September vs. November

[JoannaTN7]

Okay, I once again find myself reaching out to the experience of all you Disney World veterans out there!

So, free dining. I want it. I'm almost willing to say I need it. Now, I know it's never guaranteed I'll be able to get it, but as long as I travel during the times it's most likely to be offered, it'll greatly improve my chances of snagging it. That being said, there goes my best Halloween ever! They up and eliminated October this year, and I'm willing to bet this year will be indicative of next year's dates. On to my dilemma.

So, both September and November are promising months for the promotion. Which would you pick if it were up to you?

In September we'll still be able to enjoy all of the Halloween festivities, but we'd most likely travel in the first week and miss out on Food and Wine. I've also heard that that month can be bloody hot, and despairingly humid. I remember my first visit to Animal Kingdom being disappointing because KRR soaked us, and it was so humid we weren't drying off!

Then there's November. Late November is definitely cooler, but is it so cool that we'd miss out on enjoying the pool? We'd also miss the Halloween fun, but at least get to enjoy the Christmas fun without the Christmas crowds. The downside is that it's very close to Christmas and I don't want the Christmas tree to look a little disappointing Christmas morning since we'll still be in financial recovery after the trip (let's be real here; lower income families take pretty hard hits with this type of a trip).

So if anyone who's traveled in one month or the other or both can give me some advice, I'd love to hear what you have to say! My husband doesn't care one way or the other, so I'm going to let you guys help me out!

Thanks, everybody!

 

[g-dad66]

For us, it's November hands down. The difference in weather is incredible. Agree that September is "bloody hot" and "despairingly humid."

Grandkids always enjoy the heated pool in November. (Average high in November is the high 70's, but it can easily get into the 80's.)

 

[TeamSy]

We've done both and it's a toss up. On one hand you habe hot and humid with the chance of hurricane, and the other you have chance of it being very cool, so cold that it carches you by surprise and you find yourself putting socks on your hands as gloves and instead of mickey bars they are selling hot chocolate.

Never again.

For us, we'll take sweaty with high chance of rain over freezing our butts off anyday. September (when we go at least, which is 1st week) is practically dead and we walk on rides. We LOVE it. Its quickly become our new favorite time to visit!

 

[JoannaTN7]

Thank you both so much for your input! Lol, I've got one vote for each month so hopefully some others will weigh in, too! I won't even pretend the idea of walk on riding isn't appealing... Have either of you seen a vast difference in crowds from September to November?

Ack, I really had no idea it would be so much more difficult taking October out of the equation!

 

[tinkerbella16]

I go every November (except this year is September!), and last November was SO hot and humid, it felt like September lol. It was very unusual.. and we are usually spoiled with perfect weather when we go in November, now I know it can get quite as hot lol. It is always more crowded in November - more now than it used to be a few years ago. That is why we chose September this year - we'd rather deal with the heat (it is Florida), and have lower crowds. Plus we want to use the pool at our resort, a lot! And I'll be able to go to my first MNSSHP!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

For us we usually pick September, even though we'd rather have the cooler weather, September has Food and Wine and Halloween, which are more important to us.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Also, September is usually less crowded.

 

[joanchris]

I've been in October, first week, and it was HOT, then the last week and it was hot some days but overall, very nice weather. December was warm some days and cold, really cold and windy, some days. Though it was warm enough to swim, during the day, a couple of days (in the heated pool). I am going in Sept this year, because it's for my daughter's birthday, and we want to be there on her birthday. I'd love to go in November, I imagine it would feel like May, which, for me, was perfect weather.

 

[anniemae]

November. IMO it's the best time to go.

 

[woodynjessiesmomma]

We did September last year, 18-26th and it was miserably humid. It felt like we were swimming through the air. We picked that week hoping for low crowds and to celebrate ODS's birthday. It was much more crowded than predicted and F&WF didn't start until the 25th so we missed it.
DH and I ended up going back for a conference in October and the weather was so much nicer.
I will never do September again, so I vote November.

 

[loves to dive]

I've been in September a number of times and will be there this September for the first week of F&W. I've been late Oct. but never November. I'm from Georgia so it was cold for me the year I went in late October so I guess it depends on your tolerance for cold/hot. It never seems too hot or humid for me, but like I said, I'm from Georgia so it's no different than home.

 

[Grand Admiral]

Here's a weather almanac for what it was like last year in November. That should give you at least a rough estimate of what to expect.

The last time we went in September was 2007, and we went the last few days of Sept to begin of Oct. It was mid 90s every day with rain every afternoon. Our MNSSHP got rained out.

 

[Mikie]

Both months you'll be working around party schedules - either going to one or working all those MK early closures into your plans. That is, unless you choose first week of November, but that week has been blocked out of free dining at least 5 years running.

Sept hours are usually a bit shorter. If you burn the candle at both ends, you've got a big fewer hours to work with in Sept.

Personally, I'd rather risk Nov being a little too cool than Sept's likely super hot and humid.

