1 day in November - a Strategic Dilemma

[MomOTwins]

We are going on a Disney Cruise in November. Because of my work schedule, I can't take off any days before the cruise, but I CAN stay an extra night immediately after the cruise (a saturday). We have a single night booked at the Caribbean beach resort for the night after our cruise, and then will fly out first thing the next day (I tried to persuade DH to do an evening flight on sunday to get two park days, but he likes to get home in time to unpack and decompress before the work week). So we have just one day, Saturday, to enjoy the parks.

Assuming our cruise arrives on time, best case scenario is probably arriving at the parks sometime between 9:30-10:30, so we won't have a full day, and certainly won't be able to take advantage of any extra magic hours. It may even be later if the ship is delayed for any reason. The kids' first preference is to do Star Wars land, but I worry there is just no hope of getting in with us arriving that late, and if we did, the ride wait time will be astronomical. So here are my thoughts on options (feel free to fill in any I have overlooked).

1--Buy a one day, one park ticket for the price of (ugh) $139 a ticket. Then try to find out if Star Wars is at at capacity once we get there and if so opt for a different park.
2--Buy a one day, park hopper ticket for (double ugh) $199 per ticket. Then, if Star Wars land is unavailable we can go to Epcot and try to get in later in to Star Wars later in the day if people leave.
3--Don't buy any ticket now. Wait and see reports of how packed Star Wars land is in the weeks leading up to our cruise, and wait to buy a ticket until we have a sense of what to expect, knowing that means tickets will probably be even more pricey, and we won't be able to book advance fastpasses anywhere.

 

[nancy155]

In disembarking on a cruise using their transportation (I am assuming you will be). If the ship arrives to dock say around 7:30 am then the ship has to clear before any disembarkation can begin. People are given different times to get off, then you must go through immigration (long line typically) then claim your luggage and off to the transportation. From there it is I believe 1.5 hours to Disney?

In my experience I have been able to disembark the earliest around 8:30-9am. Twice they have had an issue clearing and we were sitting there for over 3 additional hours to disembark the ship. Now the latter is unusual, however it can happen.

It all de[ends on the number you are assigned to disembark and immigration.

I hope you have an amazing cruise and I do hope it all works out for you to enjoy the Parks as much as time allows!

 

[KenHutch]

I do not know if this is helpful but some friends went to Disneyland over the opening of GE by accident. They are totally not into SW, they took pictures of the wait times at all of the rides they went to. Most were only 5 minutes in Stand By and a couple at 10 minutes.

 

[MomOTwins]

In disembarking on a cruise using their transportation (I am assuming you will be). If the ship arrives to dock say around 7:30 am then the ship has to clear before any disembarkation can begin. People are given different times to get off, then you must go through immigration (long line typically) then claim your luggage and off to the transportation. From there it is I believe 1.5 hours to Disney?

In my experience I have been able to disembark the earliest around 8:30-9am. Twice they have had an issue clearing and we were sitting there for over 3 additional hours to disembark the ship. Now the latter is unusual, however it can happen.

It all de[ends on the number you are assigned to disembark and immigration.

I hope you have an amazing cruise and I do hope it all works out for you to enjoy the Parks as much as time allows!

Thanks, we have cruised before and both times we were able to disembark at 7:30 and be cleared by customs and on transportation by 8:15/8:30. but maybe were were lucky? It is only about an hour drive--we are using a minnie van, but you're right the bus takes closer to 90 minutes because it has to stop at multiple resorts. Hence I was estimating we would get there around 9:30 at the earliest.

 

[MomOTwins]

I do not know if this is helpful but some friends went to Disneyland over the opening of GE by accident. They are totally not into SW, they took pictures of the wait times at all of the rides they went to. Most were only 5 minutes in Stand By and a couple at 10 minutes.

Yeah, but now I am worried about the opposite effect at WDW. Everyone knows that Star Wars land was empty at Disneyland, so I'm worried more people will be planning vacations at Disney World expecting the same low crowds.

 

[Boulie]

When in November and is it just adults or also kids? Some weeks in November are very busy - not just thanksgiving but also the second weekend which leads into Veterans Day (and is the end of Jersey week).

Are you big time Star Wars fans or is this more just being curious about the new land?

If your group is big fans and this is your one chance to see it anytime soon, then go for it but manage your expectations. Too early to tell but the land could end up hitting capacity (we don’t know yet). If that’s not the case, the ride (singular at that point) will likely have an hours long wait. But if you know this in advance you can still have a fun trip. Hopping to Epcot or MK would be a good idea but man those are expensive tickets for less than one day. You and your family’s CFO need to make that choice.

If you aren’t huge Star Wars fans or plan to come back to DW again in the future, I’d probably choose to skip HS on this short trip and try to get more bang for my buck and limited time. Again depending on when this Saturday falls, all parks may be busy. Food and wine may still be happening (and it will be busy) but that would be fun for adults and future world will be manageable for some rides. My kids love Epcot but your mileage may vary if u have kids.

Having one Park day that starts late morning, Epcot or MK would be my choice (or hop between the two of u can swing it).

Im sure you’ll have a great time no matter what you choose. This is like the cherry on top of what sounds like a great trip already.

 

[Boulie]

(Missed ur username there. . . I’m guessing with a name like “MomOTwins” you do in fact have kids ... )

 

[cgattis]

I’d do a one day one park ticket and decide which park closer to time, after seeing GE reports. If you do the parks pretty often, maybe it’s worth using your day just for GE. .If you don’t get there often, I like MK.

 

[MomOTwins]

When in November and is it just adults or also kids? Some weeks in November are very busy - not just thanksgiving but also the second weekend which leads into Veterans Day (and is the end of Jersey week).

Are you big time Star Wars fans or is this more just being curious about the new land?

If your group is big fans and this is your one chance to see it anytime soon, then go for it but manage your expectations. Too early to tell but the land could end up hitting capacity (we don’t know yet). If that’s not the case, the ride (singular at that point) will likely have an hours long wait. But if you know this in advance you can still have a fun trip. Hopping to Epcot or MK would be a good idea but man those are expensive tickets for less than one day. You and your family’s CFO need to make that choice.

If you aren’t huge Star Wars fans or plan to come back to DW again in the future, I’d probably choose to skip HS on this short trip and try to get more bang for my buck and limited time. Again depending on when this Saturday falls, all parks may be busy. Food and wine may still be happening (and it will be busy) but that would be fun for adults and future world will be manageable for some rides. My kids love Epcot but your mileage may vary if u have kids.

Having one Park day that starts late morning, Epcot or MK would be my choice (or hop between the two of u can swing it).

Im sure you’ll have a great time no matter what you choose. This is like the cherry on top of what sounds like a great trip already.

Yep--I like the idea of hopping conceptually because I am daunted by spending a whole day in a crowded Hollywood Studios but it is just soooo expensive. It would be Nov. 16 so between Veteran's day and Thanksgiving, but given the prices are higher on that day than surrounding weekends I am thinking Disney must be expecting higher crowds for some reason (maybe just the fact that it is a Saturday?).

I think we would all really enjoy GE, but we'd also enjoy MK or Epcot too... The kids are definitely bigger fans than I am, but I definitely don't want them to miss out since we are going all the way to WDW anyway.