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OVERVIEW: NOVEMBER 2015 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews November 2015 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours; adds a few other notes; and ends with week by week summaries.

Mid-November has some of the best times of the year to visit Disney World, with cooler weather, low crowds, low prices, and fun special events.

The beginning of the month is not so good, with moderate crowds from Jersey Week. Thanksgiving week, with high crowds and higher prices than the rest of the month, should be avoided.

NOVEMBER 2015 CROWDS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

November has high, low and moderate crowd weeks.

On a crowd scale of 1-11, the week beginning 10/31 has a crowd rating of 5/moderate minus, the week beginning 11/7 3/low, the week beginning 11/14 2/low, and the week beginning 11/22 10/higher.

However, because of the Christmas Party and the Food and Wine Festival, you can face higher much waits if you go to the parks on the wrong days. See this for how to avoid these crowds.

See this for more on 2015 crowds at Disney World.

NOVEMBER 2015 PRICES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

November 2015 prices begin 10% higher than the lowest of the year at the values, 8% higher at the moderates, and 10% higher at the deluxes.

Other than a bump over the Jersey Week (11/6 to 11/8) weekend, prices stay this level until November 21 at the values and moderates and November 24 at the deluxes, when they bump for Thanksgiving. On November 28th, prices revert to the same as at the beginning of the month.

See this for more on 2015 resort hotel prices at Walt Disney World.

NOVEMBER 2015 DEALS AND DISCOUNTS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Deals are available for November 2015. Details are here.

NOVEMBER 2015 WEATHER AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Early November weather can be about as good as Orlando gets. Over the course of the month, lower and much more variable temps emerge. Days can be perfect or quite cool.

Click the image, or go to Weather and When to Go to Disney World, for more on temperatures.

NOVEMBER 2015 SPECIAL EVENTS

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party has its last show November 1..

The Epcot International Food and Wine Festival continues through November 16.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party kicks off November 8.

NOVEMBER 2015 OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Park operating hours vary by the day, and sometimes change without notice. It is rare for hours to be shorter than Disney has publicized, but Disney may lengthen them in response to unanticipated crowds.

The best way to keep up with operating hours is to check Disney’s official calendars, usually available six months in advance.

These calendars can be found by clicking the following links:

WEEK BY WEEK COMMENTS FOR NOVEMBER 2015 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD BY ARRIVAL DATE

The week rankings that follow below are from 2015 weeks to visit, ranked in order, and are designed for first-time visitors who do not know whether or not they will return.

Click the image for a calendar view of 2015 weeks (when open, keep clicking to enlarge.)

10/31/2015 Jersey Week. Low prices at values and deluxes, moderate prices in moderates. Moderate-minus crowds. Crowd ranking=5. Week ranking=15. Use the FastPass+ Lower Crowd Itinerary, but swap First Sunday and Wednesday in both the itinerary and its To-Do List
11/7/2015 Low prices at values and deluxes, moderate prices in moderates. Low crowds. Crowd ranking=3. Week ranking=7. Recommended week. Use the FastPass+ Lower Crowd Itinerary, but swap First Sunday and Wednesday in both the itinerary and its To-Do List
11/14/2015 Low prices at values and deluxes, moderate prices in moderates. Lower crowds. Crowd ranking=2. Week ranking=4. Recommended week. Use the FastPass+ Lower Crowd Itinerary, but swap First Sunday and Wednesday in both the itinerary and its To-Do List
11/21/2015 Thanksgiving week. High prices at values, moderate prices in moderates and deluxes. Higher crowds. Crowd ranking=10. Week ranking=40. Use the FastPass+ Higher Crowd Itinerary, but swap First Sunday and Wednesday in both the itinerary and its To-Do List
11/28/2015 Low prices at values and deluxes, moderate prices in moderates. Low crowds. Crowd ranking=3. Week ranking=1. Recommended week. Use the Basic December Itinerary, but swap Wednesday and Thursday in both the itinerary and its To-Do List

MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

For when to go to Walt Disney World, see this
For the best and worst times to visit, see this
For forecasting crowds at Walt Disney World, see this
- For the 2015 Crowd Calendar, click here
- For the 2016 Crowd Calendar, click here
For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this
- For 2015 price seasons, see this
- For projected 2016 price seasons, see this
For weather at Walt Disney World, see this

Want a second opinion? Then check out my book lol.

