Jersey Week, Veterans Day and F&W trifecta help!

[WishUponAStar3]

Hi all! I recently booked our family's first-EVER Disney World trip (we are DLR locals) to follow a wedding we're attending in Miami the first weekend of November. I only recently found out that our park dates fall on Jersey Week, Veterans Day AND one of the Epcot F&W weekends! In light of this, I feel like it's extra crucial to plan smart so we can still have a great trip, even with the crowds. I have some Q's for you WDW experts, and I'd be so grateful for your help!!

1. How crazy crowded should we expect it to be that week? Our park days are Monday, November 7th through Friday the 11th (which is Veterans Day). Our flight on Saturday the 12th is not until 5:30 PM, so we could add another morning/early afternoon in the parks, but I'm not sure it's worth it if that holiday weekend is usually a madhouse?

2. We are locked into MK on Tuesday, 11/8 (the day my brother's family arrives; it'll be my 3-year-old niece's first-ever Disney park so we have to make it MK!) and Thursday, 11/10 for MVMCP. That allows us to do only one other park twice and a third park once. (We are not getting Park Hoppers, the kids are too young to be able to go all day/night and hit more than one park per day). Would you choose Epcot twice and DHS once? Or vice-versa? (We have amazing zoos near us at home, so that's why I'm inclined to skip AK. I could be convinced to add that that though, or Universal!

3. Which park would you choose for Friday, Veterans Day? Any thoughts on which should be the least crowded?

Thank you, thank you, thank you in advance for the help!

 

[gharter]

We went 2 years by accident during Jersey week. Never again. It was ridiculously crowded (pre-covid). The weeks pre and post Jersey week have been much less crowded.
EPCOT on the weekends, expect it to be VERY crowded for F&W.
Add a Holiday to it, just plan for the worst.
Planning, rope drop, early entry will be your best friend.

 

[isabellea]

When my kids were young, AK was a huge hit so I would not skip it. Epcot on the other end, was their least favourite and it was always the park on the chopping block when we had short trips.

 

[Lisa P.]

Osceola County schools have that Friday off so I'd expect MK to be extra busy that day. Friday afternoons and evenings can be very busy at Epcot with locals going to the festivals, so I'd avoid that as well. You don't say the ages of everyone in your group. How old are the children besides your 3 year old niece?

If you'll have any other preschoolers, AK would be my choice. It's our 3-year-old DGS's favorite park, even more than MK. Yes, there are zoo animals but there's more as well. It doesn't feel like a zoo to us. At the end of a crowded, busy week, your group may enjoy how the crowds tend to go down in the afternoon there.

If you have some older kids and adults, they'd probably enjoy DHS more. There are a few kid-friendly things there now, if you don't mind splitting up for rider swaps and taking the youngest to them. Ex., dance party, racing academy, shows, etc.

For your trip, I'd definitely budget for Genie+ for your MK and DHS days. You're already spending a bundle but getting value from those tickets at those parks on busy days is going to be tough without G+. HTH.

 

[snikki]

We did this in 2018 and I didn't find it crazy crowded except for Epcot on the weekends. That was INSANE. Actually all the parks got a bit crazier by the Friday of Jersey Week and Veteran's Day fell that Sunday in 2018 but nothing that was unbearable, except for Epcot.

We will be there 11/3-11/12 this year. I believe going in with a good plan and utilizing G+ as best you can will make a huge difference. We have G+ for our entire length of stay. Utilize rope and drop and late nights if you can. One or both.

On Friday 11/11 our plan is to do Epcot (Future World) and then hop to MK around 2 and stay until 6 pm since it's a party night.

We also have a late flight on 11/12 and will be doing DHS that day.

For your situation I would probably do:

11/7 - Epcot
11/8 - MK
11/9 - DHS
11/10 -MMVCP
11/11 - AK (sleep in after the party)
11/12 - DHS or Disney Springs (With small kids I may be tempted to add another morning at MK instead of DHS) I always like to end my trips at MK too.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

I know you said Tuesday at MK is a must, but that will be the first party, so it’s going to be a short hours day. Hopefully it will be lighter day crowd day, - at least until 4 and the party crowds start entering - but just wanted to make sure you knew since you won’t have hoppers.

 

[WishUponAStar3]

Osceola County schools have that Friday off so I'd expect MK to be extra busy that day. Friday afternoons and evenings can be very busy at Epcot with locals going to the festivals, so I'd avoid that as well. You don't say the ages of everyone in your group. How old are the children besides your 3 year old niece?

If you'll have any other preschoolers, AK would be my choice. It's our 3-year-old DGS's favorite park, even more than MK. Yes, there are zoo animals but there's more as well. It doesn't feel like a zoo to us. At the end of a crowded, busy week, your group may enjoy how the crowds tend to go down in the afternoon there.

If you have some older kids and adults, they'd probably enjoy DHS more. There are a few kid-friendly things there now, if you don't mind splitting up for rider swaps and taking the youngest to them. Ex., dance party, racing academy, shows, etc.

