Thoughts on November vs. December 2019

[85glht]

The parks seem busy at all times of the year now (some timeframes more than others). So your guess is as good as mine... as most have mentioned, SWGE is the deal breaker... when that section opens, I expect crowds that rival Christmas week/ New Year’s Eve. If that is the time frame that your heart is set on, just do it and go have fun!

 

[Atrain13]

As of right now we are booked 12/8-12/15. I'm completely comfortable changing that as needed for GE. I'm very comfortable with missing GE, as much as it pains me to say that. I'm a huge fan of the original Star Wars series and I'm very much looking forward to seeing GE but with 2 young kids going when it's freshly opened, that just seems like a headache.

I hope it opens after our dates but going a week earlier is an option and maybe the wife would let us go the week before Thanksgiving......

 

[lovethesun12]

If you are planning to be there when GE opens my best advice is to forget about crowd levels. Go to the busiest store in your town/city on christmas eve and practice navigating around. Make sure you visit the busiest sections like toys. Wait in line to buy items. Then pretend the crowds are 50x bigger and the lines are 50x longer. You'll be more experienced then and half ready to to take on SWL =)

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I know no one has a crystal ball and can tell me this for sure, but I think I’m about to drive myself crazy deciding when to go next year. Just got back from a trip Nov 30-Dec 8th, which was my first December trip in 4 years. The crowds were quite a bit heavier than I remembered and expected for what the crowd calendar websites claim to be a low crowd time. Even Touring Plans underestimated the crowd levels pretty much every day of our trip (sometimes by as much as 5 levels). I’ve been looking at the predictions vs. actual levels for this week and looks like Monday at MK was an 8

We’ve been planning on 9 nights sometime between Dec 2nd and the 15th next year, but with Thanksgiving being so late next year (the 28th), I’ve been wondering if the crowds will be better the week before Thanksgiving? I’m worried early December will see the people that typically go the week after Thanksgiving AND the people that usually go the first week of December.. along with everyone who booked December as “late Fall” for Star Wars.

I’ve never been in late November so I’m seeking the advice of veteran Nov/Dec visitors! I know Star Wars is going to create chaos for either time period.. I’m just looking for your thoughts on which one will be less chaotic

Oh and we are apart of the crazy group of people who are planning on seeing Galaxy’s Edge if it is open when we are there (hopefully by some form of hard ticket or preview event )

This is a tough call...so much up in the air that time of year.

I'd personally go with whatever you think works best for your schedules. Later obviously has a better chance of seeing Galaxy's Edge. I think both of those time periods will have significant but manageable crowds and your best plan is a great touring plan and good fastpass selections!

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I’ve been thinking about it for a few weeks and after hearing how crazy the crowds were during the second and third weeks of December this year I’m thinking of pushing next year’s trip to right before Thanksgiving. Still need a few days to get the opinion of my traveling party (this is going to be a big family trip)

We are AP holders and I know we will be back in 2020, so it’s not extremely important that we get to ride and see everything. I really just want DH to see Disney at Christmas. Plus, we have a trip planned for September 2019 to hopefully experience low crowds before the Star Wars craziness. I guess I’m tired of analyzing it and I’m just taking the “whatever happens, happens” viewpoint now

 

[kathy884]

Not 2018 (didn't go), but in 2017 we were disappointed in how crowded the week before Thanksgiving week was. Our predicted crowd level 6 days ended up being 8s. Much of that I believe was because of Hurricane Irma in Sept. and people rebooking for that November time due to previous plans having to be changed. If you are looking for Christmas decorations, it's probably a decent time to try. Just commenting that best guesses on crowds can be off with unforeseen things.

My major disappointment in the overall timeframe that time of year is the MK -- With parties if you are doing a single MK day all your choices aren't that wonderful, (1) you have short days with no fireworks, but low crowds, (2) a crowded / oversold party that both DS and I are in the camp of one and done, or (3) a full day at the MK with heavy crowds. I prefer the short MK day with low crowds; DS prefers the full day to see the fireworks, but the way the parties skew the crowds is disappointing (I end up going with his preference). But I am actually avoiding this entire issue by going in early March instead. Obviously with the goal to see Christmas decorations in your case you can't get around this. Also, if you have multiple MK days you can split the difference. It's just lol a pet peeve of mine about the pre Christmas season.

 

[aml3679]

Five years ago, we went the 1st 2 weeks in December (which supposedly was supposed to be one of the least crowded times of the year) and were disappointed. It was crowded and extremely hot. We are heading for vacation from January 5th until the 12th and hoping for less crowds and cooler weather.

 

[Imamom2]

2021 is the 50th anniversary of wdw, Many, many projects are opening that year, its sure to bring epic crowds all across property

2021 will be challenging for sure - watching these boards and sharing information will really help us plan. Thanks for all you do!

 

[FireflyFi]

Interesting to read all the opinions here this is something I've been mulling over as it will be my first trip back since 2015 and my fiance's first trip ever. He is a big fan of SW, but I'm not. I'm very keen to see the Christmas decorations (it's been two years since I've seen them somewhere in the world ). I'm considering going before Thanksgiving, but I'm wondering if only the main decorations will be up at that point. So, will hotels be decorated? Will epcot be having Christmas stories and the candlelight processional? And... Perhaps a curveball question, do we think Disney will even announce the actual opening of SW with enough time for people to really be able to swamp with bookings...?

 

[jabrabu]

I have reservations at Fort Wilderness for Thanksgiving week (Nov 24-30). I figure if SWGE is open then we can check it out. There will probably be some extra hours for people staying on property, and hopefully we can get some FastPasses, so we might be able to manage the crowds somewhat. If SWGE is not open yet, hopefully a lot of people will be waiting for that so crowds won't be too bad.