This is what we do. We book the first direct there and last direct home. DH likes to make the most out of our vacation 
I so wish SW flew direct from Dallas. But it is all connections which we hate. Otherwise, I'd be SW all the way!
I'm not happy with the airfare situation either. I had to laugh out loud when I realized Southwest extended their schedule until exactly one day before we are supposed to leave (Nov. 3-11). I just want to book my airfare already! I'm looking at SW, US , or AirTran non-stop from PHL. If it is a substantial difference I will drive to Newark for JetBlue. We live closest to AC but I swore off Spirit Air a while back. Fingers crossed fares get better for all of us Nov. travelers.
I've heard nightmares about Spirit too! Never flown it and they seem to have cheap rates, until you add in all the fees for cokes, carry on bags (who charges for carry ons??? seriously???).
We came in on the 12th last year, it was the last weekend of the F&W, so we didn't go to Epcot till that Monday, cuz everybody was over at Epcot or DTD!!! Festival of the Masters does make Downtown pretty crowded,...we usually come in on that Saturday and hang around the resort or take a monorail ride around to another resort...depends on how worn out we are from our early flights!! Last year we did the HDDR the first night, then MK on Sunday...crowds for us were great! That last Sat you could see a bit of a growth to the crowds, by Sunday MK was waaaay more full.... But, as far as Sunday thru Friday you will be sitting pretty!!
It's a great week to go---we went in Jan two times and the crowds were the same but the Nov weather was much better!
THANK YOU!!! awesome news. That is what I was hoping. We do want to hit F&W, but we will try and do it Fri am and Sun am. We plan to avoid DTD until after the festival is over. I think that Sat night we will be playing it low key too- maybe a nice dinner at JIKO at AKL, so we aren't messing with a park that night. So Sunday wasn't bad for MK crowds then? Looking forward to low crowds during the week at least.
I am so very close to calling and upgrading to a deluxe instead of POR. I am thinking Poly garden view.
If we did this, we'd spend more time at MK, which I would LOVE. I know there are a lot of activities around the resort, too for the evenings. I've been wanting to do it, and I just found out we'll be getting a bigger tax return than I expected.
I was excited about Piano Bob and experiencing the other resort activities at POR, but there will be days I'll be bringing the kids in to the parks on my own. I was not excited about the busses, and I was worried about my Deluxe to Moderate split.
I'm scared to lose the discounted room at POR and then regret upgrading. I'm agonizing now. Anyone got any words of wisdom for me?
Do it! I am such a bad influence. Maybe it's because I have always wanted to stay the Poly!
I can tell you having the monorail (or walking to MK in my case from BLT) is SO NICE!!!!!!
My family and I are hoping for our very first WDW experience the week of November 17th!!! so far, we are planning for 7 nights and will probably be staying at Grand Beach Resort. My sister's family and my mom is also planning to go with us so yah... if that pulls through, there will be 9 of us going on this trip! they too have never been to WDW before!
I'm so excited even though we haven't even booked yet LOL!!! i have started my research already and began to collect useful websites (like this one) to help with my planning!
How is the weather and the crowd at WDW during the week of Thanksgiving? Not too bad I hope? I will have to research that further... heehee.
Welcome! Grand Beach- is that close (I assume off site obviously)- that's one I haven't actually heard of. 9 is fun! We've done a party of 15 before- it can be dramatic at times, but fun!
Mousesavers is a great site for looking at car rental codes and other info.
Undercover Tourist is a great place to buy tickets at a slight discount.
I've worked as a CM in November and toured in early Dec before and the weather can be wild. It can be perfect 80s, swim weather or freezing cold in the 30s. Accuweather is a good site for looking far out at forecast, but also try looking at the local orlando tv stations sites. Prepare for anything. We always pack jeans, but shorts too. You can always do laundry if necessary. I would plan to pack some sort of light jacket/hoodie. We even had to wear gloves/scarves and hats the first week of December in 2010. Then in Oct 2011, it was warm! For crowds- Thanksgiving week is one of the most crowded times of the year, as are any holiday when kids are out of school. 10s on a scale of 1-10 for the crowd calendar. But if you plan to arrive at the parks at opening/rope drop and utilize fastpass, then you can still see a lot. Save the less popular attractions or sit down meals for late afternoon or evening when the crowds are heaviest. hit the most popular stuff first thing in the am- including Peter Pan, Dumbo, Pooh, Mountains, EE, Safari, TSM, ToT, RnR, TT, Soarin.
Thanks for this great information! I was hoping that nestling in between F&W/Jersey Week and Thanksgiving week would put us in the sweet spot. We are Tues - Fri, so the weekend will probably be crowded, but if the first three days are low crowds, we'll be good!
I was on a work telecon yesterday, and the government folks I support are headed to Orlando for a conference next month. Several of the guys on the phone were pushing for me to attend too. Would be great, but I don't think it will happen as funding is pretty low right now. But maybe they planted a seed in my client's head, we'll see. If I end up going, I'll have to buy them all a beer!
Here's hoping you get invited! Work trips are always great when they are in Orlando!
The first time we stayed at a deluxe was AKL and i was there on business for a defense tradeshow (I work in marketing). I used to have a show every March in Orlando when I worked in Defense, I would get to stay at the Gaylord or Marriott nearby and I always would make time to visit DTD at least. I even drug my boss to dinner at Cali Grill one night. Anything to get close to Disney!
I was just in Anaheim in November for the Realtor's conference where Michael Eisner was the keynote. So that was fun (I now work in property manangement software) and I managed to visit DL 4 days when I had time after the conference!
Here's hoping you get to go- on the company dime!
Actually I need to get my head back into Disney planning. My GG has just decreased by 5 ppl. Which is fine because I didnt want them to feel like the odd balls since its mostly my family going. So now on to planning! I think we will plan to arrive somewhere about 10am or 11am, that way we have the first wole day free for Downtown Disney and DisneyQuest! I cant wait! 
