WWYD? Trip question

[wgwtgb]

Im a little conflicted and need opinions. We are planning a wdw/us trip in November 2011. This will be a makeup trip from 2009. There were many reasons this trip needs to be made up.the top reason being it was my childrens 1st trip...and it was bad!!! Things that made it terrible were: went in may and it was hot (please don't burn me on this, I live in south Louisiana and knew whT it would be like) Nd it rained for at least 2 hours daily...every single day for 7 days!!!! This was complicated by the fact that we brought our almost 2 year uncooperative DD!!! DH is not one to enjoy large crowds to begin with and adding the heat and the baby made things even worse...did I mention that this was his first time also (no matter how hard you try to prepare an ADULT for Disney first time, I think they still don't get it until they experience it)!! Needless to say I think we deserve another try! So, I'm trying to "fix" the things that made it terrible the first time. I'm taking the uncooperative 2nd old who has turned into a more (not entirely) cooperative 4yr old, Nd we are going in nov when it shouldn't be as hot or rainy!!
Here's the budget ????
I only get 2 personal days at work, so at first I was thinking I would plan it where I only had to miss those 2 days (I have thanksgiving week off) and we could still do 5-6 days Disney and 3 days universal. With that, it would have to be either a few days before or a few days after thanksgiving week and the week itself. From what I can tell, and please correct me if I'm wrong, this would be a very expensive time to go. So the more I thought about it, I wondered if arriving the weekend after thanksgiving and staying into the next week would be better. The catch here is, I would loose about $600.00 in pay for having to take the time off of work.
Would I be saving $ since this is (from what I can tell) considered a value season???
Is it worth it to not have as many people in the parks (I'm assuming there will be much less after the holiday)?
I just want my family to have a wonderful vacation. We are not poor, but aren't rich by any means!! If I'm going to spend thousands of dollars I would like to get the best bang for my buck!!

The budget board has come through for me many times!!! I look forward to and thank you in advance for your opinions!!!

 

[Marionnette]

Im a little conflicted and need opinions. We are planning a wdw/us trip in November 2011. This will be a makeup trip from 2009. There were many reasons this trip needs to be made up.the top reason being it was my childrens 1st trip...and it was bad!!! Things that made it terrible were: went in may and it was hot (please don't burn me on this, I live in south Louisiana and knew whT it would be like) Nd it rained for at least 2 hours daily...every single day for 7 days!!!! This was complicated by the fact that we brought our almost 2 year uncooperative DD!!! DH is not one to enjoy large crowds to begin with and adding the heat and the baby made things even worse...did I mention that this was his first time also (no matter how hard you try to prepare an ADULT for Disney first time, I think they still don't get it until they experience it)!! Needless to say I think we deserve another try! So, I'm trying to "fix" the things that made it terrible the first time. I'm taking the uncooperative 2nd old who has turned into a more (not entirely) cooperative 4yr old, Nd we are going in nov when it shouldn't be as hot or rainy!!
Here's the budget ????
I only get 2 personal days at work, so at first I was thinking I would plan it where I only had to miss those 2 days (I have thanksgiving week off) and we could still do 5-6 days Disney and 3 days universal. With that, it would have to be either a few days before or a few days after thanksgiving week and the week itself. From what I can tell, and please correct me if I'm wrong, this would be a very expensive time to go. So the more I thought about it, I wondered if arriving the weekend after thanksgiving and staying into the next week would be better. The catch here is, I would loose about $600.00 in pay for having to take the time off of work.
Would I be saving $ since this is (from what I can tell) considered a value season???
Is it worth it to not have as many people in the parks (I'm assuming there will be much less after the holiday)?
I just want my family to have a wonderful vacation. We are not poor, but aren't rich by any means!! If I'm going to spend thousands of dollars I would like to get the best bang for my buck!!

The budget board has come through for me many times!!! I look forward to and thank you in advance for your opinions!!!

It's a shame that your first visit was less than magical. There are certain things that are beyond your control. Weather, crowds and two year olds are among those things.

Now for Thanksgiving week and the following weekend...expect crowds. Everyone else who can't get off when the kids are in school will also be visiting. That means long lines, not only for attractions but also for transportation and food. If your husband didn't tolerate the crowds well in May, then it's probably not a good idea to subject him to denser crowds at Thanksgiving.

OTOH, the only thing that will be cheaper after Thanksgiving will be the rooms. If you're staying in a deluxe resort, then you might save enough on the difference to offset the loss in wages. But if you're staying in a value resort, I don't think that you will save enough to make it up.

