Looking for information for Nov and Dec

[mattheweston]

We are looking at the following weeks in Nov and Dec.

Nov (week of Thanksgiving)
Dec 10-14 or Dec 25-31

I remember vaguely going the last week of the year when I was little, and remember it being very fun; however, after reading some stuff about crowds at that time of the year, I'm having second thoughts. Our other options are the week of Thanksgiving, and Dec 10-14. The 10th through 14th will be dependant upon whether our oldest's school will let us take her out then.

Does anyone have any experience with young children(ours are 8,4, and 2) during some of the busiest times of the year?

 

[gmboy95]

I have done december a bunch of times as well as actually Christmas even through NYE a bunch as well.....the crowds are always larger during that month due to the Christmas stuff in general...but Christmas month a Disney is like nothing else at Disney. It is by far my favorite, and makes dealing with the crowds so much easier.....The candlelight processional is the greatest thing at Disney IMO by a mile...to this day, the wife and i go down even without kids, just so we can do that and see all the Christmas stuff both in the parks and in the resorts

 

[chocolateavocado]

We went for Thanksgiving this past year 2015 & LOVED it! We chose that week to minimize the amount of time ds had to miss from school withou having to go over summer (we wouldn't be able to stand the heat). We didn't think the waits or crowds were that bad at all. My ds was 8 at the time. It was our 2nd trip to wdw- our 1st was mid Nov 2013. The Christmas party was one of the top highlights of the trip. We're planning on going back for Thanksgiving 2017 I'm sure you'll have a great time whichever week you choose!

 

[Kahana-ri]

We were there for Christmas one year when our child was young. It was great fun and absolutely doable. That being said, I wound't do it again during Christmas due to crowds, but happy we did. We have found November to be our key month. It's lower crowds, still warm enough to swim, and we are able to enjoy ourselves. Obviously, as Thanksgiving gets closer, it gets busier. With any holiday, you just have to plan to arrive early and take advantage of extended hours. November for us puts us into the Christmas spirit as well since the parks start to decorate mid November. Good luck!

 

[ELSA711]

Very interested to hear the feedback on this as we are going for the first time Thanksgiving week. I'm the ultimate planner but looking at crowd calendars, I'm not sure the recommended park on any given day will really matter during Thanksgiving week, however if anyone disagrees, please let me know best crowd calendar for holiday time.

 

[AshleeH]

For my family, we loathe crowds (and it was especially true with young children - trying to get a stroller through wall-to-wall people just does not happen - especially when people have no respect for it and will actually step over my child in the stroller instead of saying excuse me and moving around it). So for that reason alone, we will never go to Disney during an actual holiday week. We've been there multiple times during Columbus Day and that's bad enough for me.

 

[TeamH5]

We're going the 10-17th of Dec. hoping for lowish crowd levels. At least according to the Blogs I've been looking at, crowds at that time should be about a 3-4.. But I do remember hitting Disney Land back in '94 on New Year's Eve, and the only ride we had to wait at all for was Indiana Jones. Everything else was walk on, zero crowds.. But it's not like that anymore. Everyone caught on to the idea of taking family vacations during Christmas break! Lol
Why worried about taking kids out of school though? Ours will be 8, and 10. I'm not worried at all, maybe I need to be. Lol they're in 3rd & 4th grade, not College.. We'll just ask for the week's work and get it done while we're on vacation, or before we leave more than likely.

 

[MouseMama11]

We LOVED going the week of Thanksgiving!! We went about 3 years ago... We happened to get Free Dining that week and the crowds were very low. The day before Thanksgiving and the day of Thanksgiving were extremely crowded but we just made Thanksgiving Day a pool day at the resort. We have thought about going back during that time again

 

[mrsp1030]

We have gone two times at Thanksgiving and this year will be our 3rd trip. We love it! The crowds are reasonable and the only days that get packed are Thanksgiving Day and the day after. Choose your parks wisely and have fun!

 

[ELSA711]

We are going for the first time Thanksgiving week and I am using EasyWDW for planning, for any experienced Thanksgiving traveler, please let me know if my 'parks' are picked correctly. Or if it really doesn't matter at all. Maybe just a good touring plan. Family of 5 here who are WDW experienced and pretty flexible, staying at CBR.

We have all our must have ADRs but we are also willing to cancel most of them to ensure a good touring plan.

Must do's are FOTLK, Fantasmic, CP Package at Epcot and ROL (if open). We would like to try the new FEA and Soarin at Epcot as well. We'd love more AK, but we are trying to be top heavy with EP this time because we never seem to have enough time there.
Based on EasyWDW this looks good, then I look at other crowd calendars like UT and it's not a good plan...thoughts from my holiday experts?

11/21 - Arrival
11/22 - MK
11/23 - EP
11/24 - AK
11/25 - MK / EP
11/26 - DHS
11/27 - AK + MVMCP
11/28 - EP
11/29 - Departure

 

[mrsp1030]

We are going for the first time Thanksgiving week and I am using EasyWDW for planning, for any experienced Thanksgiving traveler, please let me know if my 'parks' are picked correctly. Or if it really doesn't matter at all. Maybe just a good touring plan. Family of 5 here who are WDW experienced and pretty flexible, staying at CBR.

We have all our must have ADRs but we are also willing to cancel most of them to ensure a good touring plan.

Must do's are FOTLK, Fantasmic, CP Package at Epcot and ROL (if open). We would like to try the new FEA and Soarin at Epcot as well. We'd love more AK, but we are trying to be top heavy with EP this time because we never seem to have enough time there.
Based on EasyWDW this looks good, then I look at other crowd calendars like UT and it's not a good plan...thoughts from my holiday experts?

11/21 - Arrival
11/22 - MK
11/23 - EP
11/24 - AK
11/25 - MK / EP
11/26 - DHS
11/27 - AK + MVMCP
11/28 - EP
11/29 - Departure

We have followed Easy WDW for all of our trips, including Thanksgiving and I think your Thanksgiving plan looks terrific. Many of your parks are the same ones we have scheduled for this year as well. I am trying desperately to get flights instead of driving for our family of 5 to add in another Epcot Day.

 

[dmea10]

I would make sure to avoid this week.
The 2016 Pop Warner National Cheer & Dance Championships will take place from Saturday, December 3rd through Friday, December 9th at ESPN Wide World of Sports™ Complex.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We are looking at the following weeks in Nov and Dec.

Nov (week of Thanksgiving)
Dec 10-14 or Dec 25-31

I remember vaguely going the last week of the year when I was little, and remember it being very fun; however, after reading some stuff about crowds at that time of the year, I'm having second thoughts. Our other options are the week of Thanksgiving, and Dec 10-14. The 10th through 14th will be dependant upon whether our oldest's school will let us take her out then.

Does anyone have any experience with young children(ours are 8,4, and 2) during some of the busiest times of the year?

Have you gone as a family before? If not, I'd avoid Thanksgiving week and Christmas week. Those are two very busy weeks in the year. Plan on standing in line for attractions for a minimum of 60 minutes, more likely 100 minutes. You almost have to stand in line just to go to the bathroom. I'd pick a less busy time during the year. Even Spring break might not be as bad since school have different Spring breaks.