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THANKSGIVING 2015 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 2015 THANKSGIVING WEEK ITINERARY AND DINING

Park schedules indicate that this site’s FastPass+ Itinerary for High-Crowd Weeks mostly works for Thanksgiving Week, with one change and one however.

The change is that you need to swap First Sunday and Wednesday in both the itinerary and its To-Do List.
The however is that the parks–especially the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom–likely will 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. As these openings are announced I’ll update this page, but see below for links to Disney’s calendars.

Moreover, a couple of other things are worth noting.

First, this itinerary has you off on Thanksgiving morning, and at the Animal Kingdom park Thanksgiving afternoon, with all meals at counter service joints.

Believe me–that’s a wonderful way to spend Thanksgiving. Animal Kingdom likely will be the least crowded park, and you’ll need a low-impact day by this point in your vacation anyway.

However, if you are looking for something both more formal and fun in your Thanksgiving dinner (not necessarily in menu, but in ambiance and waiters and such), then consider moving your Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue reservations from First Sunday evening (changed from Wednesday, remember?) to Thursday evening.

A more formal option would be to take advantage of the nearness of the Animal Kingdom Lodge–just a short bus ride away–and book dinner at Boma or Jiko there.

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.

Even though Epcot will be quite crowded Friday, you may wish to swap the Monday and Friday itineraries to see these elements of Epcot’s Christmas program.

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, and then while you are there as well.

Click the links for park calendars

And Disney veterans–please feel free to add more suggestions for Thanksgiving dinner at Walt Disney World to the comment box below!

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For the first page of this review of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, see this.

THE POOLS AT DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

There are three pools at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

A small pool centered within the three accommodation buildings in the Cars area
A large pool, the “Big Blue Pool” between the two Finding Nemo accommodations buildings
A good sized pool in the center of the three Little Mermaid buildings

There’s no pool between the two Lion King buildings. I view this as a feature, not a bug, as it means suites there don’t get pool noise, but are still just a short walk from the pools in the Little Mermaid and Nemo areas.

THE CARS POOL AT ART OF ANIMATION

The Cars pool is meant to represent half of a tire.

It is unique among the value resort pools in having cabanas–the traffic cones shaped thingies in the image.

Curiously small even for a secondary pool, there’s not remotely enough room here for the guests in the three Cars buildings–but the Big Blue pool isn’t far.

THE BIG BLUE POOL AT ART OF ANIMATION

The Big Blue Pool between the two Finding Nemo buildings is the main pool at Art of Animation, and is where you’ll find most pool-related amenities.

Its claims to fame include that it’s the largest single-tank pool at a Disney owned resort (the three tanks at Stormalong Bay are collectively larger) and that music plays under the water. Since I sing “Born to be Wild” all the time in the tub, not that big a deal for me–but the underwater music really delights kids!!

Besides the main pool, you’ll also find a kids splash play area dominated by an object that you may recognize from Finding Nemo. Otherwise, you will wonder if McDonald’s is sponsoring the pool…

At poolside is Art of Animation’s bar…

…with a refillable mug station.

Movies are shown at the pool in the evenings.

Longtime readers of this site will know I love night shots of pools:

THE LITTLE MERMAID POOL AT ART OF ANIMATION

The third pool at Art of Animation is in the Little Mermaid area.

It has no amenities in particular, but is large enough to be a sound option for those who don’t want to walk the extra five minutes from the somewhat-distant Little Mermaid area to the Big Blue Pool.

At night.

MATERIAL IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

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For the first page of this review of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, see this.

