Is November going to be especially busy?

[disneyland_is_magic]

Hi folks, with Covid closures and wacky school schedules I think we can all agree all touring calendars and typical patterns are out of the window.

I have seen ALOT of folks mention November trips now that some are getting ready to pull the trigger. Are you going in November? Vote and let's discuss.

 

[heybets30]

Did you see Epcot hours changed for NOV??? We are going to be there Nov 7-14. I thought I had it all planned out - Epcot on Monday, I printed - last week - the park hours so I could easily cross-reference all 4 parks. Epcot was clearly 11am - 7pm ... now it lists 11am - 9pm!!! Woo-hoo!! More time for my hubby to ride 'Soarin! Not sure why the expanded hours, but we'll take it!

And, MK hours instead of 9am-7pm, is now 9am-8pm! Our 5 days of earlier nights now seems to be a LONG week of park-going!

 

[Tormania]

Booked our vacation for USO/WDW from Nov 25th - Dec 5th back in Jan. Come Hell or high water we were going. LOL!!! Was also happy to see hours extended at AK, MK, and EPCOT.

 

[Corryn]

Me and my DD (27) had been planning on heading down in November since last year and we aren't letting anything stop us lol
We'll be there mid-month. We have birthdays in Nov/Dec so it's a birthday present to ourselves and we've been there for every single season/party except for the Christmas party, which we know is cancelled, but AJ from DFB Guide on YouTube has been keeping us updated, she's great and has an awesome channel So we're excited to see the Christmas decorations and be able to go and not sweat the day away

 

[Funfire240]

We were originally booked for September this past January but even before everything hit in late Feb/March we had made the decision to move to Thanksgiving week because of kids' schedules and sports. We are glad we did and hoping for the weather to be a bit cooler to better tolerate the masks too

 

[princess jasmine 76]

I'll be there but November, but the week before and through Thanksgiving weekend is my families' regular Disney travel time. Will be home in 39 days. Will it be more crowded? I don't know, but am on deck to find out!

 

[DT83097]

I'll be there but November, but the week before and through Thanksgiving weekend is my families' regular Disney travel time. Will be home in 39 days. Will it be more crowded? I don't know, but am on deck to find out!

How would you say it normally is (crowd wise) during this time frame? Just curious if the week leading up to Thanksgiving or the week following typically sees higher crowds or if both are pretty equal in numbers - in 'normal years.'

 

[deedeew80]

We were originally booked for the last week of August on a free dining package, but then we rescheduled for 11/28-12/7 and we are still going!!!

 

[Lizgistix]

I have a 4 day/3 night stay booked in early November because I need a break from all this political stuff. I figure we'll go to bed one night and in the morning find out who the president is. Also want to squeeze one more use out of our AP before it expires in December (thank you 30 day extension!)

 

[gharter]

It clearly will be more crowded than the last few months, but I don't think it will be close to normal levels yet.

 

[princess jasmine 76]

How would you say it normally is (crowd wise) during this time frame? Just curious if the week leading up to Thanksgiving or the week following typically sees higher crowds or if both are pretty equal in numbers - in 'normal years.'

This is just an opinion (mine of course), and totally subjective. Lots of people might have perspectives different from mine and what they would deem as "busy". But for about the last 14 years I've travelled to DW during this time in November - the week prior to Thanksgiving, through Thanksgiving, then departing the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Back in 2006 it didn't seem very crowded to me at all, then as the years went by it seemed to gradually increase to whereas now I would deem that time to be busy. It used to be fairly quiet upon arrival (usually the Sunday before Thanksgiving) with crowds increasing the closer you got to Thanksgiving day, and over the last handful of years my family and I have found parks to be busy out of the gate upon arrival, while still increasing into and through Thanksgiving weekend. Long stand by queues for headliners and much more packed just trying to walk throughout the parks, obtaining fast pass and dining reservations. That said, we bit the bullet and skipped Thanksgiving one year did an xmas - after New Year's trip at the end of 2018 into 2019 and that was NOTHING in comparison. I had never seen it so busy, and even my hopes that the parks would die down in the days after New Years Day were shot down with intense crowds that prevailed until we left on Jan 7th. *The marathon weekend should not a have been a factor as that year it did not take place until Jan 12th. That period of time was a one and done for me!

