Disney World In November W/ 13 and 10yr Old Son, How Many Park Days?

[TCInThe303]

Hey everyone! We are planning a trip to Disney World this coming November with our two boys, one 13-year-old and one 10-year-old.

We have 6 nights booked at Boardwalk and 2 nights booked at AKL. We were considering doing 4 park days total and taking rest/resort days in between. We were also considering taking one day to go to the Kennedy Space Center.

Is 4 days enough when you include extended evening hours? Or do you think we need 5 days?

What about Park Hopper? Would you do 4 days with Park Hopper vs 5 days no Park Hopper?

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this, especially those more experienced with Disney World than me, .

 

[Jackiethemermaid]

i know this wasn't exactly one of the options but, i would do 4 park days and a Very Merry Christmas party.

 

[Nabas]

Hey everyone! We are planning a trip to Disney World this coming November with our two boys, one 13-year-old and one 10-year-old.

We have 6 nights booked at Boardwalk and 2 nights booked at AKL. We were considering doing 4 park days total and taking rest/resort days in between. We were also considering taking one day to go to the Kennedy Space Center.

Is 4 days enough when you include extended evening hours? Or do you think we need 5 days?

What about Park Hopper? Would you do 4 days with Park Hopper vs 5 days no Park Hopper?

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this, especially those more experienced with Disney World than me, .

Very excited for your upcoming trip!

Going to the theme parks nonstop is exhausting, so it's good to have one or two down days on an 8-night trip. Still, there's no one size fits all answer.

Have the two children ever been to WDW before?

When are you next likely to return?

Why the Kennedy Space Center (vs., say, Legoland)?

How much do the boys enjoy swimming?

Are they big fans of specific Disney IP (e.g. Star Wars)?

Sounds like you have 8 nights booked at two very nice Disney hotels. Have you every stayed at them before?

 

[_19disnA]

Partly depends on if you have been Disney before or this is your first visit. If you have prior experience, you already know the shows/rides/restaurants you prefer. Disney parks are HUGE and there are lots of people meaning long ride lines. You can eat up a good part of a day waiting in the lines of the most popular rides. Planning some days to do something other then the parks makes a lot of sense and avoids having everyone get exhausted.

We have been to the space center in the past and found it very worthwhile. If anyone has an interest in science, there are LOTS of things to see/do there.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I wouldn’t do park hoppers personally, unless it’s worth it to you to hop somewhere else on your AK day after it closes, since it closes so early

 

[TCInThe303]

Very excited for your upcoming trip!

Going to the theme parks nonstop is exhausting, so it's good to have one or two down days on an 8-night trip. Still, there's no one size fits all answer.

Have the two children ever been to WDW before?

When are you next likely to return?

Why the Kennedy Space Center (vs., say, Legoland)?

How much do the boys enjoy swimming?

Are they big fans of specific Disney IP (e.g. Star Wars)?

Sounds like you have 8 nights booked at two very nice Disney hotels. Have you every stayed at them before?

They have not been to WDW before. We did DL about 4 or 5yrs ago.

I'm not sure when we will come back again.

I just thought the Space Center would be something nice and different to do. We did Legoland in California a while back. We also considered Universal, but we didn't want to spend another $1k for a single day of more rides. We can make that a trip for another time.

The boys definitely love swimming.

Both boys love Star Wars and we missed it opening at DL the last time we went.

 

[TCInThe303]

I wouldn’t do park hoppers personally, unless it’s worth it to you to hop somewhere else on your AK day after it closes, since it closes so early

Yeah, I wasn't sure if it would be worth it. We were going to do our AK day while staying at AKL.

 

[Disturbia]

You should join the Nov thread

https://www.disboards.com/threads/official-november-2024-thread.3936051/

If you’re going the first 2 weeks of Nov (caution: run Disney and Jersey week usually are the first weekend, Nov 4 Main Street was at a standstill 20 mins past fireworks see photos below; more intense crowds vs NYE 2022 - crowds were limited with park passes), you could book MNSSHP (usually offered Nov 1st)

Keep an eye out on extended hours. AK extended hours might be offered again. In 2022 HS had extended hours 2 weeks in Dec.
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2023...g-hours-are-coming-to-disneys-animal-kingdom/
I would book 6 dedicated days repeating HS (if Star Wars fans) and MK (Tron). Our teen is a Pandora fan so we end up repeating AK (not HS).