As far as weather...well, I was then the week after Thanksgiving weekend in 2009. It rained constantly and was cold as well! It really was not the perfect Florida weather that everyone pictures when they think of a Disney vacation. It was so bad that they had to postpone filming the Christmas parade and they moved the stage show to the Grand Floridian lobby to film because Celine couldn't stay the extra day.

I wish that I could be more reassuring about weather and crowds but they are what they are. At least your child is older and more cooperative!

 

[momto2inKC]

So sorry your first trip was so disappointing. Unfortunately around Thanksgiving, the crowds will be even worse than May (the week of Thanksgiving especially, through that weekend). I've heard the Monday after Thanksgiving the crowds do let up a bit. And the weather, well you just never know. Our December trip a few years ago had hot days, cold days and lots of rain.
I hope your next trip is much more magical than the first

 

[mom4graceandlogan]

I have done disney many times for thanksgiving and universal as well. Rates actually won't go up until sat most likely before thanksgiving and with all the deals they have been offering it still won;t be awful. I would take your two personal days the week before thanksgiving. and stay at disney up until wed before thanksgiving.( Can you leave wed night after work to get a head start and be at parks all day thurs). In my experience it is not until wednesday that it starts getting really crowded. Then I would switch to a universal resort, you will have front of the line access and the crowds usually aren't terrible anyway at Universal, but front of the line access is so awesome. Disney will be very busy thanksgiving through sunday, very busy. One year when I was there the parks shut down from crowds and would only allow resort guests. From what I have heard the week after thanksgiving are still really crowded. I would check on when pop warner and mousemeet are. I think they may be that week. The thurs, fri sat and sun before thanksgiving should be really great. Monday and tuesday gradually pick up and wednesday it starts to feel crowded) Also I got a great rate at the contemporary that lasted until day before thanksgiving because my reservation started before that Sat.( Last year we went wednesday before and checked out thanksgiving day) If I had checked in saturday the rate was going to be much higher even for the the same first half of the week. Play around with dates. We just also went christmas rate and got an incredible deal at the swan$159.00 for christmas week was great and it lasted until 12/24 I think. Get more opinions on week after thanksgiving because a girlfriend of mine was there this year that week and she said it was really crowded, but that is only one opinion. Also re: checking rates in my experience whenever I have checked disney site around a holiday with a saturday check in the rate for the entire stay always seems to be higher, so play around with that and look for deals to come out. Sign up for the codes watch on the resorts forum

 

[RachaelA]

Im a little conflicted and need opinions. We are planning a wdw/us trip in November 2011. This will be a makeup trip from 2009. There were many reasons this trip needs to be made up.the top reason being it was my childrens 1st trip...and it was bad!!! Things that made it terrible were: went in may and it was hot (please don't burn me on this, I live in south Louisiana and knew whT it would be like) Nd it rained for at least 2 hours daily...every single day for 7 days!!!! This was complicated by the fact that we brought our almost 2 year uncooperative DD!!! DH is not one to enjoy large crowds to begin with and adding the heat and the baby made things even worse...did I mention that this was his first time also (no matter how hard you try to prepare an ADULT for Disney first time, I think they still don't get it until they experience it)!! Needless to say I think we deserve another try! So, I'm trying to "fix" the things that made it terrible the first time. I'm taking the uncooperative 2nd old who has turned into a more (not entirely) cooperative 4yr old, Nd we are going in nov when it shouldn't be as hot or rainy!!
Here's the budget ????
I only get 2 personal days at work, so at first I was thinking I would plan it where I only had to miss those 2 days (I have thanksgiving week off) and we could still do 5-6 days Disney and 3 days universal. With that, it would have to be either a few days before or a few days after thanksgiving week and the week itself. From what I can tell, and please correct me if I'm wrong, this would be a very expensive time to go. So the more I thought about it, I wondered if arriving the weekend after thanksgiving and staying into the next week would be better. The catch here is, I would loose about $600.00 in pay for having to take the time off of work.
Would I be saving $ since this is (from what I can tell) considered a value season???
Is it worth it to not have as many people in the parks (I'm assuming there will be much less after the holiday)?
I just want my family to have a wonderful vacation. We are not poor, but aren't rich by any means!! If I'm going to spend thousands of dollars I would like to get the best bang for my buck!!

The budget board has come through for me many times!!! I look forward to and thank you in advance for your opinions!!!

Thanksgiving through Christmas is not value season. Early december used to be value and its not any more.

The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas have been getting more and more crowded every year because people want to see the Christmas decorations, etc. Pop Warner is usually the first week of December (so right after Thanksgiving) and that makes certain resorts super crazy and makes the parks more crowded on certain days.

