Just back Nov 11-17: observations

[Mrs~Incredible]

Just got back from our trip Nov 11 – 17 – here are my thoughts:


The players: Myself, DH, and 6 yo DD. This was DDs 5th trip. We have been to WDW in May and Sept with her; this was our first Nov trip.


The weather: OMG it was spectacular. Sweatshirts in the morning and at night. Went swimming in the middle of the day in the heated pools.


The crowds: Not sure what the hard data suggests, but in my subjective opinion it “felt” VERY crowded Nov 11-13, then eased up Nov 14-17. Like salmon swimming upstream in a sea of humanity crowded. We must have not picked the right parks to visit, but by Tues we found our mojo. That said, the weather made the crowds much more bearable. And I will also add that we met very friendly and polite people.


MVMCP: This was a low-light for us. We went on Tues Nov 14, which was supposed to be lower-crowds for a party. We started the night before the party started on the Jingle Cruise and got completely soaked, dripping wet – Like our hair was dripping and our clothes were soaked down to our underwear. It was cold. It was WAAAAY more crowded than even I expected. Lines 40-50 deep for snacks. Entertainment super crowded, at least where we were. Lines for most rides not bad, 10-20 minutes. Waited 45 minutes to meet Rapunzel and Flynn. Never got to see the snow on Main Street. I think it is probably a fun night for older kids/adults, but was not a great value for us. Not sure I would do again. It solidified my opinion that they should include the holiday entertainment every night for all park guests. With 4 parties a week, the other 3 nights in MK are unmanageable crowd-wise. We didn’t even try to see HEA on a non-party night. If the special entertainment was included for all, I think the crowds at MK would be more even in general.


Other: I drove myself crazy hunting down ADRs I couldn’t get, even with all the tricks in the book. Didn’t need to worry – there were gobs of cancellations that week. I won’t sweat it next time.

Magical Moments: the cast members make it all happen. Some were especially amazing. The characters were fantastic and I got teary more than once. Watching them interact with kids of all ages and abilities, and making my adult self feel like a joyous elated little kid. Thank you.


Overall, we loved the trip, was sad to leave. Can’t wait to go back!

 

[PSUGuy]

You got there for the last few days of Food&Wine, we left on the 11th. It was crowded at WS our last several days a CM told us a few years ago to avoid the last weekend, next year we're there nine days starting Oct 18 so crowds should be lighter.

Bill From PA

 

[emilyrachael]

We were there the same dates and I agree about the crowds. We did AK on Sunday and it felt like slightly above 'normal' crowd levels. EP was Monday for the last day of F&W. We went on the last day (a Monday) 2 years ago, and this was definitely more crowded. Tuesday was MK. We hit the 8 am opening and had very light crowds - we left after lunch before the crowds for the party started entering. I'm so glad they added the 8am openings on party nights! That saved us from being too annoyed about the 6pm closing since we're early risers. Friday was EP again and it was much less crowded than Monday.

 

[mom22boys]

We started the night before the party started on the Jingle Cruise and got completely soaked, dripping wet – Like our hair was dripping and our clothes were soaked down to our underwear.

Seriously? How did you get drenched on Jingle Cruise? If so, yikes! I would have never expected that.

Glad to read all of your positive comments. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Seriously? How did you get drenched on Jingle Cruise? If so, yikes! I would have never expected that.

Glad to read all of your positive comments. Thanks for sharing!

Hahaha! I know! The elephant apparently malfunctioned. It was seriously like being hit with a fire hose- I had water up my nose! It would have been funny if it wasn’t so cold and we didn’t have 6 more hours to go! Oh well, we laugh about it now!

 

[mindeola]

I was there the same time. I couldn't agree more about crowds and weather. The streets were so crowded. I thought the party ( same night as you) was pretty miserable until about 1000. After that, it really cleared out. Luckily we were adults only so we were able to move around despite the crowds. Overall, we had such a fabulous trip!

 

[stinkpickle]

...
The crowds: Not sure what the hard data suggests, but in my subjective opinion it “felt” VERY crowded Nov 11-13, then eased up Nov 14-17. Like salmon swimming upstream in a sea of humanity crowded. We must have not picked the right parks to visit, but by Tues we found our mojo. That said, the weather made the crowds much more bearable. And I will also add that we met very friendly and polite people...

Agreed. Mid-week was much less crowded, overall. Of course, the differences were most notable at MK. 11/11 (Saturday, non-party) was a legit level '10'. 11/17 (same situation) was a level '9'. 11/14 and 11/16 (mid-week, party dates) were level '3'.

