Which dates are better?

[Lovedisney2008]

Need a little advice. Trying to decide on when to do our next family vacation for next year. I have narrowed it down to 2 weeks just need advice on which week you think is better. Which week is better either the week before thanksgiving or 2 weeks after thanksgiving in 2015? Also I will be traveling with a 2 yr old & 4 yr old. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[jerseyduke]

depends on your definition of better. The week before Thanksgiving will probably be a lower crowd, but two weeks after and you will have all the Christmas decorations up and in full swing, MVMCP will have more dates. And crowds will still be manageable. So factoring everything, i say two weeks after.

If you are talking 2015, week of 12/5 is my plan already.

 

[Lovedisney2008]

Yes I prefer to go when there is low crowds especially with 2 lil ones. We want to bring our kids when it is fully decorated for Christmas while they are still lil. I'm just not sure when all of the parks are finished decorating for Christmas.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

The Christmas decorations are amazing. Go between Thsnkdgiving and Christmas. No question

 

[fireflyer]

You probably can't go wrong with either choice.

For me, having lived in FL for 8 years, I feel like the most reliable month for perfect weather is November. For some reason, our tourist "season" isn't said to start until January, but I think the tourists are missing out on the best month of all.

In November, the bad humidity has passed. The rainstorms have passed. But the cold fronts haven't come yet. So, outside is a lovely room-temperature weather.

Let's face it, weather is a crapshoot. But the most reliable month, IMO, is November. Your first priority should be avoiding crowds, and your second should be easy weather. (By "easy" I mean not-hot not-cold just right!) The other posters are right that it would be nice to see everything all Christmassy, but I guess I'd rather have better weather & fewer crowds, and get my Christmas thrills elsewhere. Sometimes December is just as neutrally-weathered as Nov, but usually Dec = longer cold spells, which means packing/wearing more clothes, and the kids getting chilly after dark, and windy, etc.

So if it were ME, I'd pick the mid-Nov week. JMO

 

[fireflyer]

Sorry, I re-read the thread and saw that the Original Poster is the one who wanted to see Christmas lights.

So perhaps Nov isn't the right choice for you.

Here's a crowd-projection for November 2015. I'm not sure if it will hold true or not, but it's a start: https://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/crowd-calendar/november-2015/#calendar

 

[fireflyer]

Yes I prefer to go when there is low crowds especially with 2 lil ones. We want to bring our kids when it is fully decorated for Christmas while they are still lil. I'm just not sure when all of the parks are finished decorating for Christmas.

Here's another chart, this one ranks the 52 weeks of the year as to how ideal they would be for a WDW visit. The second column shows the final ranking.
http://**************.net/2013/12/08/2015-weeks-to-visit-walt-disney-world-ranked-in-order/

The week right after Thanksgiving is rated as the #1 week of the year to visit. The week after that is #2. The week in mid-Nov that I was defending is week #4. They all sound good!

Based on that chart, and your desire to see a Christmassy WDW, I'd pick the week beginning Nov. 28th.

As always, your mileage may vary...


P.S. This chart takes into account the cost of ON-site hotels. For locals or people who won't be staying at Disney, I imagine the rankings would be much different: prioritize crowd-level & weather (instead of crowd-level & Disney lodging costs as this chart does).

 

[airhead]

Here's another chart, this one ranks the 52 weeks of the year as to how ideal they would be for a WDW visit. The second column shows the final ranking.
http://**************.net/2013/12/08/2015-weeks-to-visit-walt-disney-world-ranked-in-order/

The week right after Thanksgiving is rated as the #1 week of the year to visit. The week after that is #2. The week in mid-Nov that I was defending is week #4. They all sound good!

Based on that chart, and your desire to see a Christmassy WDW, I'd pick the week beginning Nov. 28th.

As always, your mileage may vary...


P.S. This chart takes into account the cost of ON-site hotels. For locals or people who won't be staying at Disney, I imagine the rankings would be much different: prioritize crowd-level & weather (instead of crowd-level & Disney lodging costs as this chart does).

Thank you,very helpful!

 

[a742246]

My vote would be for after Thanksgiving. But either way you win!

 

[2binak]

We've been a couple of times during the week before Thanksgiving and every park & most of the hotels have been decorated for Christmas. This year, we went a week earlier, leaving on Nov 15th. We were in Epcot on Nov 14th and there were no decorations. We went back the next day and the park had been transformed overnight! We prefer the lower crowds & warmer temps so we opt for the week before Thanksgiving if we want to get in on some of the Christmas decorations & events.

We've also been once in Dec and didn't notice much of a difference in decorations & events between Dec and the week before Thanksgiving with the exception of the Candlelight Processional which doesn't start until after Thanksgiving. I'm sure there's more, but we just didn't notice.

 

[pepe of ohio]

The word gas been out for years.... Plus the free dining that the weeks before and after Thanksgiving aren't what they used to be...slack time has been gone for years...

Disney knows how to fill slack periods...either free dining or room discounts... Though the weather is great, crowds are horrible ... If you want to be elbows to rear ends, go for it....any time before or after a popular holiday, crowds at a high....we prefer the middle of September better..

 

[missycakes99]

Here's another chart, this one ranks the 52 weeks of the year as to how ideal they would be for a WDW visit. The second column shows the final ranking.
http://**************.net/2013/12/08/2015-weeks-to-visit-walt-disney-world-ranked-in-order/

The week right after Thanksgiving is rated as the #1 week of the year to visit. The week after that is #2. The week in mid-Nov that I was defending is week #4. They all sound good!

Based on that chart, and your desire to see a Christmassy WDW, I'd pick the week beginning Nov. 28th.

As always, your mileage may vary...


P.S. This chart takes into account the cost of ON-site hotels. For locals or people who won't be staying at Disney, I imagine the rankings would be much different: prioritize crowd-level & weather (instead of crowd-level & Disney lodging costs as this chart does).

THANK YOU for this! So helpful!