October or November?

[crazycatlady]

We have a choice of two weeks to visit Disneyland this year: the last week of October/first two days of November or the first full week of November. We visited at the end of October in 2016 and got to see the Halloween decorations, although I am pretty sure that CA didn't decorate as much as they do now. That visit also included a few days in November, so we got to see the parks in the beginning stages of getting their Christmas decorations. We would not go to any Halloween parties because we have already gone to one in DL and 3 in DW and would rather splurge on other things. We are staying at the GCH. I have seen speculation that the holiday season will begin Friday November 8th, so we would have all of Friday and most of Saturday to see as much of the holiday happenings as possible. Some questions for you DL experts:

1. What's the likelihood that the 8th is "the day" and are all the decorations, overlays, festivals, shows, etc ready to go on that first day? Are the resorts fully decorated at that time, too?

2. I am leaning heavily toward the November week because I would love to see the GCH decorated, Small World's overlay, WOC holiday, and all the other awesome stuff that i have read about for the holidays. I LOVE that, unlike DW, the Christmas parade and fireworks are free to all and don't require a party ticket! Is there any reason that I am not seeing that makes the last week of October a better time to visit? I am assuming the 8th and 9th will be pretty crowded with the locals wanting to see the holiday decorations, but what about the week days? Do you think the two weeks will be comparable?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[CanuckMama]

I’m interested to hear the answers to your questions too as we are going the first full week of November, but FWIW, the crowd calendars seem to predict that Nov. 8 and 9 will be particularly busy because it’s a 3-day weekend with Veteran’s Day on the Monday.

 

[NateD1226]

1. What's the likelihood that the 8th is "the day" and are all the decorations, overlays, festivals, shows, etc ready to go on that first day? Are the resorts fully decorated at that time, too?

2. I am leaning heavily toward the November week because I would love to see the GCH decorated, Small World's overlay, WOC holiday, and all the other awesome stuff that i have read about for the holidays. I LOVE that, unlike DW, the Christmas parade and fireworks are free to all and don't require a party ticket! Is there any reason that I am not seeing that makes the last week of October a better time to visit? I am assuming the 8th and 9th will be pretty crowded with the locals wanting to see the holiday decorations, but what about the week days? Do you think the two weeks will be comparable?

1. The chances are VERY slim. Christmas season at the park doesn't really start till the 15th of November. Last year the decorations were revealed to the public around the 14th-15th.

2. I think you are going with a good choice with November. If there is rumble about the 8th being the date the decorations go up, then I think you should take the chances. Plus, with all the Halloween parties still going on around that time, it will be more crowded than the other dates. If I were you, November is an awesome choice.

 

[planningjollyholiday]

Last year Christmas time started on November 9th, so I think there is a very high chance it will start on the 8th for this year. I would say that all the decor in the parks will be up, and all the entertainment and holiday attraction overlays will start that weekend, including the festival of holidays and all the food booths. The hotels however will not be decorated at this time. They usually start to transition around the weekend before Thanksgiving. Some of the food items might not be available that weekend either. They sometimes stagger when you can get certain items like the yule log, and I dont think the candy canes will be available to purchase yet either. I would definitely choose November to go. Christmas time is extra magical at the resort! Dapper day will make the parks busy on the 3rd. I would expect low crowds starting Tuesday, and then busy crowds once Christmas time officially starts.

 

[GenGen22]

I would go in November as it will be less crowded than the week of Halloween. I went that week last year and it was crazy busy and the large tree in Disneyland went up the week after I left which I had hoped to see when I was there but I didn't get to see it. We checked out on 11/4.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

I would also opt for early to mid-November over the end of October for the reasons stated above.

 

[Geemo]

We have a choice of two weeks to visit Disneyland this year: the last week of October/first two days of November or the first full week of November. We visited at the end of October in 2016 and got to see the Halloween decorations, although I am pretty sure that CA didn't decorate as much as they do now. That visit also included a few days in November, so we got to see the parks in the beginning stages of getting their Christmas decorations. We would not go to any Halloween parties because we have already gone to one in DL and 3 in DW and would rather splurge on other things. We are staying at the GCH. I have seen speculation that the holiday season will begin Friday November 8th, so we would have all of Friday and most of Saturday to see as much of the holiday happenings as possible. Some questions for you DL experts:

1. What's the likelihood that the 8th is "the day" and are all the decorations, overlays, festivals, shows, etc ready to go on that first day? Are the resorts fully decorated at that time, too?

2. I am leaning heavily toward the November week because I would love to see the GCH decorated, Small World's overlay, WOC holiday, and all the other awesome stuff that i have read about for the holidays. I LOVE that, unlike DW, the Christmas parade and fireworks are free to all and don't require a party ticket! Is there any reason that I am not seeing that makes the last week of October a better time to visit? I am assuming the 8th and 9th will be pretty crowded with the locals wanting to see the holiday decorations, but what about the week days? Do you think the two weeks will be comparable?

Thanks for all your help!

We have gone the last week of Oct first of Nov and noticed Halloween had disappeared by Nov. 1st.

Look at 2019 Calendar of Events & School Breaks and you can see what is happening during the dates you are considering.

I would expect the last week of October to be busiest. But then again the first week of November might be too.
Saturday Nov. 2nd (first weekend) is Dapper Days and Monday Nov 11the (second weekend) is Veteran's Day.

It will depend on how many hang around the week after Dapper Days and how many come in early for Veteran's Day weekend.

Geemo

 

[felice]

When we have visited from the UK usually in October, the parks have been a little quieter but decorated well for Halloween, with some of the very early Christmas stuff being seen from time to time too. Although the first week in November should be similar, I would have though. This year, we're arriving just before Christmas, so it'll be interesting to visit the parks over this period.

 

[tarheelalum]

From October through the 1st week in January the parks are usually very crowded. Its the busy season for Disneyland. Also the days when they start decorations change sometimes so try not to cut it close on the dates if you really want to see certain things.