Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is also the last weekend of the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot and during the Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon weekend it can be pretty crowded.

But if you have limited choices and can only go when MCPS is out, it's probably still the best time to go, right?

If you have no other choice than it will be fine. The weekend will be crowded but Monday and Tuesday should be fine.

Anonymous wrote:That is also the last weekend of the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot and during the Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon weekend it can be pretty crowded.

But if you have limited choices and can only go when MCPS is out, it's probably still the best time to go, right?

Book tickets and meals 6 months out. You can cancel restaurants 24 hours in advance to avoid being charged, but best to have a few sit down meals booked if you want them (we did 1 per day - it was a very nice break). If you're staying offsite how are you thinking of getting to the parks? Parking is $20/day. You can book your FP's 30 days out, definitely do it. We had the most like booking them for the afternoon and getting to the parks early. We were able to do most of the rides from opening until 11am, then had lunch and did the FP's in the afternoon. It was a great trip. We went over Thanksgiving, which is insanely busy.

That is also the last weekend of the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot and during the Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon weekend it can be pretty crowded.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone! This is very helpful. We're talking about going in early November, the weekend before Election Day, since in MCPS there's no school that Monday and then school is closed for Election Day. (Don't worry, we'll vote absentee ). I'm happy to see the Port Orleans recommendation because hat hotel has the most reasonable rates.

Yep, everyone is going that week (I know a half dozen mcps families from our school alone). And that's NJ week, too.

Early November is a wonderful time to go, but as others have said, the weather may not be swimmable. That was fine for us.

We stayed once at the Contemporaryand and once at Animal Kingdom and they are very different experiences. The Contemporary was wonderfully conventient to Magic Kingdom and easy to get to other parks because of the monorail. So I would recommend this hotel if you are going to be going all out for the parks. Just request a room away from Chef Mickey. The Animal Kingdom was a world onto itself and we just enjoyed hanging out there. Our room overlooked the Savannah and the kids loved it. We went to the parks but it wasn't our priority. The bus is about a 35 minute ride to many of the parks so it isn't an easy trip.

Everyone is different, but we schedule one sit down meal every day to just relax and recoup. Disney is wonderful, but it is a ton of stimulation!

I second the recommendation to use a Disney travel agent. We use Jennifer Kozlow (from Old Town) from glass slipper congeriege to help us plan. She can help tremendously with scheduling.

That sounds like a good plan. We went for the first time during an MCPS 4 day weekend with similarly aged kids. We stayed off site but went again and stayed on site. It was much better staying on site. We got a great deal and stayed at the Polynesian. Orlando isn't very nice and we preferred the second time being inside Disney, taking the Magical Express and not having to drive. I think any on site hotel would be better than off site.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone! This is very helpful. We're talking about going in early November, the weekend before Election Day, since in MCPS there's no school that Monday and then school is closed for Election Day. (Don't worry, we'll vote absentee ). I'm happy to see the Port Orleans recommendation because hat hotel has the most reasonable rates.

riverside and the Coronado are the mid-range resorts. We've stayed at both with our 6 and 8 yr olds and loved them both.

Keep in mind, the pools are semi heated, but it might still be too chilly to swim for long. On the flip side, disney is decorated for Christmas and there's "snow fall" at Hollywood Studios at night.

Thanks everyone! This is very helpful. We're talking about going in early November, the weekend before Election Day, since in MCPS there's no school that Monday and then school is closed for Election Day. (Don't worry, we'll vote absentee ). I'm happy to see the Port Orleans recommendation because hat hotel has the most reasonable rates.

Work with an agent

If you feel really overwhelmed, work with an agent! Most are free and they know the parks inside and out. I didn't (so can't make a recommendation), but I'm sure someone else can.

--If money were no object, I'd stay in a monorail hotel (Contemporary, Polynesian, Grand Floridian). If money is important, I'd stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge (great theming) or Port Orleans French Quarter.

--I'd stay the extra day, because adding on extra days after Day 3 is only like 20 bucks a ticket or so.

--I'd buy tickets ahead of time so I could make Fast Passes at 60 days out.

--I'd make a few dinner reservations, but not go crazy.

When in November are you going? Thanksgiving is horribly crowded.

We stayed at kidani village and loved it to pieces. My advice is, get a bottle of wine and make a plan--and make sure it includes sit down restaurants. They will be a welcome break from the madness.

And avoid buffets.

Well, start with a bottle of wine,, maybe two. I'm only partially kidding. I think 4 1/2 days sounds just about right. When in Nov are you going?

I've researched all the other threads on Disney but they made me have more questions. . So, if you were going to Disneyworld for the first time with your 11 year old DD and 9 year old DS for 4.5 days in November, where would you stay (inside or outside the park) and why? And also, if you could extend your time there by another day, would you?

Thanks!