take the Halloween stuff down is there a lag before the holiday stuff starts to go up?

I read about the Halloween theming on Space Mountain this year. It sounds like fun and I am sad to miss it however, my bigger concern is the possibility that they will have to close SM to un-do the Halloween theming!

Any information is appreciated!

Well, you are right - Space Mountain will most likely be closed at the time of your trip so they can un-do the Halloween theming - unless, for some reason, they extend it through the holidays by popular demand or something. This Space Mountain Halloween overlay at DLR is uncharted territory for us so we can't know exactly what will happen, but if it is ONLY supposed to be up for Halloween, then yes, Space Mountain will be closed when you are there so thay can get the Halloween stuff out of it and reopen it in time for the hoilday season which begins in the third week of November.

Now, for the next bit of bad news: unfortunately, most of the Christmas decorations will not be up that early in November. Not even close. The holiday stuff does pretty much begin to go up in early November, right after Halloween, but it is a slow, detailed process, so while there will be some holiday touches here and there that you will see going up, none of the Christmas trees will be up yet, and it won't be anything like it would be even just a week later in November, when DLR is fully immersed in holiday magic. But maybe whatever is up that early will be enough to please your mom? Possibly the IASW Holiday will be up and running, but I think it is a longshot. Storybook Land Canal Boats are down until November 20.

So that is the downside of going in between holiday seasons - the lag between decoration installations!

 

[eargal]

The ONE time in my life I actually wanted to be wrong.....

I can live without the decorations but I will continue to hold my breath that Space Mountain will be open for at least the last day or two. I may look like this soon, from lack of oxygen.

Now, if we do miss out on Space Mountain this time I'll have to look at the bright side and focus on that being one less fastpass I need to run ahead and get for the group.

 

[Sherry E]

The ONE time in my life I actually wanted to be wrong.....

I can live without the decorations but I will continue to hold my breath that Space Mountain will be open for at least the last day or two. I may look like this soon, from lack of oxygen.

Now, if we do miss out on Space Mountain this time I'll have to look at the bright side and focus on that being one less fastpass I need to run ahead and get for the group.

Don't pass out from lack of oxygen! Well, you will see some Christmas decorations - Halloweentime ends on November 1, so that means by the morning of the 2nd, all the Halloween stuff will have come down. Of course, Haunted Mansion Holiday will stay open through the rest of the year, so you WILL see that, and IF they decide to extend the Space Mountain overlay, then you may be in luck! And if they open up IASW Holiday early, then you will be in even more luck! I think they will probably begin putting up the Christmas stuff immediately after Halloween comes down because it has to all be up and running by 11/20. So you will get a little taste of the holidays, minus the Christmas trees and Castle-Main Street light show, and you will probably even some holiday foods and merchandise and all that - just not the FULL experience with Santa and carolers and snow on Main Street and all that, which you said you don't mind.

So just cross your fingers and hope that Space Mountain will be so popular that they keep it open longer than 11/1! (I wouldn't count on it, but you never know!)

 

[LavenderPeach]

I wouldn't lose hope yet for Space Mountain being up and running! Like Sherry said, the SM halloween overlay is uncharted territory so we really don't know what will happen. But, from the description I've heard of the overlay, it sounds like it will be mainly a halloween-themed projection and halloween music which to me doesn't sound like it would take that long to switch it back to the normal SM. It certainly doesn't sound like it is anything as detailed or time consuming as the HMH or IASW holiday. Hope it works out for you!

 

[blackjackdelta]

The ONE time in my life I actually wanted to be wrong.....

I can live without the decorations but I will continue to hold my breath that Space Mountain will be open for at least the last day or two. I may look like this soon, from lack of oxygen.

Now, if we do miss out on Space Mountain this time I'll have to look at the bright side and focus on that being one less fastpass I need to run ahead and get for the group.

But if you run you will even great more hypoxemia. Have fun.

Jack

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

We are in the same boat as you. We ae going the exact same days and are even staying at the same hotel.

I can handle Space mountain and IASW being down as long as PoTC is back up.

 

[jernysgirl]

You may get a special Christmas treat while there.......

According to Mouseplanet, the taping of the Christmas parade is on Nov 7th (subject to change... as always). I know that they always seem to tape the parade around this time, so that could mean that some of Main Street will be decorated while you are there. BUT.... as with anything at DLR things can always change even at the last minute. So my advise would be to keep your fingers crossed that you will get to see something special while you are there!

 

[J. Galt]

I don't know if this helps you, but last year we went Nov 1 - 8th, and the Halloween stuff started coming down.. with X-mas going up a little bit every day. We thought is was kind of cool because we got bonus decorations... like two holidays for the price of one. We made a game out of spotting which Halloween decorations were gone each day and spotting the new X-mas decor. We also tried to guess what the "in progess" X-mas stuff was going to look like. It was cool because we got pix of the kids in front of both Halloween and Christmas decorations. I think they taped the parade the day after we left last year, but they were putting up a TON of Christmas decor around the castle forecourt and down mainstreet for the taping. I don't think you will be disappointed. You won't get to see everything... but it won't be completely missing Christmas decor.

 

[eargal]

But if you run you will even great more hypoxemia. Have fun.

Jack

Um, Jack...to each his own!

That is good news about the possibility of the Parade taping. Good news for my mom anyway and since I am a good daughter, I'll be happy for her.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Be aware that parade taping may result in very heavy crowds on Main Street and you may be required to stay on Main Street for the duration of parade taping (which I understand can take hours).