Thank you for the quick responses.
I did look at the historical weather and that (along with our school schedule) is a big reason why I'm leaning towards the dates that I am. Being northerners my family is a lot better dealing with chilly (by southern standards) than hot, and it looks like normal November in SoCal is what we think of as nice spring/fall temps. But it didn't look to me like November is usually a rainy month? Is that a recent trend or just one of those fluke things, like the freezing Christmas this year in Orlando?
I decided after reading through some of the sticky posts that I'd rather do a higher season at DLR than miss rides because we likely won't be going back there often the way we do with WDW, and I'd like to see the Halloween or Christmas displays and rides since they do so much that WDW doesn't. We'd most likely be going Thurs-Tues the weekend before Thanksgiving to minimize missed school (we get all of Thanksgiving week off), and just counting on the time difference to make rope drop easier than it is at WDW.
You are paying attention! Great!
In SoCal there are no "normally rainy months" like at WDW in the summer. There are months that have more rain than others - Nov-April. But overall it gets 20% of the rain than WDW does. Last year in October-December SoCal had a much larger number of rainy days than usual. If you search for threads in Nov you will find a lot of disappointed people. You can also search weather history for this too if you want.
In any case, your odds are good to not get rain in November - in an average year. If you want to really up your chances for good weather/no rain then stick with May-Sept. Buy you always have the chance at the other end of the spectrum - a heat wave. I personally can deal with a heat wave more than cold and rainy.
See "Detailed Weather Data for DLR"
www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=23004158
DLR responds differently to rain than WDW. Since a high percentage of DLR visitors are locals (like 70%) they can easily make last minute changes and cancel a day trip if rain is forecast. And they do. I have done that myself. Well, I did not cancel, but went a day earlier during Thanksgiving week because of rain forecast. So the parks are a lot less crowded during the rain than at WDW - but as I said it is usually a bit colder too.
Not to scare you - just to prepare you - the weekend before Thanksgiving has drawn some humoungous crowds the last couple years because of AP blockouts - or non-blockouts in this case - see "Understanding AP Blockouts and Impact on Crowds"
www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2365983
It used to be that the days to avoid were on the weekend
after Thanksgiving. Now they are the weekend and days
before.
The good news is that if you are staying close you can work around the crowds better because so many of them are local day trippers. So smart touring and early arrival pays off even more than at WDW. I would not let the crowds stop me from going and you should not either. Just don't wander in and look around and say "Whoa, I was not expecting this!".
I am going to WDW tomorrow and TouringPlans has all the days there at 9's and 10s. So I know it is going to be busy. As long as I know that then I am mentally prepared and strategically prepared.
Christmas decorations are beautiful and you will have a great trip!
