November

[saratogagirl]

Hi
Looking for some advice please. We always go to WDW in October, and are going back this year 13 October ...

However, I like to plan ahead and am already thinking of next year, we have never been for Christmas and would love to see the lights, parades etc... I have checked All Ears and these sort of things seem to start around mid November. I have priced up flights with Virgin for 15/11 for 21 nights and the price is not too bad ... We are DVC members so the accomodation will be taken care of.

Just wondered if anyone has been mid November and what is it like at this time of year, weather, crowds etc.....

Or should I bite the bullet and use the extra points and pay extra for flighs and actually go for Chrimbo ?? We are also thinking of having a couple of nights in one of the Universal Hotels - the Portefino maybne, DH is worried that with all the wet rides at Islands of Adventure that the weather would not be ideal in November to take a soaking ....

Any advice would be really appreciated .....

 

[traceycooper]

Main Xmas decorations go up after thanksgiving (last Thursday in November i think) they have osbourne lights (brill) & candlelight prossesion (also brill, but DF didnt enjoy it!!)
Thanksgiving VERY busy,
if you go go a week later than that, it would be quieter, if not just make sure you make ADR's
We went 13 November for 4 weeks weather lovely apart from one cold day beginning of December, crowds were non existant at universal the week before thanksgiving - they let us stay on spiderman & ride it over & over!!

 

[saratogagirl]

Main Xmas decorations go up after thanksgiving (last Thursday in November i think) they have osbourne lights (brill) & candlelight prossesion (also brill, but DF didnt enjoy it!!)
Thanksgiving VERY busy,
if you go go a week later than that, it would be quieter, if not just make sure you make ADR's
We went 13 November for 4 weeks weather lovely apart from one cold day beginning of December, crowds were non existant at universal the week before thanksgiving - they let us stay on spiderman & ride it over & over!!

thanks for the help - I'm getting sxcited for next year and haven't done this year yet

 

[musketeer]

We were there form 7-21 Nov last year not our first trip but the first time in November the weather was warm enough for shorts and t shirts and sometimes it can be chilly in the evenings the only the thing for us was that it got dark earlier and we much prefer the lighter evenings but on saying that we are going again this year in November.
As said in the above post universal and IOA weren't crowded as for the disney parks we used the fast pass for Soarin as the queue here was over an hour i think this was because it had just opened it may be different now.

 

[Miffy2003]

It will be much, much quieter in November than for Xmas itself

If I had the choice, I would go for November - you will get the benefit of the Xmas decorations but none of the crowds

 

[rosiejo]

November's great! Although the week before Thanksgiving is very busy. We usually go in the first two weeks and it's hot enough for shorts in the day although you need a sweater in the evening - no crowds either. In 03 the decs went up around the 13th - last year we arrived on the 3rd and they were already up. Osborne lights switch on November 13.

 

[lucy_love_]

we went in november last year. it got a bit chilly the last few days of our hol. they did have the crimbo trees and stuff up which was nice. our last day was thanksgiving. that was really busy and also a few days leading upto it.

lucy

 

[saratogagirl]

Thanks everyone for all your help and advice ... We are nearly there with our decision I think ....

 

[JohnnySharp2]

You are right about IOA, many of the popular rides there are based around water, so it is common for at least 1 of them to be closed during this time.
I believe Ripsaw Falls for example was recently closed for a few months over the winter period for 're-furbishment'.

Popeye's Barges is probably one to avoid in November as you get absolutely soaked.

 

[Laurafoster]

I love the end of november/early december as its usually pretty warm and the crowds are really low. With all the xmas stuff up it really is a beautiful time to go - although i may be bias as my edding is on the 5th December lol.

As Johnny said i would definately avoid Blutos boat wash - even when the sun is shining! we did this one year and froze for the rest of the day!

 

[saratogagirl]

We are thinking of breaking with tradition and spending three nights out of WDW !!! Thinking of a couple of nights at one of the Universal Hotels and then back to the Saratoga - anyone have any tips or comments on the Universal hotels ?

Thanks again ....

 

[musketeer]

We made the mistake of going on Popeyes Barges last November although it was sunny, we were absolutely soaked and we were quite cold, we forgot about some advice from the disboards which was to take a spare set of clothes.

 

[wifey]

We've been the last week of November as others have said all the Christmas stuff is up and MVMCP is on and yes the weather can get very cold It was only 4c when we were there!! My suggestion is go to Millets and buy some of the walking trousers which Zip off at the knees, then if you get warm you can quickly remove the bottoms if the temperature drops or attatch them if it gets chilly, and take a couple of fleecy cardigans good for adults and kids, there's no fun to be had waiting for parades etc while freezing yourselves and wishing you'd picked a better outfit at least if your prepared you can enjoy yourselves

 

[KayleeUK]

We stayed at HRH it was great