**November 2019 check in ***

[smartlabelprint]

Yes, my db upgraded his DD ticket to an AP last November.

Thanks. It said you could upgrade to more days but I wasn’t sure about AP. We’re probably taking the kids next summer so we’ll consider this. It could save us about $100.

 

[gpjacobs]

Just booked our November getaway! Nov. 19 - 21, staying at the Grand Californian. Just hubby and me! Celebrating both our birthdays (several weeks after the fact). It's also our first two-night trip away from our daughter ... Kinda nervous but, we need to do it at some point, right?!

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Add me! Nov 6-10, Stovall's.

My company is sending me to the Society of Women in Engineering conference which is at the Anaheim Convention Center that weekend, so not only do I get to go to DL, but my flight and room are on the company! Woohoo! It will be hard to pay attention during the conference knowing that I'm just a short walk away from a Disney park

 

[Theosaur]

Family trip planned for Nov. 28-Dec. 1! Everything I’ve seen says crazy crowds but I’m not sure how much stock to put in those crowd calendars since GE has really thrown a wrench into trip planning this year. I’m wondering whether the crowds will be as bad as the calendars say given that there still seems to be PLENTY of hotel availability, 3 AP groups are blocked out, and the 2nd GE ride doesn’t open till January 2020. What does everyone else think?

 

[B3rlingirl]

Family trip planned for Nov. 28-Dec. 1! Everything I’ve seen says crazy crowds but I’m not sure how much stock to put in those crowd calendars since GE has really thrown a wrench into trip planning this year. I’m wondering whether the crowds will be as bad as the calendars say given that there still seems to be PLENTY of hotel availability, 3 AP groups are blocked out, and the 2nd GE ride doesn’t open till January 2020. What does everyone else think?

That’s pretty much the time I’ll be at DL as well! I definitely hope the crowds won’t be to bad.
I think there is really no way to predict anything this year.
But trying to predict the future is always fun, isn’t it? So: I hope the opening of ROTR a couple days later at WDW drives some of the Christmas/thanksgiving tourist crowds away from DL. While doing research for my trips I got the feeling that crowd calendars for DL work a little more accurate if you read them reverse, so if it is supposed to be wall to wall it won’t be and if it is predicted to be ghost town it will be wall to wall (with holidays and other special days being an exemption). Last year it was pretty full after thanksgiving and the year before that it wasn’t that full...but thanksgiving is pretty late this year so that might work against our favour...
That being said I hope we will get lucky this year and don’t experience high crowds...

But I think it is always good to prepare for high crowds and set expectations accordingly. That way you can only get pleasantly surprised ...after all a day with wall to wall people at DL is better than a day at home!

 

[Theosaur]

That’s pretty much the time I’ll be at DL as well! I definitely hope the crowds won’t be to bad.
I think there is really no way to predict anything this year.
But trying to predict the future is always fun, isn’t it? So: I hope the opening of ROTR a couple days later at WDW drives some of the Christmas/thanksgiving tourist crowds away from DL. While doing research for my trips I got the feeling that crowd calendars for DL work a little more accurate if you read them reverse, so if it is supposed to be wall to wall it won’t be and if it is predicted to be ghost town it will be wall to wall (with holidays and other special days being an exemption). Last year it was pretty full after thanksgiving and the year before that it wasn’t that full...but thanksgiving is pretty late this year so that might work against our favour...
That being said I hope we will get lucky this year and don’t experience high crowds...

But I think it is always good to prepare for high crowds and set expectations accordingly. That way you can only get pleasantly surprised ...after all a day with wall to wall people at DL is better than a day at home!

I 100% agree with you on it being impossible to predict but prepping for it being crowded! Thank you for the tip about the crowd calendars, I’ve always found them to be totally off the mark so that would explain a lot!
I’m trying to plan for the worst so I can maximize enjoyability and minimize stress. I’m taking the trip with my step-father and my younger brother.

It’s my stepfather’s first time in the park in over a decade and certainly his first time going to the park without dependent, hectic kids under the age of 13 (basically me at that age). His birthday is the day after we leave, and I really want to make sure that he has an amazing time because he is such an amazing person. He has been an incredible father and has given me so much, even and especially when I was a difficult child who didn’t have enough perspective to know how lucky I was. I’ve been trying to brainstorm what I can do to make the trip even a little more special on a student-debt budget, but at the very least I really want to make sure that everything is well prepared so all of us can have a great time in the park. I’ve even been making him a small Disney guide to get him excited about the trip!

