November is expensive!

[barkley]

I’ve lived in NJ my entire life, Jersey week is when most public schools are off at least 3 days the first week of November for teachers convention. For whatever reason there are a lot of WDW fans here. We usually cruised from manhattan to avoid the high airfares that week.

the week that was (I think still is) popular for kids to be out here is whatever week veteran's day falls. the schools schedual parent teacher conferences 3 days of the week and then the kids have vet's day and one additional day off (I think the teacher's have an in-service on the additional day) so the kids don't attend for 5 full days. if you planned a vacation it was always a mad dash to hit up your kid's teacher for a conference the very beginning or end of the week (depending on how they fell) to facilitate travel.

 

[georgina]

November is expensive, October is expensive...summer is less but it is too hot!

I loved it when we went a couple of times in january-i much prefer long pants and at worst wearing a light sweater to suffering the heat that we've experienced other months.

I was at Epcot Jan 31 of this year and the flowers were covered up because it was going below freezing at night. Daytime temp in the 40's and fierce winds blowing. Not fun. I cancelled my Feb 1 park plans because of the cold. It warmed up after a few days but that weekend was brutal.

 

[Irishgrl6975]

When we’ve looked at renting DVC in the past, it seemed too risky for me. I just know that the one time we lock on dates with no refund options, I’ll need to get my appendix removed or something like that.

This is exactly why I haven’t done it either It’s too much for no refund!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

It's Jersey Week but I don't think that contributes to the crowds as much as the race weekend. We've been twice during that week and didn't find the crowds any higher than any other time.

November 2022 was the ONLY time I've ever paid rack rate and it was at CSR. I would've rented points but being that close to Covid, and so many changes, I didn't want to chance it.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Early Nov always catches people off guard, they just assume it’s a slow time. It’s not. And sometimes it’s quite busy when you’re unlucky enough to have the Race/Jersey Week/Veterans Day collision. That’s not happening this year as the race is a bit earlier but Jersey Week is enough to keep prices elevated in and of itself. Maybe you’ll see a general public discount, maybe not. Book what you can afford and watch for discounts. And don’t just dismiss Swolphin, it has some nice things going for it- but only book a refundable rate so you can stay flexible with price changes.

 

[paults]

OPer, I would take the Dolphin, walk to 2 parks, boat or skyliner also to use.

 

[kathy884]

Late November into early December doesn't look like much of a bargain to me either. I usually stay offsite (means I'm not used to paying the big onsite Disney premium), but wanted to treat myself to three nights onsite for a little mini trip Nov. 30 - Dec. 3 with two park days. This is after Thanksgiving coming in on the Monday and checking out on the Thursday, so I thought it would be a slower time. But OMG, my preferred room at the POP (wanted to be closer to the food court and Skyliner) with tax is running $323 a night (base rate of $287 before tax). We'll love the mini trip, but lol $323 a night doesn't sound like much of a value for this value room to me, so I feel your pain.

I checked out of curiosity what a preferred room at the CBR was for those dates too and with tax (the one you were looking at) it was over $500, $512 a night for those dates too. What?

I shouldn't complain as this is in my budget and I decided to do this (I do think WDW is tons of fun), but park tickets for two days are going to cost about $200 per person per day too, so around $800 for two of us. And then we're planning on going for lightening lanes too (one single one for each park we do if we can get it and a the multi lighting lanes - doing the MK and DHS). I'm surprised at how much these sell for, but we like so many people say gosh I'm spending so much to just get into the parks, I sure don't want to have to stand in too many long lines too and will buy these for a hopefully better experience. I think though maybe I'm living in another decade as I'm in shock about how much I'm spending on this.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Late November into early December doesn't look like much of a bargain to me either. I usually stay offsite (means I'm not used to paying the big onsite Disney premium), but wanted to treat myself to three nights onsite for a little mini trip Nov. 30 - Dec. 3 with two park days. This is after Thanksgiving coming in on the Monday and checking out on the Thursday, so I thought it would be a slower time. But OMG, my preferred room at the POP (wanted to be closer to the food court and Skyliner) with tax is running $323 a night (base rate of $287 before tax). We'll love the mini trip, but lol $323 a night doesn't sound like much of a value for this value room to me, so I feel your pain.

I checked out of curiosity what a preferred room at the CBR was for those dates too and with tax (the one you were looking at) it was over $500, $512 a night for those dates too. What?

I shouldn't complain as this is in my budget and I decided to do this (I do think WDW is tons of fun), but park tickets for two days are going to cost about $200 per person per day too, so around $800 for two of us. And then we're planning on going for lightening lanes too (one single one for each park we do if we can get it and a the multi lighting lanes - doing the MK and DHS). I'm surprised at how much these sell for, but we like so many people say gosh I'm spending so much to just get into the parks, I sure don't want to have to stand in too many long lines too and will buy these for a hopefully better experience. I think though maybe I'm living in another decade as I'm in shock about how much I'm spending on this.

I know it’s not for everyone but had you looked into renting points?

I almost had to pay rack rate for Pop this past December and it was making me crazy to pay over $300 for a value. Luckily discounts came out for CSR and I went with that. It was too late for me to rent points once I decided on dates or I would have done that.

 

[kathy884]

I know it’s not for everyone but had you looked into renting points?

I almost had to pay rack rate for Pop this past December and it was making me crazy to pay over $300 for a value. Luckily discounts came out for CSR and I went with that. It was too late for me to rent points once I decided on dates or I would have done that.

I did take a quick look at renting those thru Dave's (his are more expensive than if you know a good owner). For just two of us though for these particular dates there really wasn't much of a savings for getting a studio except for some with no views, etc. It's only three nights too and I don't need a kitchen. And I'd probably want to tack on some cancel for any reason insurance, etc. adding to effort and cost. For such a short stay it's just more mindless and easy to book thru Disney on this one, and I like the idea of being by the Skyliner. The ones with possible savings for my dates weren't on that.

With a larger group and a longer stay though I sure love a condo and think if you want to be onsite that renting points would be an excellent way to go. I've rented offsite condos from owners many a time which typically are about 1/3rd the cost on onsite for the spring break period (that's the only timeframe where I have done the math). I do though as you can tell or I wouldn't be booking the POP want to experience the advantages of onsite -- earlier LLs, early entry (you get that at Disney Springs too but don't get the early booking of LLs there), no driving with pretty decent transportation options (just sounds way more relaxing, but you are paying a premium for sure). Not doing any driving sounds heavenly. I used to not mind driving in Orlando, but these days I'm not enjoying that (feels busier, crazier, maybe part of it is that I'm getting older). Uber and Lyft if I stay offsite again are possibilities too. But for this mini trip it's going to be onsite for me for sure. I didn't mind offsite when offsite visitors could do Disney parks on days without extra magic hours. Now though with onsite getting in a 1/2 hour early I really miss as an offsite visitor not getting to have that rope drop advantage - not as much fun.