For your trip, I'd definitely budget for Genie+ for your MK and DHS days. You're already spending a bundle but getting value from those tickets at those parks on busy days is going to be tough without G+. HTH.

Thank you so much for the feedback!! Re: the kids' ages, my son is 5 and we'll be celebrating my daughter's 1st birthday on the trip! We have some big Star Wars fans in our group, so DHS is a must- I think the big question is whether 1 day is enough there or if we'll need 2? Same question with Epcot.

You've definitely got me seriously considering adding AK, too! And 100% on Genie+, we plan to buy it for our length of stay.

 

[RoseGold]

With little kids, I'd think about skipping HS completely. No fireworks. Ridiculous lines. If one of the big rides goes down (which is often) the lines get even worse. One character, Minnie, with lengthy waits. Right now, a random Wednesday, everything is running (yay!). Toy Story Mania is at 75 minutes, Alien Saucers at 30. You could take the kids to Star Tours, to Muppets, to the Frozen Singalong, to Hollywood and Vine for Christmas Minnie and Mickey. And then you're out of stuff to do. Oh, and the terrible Cars "ride," which is an embarrassment to the franchise. Everything else is too grown up (Aerosmith, Tower of Terror) and has massive waits. If the kids don't care about Star Wars, there's even less for them to do.

AK has the Lion King and the Nemo show, something for little kids to do. And Lion King is pretty great. And you take the train to the Rafiki petting zoo thing. AK can be a full day with little kids. Send the adults on the Everest single rider line at some point. I'd do AK the day you arrive. That's a good balance of an achievable park and Pandora is neat at night.

Epcot has the fireworks, if nothing else, and it is really magical.

 

[WishUponAStar3]

We did this in 2018 and I didn't find it crazy crowded except for Epcot on the weekends. That was INSANE. Actually all the parks got a bit crazier by the Friday of Jersey Week and Veteran's Day fell that Sunday in 2018 but nothing that was unbearable, except for Epcot.

We will be there 11/3-11/12 this year. I believe going in with a good plan and utilizing G+ as best you can will make a huge difference. We have G+ for our entire length of stay. Utilize rope and drop and late nights if you can. One or both.

On Friday 11/11 our plan is to do Epcot (Future World) and then hop to MK around 2 and stay until 6 pm since it's a party night.

We also have a late flight on 11/12 and will be doing DHS that day.

For your situation I would probably do:

11/7 - Epcot
11/8 - MK
11/9 - DHS
11/10 -MMVCP
11/11 - AK (sleep in after the party)
11/12 - DHS or Disney Springs (With small kids I may be tempted to add another morning at MK instead of DHS) I always like to end my trips at MK too.

Thank you SO much for the advice and the recommended schedule!! Love that we will be there at the same time.

I'm now wondering if it's worth doing a park hopper for 1 day, 11/9, so we can spend the day at DHS and then do World Showcase and Harmonious at night. (My brother and his family will want to see Epcot at some point and they arrive later on Monday, so they won't be joining us then.) Maybe hoppers on Friday too so we do AK in the day and then hop to DHS? Since we're staying at Poly, I'm also tempted to add a 3rd day at MK on our departure day. Somehow this whole trip got a ton more expensive as I'm typing this out, LOL! Curious if there are savings to be had if we buy just 2-day park hoppers and 3-day regular park tix? Or is it the same as buying a 5-day hopper?

 

[RoseGold]

You can't buy hopper for just one day. You don't need hoppers. You have plenty of time.

 

[WishUponAStar3]

With little kids, I'd think about skipping HS completely. No fireworks. Ridiculous lines. If one of the big rides goes down (which is often) the lines get even worse. One character, Minnie, with lengthy waits. Right now, a random Wednesday, everything is running (yay!). Toy Story Mania is at 75 minutes, Alien Saucers at 30. You could take the kids to Star Tours, to Muppets, to the Frozen Singalong, to Hollywood and Vine for Christmas Minnie and Mickey. And then you're out of stuff to do, and everything else is either too grown up (Aerosmith, Tower of Terror) and has massive waits. If the kids don't care about Star Wars, there's even less for them to do.

AK at least has the Lion King and the Nemo show, something for little kids to do. And you take the train to the Rafiki petting zoo thing. AK can be a full day with little kids. Send the adults on the Everest single rider line at some point. I'd do AK the day you arrive. That's a good balance of an achievable park and Pandora is neat at night.

Epcot has the fireworks, if nothing else, and it is really magical.

This is really good advice, thank you! Now I'm rethinking my plans... DHS is a must for us because of Star Wars and MMRR, but sounds like we probably don't need 2 days there like I'd thought. AK on Monday is a really good idea, too! Only thing is it would just leave us 1 day at Epcot instead of 2 (since it sounds like we have to avoid Fri/Sat there at all costs!) and I'm not sure if that's enough?

 

[RoseGold]

Nov 11 isn't blacked out on Pixie Dust or Pirate Pass, and it's a FL holiday. Ouch. I would expect that to be bananas crowded, no matter what you pick.