 

[DebbieB]

Thanks for the report. Doubt they would give up the party revenue and offer it free.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Thanks for the report. Doubt they would give up the party revenue and offer it free.

Lol, ain’t that the truth!?!

 

[MIndy S]

I'm glad I'm not the only one disappointed with the party. I was there the same day as you, and this was the most miserable day of our trip. It was supposed to be so special: my daughter was all done up at BBB, we had dinner in CRT, and then we were overwhelmed by the crowds. After hearing all the fantastic things about this party, I thought maybe I just had a bad attitude.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Great, fun to read report! ITA thatit can be very special watching the CMs interact with guests.

Welcome home.

 

[DisneyMom93]

MVMCP: This was a low-light for us. We went on Tues Nov 14, which was supposed to be lower-crowds for a party. We started the night before the party started on the Jingle Cruise and got completely soaked, dripping wet – Like our hair was dripping and our clothes were soaked down to our underwear. It was cold. It was WAAAAY more crowded than even I expected. Lines 40-50 deep for snacks. Entertainment super crowded, at least where we were. Lines for most rides not bad, 10-20 minutes. Waited 45 minutes to meet Rapunzel and Flynn. Never got to see the snow on Main Street. I think it is probably a fun night for older kids/adults, but was not a great value for us. Not sure I would do again. It solidified my opinion that they should include the holiday entertainment every night for all park guests. With 4 parties a week, the other 3 nights in MK are unmanageable crowd-wise. We didn’t even try to see HEA on a non-party night. If the special entertainment was included for all, I think the crowds at MK would be more even in general.

I wonder if it's because everyone suggested going on Tuesdays rather than Fridays. We went on Friday 11/17 and felt it was pretty empty. We did not do meet and greets or shows so I'm just basing it on rides and crowds walking around.

We also stayed for dinner at BOG on your Tuesday 11/14 and left the restaurant when the Frozen show at the castle was on. (No idea what time that was but I think it was after 8pm). We caught the end of the show as we were walking past it to leave and it seemed like there wasn't much of a crowd watching it. But we were walking along the side of the castle and left through Main Street.

We did go straight out to the exit though (aside from sneaking a peak at the castle when Elsa changed it). I'm glad we caught the end of the castle show though because I wasn't sure if it was something we should do on our party night, and from what we did catch of it, we didn't think it was worth it.

Lots of people were sitting around on Main Street as we walked out. I think it was snowing and I think they were waiting for a parade.

We had an early morning planned the next morning so we didn't even walk slowly while exiting. We were more concerned about catching our bus to the resort before a wave of people came.

 

[DisneyMom93]

Also, we were there from Nov 3-19 and we felt the first week was too crowded for our taste. I know it's Jersey week but we've always gone Jersey Week and this was the first time we felt like Never again. We like to just walk on rides for Standby. We felt the second week was pretty much empty. That's more of what we are used to. We had a great vacation. We went to the parks midweek only (for ten days) and wouldn't change anything even with the Jersey crowd.

 

[Erin1700]

The Nov 17th party was wonderful! No crowds at all.

I am sorry you got wet on Jingle Cruise! Never had that happen before.

 

[trouttigger]

Just got back from our trip Nov 11 – 17 – here are my thoughts:


The players: Myself, DH, and 6 yo DD. This was DDs 5th trip. We have been to WDW in May and Sept with her; this was our first Nov trip.


The weather: OMG it was spectacular. Sweatshirts in the morning and at night. Went swimming in the middle of the day in the heated pools.


The crowds: Not sure what the hard data suggests, but in my subjective opinion it “felt” VERY crowded Nov 11-13, then eased up Nov 14-17. Like salmon swimming upstream in a sea of humanity crowded. We must have not picked the right parks to visit, but by Tues we found our mojo. That said, the weather made the crowds much more bearable. And I will also add that we met very friendly and polite people.


MVMCP: This was a low-light for us. We went on Tues Nov 14, which was supposed to be lower-crowds for a party. We started the night before the party started on the Jingle Cruise and got completely soaked, dripping wet – Like our hair was dripping and our clothes were soaked down to our underwear. It was cold. It was WAAAAY more crowded than even I expected. Lines 40-50 deep for snacks. Entertainment super crowded, at least where we were. Lines for most rides not bad, 10-20 minutes. Waited 45 minutes to meet Rapunzel and Flynn. Never got to see the snow on Main Street. I think it is probably a fun night for older kids/adults, but was not a great value for us. Not sure I would do again. It solidified my opinion that they should include the holiday entertainment every night for all park guests. With 4 parties a week, the other 3 nights in MK are unmanageable crowd-wise. We didn’t even try to see HEA on a non-party night. If the special entertainment was included for all, I think the crowds at MK would be more even in general.


