Planning Nov/ Dec 2007 Trip... help, who knew it would be so difficult!!

[Micheme]

Ok help me plan our 2 week super fantabulous 10th anniversary trip for 2007. We went to DW this past late sept/early oct and it was way to hot for us canadians (it was like a sauna every day) and the rain every day (like 3 or 4 times a day) was just too much. Plus we were packed between 2 hurricanes and that was just too much for us aswell.

So we have now decided on a late fall/early winter trip. But there are so many things going on to try and plan around.. i need the DIS experts for advice.

Late Oct - what is the weather like this time, crowds etc, The food and wine festival sure packed them into Epcot (we were there on the first weekend) but do the crowds get better as October marches on?

November - between Jersey week (Nov 11) and Veteran's day and American thanksgiving I am not sure we can squeeze 2 weeks in there without running into a major crowd problem. Oh and anyone know when Soap Weekend is in Nov of 2007? But i do like this time since the pool is a must for us (staying at the Yacht club) and would like a chance for us to use it.

Also what is the American Thanksgiving holiday like. In 2007 it is Nov 22 so do most people go the weekend of the 24th. When do the parks start to fill up?

Dec - thought of the last week in nov and first in Dec. But i heard Pop Warners could be an issue but since we are staying at a deluxe i've heard it won't be that much of a problem. How do they effect the parks? But the weather looks kinda of iffey for swimming and may get a little chilly (chilly for people who live in Florida I guess, its like -16 here today)

So I am looking for a lot of advice since this is a big trip to plan and i want to make it so very special for all of us. It is a bit early to start planning but it keeps me in the disney spirit till we finally get back !!

 

[jennstew]

I would like to hear the answers to some of these questions as well since we are planning a 11 day trip for around the same time.

 

[digskat]

We went in Oct of last year from the 13-23 and we did not notice to many crowds anywhere, as for the weather we leftjust hours before hurricane Wilma arrived. The previous year we went in Nov 6-14 and we pretty well walked on everything and the weather was wonderful, it only rained at night.

 

[Micheme]

All right so Jenn and me need some assistance so come on people tell me about your trips during any of these times.... i'm begging you.

digskat I am so wary about the beginning of Oct since we were there at that time last year and there was a hurrican before us and after us. The rain was just too much with a toddler and it felt like a sauna after the rain and it was too hot to begin with.

ahhh it is so complicated to plan a vacation....

 

[lisadisney2003]

Based on what you have written, I would go for the first 2 weeks in November. You will miss the Food & Wine fest and the Halloween crowds. It might still be warm enough for you to swim and the hurricane risk will have passed. You do not want to go the week of Thanksgiving as they are crowed that week. Going into December, it will be too cool for swimming but there will be light crowds until the week of Christmas.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We went twice in November this past year (business trips/AP/free airfaire -to turn it down would have been rude, right? )

The first trip was Veteran's week. The booths at the Food and Wine Festival were fairly crowded, but the rest of the park wasn't bad. The lines for many items just did not seem worth the wait, especially when I can get most of these foods locally. I wasn't about to lose an hour plus of Disney time for a few samples of wine - though we did enjoy the honey exhibit, the free beer sampling (the show was starting when we walked up), and a few others where the lines were minimal. It was kind of fun to walk around though - and we saw a number of characters that trip! (not something we usually bother with, but we knew we had the second trip.) The weather was great! We enjoyed the water rides, the pool. Supposedly the last weekend was NJ week, so the rooms were in short supply, but the parks weren't bad. During Soap's weekend at MGM, the park was crowded, but we had no desire to meet the stars, so it wasn't bad at all. The actual lines for the rides were pretty short. In the middle of the day, we just about walked on to ST - and the FP wasn't even running! I understand the restaurants were booked pretty solidly, but if you eat QS or book ahead, it's no big deal. A few holiday decorations were up, a few rides were closed for rehab.

The second trip was the end of Nov/start of Dec. The Sunday night we arrived (Thanksgiving weekend), the airport was fine, DD was crowded, but not too bad...as the week progressed the crowds really petered out (though we only went to parks three days). The weather this week was more mixed. Mostly, it was too cold to go swimming, some days we wore shorts (with a sweater), most days we had to dress more warmly. It was too cold for Splash M, etc. The change between morning/miday/evening temps was considerably more dramatic - even on the warm days, it wasn't warm for that long. The park hours were shorter. The decorations were amazing! If you've never been to WDW before, I'd save this time of year for a future trip. If you know Disney well, this is an amazing time to go! For example, I don't think you can truly appreciate the holiday version of the CB Jamboree unless you know the original! Part of the time we were there (esp. since it was our second trip) we took a slower pace. For MVMCP - we slpt in, did a little shopping, and arrived early (but didn't do any other parks that day). I think it was perfect! The presentations/decor were amazing, and we weren't dragging.
On our last day, we planned on enjoying our resort and pool. We braved the pool for a bit, the water is heated, but we couldn't stay out all day. Instead, we toured some of the other resorts and had a GREAT time looking at all the decorations and flowers! We also rode one of the resort boats and saw the fireworks! For a veteran with some extra time, it was really great last day that didn't cost much at all!