 

[mouschievous]

Everyone told us how crowded and awful our Thanksgiving 2018 trip was going to be, and it was totally manageable. We did everything that we wanted to do multiple times. Fastpass was a lifesaver, as was taking a break in the middle of the day, when the parks were the warmest and most crowded (and we were the grumpiest!). I have faith that it will be amazing for you guys too!

 

[mouschievous]

@Theosaur, when you say "student debt budget" do you mean free? Since you will be there during what Disney considers the holidays, you could go visit Santa! Santa appears at all of the DLR hotels and meeting him is free. He also appears at the redwood jungle gym thing in DCA. Last year each Santa location had it's own theme. The PPH Santa was beachy, GCH was more foresty I think (or maybe traditional) and DLH was retro 50s. H and I tried to do the one at DLH because I'm obsessed with all things 50s but he went on a break just as we got there :-(

 

[mouschievous]

@Theosaur , another thing I just though of is if you are in DL on Thanksgiving, see if you can find Peter Pan and Hook doing hand turkeys. It's for the kids, and I don't know if they'll let adults participate, but our nephews had such a blast making hand turkeys with Hook and Pan. One of the highlights of my trip, for sure

 

[Ptcru1ser]

Will be there the 12th through the 21st with five day park hopper passes. My husband and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary. We are staying at Worldmark. We're flying from SeaTac to SNA. Hoping to rent a car for some extra sight seeing over the weekend.

our last trip was five years ago for my 50th and our 20th. I was NOT happy about turning 50 so had to do it in the Happiest Place On Earth.

can't wait to see SWGE

 

[Sjwillia]

I will also be flying from SEA to SNA on Nov 12th with my son, DIL and 5 year old twin grandkids. Unfortunately we start the trip at PDX, but that is the way airline miles work sometimes. I have never been during the winter season and I am really excited about seeing the holiday decorations and entertainment. I am just not sure what I should pack to wear. Anyone else going in November have any insight on this? Shorts and sandals? Jeans and sweatshirts? Will the kids be able to swim in the afternoons?

 

[Theosaur]

@Theosaur , another thing I just though of is if you are in DL on Thanksgiving, see if you can find Peter Pan and Hook doing hand turkeys. It's for the kids, and I don't know if they'll let adults participate, but our nephews had such a blast making hand turkeys with Hook and Pan. One of the highlights of my trip, for sure
View attachment 428792

These are great ideas! I will definitely look into them! I know for sure that I’m going to get him a couple free buttons!

 

[mouschievous]

I will also be flying from SEA to SNA on Nov 12th with my son, DIL and 5 year old twin grandkids. Unfortunately we start the trip at PDX, but that is the way airline miles work sometimes. I have never been during the winter season and I am really excited about seeing the holiday decorations and entertainment. I am just not sure what I should pack to wear. Anyone else going in November have any insight on this? Shorts and sandals? Jeans and sweatshirts? Will the kids be able to swim in the afternoons?

For our Thanksgiving trip last year, I wore a thin long sleeved shirt under my tshirt with jeans all day on day 1. I wore leggings and a sweater over a short sleeved dress for day 3. It was never warm enough for shorts and tshirts, IMO (and I'm a Portlander!). The kids tried to swim but deemed it too cold, which was a bummer, but in the end they didn't care - they were at Disneyland!

 

[ab21au]

Family trip planned for Nov. 28-Dec. 1! Everything I’ve seen says crazy crowds but I’m not sure how much stock to put in those crowd calendars since GE has really thrown a wrench into trip planning this year. I’m wondering whether the crowds will be as bad as the calendars say given that there still seems to be PLENTY of hotel availability, 3 AP groups are blocked out, and the 2nd GE ride doesn’t open till January 2020. What does everyone else think?

SWGE may change things, but we arrived the weekend of Thanksgiving for a week and the crowds for the whole week were relatively low after a busy Thanksgiving weekend. Finger crossed for you. We had planned for that same week this year but will be there now from Oct 29 for 5 days.

 

[Theosaur]

I will also be flying from SEA to SNA on Nov 12th with my son, DIL and 5 year old twin grandkids. Unfortunately we start the trip at PDX, but that is the way airline miles work sometimes. I have never been during the winter season and I am really excited about seeing the holiday decorations and entertainment. I am just not sure what I should pack to wear. Anyone else going in November have any insight on this? Shorts and sandals? Jeans and sweatshirts? Will the kids be able to swim in the afternoons?