The food and wine festival at Epcot runs through mid Nov and then the festival of the holidays starts. Our teen loves the food and wine festival and usually has her list of must eats prepared; we plan the rides and approx which booths we will be hitting.

Here’s a look at booths in the past:
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2023-epcot-food-and-wine-festival-booths-menus-and-food-photos/
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2023-epcot-festival-of-the-holidays-booths-menus-and-food-photos/
Nov 4, 2023 (exactly 13 mins past fireworks):

 

[Disturbia]

Yeah, I wasn't sure if it would be worth it. We were going to do our AK day while staying at AKL.

You do need a day park ticket (either AK park or a park ticket with a hopper) to attend extended evenings.

 

[Genie+]

Psyched! We’re visiting November as well.

I’d keep an eye out to see if WDW extends the 4 day 4 parks ticket, as that saves a good deal. Not always though… the amount saved depends on the calendar. Some dates are nowhere as good as other dates for dollars saved. If offered can work well with another specialty ticket, like After Hours or MVMCP, etc.

Number of days? We like having an extra ‘wild card day’. Sometimes the best plan doesn’t work out and we miss a big ride or fireworks show. It’s a kind of insurance.

Hoppers get the best value at park adjacent resorts. Since you’re staying at BW, it definitely can be worth the expense. I think they can get the most value if you were likely to hit your room midday regardless. It is fun when by day 3 you’re already repeating parks. Can really make it feel like time is going slower. But… we didn’t get great value out of them when the kids were younger and wanted to do everything in each park. Then it was better to just stay in one park and not waste time traveling.

Don’t forget your trip likely includes a water park on either Day 1 of your BW or AK stay (your choice). I believe this is an onsite perk for all now.

I’m leaning 5 days, no hopper for your situation. Don’t miss MK EEH on Wed night! Another strategy to consider is whether you’d prefer low crowd short hours day with no fireworks, or high crowd day with HEA fireworks. MK is a big park so repeating is useful. There’s just many different ways to plan it.

 

[DisneyDillyDally]

I think 4 or five days is enough! We are just leaving, my child and me did 5 theme park days and my spouse did 4 days. We also went to a go karting place and to Kennedy Space Centre and Typhoon Lagoon. The Space Centre is pretty impressive.

 

[Nabas]

They have not been to WDW before. We did DL about 4 or 5yrs ago.

I'm not sure when we will come back again.

I just thought the Space Center would be something nice and different to do. We did Legoland in California a while back. We also considered Universal, but we didn't want to spend another $1k for a single day of more rides. We can make that a trip for another time.

The boys definitely love swimming.

Both boys love Star Wars and we missed it opening at DL the last time we went.

Thanks for the reply!

Since you rarely go to WDW and since you don’t know when you’ll be back, maybe consider skipping KSC and just focus on WDW. I’m a bit of a space nut and enjoyed the KSC as well as the Rocket and Space Center in Huntsville. However, unless the boys are begging you to go, consider that a 5th theme park day added to your WDW ticket will cost less than a KSC ticket.

Instead, get to the parks in the morning, head back to the hotel pool in the afternoon to relax, and then return to the theme park at night. Use a fifth theme park ticket day to repeat whatever park everyone enjoyed the most.

Alternatively, consider doing one on the WDW water parks. Our kids really enjoyed the water parks at the ages of your boys.

The thing is, you don’t have to decide now. You can buy a 4-day ticket and add days while you are there. The front desks at the hotels should be able to help.

Park hopping has pluses and minuses. My favorite park of any Disney theme park is walking in. A park hopper lets you explore two parks in one day.

But chances are, you’re going to need most of the day to experience the theme parks, possibly two for the Magic Kingdom. A park hopper makes financial sense only if you want to mix-and-match your days, spending the morning at one theme park and the evening at a different one.

Remember, there is no right answer. What works great for one family might not work for another. We liked doing one park in the morning and a different one at night, but hoppers cost a lot less then. Not sure they are worth it now.

