Jersey week crowds good or bad

[fiictiion]

Trying to plan a vacation for Nov 2-9, 2019 or Nov 9-16, 2019. Crowds i think will be lower Nov 2 -9 (jersey week) from what i have read. But i have also read some stories about how packed it is that week.
Nov 9 week includes veterans day so i know the weekend will be crowded but should lessen come Tuesday.

Any opinions will be greatly appreciated.

On a side note Poly or GF?

Thanks

 

[MIGrandma]

Bad. My DD and I were there Nov. 6 - 13. The first few days were Jersey week.

Does every single person from that state go to WDW that week? It sure felt like it. Very crowded. I would avoid Jersey week for sure.

It was also the end days of Epcot’s food and wine festival so that park was doubly crowded it seemed.

Loved spending the week with my daughter, and happy we did the trip but between the crowds and the unusual heat and humidity it could have been better in those departments.

We went to the Christmas party too, it was also overcrowded. Daughter went to it 2 years ago and she was shocked at how crowded it was this year.

 

[randumb0]

Honestly I don't notice a difference

 

[sharonabe]

Trying to plan a vacation for Nov 2-9, 2019 or Nov 9-16, 2019. Crowds i think will be lower Nov 2 -9 (jersey week) from what i have read. But i have also read some stories about how packed it is that week.
Nov 9 week includes veterans day so i know the weekend will be crowded but should lessen come Tuesday.

Any opinions will be greatly appreciated.

On a side note Poly or GF?

Thanks

Don't really have an opinion as I've seen reports this year that go both ways. Some thought it was VERY crowded and others thought it was just normal crowded.

However, there is another thing to consider. The 2-9 there won't be any parties at MK until the 8th, so you'll have almost the whole week to enjoy HEA at MK with less crowds than you will have if you choose the 9-16. There will be at least 3 nights that week with a party which means the nights without a party are VERY, VERY crowded.

 

[RolloTomasi]

I was there 11/5-11/9, the first time I've ever been for Jersey week. Honestly? I didn't think it was so bad. Tuesday (the 6) was bad at MK, but that was Election Day and since schools were closed we figured there were locals coming for the day - we saw a few I Voted stickers. Other than that, it was busy but not unmanageable.

There were crowds, yes, but it's not just people from New Jersey. The marathon, the end of F&W, the start of the Christmas Party, the long holiday weekend, and Election Day all played a part. And we still managed to fit in everything we wanted to do.

 

[PSUGuy]

Jersey Week concerns are WAY overblown. We were there in 2017, going back in 2019.

Bill From PA

 

[AnnaS]

It seems every time we go, the parks are always packed. Looks like next year we will be there that week (Disney wedding).

 

[anniemae]

It was crowded this year, but I don't' think it was Jersey Week. We had Veterans Day, then Thanksgiving (usually there is a week between but this year there was not. I know 2 families that have been at Disney last week and are staying this week as well due to the way the holidays fell), there was also Mickeys 90th b-day. I think those things bumped up crowds this year.

 

[scottandtisha]

We were there last year Jersey week and the week before. The parks were significantly more crowded during Jersey week - although I'm still sure it's not as bad as spring and fall break. I will echo that Epcot is NUTS the last weekend of F&W, so if you go during that week, do Epcot early!!

 

[gorkt]

I have gone this week in 2013, 2016 and will go again in 2019. The crowds have become progressively worse over the years for sure, particularly on the holiday weekends, but a good plan can really help. In terms of picking one of those two weeks, the second one is probably better. You will get veterans day crowds for the first few days but then the parks will empty out. The first week will be moderately crowded the whole time.

 

[Alison S]

We were there at the tail end of Jersey Week, 11/11-11/14. AK was fine on the 11th, Epcot was very busy but manageable with a good plan & refreshing on the 12th, MK had low crowds on the 13th, and HS was supposedly a "1" on the TP crowd calendar and it was HORRIBLE. I don't know how a "1" could have been our worst day, but it was! I'd take a 7 at AK over a 1 at HS. This just shows that a good plan is more important than the crowds.

 

[gharter]

I am in the camp of Jersey week is much more crowded than a regular week. We have been there twice during Jersey week and it has become more crowded. However WDW as awhole is generally mroe crowded than it used to be.
Certain things can also have an effect that is not just Jersey week as well.
Some years, Jersey week is also the last week of F&W (really crowded).
If it is Veterans DAy that week, that also increases the weekend crowds.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

Trying to plan a vacation for Nov 2-9, 2019 or Nov 9-16, 2019. Crowds i think will be lower Nov 2 -9 (jersey week) from what i have read. But i have also read some stories about how packed it is that week.
Nov 9 week includes veterans day so i know the weekend will be crowded but should lessen come Tuesday.

Any opinions will be greatly appreciated.

On a side note Poly or GF?

Thanks

For what it's worth....We were at MK on Nov.7th and it was the most crowded I have ever seen it. Epcot was also very crowded due to F&W. We try to avoid Jersey week but got a great military rate at AKL that week.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

We were there for Jersey Week this year. I didn't find it to be too bad. It was way more crowded than I'm used to since we usually go late August but it wasn't so bad that I would avoid that week. With a good plan, FP+ and knowing how to navigate the parks we did everything we wanted to do plus more.

It is during F&W so I would avoid Epcot on the weekend. We did Epcot WS from 11-2 on Saturday 11/10 which was the last weekend of F&W. By 1:30 it was so crowded. We weren't doing kiosks and just exploring the countries instead. I saw lines for the kiosks going 30-50 people deep. The countries themselves weren't bad but you couldn't walk to the next country. I had to leave. I could barely move. That was the worse crowds I saw all week. Nothing compared to that. We stayed at Boardwalk and our last day was 11/11. We didn't even bother going to Epcot since we had a late flight. We did DHS instead.

We avoided MK on non party days. We did MVMCP for the first party (11/8) and the crowds were worse at the party than any other MK day.

 

[wfjny]

We were there there on Veterans Day weekend. I posted in another thread about the trip.

To be clear, we are Disney Veterans with many trips under our belts. We are also DVC and AP and have done Disney almost every way imaginable, and at almost every time of the year.

The parks were the busiest I have ever seen them, with the possible exception of Thanksgiving a few years ago. I think that weekend was the perfect storm of events, which included:
The end of Jersey Week
The end of the Food and Wine Expo
A three day weekend
Veteran's Day
Filming for the Christmas Specials had begun

My bigger concern was what we did encounter at EPCOT. The crowds there were quite rowdy, and not very "Disney Like".

Having said that, all other Disney Rules still applied. A majority of our rides were done in the first and last hours at MK and HS. by mid-day, almost all rides had about an hour wait, with the bigger ones (7DMT, FoP, SDD) in the 135 - 150 minute range. I think the lone holdout was Sorrin' had like a 45 min wait on Saturday evening.

See my post at https://www.disboards.com/threads/last-weekend.3717213/#post-59955121 for more details

 

[DavidNYC]

Been there last 3 Jersey weeks (and live in NJ). Yes - it's crowded. But if you know what you're doing on planning FP in advance and best practices for using the App to get add'l ones it's very manageable. We didn't wait on a single line over 20 minutes this trip and were able to get 5-8 add'l FP each day with a normal amount of "refreshing".

The worst thing I'd warn about is MK Fireworks on non-party nights and World Showcase on weekend evenings. They are NUTS! We booked a MK dessert party this year after having suffered through it the prior year. Very good move!