 

[_19disnA]

Pre-covid, Disney would normally adjust ride capacity based on expected crowd levels by adjusting staffing levels. Clearly while covid remains an issue, there is also the added factor of the daily crowd capacity Disney has put in place (including no park hopping). Since they have cut back a number of employees, it isn't going to be something they can turn around overnight.

I don't think you can compare crowd levels to prior years when covid wasn't an issue. Covid remains a highly contagious disease and isn't going away with optimistic rhetoric or by being in denial. I think many people are taking that into account when making upcoming travel plans.

 

[Sarahboo]

Did you see Epcot hours changed for NOV??? We are going to be there Nov 7-14. I thought I had it all planned out - Epcot on Monday, I printed - last week - the park hours so I could easily cross-reference all 4 parks. Epcot was clearly 11am - 7pm ... now it lists 11am - 9pm!!! Woo-hoo!! More time for my hubby to ride 'Soarin! Not sure why the expanded hours, but we'll take it!

And, MK hours instead of 9am-7pm, is now 9am-8pm! Our 5 days of earlier nights now seems to be a LONG week of park-going!

Oh hey! I remember you from the Tokyo forum! We're going to overlap our trip with you a little at WDW, we'll be at the Boardwalk from the 10-15!

Anyway, all of that to say that we're pretty excited to go, and we're feeling comfortable with the mask regulations at the park. We're not taking our kids, this time, though.

 

[eva]

We plan to be at WDW Nov 28 - Dec 5. Have a bunch of DVC points to use up. We won’t be there over Thanksgiving. Plan to spend Nov 25-28 at Clearwater Beach. Really need this trip. We had to cancel a DCL cruise of the Norwegian fjords this year and an earlier WDW trip. Plus we had a trip to NYC planned in May, that of course had to be canceled.

 

[heybets30]

Oh hey! I remember you from the Tokyo forum! We're going to overlap our trip with you a little at WDW, we'll be at the Boardwalk from the 10-15!

Anyway, all of that to say that we're pretty excited to go, and we're feeling comfortable with the mask regulations at the park. We're not taking our kids, this time, though.

Saraboo! I remember your trip reports & reading all about your Japan adventures!! Yep, you can probably guess we are NOT going to Japan Nov 4-15 anymore! We figured we "settle" for WDW. It is a truly fortunate position we are able to have an alternate at all. If it were safer to fly among states, and DLR were open, we would've headed there to see my 83-yr old father-in-law & his wife. Given we will NOT fly on an airplane them spend time with them (don't hug grandma & grandpa wouldn't work for our kids or grandpa & grandma!), we thought - why the heck not! WDW here we come! No reason to waste perfectly good vacation time! We thought 5 days in parks would be plenty 1st trip to get a feel for the World!

Just made my park reservations this morning (After checking to make sure most FL schools are IN session on Veteran's Day) -
M: Epcot
Tu: MK
W: DHS
Th: AK
F: MK

Decided we HAVE to end at Magic Kingdom, just for full Disney. We opted 2 days MK instead of DHS since we do enjoy riding all the rides, sounds like so much to ride at MK, makes more sense for us to be able to ride our faves more than once. Our feet will be HURTING come Friday night!!!

 

[soniam]

Going week of Thanksgiving, starting the Thursday before. We have a non-refundable DVC rental. It will be busy. Probably the busiest it will have been since reopening.

 

[dachsie]

Arriving Sat after Thanksgiving and will be there thru 5th. Driving from TX

 

[sara_s]

I'll be there Nov 2-5. Hoping early November (thanks to no Halloween or Christmas parties) that it will be quieter.

 

[lcc2]

Going for Thanksgiving week...rescheduled from March (Spring Break).

 

[tinabina919]

We go every fall/winter but were going to skip this year until my sister suggested a big family trip for her oldest’s 8th bday in November. We all rented DVC points at 11 months out and long story short, everyone else has now canceled, taking a bit of a loss, while me and DH are still planning on going.

Only thing we are on the fence about is using our park tickets. I am waiting on hearing an end date for the “taste of F&W” before really deciding if we will use them or not.

edit to add we are going the week before thanksgiving and I do feel it will be busy.

It’s already getting crowded and with the extended hours and increased amount of commercials I am seeing I think it will only become more so.