Other: I drove myself crazy hunting down ADRs I couldn’t get, even with all the tricks in the book. Didn’t need to worry – there were gobs of cancellations that week. I won’t sweat it next time.

Magical Moments: the cast members make it all happen. Some were especially amazing. The characters were fantastic and I got teary more than once. Watching them interact with kids of all ages and abilities, and making my adult self feel like a joyous elated little kid. Thank you.


Overall, we loved the trip, was sad to leave. Can’t wait to go back!

Thanks for sharing, esp. that you got ADRs. Did you get all the ones you wanted?

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

Thanks for sharing, esp. that you got ADRs. Did you get all the ones you wanted?

I did! And there were lots of good finds that popped up that we didn’t want but it was interesting to see. Ohana, bog, 1900- tons. Things I wanted for our trip were booked solid from 180 days out. I stay off site so can only check at 180 days, but I’ve never had such a hard time! The week of there was tons of availability, I didn’t need to fret.

I think more and more people scoop up as much as they can.

 

[trouttigger]

I did! And there were lots of good finds that popped up that we didn’t want but it was interesting to see. Ohana, bog, 1900- tons. Things I wanted for our trip were booked solid from 180 days out. I stay off site so can only check at 180 days, but I’ve never had such a hard time! The week of there was tons of availability, I didn’t need to fret.

I think more and more people scoop up as much as they can.

I've wondered if some people "dream" about a Disney trip and make reservations, hoping to go, without much of a possibility of it happening. I mean it is free to make a ressie.

 

[kathy884]

We were in Orlando Nov. 10 -14.

I agree with your observations.

-- The weather was great -- so that makes for a wonderful trip for me.

-- We didn't do the party this time -- I did it one and only one time (ages 18 plus, maybe two or three years ago). Anytime at the MK is fun, but the party was way more crowded than I expected and I prefer a regular day at the MK to that (even a crowded non party day -- well maybe not a crowd 9 or 10, but I'll take a crowd 8 day) -- early rope drop offers more than the last hour of the party -- only time that party wasn't crowded.

-- From personal observations and touring plan crowd calendars (our MK day was Mon. Nov. 13 non party day -- predicted crowd level 6 and actual crowd level 8) for our stay at least the crowds at the MK on regular days with party vs. regular days non-party days had an even more pronounced difference than they normally have had in the past.

-- I agree with your thoughts on parties OP. I'd almost if doing the MK try to go to Orlando a week without any special events as I'm not impressed with the special events and dislike the crowds on non special event days, but have family members who want the late night fireworks. And we do one and only one day at the MK on a trip. Doing a party for us means not doing a normal day or visa versa.

Disney has figured out a way to double dip and increase profitability with their popular MK theme park, though, and I fear and what I am seeing is that they are extending their special party weeks, and I actually wouldn't be surprised if they add more of this type of thing. It's a pet peeve of mine, but their prerogative. As a stockholder, I really can't complain. As a visitor I hate it. I still go, pick what appears to be my best choice, but am not that crazy about the choice I have on party weeks at the MK.

All that complaining aside though, I still have a great time at the MK every time I go. And my family had a great time on Monday, Nov. 13. The increased crowd level got us by surprise. We switched fast passes around to do Pirates, Haunted Mansion, etc. Decided to skip Peter Pan, Pooh, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder, and It's a Small World because the lines were longer than what they were worth, and they weren't for us rides worth wasting a fast pass on. We made the mistake of waiting in a way too long stand by line for 7DMT and would in hind site have skipped that too (weren't able to get a fastpass, and it's really not all that great). After that one long line we decided to just do lines less than 25 minutes, things we had fastpasses for, and just soak up the vibe of the place (which is pretty darn good).

We saw the parade and had the treat of two different fireworks shows that night, both new for us (last visit was Wishes). At 9, it was Once Upon a Time and most guests left after that. And then at 9:45 it was Happily Ever After. We wouldn't have even known to stay, but a CM we were talking to told us they were transitioning that night and doing two. That was kind of cool and also meant lighter crowds when we finally left.