 

[TCInThe303]

You should join the Nov thread

https://www.disboards.com/threads/official-november-2024-thread.3936051/

If you’re going the first 2 weeks of Nov (caution: run Disney and Jersey week usually are the first weekend, Nov 4 Main Street was at a standstill 20 mins past fireworks see photos below; more intense crowds vs NYE 2022 - crowds were limited with park passes), you could book MNSSHP (usually offered Nov 1st)

Keep an eye out on extended hours. AK extended hours might be offered again. In 2022 HS had extended hours 2 weeks in Dec.
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2023...g-hours-are-coming-to-disneys-animal-kingdom/
I would book 6 dedicated days repeating HS (if Star Wars fans) and MK (Tron). Our teen is a Pandora fan so we end up repeating AK (not HS).

The food and wine festival at Epcot runs through mid Nov and then the festival of the holidays starts. Our teen loves the food and wine festival and usually has her list of must eats prepared; we plan the rides and approx which booths we will be hitting.

Here’s a look at booths in the past:
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2023-epcot-food-and-wine-festival-booths-menus-and-food-photos/
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2023-epcot-festival-of-the-holidays-booths-menus-and-food-photos/
Nov 4, 2023 (exactly 13 mins past fireworks):

View attachment 855272View attachment 855273

Hey there, we will be at WDW from 11/17 - 11/25, so I think we will miss the runDisney event and catch the very end of the Food and Wine Festival. I did hear that this is a great event to check out, so hopefully, towards the end, it will still be worth it.

That is good to know that they added EEH for AK last year, and I will have to keep an eye out for that. Doesn't look like Disney's calendar goes that far out yet.

Yeah I don't know if 6 days would be something we would want to do, possibly 5 days to have an insurance/extra day just in case.

 

[TCInThe303]

Psyched! We’re visiting November as well.

I’d keep an eye out to see if WDW extends the 4 day 4 parks ticket, as that saves a good deal. Not always though… the amount saved depends on the calendar. Some dates are nowhere as good as other dates for dollars saved. If offered can work well with another specialty ticket, like After Hours or MVMCP, etc.

Number of days? We like having an extra ‘wild card day’. Sometimes the best plan doesn’t work out and we miss a big ride or fireworks show. It’s a kind of insurance.

Hoppers get the best value at park adjacent resorts. Since you’re staying at BW, it definitely can be worth the expense. I think they can get the most value if you were likely to hit your room midday regardless. It is fun when by day 3 you’re already repeating parks. Can really make it feel like time is going slower. But… we didn’t get great value out of them when the kids were younger and wanted to do everything in each park. Then it was better to just stay in one park and not waste time traveling.

Don’t forget your trip likely includes a water park on either Day 1 of your BW or AK stay (your choice). I believe this is an onsite perk for all now.

I’m leaning 5 days, no hopper for your situation. Don’t miss MK EEH on Wed night! Another strategy to consider is whether you’d prefer low crowd short hours day with no fireworks, or high crowd day with HEA fireworks. MK is a big park so repeating is useful. There’s just many different ways to plan it.

Yeah, I saw the WDW 4-day four-park magic tickets on sale, but they are only good through 9/23. Have you seen them extend this offer before? How far out do you think we need to get our park tickets? I was planning on using a Disney Travel agent for the tickets and other items; I wonder if we buy the tickets ahead of time and there is a sale later, we can get that refunded.

I like your idea of an extra "Wild Card Day." We were definitely going to try and hit all the EEH for Epcot and Magic Kingdom. It sounds like they sometimes do EEH for HS as well, but I am not sure what day they do it.

Lastly, I looked at the water park offer, but that doesn't look like it starts until 2025, and we are going in November this year.

 

[TCInThe303]

Thanks for the reply!

Since you rarely go to WDW and since you don’t know when you’ll be back, maybe consider skipping KSC and just focus on WDW. I’m a bit of a space nut and enjoyed the KSC as well as the Rocket and Space Center in Huntsville. However, unless the boys are begging you to go, consider that a 5th theme park day added to your WDW ticket will cost less than a KSC ticket.

Instead, get to the parks in the morning, head back to the hotel pool in the afternoon to relax, and then return to the theme park at night. Use a fifth theme park ticket day to repeat whatever park everyone enjoyed the most.

Alternatively, consider doing one on the WDW water parks. Our kids really enjoyed the water parks at the ages of your boys.