I'm also flying from SEA to SNA! I would 100% not bring sandals. I've been burned by sandals before, sometimes quite literally. There's still the possibility of getting sunburnt in November so I would pack sunscreen and closed toed shoes. Lots of people don't pay attention to where they're walking at DL, and I've had my feet crunched before. Jeans should be totally okay for November and a good transition item between day and night in the park! Only other thing I would bring is a light to mid-weight jacket that's easy to store!

 

[B3rlingirl]

I will also be flying from SEA to SNA on Nov 12th with my son, DIL and 5 year old twin grandkids. Unfortunately we start the trip at PDX, but that is the way airline miles work sometimes. I have never been during the winter season and I am really excited about seeing the holiday decorations and entertainment. I am just not sure what I should pack to wear. Anyone else going in November have any insight on this? Shorts and sandals? Jeans and sweatshirts? Will the kids be able to swim in the afternoons?

Oh, right... the problem about clothes...
Like you I don’t really have an idea... what I heard about wether in November/December is that is can be pretty warm but also cold... could be sunny or rainy...
I am already freaking out about logistics of carrying jackets or sweatshirts or long jeans around...and how to include the water rides without freezing to death...
Even though we have a hotel close to the Harbour crosswalk I want to limit my/our steps and don’t wanna carry everything around either...(and no I don’t wanna pay for a locker...) so for now I’ve just postponed the problem...

 

[Ptcru1ser]

I will also be flying from SEA to SNA on Nov 12th with my son, DIL and 5 year old twin grandkids. Unfortunately we start the trip at PDX, but that is the way airline miles work sometimes. I have never been during the winter season and I am really excited about seeing the holiday decorations and entertainment. I am just not sure what I should pack to wear. Anyone else going in November have any insight on this? Shorts and sandals? Jeans and sweatshirts? Will the kids be able to swim in the afternoons?

The last time we were there at the beginning of November - shorts and t’s during the day, a light sweater at night. Very pleasant for us Pacific Northwest types

 

[Theosaur]

The last time we were there at the beginning of November - shorts and t’s during the day, a light sweater at night. Very pleasant for us Pacific Northwest types

So true! About 3 years ago it started raining and about 80% of the people left the park or went into stores and restaurants. It was insane to me, it was basically just sprinkling!! I got on so many rides with barely a line! People don't realize they're going to get just as wet trying to get all the way back to their hotel rooms, might as well stay and ride all the water rides!

 

[azdisneylover]

I 100% agree with you on it being impossible to predict but prepping for it being crowded! Thank you for the tip about the crowd calendars, I’ve always found them to be totally off the mark so that would explain a lot!
I’m trying to plan for the worst so I can maximize enjoyability and minimize stress. I’m taking the trip with my step-father and my younger brother.

It’s my stepfather’s first time in the park in over a decade and certainly his first time going to the park without dependent, hectic kids under the age of 13 (basically me at that age). His birthday is the day after we leave, and I really want to make sure that he has an amazing time because he is such an amazing person. He has been an incredible father and has given me so much, even and especially when I was a difficult child who didn’t have enough perspective to know how lucky I was. I’ve been trying to brainstorm what I can do to make the trip even a little more special on a student-debt budget, but at the very least I really want to make sure that everything is well prepared so all of us can have a great time in the park. I’ve even been making him a small Disney guide to get him excited about the trip!

There are fun things to do that do not cost anything or very little at the parks. Ask to ride in the cone section (front or back) of the monorail. Such a great view! Share a snack/s while people watching (or while walking from one place to another). Draw at Animation Academy for a break from the crowds/heat. (Makes a cute souvenir). Take lots of pictures so you can make your stepdad a scrapbook of this awesome trip (perhaps for Christmas gift).

 

[heybets30]

Add us!! This is the longest we’ve been away (it’ll be 16 months when we go). We’re Nov 6-8, Portofino (usually stay at Grand Legacy but need extra room for daughter’s bestie traveling with us). We’re already laughing thinking about photopass pics “ok, everybody in” - then after a few shots, kicking daughter’s friend out for some family pic!! At least almost all photogs are patient, so we’ll have our shots, then let her have some of just her, then my daughter & friend ... lots of combinations!! In my 18+ visits, never been for Xmas decorations!! I hear will be there our last day is xmas kickoff on nov 8. Cool.