In that scenario, I'd pick Epcot with a little kid. It's not like Nemo and the aquarium will be packed. You'll still be able to G+ Soarin' and ride Figment and Living with the Land and Mission Orange and Tres Caballeros. Maybe Remy if you get lucky. And there's still the fireworks. The Epcot fireworks are my favorite thing at WDW, and the crowd doesn't stop that.

And the Epcot fireworks are a wonderful send off IMO.

 

[snikki]

Thank you SO much for the advice and the recommended schedule!! Love that we will be there at the same time.

I'm now wondering if it's worth doing a park hopper for 1 day, 11/9, so we can spend the day at DHS and then do World Showcase and Harmonious at night. (My brother and his family will want to see Epcot at some point and they arrive later on Monday, so they won't be joining us then.) Maybe hoppers on Friday too so we do AK in the day and then hop to DHS? Since we're staying at Poly, I'm also tempted to add a 3rd day at MK on our departure day. Somehow this whole trip got a ton more expensive as I'm typing this out, LOL! Curious if there are savings to be had if we buy just 2-day park hoppers and 3-day regular park tix? Or is it the same as buying a 5-day hopper?

It always ends up that way. LOL I always say we will just do X and by the time I'm done I've done a bunch of add ons.

Park hopper will be one flat price for each ticket.

Your plan doesn't sound bad. With the kids ages you could focus on MMRR and TSL and GE for the adults.

11/7 - Epcot
11/8 - MK
11/9 - DHS/Epcot
11/10 -MMVCP
11/11 - AK (sleep in after party)/DHS (I would stack G+ for the evening)
11/12 - MK

Does your brother's family want to do AK? If not I would definitely move that to arrival day.

Plan B - (this way you could skip hoppers)

11/7 - AK
11/8 - MK
11/9 - DHS
11/10 -MMVCP
11/11 - Epcot (sleep in - not a bad park to start later in the morning IMO)
11/12 - MK

 

[RoseGold]

If Star Wars is really important to your group, then I would put HS towards the front. If ROTR is the point of this trip, you need to have somewhere to put it to make it up if it's down the whole day. That can and does happen for ROTR. (GOTG has been crazy reliable though!)

If princesses are your goal, get them in early at WDW and at watch that Epcot schedule closely! They aren't out at the parties.

 

[WishUponAStar3]

Thank you soo much, @snikki and @RoseGold! These are such good points. I really do prefer the idea of having DHS at the beginning or middle of our stay so we have an opportunity to go again if we miss Rise or if we want more time there, and I always loved the idea of ending the trip at Epcot with a fireworks dining package for our last night. I just don't know how bad it's going to be there on a F&W Friday that also falls on Veterans Day and Jersey Week- ouch! Would you expect wall to wall crowds where walking through World Showcase will be impossible? Do you think DHS would be significantly less crowded, or pretty equally crowded everywhere? Thanks again for humoring my questions!!

 

[RoseGold]

The Epcot firework dining are really expensive, in bad locations, and have terrible reviews here. You’ll be able to see the fireworks no matter how crowded it is at Epcot.

Absolutely no way I would do HS on that Friday. It’s crowded on the best days, with longer lines than any other park. That Friday, ouch.

AK doesn’t have enough rides.

I guess I’d consider MK that Friday. The kiddie stuff wouldn’t be crazy and there’s a lot of it in MK.

 

[snikki]

I think Epcot WS that Friday night is going to be a mad house. It’ll be packed.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

We did the Spice Road fireworks and I loved it! Having never seen the show before, I found our view to be fine. Did we miss things? Maybe, but what I saw I enjoyed and felt like it was comprehensive.

The food was small plates, and it was fine. Quality was decent. It reminded me of the frozen appetizers from Costco. But it was good enough. Tasty, but mass produced.

Having a comfortable seat and relaxing with a meal and a drink was the perfect relaxing way to enjoy the show.

I would definitely recommend trying for a dinner reservation for such a busy weekend!

 

[SkyGuy]

There are more character meet and greets in HS than just Minnie. Olaf meets in Celebrity Spotlight, which is near the Vacation Fun movie. Vader, Chewbacca, and BB8 are in Launch Bay. Disney Jr characters are in the Animation Courtyard, next to the Disney Jr show. Sulley also does a meet and greet there. I’ve probably forgotten one or two.

 

[WishUponAStar3]

Yeah, I think there is plenty for our group to do in DHS! The tricky part is just having enough time for everything we want to see and do at WDW + managing with crowds. I really loved the idea of skipping buses and sticking with monorail transport once we're at the Polynesian for the last 3 days of our trip, so between that and wanting to do last-night fireworks, Epcot was definitely my first choice for Friday the 11th. But with it being Veterans Day and F&W and huge crowds expected, I'll choose a backup. (MK is out too, since we'll have just been there the night before for MVMCP + a couple days earlier, and it's likely the only park we'd be able to do on departure day a couple days later, too.)

Looking forward to your thoughts, andI'm SO grateful for the feedback as I continue trying to make these trip-planning decisions!