The thing is, you don’t have to decide now. You can buy a 4-day ticket and add days while you are there. The front desks at the hotels should be able to help.

Park hopping has pluses and minuses. My favorite park of any Disney theme park is walking in. A park hopper lets you explore two parks in one day.

But chances are, you’re going to need most of the day to experience the theme parks, possibly two for the Magic Kingdom. A park hopper makes financial sense only if you want to mix-and-match your days, spending the morning at one theme park and the evening at a different one.

Remember, there is no right answer. What works great for one family might not work for another. We liked doing one park in the morning and a different one at night, but hoppers cost a lot less then. Not sure they are worth it now.

We were considering KSC to give us a break from the parks. Plus, I can get a discount on the tickets, bringing the cost to about $45/ticket. However, we may still add a 5th park day to give an extra day just in case.

Question: You said you can add park days at the resort. Would the price be the same if you added the fifth day before, or would it be more expensive?

I was thinking of hitting the park in the morning, coming back to the hotel, and then hitting the park again at night, possibly for EEH. We are there from 11/17-11/25, and here is what I was thinking.

11/17 Sunday - Get in, resort day
11/18 Monday - MK with EEH
11/19 Tues - Resort/Pool Day
11/20 Wed - Epcot with EEH
11/21 Thurs - Disney Springs
11/22 Fri - HS
11/23 Sat - Resort Change to AKL, go to KSC.
11/24 Sun - AK park day
11/25 Monday - Return home/ Maybe extra park day.

 

[Nabas]

Question: You said you can add park days at the resort. Would the price be the same if you added the fifth day before, or would it be more expensive?

You want to add the day before you use the last day on you ticket, essentially upgrade from a 4-day to a 5-day ticket.

Based on your start date of 11/18, a 4-day adult (ages 10 and over) non-hopper ticket is $646.18 with tax.

A 5-day ticket is $728.85. Thus, the incremental cost of the ticket for the fifth day is $82.67.

 

[Genie+]

Yeah, I saw the WDW 4-day four-park magic tickets on sale, but they are only good through 9/23. Have you seen them extend this offer before? How far out do you think we need to get our park tickets? I was planning on using a Disney Travel agent for the tickets and other items; I wonder if we buy the tickets ahead of time and there is a sale later, we can get that refunded.

I like your idea of an extra "Wild Card Day." We were definitely going to try and hit all the EEH for Epcot and Magic Kingdom. It sounds like they sometimes do EEH for HS as well, but I am not sure what day they do it.

Lastly, I looked at the water park offer, but that doesn't look like it starts until 2025, and we are going in November this year.

Our trip starts Nov 17 too Until Nov 23.

I forgot the waterpark add-on doesn’t start until 2025. Yikes they announced 10 months before it even starts.
—————
The 4 day/park deals started years back. For last year I’m 99% sure the offer only went up to late Sept 2023.

On Oct 1, 2023 a 20% off tickets deal was released through TargetCircle/TripAdvisor. Best deal found for many though it did come with some caveats (like needing account and limit up to $1200 purchase).

Going by history there’s still hope for November-
In the pre-2020 ‘normal’ times, the last two 4-Day magic ticket releases were:
Announced Dec 2018 for most dates Jan-Sept, 2019. And then again on Tues Nov 19, 2019 they announced another round valid immediately through Sept 30, 2020. That one started 9 days before Thanksgiving.

It should be fine waiting to buy dated tickets until closer your trip (there was a risk when park reservations were required). I’d keep looking for a good deal. If by late Oct nothing great comes, a good back up is boardwalk tickets. Reliable and they’ve been the best deal for many of our trips (especially when adding hoppers).

Right now their non-hopper tickets including tax:
4 Days - $601
5 Days - $677 ($76 to add Day 5)
6 Days - $715 ($38 to add Day 6; or $114 to add both Day 5 and 6)

It’s a good baseline to compare other options. Sometimes you can save up to $20 per ticket just moving the start date, just make sure it still covers all the days you want to hit the parks.

TP ticket calculator is very helpful too! https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/ticket-calculator
———-

As far as a travel agent, there are pros/cons. They can be helpful, simplify the process for you, and sometimes help save money by applying a new offer to your booking. We used them twice then started down the DVC path as the best way to save money... and spend it!