 

[camillatin]

I'm afraid I can only comment on the early December time frame, but here goes:

We went Dec 4-9, 2005. Weather was nice the first couple days, but a little chilly and overcast, sometimes with rain, for the last couple days. On a warm day, we were comfortable in short sleeves and jeans, on the overcast days, it was a light jacket (waterproof) with jeans. It was possible to go on water rides/swim in the afternoon on the warmer days, but not necessarily desirable, depending on your tolerance for cold. A few brave souls rode Splash Mountain, but wore ponchos onto the ride so that they would not be soaking wet afterwards, which is really when the cold bothers you. Mind you, cold is relative - I think the lowest temp we actually had was about 65. But if you're soaking wet, that's cold.
The crowds were lovely. Mornings were literally walk-ons - 5 minutes for Test Track, 10 for Soarin. But by afternoons, a 50 minute wait for the standby line of Soarin was not unusual. With Fast Passes and some good planning, however, we didn't wait longer than 15 minutes for any ride in any park. Pop Warner was occurring at that time - we stayed at AKL so they were not a factor at the hotel or on the buses. The only time we really noticed them was at the Magic KIngdom on an evening EMH day. The cheerleaders were out in force, quite vocally. Personally, we did not encounter any rude or pushy ones, just loud, bubbly ones who made the wait in line quite comical - and they did sing along to Philharmagic. But they certainly were better than some of the tourist group horrors I've read about on this board.

Overall, it was a great time of year to go for touring - the Christmas decorations are lovely, but probably not the best time if you're a really big swimming or water park fan. You might get lucky and have really nice weather, but you're taking a chance on it being cold. If you can live without the pools, I say it's perfect. We come from a state with humid summers, so we tried to avoid more humidity at all costs, and for that December is great - no humidity, no mosquitos. Our plane landed in snow... we wanted to turn around and go back to sunny Florida!!!

If I can be of help on any specific questions, feel free to ask (here or PM).

Jenn

 

[BelleNBeastLUVMM2]

We have gone in October and I agree it is way too warm for us. The past several years we go the first full week in December. It is the best; it's not too hot not too cold. The days average in the upper 80's low 90's. Only one year it was a colder than normal visit. We only stay at the Yacht Club and keep in mind the pool is heated. What we love about first week in December you have the enjoyment of vacation & CHRISTMAS!!!! You have Epcot with the beautiful light archway to music, the Candlelight Processional as well as special Christmas events around the worlds. MGM you have the Osbourne Festival of Lights and the absolute best is purchasing tickets for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party this is an absolute MUST DO!!!!! Make a point to visit the Grand Floridian for their gigantic tree and home made gingerbread house and it's like a big house. Also, Beach Club has had yearly their working carousel made entirely of gingerbread and edibles. You will not be disappointed for Christmas time and December vacationing. I hope this helps you in your decision.

 

[Luvamouse]

We are going around the same time. November 19-28/29, 2007-- (My girls have a 6 day 'weekend' for Thanksgiving). I have been several times in past years during school vacations, so I don't have a slower time to compare to. I can't post the link I use the most (not enough posts for me yet...), but if you Google "Disney touring plans best days", your first link should be to the Touring Plans web site, specifically the Best Days Guide. (Dratted posting of URL rules...understandable, but so hard to give info...) There you'll get a great 365 day guide to crowds at Disney World. I haven't found anything so complete elsewhere. They admit it isn't perfect, but it's pretty well thought out Granted, it is for this calendar year, but I think the dates can be fairly easily transferred to next year when you apply the logic.

If it wasn't for trying to avoid my girls missing more school, I'd go the 2 weeks after Thanksgiving. While Thanksgiving sounds busy, many posters here seem to have had pretty good experiences. We plan to be sure to have a full slate of ADR's (always easier to cancel than book at the last minute), and to lay low on the Friday and Saturday after T-Day. Living in New England, the cold down there feels warm to us! I bet it will to you Micheme and Jenn!

It will be interesting to see how both of your plans go... good luck!

Heidi

 

[Micheme]

Well some good advice so far but still have so much to think about to get it pinned down.

Anyone ever swim in early december?

We should start a Nov/ Dec 2007 there has to be more of us???

 

[luvhockey]

Although I don't know if I can wait that long. Maybe late Feb or early March if I can get my tax return back by then.
Which would you experts suggest. Will take 8yo & 5yo out of school for about 10 days. Also which time do the airlines tend to discount. If we could get cheap airfare we'd fly instead of drive from st louis.
Thanks to all
Angela

 

[airtime]

Micheme, our family vacations in Orlando every January (even cooler than your time), and we swim almost every year. Don't worry about it not being warm enough. Yes, you CAN get unlucky and hit a cold spell, but the normal highs for the times you are planning are in the 73F to 78F (23C to 26C) range , so no problem there. (Mid-November might even be low 80s.)

I haven't gone in the fall recently, but my understanding is that the two weeks before US Thanksgiving and the first three weeks of December are about the slowest periods of the entire year at WDW. These periods should work really well for you.


Tim, whose dw is just too busy to try to visit WDW in December!