AMENITIES AT DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

Most amenities at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort except the pools and Skyliner station are in its central “Animation Hall” area.

Here you’ll find the loveliest lobby, by far, among the value resorts. The check-in area…

…the side wall that separates it from the gift shop…

…and note the art on the back wall. On one visit, characters from Winnie the Pooh were greeting as we checked in!

Outside you’ll find the bus stops. With one stop, and no bus sharing, Art of Animation has the best bus service among the values.

On the topic of transportation, Art of Animation shares with Pop Century the distinction of being the only values on the new Disney World Skyliner gondola system to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

It shares a Skyliner station with Pop Century, on the bridge connecting the two resorts over Hourglass Lake. From this station, you ride to the main hub, at Caribbean Beach, and re-board there for either the Epcot or Hollywood Studios lines.

Back inside, between the lobby and the food court you’ll find the large gift shop.

THE POOLS AT DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

This review continues here.

MATERIAL IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

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Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

THE HISTORY OF SPLASH MOUNTAIN

By Jim Korkis

The Splash Mountain attraction in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom is very loosely based on some of the incidents in the animated sections of the still controversial Disney live action film “Song of the South” (1946).

In the ride, Brer Rabbit runs away from home and finds himself in more adventures than he intended.

He continually outwits Brer Fox and Brer Bear until he is trapped in honey (rather than the politically incorrect Tar Baby in the movie), and taken to Brer Fox’s lair to be eaten.

As in the movie, he convinces Brer Fox to toss him into the spiky Briar Patch where the plucky rabbit survives because he was born and bred in it so he is intimately familiar with it.

The grand finale of that water flume drop into the briar patch has the Oscar winning “Zip a Dee Doo Dah” song being sung by critters on a massive rocking showboat as Brer Rabbit re-discovers the comforts of the home he tried to abandon.

2014 marked the 25th anniversary of the Splash Mountain attraction. Splash Mountain opened at Disneyland on July 17, 1989 and exactly three years later on July 17, 1992 at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.

(Officially, the attraction was dedicated at Magic Kingdom on October 2, 1992 but was up and running as a “soft opening” for roughly over two months during that summer beginning July 17.)

The two versions share many similarities and a handful of differences.

At Walt Disney World, the project was supervised by Imagineer Eric Jacobson. For Disneyland, it had been created by Imagineers Tony Baxter along with Bruce Gordon and John D. Stone.

There had to be some significant exterior color changes to blend into the WDW Frontierland color scheme (rather than the reddish Georgia looking coloring at Disneyland) and the music has more of a country-western feeling with banjos and harmonicas.

There are significantly more audio-animatronics characters in the Disneyland version because they were rescued from the “America Sings” attraction. In Florida, there are fewer such figures because they were expensive to build.

The length of Magic Kingdom’s flume is 2,600 feet with four drops, while Disneyland is 2,640 feet with five drops.

However, at its core, the attraction is basically the same.

When new CEO Michael Eisner was given his first tour of Imagineering in 1984 where new projects could be pitched to him, Tony Baxter and the Splash Mountain model had been pushed into a back corner because there were so many other presentations championed by senior Imagineers.

Eisner brought along his fourteen year old son, Breck Eisner, who while his dad was being shown the projects that WDI had on its top agenda, wandered over to the Splash Mountain model. Toward the end of his tour, Eisner noticed his son in the back and came over and found that his son really liked the model.

Eisner decided that if his son was so intrigued that others of his demographic group would be as well, and gave the green light to the attraction.

Possible names proposed for the attraction included “Song of the South Log Flume Ride”, “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”, and “Zip-a-Dee River Run”.

At one point, Eisner looked at the model and said, “It’s a mountain…you have a big splash at the end…it’s Splash Mountain.”

* * * * *

Thanks, Jim! Come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis.

