Category — n. Approaching Dates at Disney World

OVERVIEW: NOVEMBER 2017 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews November 2017 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours; adds a few other notes; and ends with week by week summaries.

Very early, mid and late November are some of the best times of the year to visit Disney World, with cooler weather, low crowds, low prices, and fun special events.

Other parts of the month are not so good. Jersey Week see moderate crowds. Thanksgiving week, with high crowds and higher prices than the rest of the month, should be avoided.

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THANKSGIVING 2017 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Thanksgiving week at Walt Disney World is busy–particularly Wednesday through Saturday.

While not as crowded as some other holiday weeks–Easter and Christmas, for example–it can be very challenging, and the material below gives some hints on how to deal with it.

WALT DISNEY WORLD 2017 THANKSGIVING WEEK ITINERARY AND DINING

Park schedules indicate that this site’s Higher Crowd Itinerary mostly works for Thanksgiving Week, with one change and one however.

• The change is that you will be best off if you swap Thursday and Monday in both the itinerary and its To-Do List.
• The however is that the parks–especially the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom–may open an hour earlier than it indicates many days Thanksgiving week, and may also have morning Extra Magic Hours added as well–making the day start two hours earlier than indicated on the itineraries.

So you’ll need to stay in touch with schedules–even on the night before–to make sure when you need to arrive to beat park openings.  

Moreover, a couple of other things are worth noting.

• First, making the suggested change has you off mid-day on Thanksgiving, and at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Thanksgiving morning and evening, with counter service meals
• Believe me–that’s a wonderful way to spend Thanksgiving.  Hollywood Studios  likely will be the least crowded park (in the past, it would have been Animal Kingdom, but with the openings of Avatar and Rivers of Light and other evening options, I don’t expect it to be so in 2017), and you’ll need an afternoon break by this point in your vacation anyway.
• However, if you are looking for something both more formal and fun in your Thanksgiving meal, then consider skipping 50’s Prime Time and booking a mid-day table service meal elsewhere.

Note that to get a sit-down meal on Thanksgiving it’s critical that you make your dining reservations well in advance. See this for more.

SEEING EPCOT’S CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

Starting the day after Thanksgiving, Epcot is open thirty minutes later, and a special Christmas version of Illuminations is shown nightly at 9.30p rather than 9p. Moreover, the Candlelight Processional also begins the Friday after Thanksgiving.

UPDATED PARK SCHEDULES

You can get updated park operating hours when you arrive at Walt Disney World. If you want to know what’s up before then, check the park calendars a day or so before you depart for Florida on the My Disney Experience website. and while you are there as well.

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DISNEY WORLD’S SPECIAL CHRISTMAS PARTY IN 2017

While Christmas itself is December 25 of course, Walt Disney World provides a special Christmas celebration at the Magic Kingdom many nights in November and December.

This celebration is called “Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, or “MVMCP” for short.

At the party, many of the Magic Kingdom’s rides are open with really low waits, and cookies and hot chocolate, special events, a Christmas parade, special fireworks, and even snow (!) are offered.

The official Disney World page for this event (where you can also buy tickets) can be found here. For a review of the 2016 version of MVMCP, see this.

MORE ON MICKEY’S VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS PARTY

This party occurs from 7p-12MN on certain evenings at the Magic Kingdom in November and December.

The 2017 dates for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party are as follows:

• November 2017: 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 26 and 28
• December 2017: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21 and 22

You need to buy a special ticket for this party. This ticket is different from regular Walt Disney World park admission tickets.

• The special party ticket does not allow you to enjoy the rides and attractions of the Magic Kingdom before the Party starts–you need a regular ticket for that (note that you can usually enter and enjoy the rides as early as 4p–although your ticket will say 7p)
• Regular tickets used to enter the park earlier the day of a Party do not give you access to the Party–you need to have the special Party ticket

The party tickets are expensive, so why would first-time visitors be interested? A couple of potential reasons

• Evening fireworks shows are rare this time of year, so going to one of the parties is a way to guarantee you can see them
• Operating hours at the Magic Kingdom are shorter this time of year, so the Party allows you more time there within the same visit
• Walt Disney World sells only a limited number of tickets to each party, so the evening can be less crowded, particularly compared to whenever the Magic Kingdom is doing evening Extra Magic Hours that week

Many families go the first time for one of these reasons…and then going becomes a tradition!

On the other hand, families following one of the standard 8-night itineraries on this site will see the fireworks and evening parade, and have plenty of time at the Magic Kingdom. For that reason, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is not designed into this site’s pre-Thanksgiving itineraries.

It is, however, built in to this site’s Christmas-oriented Basic Itinerary, which works for the three weeks beginning the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

For details on what the party offers, suggested approaches, etc., see this!

Here’s the 2016 brochure–as always on this site, click to enlarge:

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OVERVIEW: OCTOBER 2017 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews October 2017 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours; adds a few other notes; and ends with week by week summaries.

Later October has some of the best times of the year to visit Disney World, with nice weather, low crowds, low prices, and fun special events.

The first half of the month is not so good, as

• The first week is still in the peak of the hurricane season
• Both the first and second week see extra crowds from fall breaks, and
• The second week sees higher prices from Columbus Day.

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OVERVIEW: SEPTEMBER 2017 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews September 2017 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours; adds a few other notes; and ends with week by week summaries.

September combines low crowds with low prices, and typically also has OK room rates and free dining deals as well.

This makes it a great month for returning visitors.

But it has lousy weather, combining continuing summer heat and humidity with the peak of the hurricane season, making me not so keen on the month for first time visitors who may never return.

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DISNEY WORLD’S 2017 INTERNATIONAL FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL AT EPCOT

Every year from late summer into mid-November Walt Disney World presents the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.

In 2017, the Festival will run from August 31st through November 13th.

There are two components to the festival, one available to all Epcot visitors, and another made up of a bunch of events which have limited capacity and require reservations.

Neither has an extra ticket admission cost–you get to participate by virtue of your theme park ticket–but there are cash costs for the food, beer and wine, and for entry to some special shows and events. [Read more →]