 

[MPeter]

Great thread. We too are planning on an early Dec. 2007 WDW vacation. It'll be our son's birthday (4yo) and his first visit to Mickey & friends.

I've never been to the parks in December and the Christmas decorations, so I'll be just as excited as our little one!

 

[Luvamouse]

people who are traveling at the same time? You mention it above, but I can't seem to find a spot where a Nov/Dec 2007 might be. Or a Nov/Dec 2006 for that matter. On the TGM board they have them, but they aren't up to Nov/Dec 2007.

Love to have more info and company to talk to about traveling then.

Thanks--

Heidi

 

[HayGan]

We went the first week in December 2005 (same week as Pop Warner.) We didn't have any problems with them at all. In fact, we are going back the same week this year! The lines were non-existant and we got to ride everything we wanted so many times!

 

[qman]

We've been twice in early November (2003 & 2005). We picked the week that included Veterans Day both times (in 2003 it was on Tuesday, on Friday in 2005). The crowds are relatively quiet (for WDW standards) and the weather is great (high 70's to low 80's with little rain). We are from Maine so if we thought it was warm enough you should love it.

I personally think the whole Jersey Week thing is overblown. Yes there are a lot of families there, like us, that week because of days off from school but it was not that bad. It did get busy towards the end of the last trip but I think that was more due to the three day weekend and locals coming to visit than folks from the Garden State or from up here in Maine.

 

[livingthedream]

Hi, We are fellow Canadians who went the first two weeks of December 2005.

We are from Saskatchewan and are used to a "dry" cold....being from Ontario, unless you live in the NW of the province, you are more used to the Florida humidity than we are. In December 2005 there was a cold snap when the temps didn't go much higher than early 60s (don't forget, that was around 2 in the afternoon, and was in the high 30s/early 40s when leaving for the parks in the morning), but again, for us it was damp so it felt colder than what we are used to. We went prepared for it (fleece jacket in the morning before arriving in parks, with fleece tied around waist when it got warmer) and it was extremely comfortable walking around the parks.

We did Splash Mountain because the sprayers are turned down low during a cooler time, but we purposefully avoided Kali River Ride in AK so we wouldn't get soaked and then freeze.

It sounds like you are a swimming family, unlike us. There were people in the heated pool at our resorts, but the pool was definitely not crowded. Again, like other posters have suggested, we were told that the "cold snap" we experienced was cooler than it can be at that time of year, BUT it is definitely not unheard of for them to have cold snaps in Florida at that time of year.

Bottom line, you might be able to swim in early December - there have been posts of it being in upper 70s and low 80s for that time frame, but you can't count on it.

Having said that, if you go 6 weeks earlier, it is still quite hot and muggy, so there isn't much of a window between hot and cold (sounds like the prairies in that way). We chose to go when it was cooler so we wouldn't tire out so quickly with walking around the parks all day.

Here's a thought. If you can be a bit flexible in your touring plans, you can watch the weather forecast when you are there, and try to aim for a water park or a day at the resort pool on the day when it is predicted to be the warmest. It sounds like you are going to be there long enough that this could be an option - not something you could consider doing if you were only going 4 or 5 days. You might have to change your ADRs when there if you needed to tweak your schedule, but you might think it was worth it if you absolutely needed to get your time in at the pools. (Before the cold snap, we did experience a couple of days when temps were in the high 70s and if we had been in AK that day, we definitely would have done Kali!!)

Whatever you decide, have a terrific time and live in the moment while you are there. It is definitely a magical place.

 

[wasabi girl]

We were there Dec 3-11, 2005, during Pop Warner week and really had no problems. we stayed at the Poly. the only time we saw any Pop Warner kids was at MVMCP...but it was only small groups of teens with parents.
Crowd levels were great. Walk on the rides most of the time (we used the UG to plan which park on what day). Got all of our preferred ADRs. The weather was nice, I see you are from Canada...there were people in the pools during early Dec (too cold for me!) I said they must be crazy New Yorkers or Canadians! The pools are heated so you might be okay.

I loved the Christmas decorations and parades, fireworks...it was a great time of year to go. I highly recommend early December, if you are staying at a Deluxe you probably won't even notice the Pop Warner kids...I think they have a party for them the Friday of their week at MGM so avoid MGM on that day and you should be fine.

I'm planning another trip for 2007 too. Deciding between December or October (so we can go to MNSSHP).

Good Luck with your planning, you will have a fabulous time whenever you choose.

 

[Micheme]

people who are traveling at the same time? You mention it above, but I can't seem to find a spot where a Nov/Dec 2007 might be. Or a Nov/Dec 2006 for that matter. On the TGM board they have them, but they aren't up to Nov/Dec 2007.

Love to have more info and company to talk to about traveling then.

Thanks--

Heidi

Heidi i swear when i planned my last trip i did subscribe to an Oct thread that had tons of people going the same time i did and they shared a lot of informaton. Do a search and you should find it.

 

[Micheme]

Wow a ton of great advice , it seems this time is a great time to go so that makes me happy, now i just gotta start those touring plans i only got less than 2 years to get cracking !!!