You aren't going to be able to control the weather at any time of the year. We went in early December and experienced 20 degree weather on a couple days/nights. We've gone the first week of May and experienced 100 degree weather. Neither of those were normal but it happened because its Florida. Just like it can rain anytime for hours or days.

I'm sorry your first trip wasn't magical and I hope your 2nd trip will be better. Honestly though I don't think you would be picking the best time if you want a less crowded time. And you can never control the weather no matter what time of year.

 

[wgwtgb]

I understand that it would be crowded either way I hate that my job basically dictates when I go. I kinda like the idea of going before thanksgiving and transferring to us after. I was thinking of doing the opposite and never considered this great idea! One question???? What is Pop Warner????

 

[tinkmom2]

We went the week before Thanksgiving November 2009 and had wonderful weather. The crowds to us weren't bad but we are used to the spring break crowds of March.

We stay at Pop, a value resort and saved money there plus we had free dining too. It rains a lot in Florida. Don't let that discourage you. The rain usually passes quickly. Price wise we actually did better off in November because of the free dining. Weather wise it's not as hot as in the summer but very comfortable. We were wearing shots and didn't need coats for the most part. I think you would probably break close to even from loosing the $600 but getting the free dining the week before Thanksgiving.

My other tip is also to pace yourself. Take time out to go back to the resort and take naps. That will help make your visit more magical. You can click my trip report in my signature to see what it's like in November. PS I second the MVMCP! It's a must!

 

[eli3886]

I ditto the suggestion to arrive before Thanksgiving week! We went in 2009 and 2010 arriving the Thursday before Thanksgiving week and leaving on Thanksgiving Day. The crowds started out fairly low and we were able to also attend MVMCP which was wonderful. We also went to Universal Studios and the lines were low there even for HP. In 2009, we left Orlando when the crowds started to come in and drove to Clearwater Beach for a couple of nights before flying back.

 

[Ashlotte]

This will be a makeup trip from 2009. There were many reasons this trip needs to be made up.the top reason being it was my childrens 1st trip...and it was bad!!! Things that made it terrible were: went in may and it was hot (please don't burn me on this, I live in south Louisiana and knew whT it would be like) Nd it rained for at least 2 hours daily...every single day for 7 days!!!!

I think we must have been there the same time. We were there May 9-16 of 2009 and it was HOT and we got caught in several rain/thunderstorms. It was nuts!

 

[Darcy03231]

I've been to WDW at every time of the year. There are no real "slow times" anymore. There are moderate to to super busy times now.

Having said that I was at WDW from Nov. 30th thru Dec. 5, 2009 (the monday after Thanksgiving through the following Saturday). I used a crowd calendar and a touring plan and we didn't wait in line more than 10-15 min. Crowds overall were light to moderate. The weather was great the first few days (shorts, t-shirts, swam in the pool) and then a cold front came in. After that it was jeans, sneakers, long sleeve shirt with a sweatshirt during the day and we added jackets, hats and gloves at night (we're from NH so we're used to the cold). We also had a day where it rained all day and rained hard.

If your husband has a hard time with crowds I definitely wouldn't go during Thanksgiving week. Its one of the busiest. I've found over the last few years the slowest times are:

Last two weeks in January to the first two weeks in February.
First two weeks in May
September after Labor Day weekend (although it has gotten busier with free dining) - but its still really hot in September
October (other than Columbus day weekend) - again, October is still pretty hot
November (up until Thanksgiving week)
December (up until Christmas week)

Now this doesn't mean the park is empty - but with using a crowd calendar and a good touring plan you can get on all the rides with little to no wait.

As far as adding Universal/IOA, I would do it at the end of your trip if you're planning to stay on-site there. We did this once and did US/IOA first. One of the perks of staying on-site is the unlimited Express Pass (like a fast pass). We didn't wait in line for anything. Pretty much just walked right on all the rides. After that we went to WDW and while the lines really weren't bad (I think the longest was around 20 minutes) all the kids did was complain about having to stand in line! They also were a bit older at that point with multiple trips to WDW so they really wanted to go back to US/IOA. After that I made sure to put the US/IOA portion at the end of the trip.

Have a great trip!

 

[mom4graceandlogan]

Pop Warner is a youth football tournament. A really big one

 

[wgwtgb]

Thank you every for these wonderful opinions~still open to anyone giving more!! This info has been so helpful! I realize many benefits of doing us/ioa at the end of our trip that I didn't realize before. I'm going to work some dates out and go to see a TA next week to crunch some numbers! I'm now considering going mostly the week before and leaving the Wednesday or thanksgiving day! I know DH was looking forward to having a thanksgiving meal at wdw, but I think once I explain things, as you guys have, he will see the light!! Thank you all again sooooo much!!