 

[Anal Annie]

IMO whichever month you pick you should try to go during the F&W Festival too because that's a lot of fun (starts Sept. 14th & ends Nov. 14th). We went in early Nov. last year and it was abnormally HOT but I was good with extending that summer feel. This fall we're going in Sept. the weekend right after F&W starts as that's just when it worked out for us to go this time (cheaper DVC points in Sept. & lower airfare). We always go in the summer so I'm expecting it to still be almost as hot as our August trips. Bonus for us this time will be the MNSSHP if they don't overprice it.

 

[goofyintoronto]

IMO whichever month you pick you should try to go during the F&W Festival too because that's a lot of fun (starts Sept. 14th & ends Nov. 14th). We went in early Nov. last year and it was abnormally HOT but I was good with extending that summer feel. This fall we're going in Sept. the weekend right after F&W starts as that's just when it worked out for us to go this time (cheaper DVC points in Sept. & lower airfare). We always go in the summer so I'm expecting it to still be almost as hot as our August trips. Bonus for us this time will be the MNSSHP if they don't overprice it.

Totally agree here. F&W is a ton of fun! I'd always pick the fall over xmas any day purely because of F&W (and MNSSHP too of course).

 

[BuckeyeBama]

IMO whichever month you pick you should try to go during the F&W Festival too because that's a lot of fun (starts Sept. 14th & ends Nov. 14th). We went in early Nov. last year and it was abnormally HOT but I was good with extending that summer feel. This fall we're going in Sept. the weekend right after F&W starts as that's just when it worked out for us to go this time (cheaper DVC points in Sept. & lower airfare). We always go in the summer so I'm expecting it to still be almost as hot as our August trips. Bonus for us this time will be the MNSSHP if they don't overprice it.

For lower crowds, I would do the opposite. Go before or after F&WF.

 

[JoannaTN7]

I like the F&WF, but my problem with that (this is back in 2008, mind you) was that I wanted to try everything, and I just couldn't make that work into the budget, lol! However, this time we will have the dining plan and if I've heard correctly, you can exchange a quick service meal for three snacks? That would certainly be helpful!

Whichever one we choose, I won't mind working around the party schedules since we plan on attending either one of them anyway. One of the good things about September's MNSSHP is that the admission is a lot less expensive. It looks like a total toss up here! Unless I miscalculated (and yes, I started keeping a tally) it looks like the verdict is split 50/50.

I guess what I'll have to do is ask my daughter if she'd rather see WDW decked out for Halloween or decked out for Christmas. Then ask my husband if he'd be okay in the horrific humidity of September, or if he'd rather risk the pool time in November. Ugh, decisions decisions. I shouldn't stress out about it because it'll be fun either way... but I totally am stressing out over it, lol!

 

[Anal Annie]

^ We've never done the dining plan so I have no idea how that works with the F&W & exchanging credits for snacks. Question for the dining board maybe?!

 

[JoannaTN7]

Sooooo... After lots of deliberating and thinking and deciding, I think the winner will be September. School won't yet be in full swing, I'll have more time to work on money for Christmas and we are such a Halloween family! I think Halloween at Disney will be more fun for us than Christmas at Disney. And my daughter is absolutely in love with the pool at CBR, so I want to make sure we'll have ample opportunity to use it.

Thanks for your input everyone. I have a whole year and a half to prepare for the mugginess and the heat wave and I'll make sure to take my lumps like a big girl if I get back to a chorus of, "I told you so's!"

Now to see which weeks of the months have the smaller crowds and the less expensive rates (because in my case, every penny's gonna count)!

 

[woodynjessiesmomma]

I like the F&WF, but my problem with that (this is back in 2008, mind you) was that I wanted to try everything, and I just couldn't make that work into the budget, lol! However, this time we will have the dining plan and if I've heard correctly, you can exchange a quick service meal for three snacks? That would certainly be helpful!

Whichever one we choose, I won't mind working around the party schedules since we plan on attending either one of them anyway. One of the good things about September's MNSSHP is that the admission is a lot less expensive. It looks like a total toss up here! Unless I miscalculated (and yes, I started keeping a tally) it looks like the verdict is split 50/50.

I guess what I'll have to do is ask my daughter if she'd rather see WDW decked out for Halloween or decked out for Christmas. Then ask my husband if he'd be okay in the horrific humidity of September, or if he'd rather risk the pool time in November. Ugh, decisions decisions. I shouldn't stress out about it because it'll be fun either way... but I totally am stressing out over it, lol!

I've read you can exchange a QS meal for 3 snacks, but you have to do it all at one booth. You can't go to the South Korea booth and use QS for one item there and then head to Africa and use the other two snacks. Unless there is a way to switch QS credits into snacks ahead of time. This is info from reading blogs. We did F&WF last October with gift cards and cash last year and it was great. We also booked the concert meal voucher thing and it worked out well for us to use the vouchers for the more expensive snacks and we got decent seats for a band we liked. Anyway, hope you guys have a great trip with whatever you decide