In the meantime, check out his books, including The Vault of Walt, Who’s Afraid of the Song of the South?, and The Book of Mouse, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: APRIL 11 TO APRIL 19, 2015

The material below details operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

The same stuff is in the image, but organized by park, not by topic. For more on April 2015 at Walt Disney World, click here.

Note that typos happen, and schedules change! If something seems odd, or if you want to double check, use the calendar links near the bottom to get the latest official Disney World scoop.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/11/-4/19/2015

The Magic Kingdom will be open 8a-1a 4/11, 9a-11p 4/12, 9a-12Mn 4/13 and 4/14, 9a-11p 4/15, 9a-12MN 4/16 and 4/17, 8a-12MN 4/18, and 9a-11p 4/19

Epcot will be open from 9a-9p every day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 8a-9.30p 4/11, 9a-8p 4/12; 9a-9.30p 4/13; 9a-8p 5/14 through 4/17; 9a-8.30p 4/18 and 9a-8p 4/19

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 8a-7p 4/11; 9a-8p 4/12; 9a-6p 4/13; 9a-7p 4/14; 9a-6p 4/15; 9a-7p 4/16; 9a=6p 4/17 and 9a-7p 4/18 and 4/19

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/11/-4/19/2015

Saturday 4/11 Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 4/12 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Monday 4/13 Morning: none Evening: Hollywood Studios

Tuesday 4/14 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Wednesday 4/15 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

Thursday 4/16 Morning: Magic Kingdom Evening: none

Friday 4/17 Morning: none Evening: Epcot

Saturday 4/18 Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 4/19 Morning: Animal Kingdom Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/11/-4/19/2015

The Magic Kingdom:

Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: noon and 3p 4/11; 3p 4/12 through 4/19
Evening Main Street Electrical Parade: 10.15p and 12.15a 4/11; 9 and 11p 4/12 through 4/19

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/11-4/19/2015

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 9p 4/11; 10p 4/12 through 4/19

Illuminations at Epcot: 9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 8.30 and 10p 4/11; 8.30p 4/12; 8.30 and 10p 4/13; 8.30 p 4/14 through 4/17; 8.30 and 10p 4/18; 8.30p 4/19

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/11/-4/19/2015

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/11/-4/19/2015

See this for forecasts.

DISCLAIMER

Everything is subject to change and typos! Check the Disney Calendars for updates and official schedules. These calendars can be found by clicking the following links:

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Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

November 2015 at Walt Disney World

OVERVIEW: NOVEMBER 2015 AT DISNEY WORLD

NOVEMBER 2015 CROWDS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

NOVEMBER 2015 PRICES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

NOVEMBER 2015 DEALS AND DISCOUNTS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

NOVEMBER 2015 WEATHER AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

NOVEMBER 2015 SPECIAL EVENTS

NOVEMBER 2015 OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

WEEK BY WEEK COMMENTS FOR NOVEMBER 2015 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD BY ARRIVAL DATE

MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

Thanksgiving 2015 at Walt Disney World

THANKSGIVING 2015 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

WALT DISNEY WORLD 2015 THANKSGIVING WEEK ITINERARY AND DINING

SEEING EPCOT’S CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

UPDATED PARK SCHEDULES

The Pools at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

THE POOLS AT DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

THE CARS POOL AT ART OF ANIMATION

THE BIG BLUE POOL AT ART OF ANIMATION

THE LITTLE MERMAID POOL AT ART OF ANIMATION

MATERIAL IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

Amenities at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort

AMENITIES AT DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

THE POOLS AT DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

MATERIAL IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S ART OF ANIMATION RESORT

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

A Friday Visit With Jim Korkis: The History of Splash Mountain

THE HISTORY OF SPLASH MOUNTAIN

MORE DISNEY WORLD HISTORY POSTS FROM JIM KORKIS

Next Week (April 11 Through April 19, 2015) at Walt Disney World

DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: APRIL 11 TO APRIL 19, 2015

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/11/-4/19/2015

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/11/-4/19/2015

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/11-4/19/2015

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/11/-4/19/2015

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 4/11/-4/19/2015

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