Early November Travelers! For those arriving Nov 1 ~ Nov. 17

[DisneyLover75]

aww!! Your welcome!!

DisneyLover75~ Hi!! You are gonna be there FOREVER!! I am jealous!!! I think your plan looks good...you have a lot more TS times planned than I usually do,but if you think y'all would enjoy it then go for it! My family doesn't want to spend that much time sitting in a restaurant,so we do one per day--usually a dinner and just CS for lunch. We used to go to HS twice a week too, DH loves, loves, loves those Street Characters!!! so, we do a whole day, then a half day and go to Epcot for dinner. This last year we only did one day there, but we got to see them perform quite a bit that day, so it worked out.

Yes, I actually had only planned to be there a week, from like saturday to saturday or something like that. Unfortunately in order to get the free dining, we had to check in by the 15th, and then exactly a week from that was thanksgiving day.. but the whole idea was to spend thanksgiving in Disney. So I had to extend it.. I thought, ok, I'll come home on the sunday (25th) but then I tried to price out flights, and omg the flights on that day (or any day between 11/21 and 11/26) are INSANE!

So we extended it all the way out to 11/27, when the airfare is finally better. It was actually cheaper to stay in WDW than pay like $380 per person for a one way flight.

I'm not overly delighted about taking the kids out of school that long. I'm hoping that the kids will be able to bring some of their homework with them. Either way, there will be a lot of make up work to do.

But, homework notwithstanding, it should be a wonderful time.

We do enjoy our table service meals! If the kids weren't with us, I'd make even more ADRs! Well, maybe not.. the tips would kill me! A lot of times, I overbook my meals, and when we're there, I decide against it, and cancel before the penalty for no show. We'll see, that may happen this time too.

Thanks for the kind words!

 

[Carriehalty78]

Just wanted to jump on this thread since we coming at the first part of November! We just added a day to our trip and changed resorts, changed our flights and still came out $100 saved!

We are staying at All Star Music with free QS dining, I can't get my husband to commit to restaurants and be happy about it lol. This is our third trip but the first time we are going in November; we went in June this year and May of last year...so the crowds were fairly busy. How is the weather in November usually? Anybody know much about All Star Music and the buses during this time of year (oh btw we are staying Nov 9-17). Hoping for small crowds so that we can relax and enjoy ourselves...June was too busy and too hot. I know the first weekend is busy but how about the rest of our week? I can't ever figure out Touring Plans, they rank the days pretty close to when we went last May (the last week) and that was pretty active...is it really that busy? I was hoping for low crowds!!

Thanks for any advice or tips you all might have! Can't wait for this trip!!

 

[Carriehalty78]

Yes, I actually had only planned to be there a week, from like saturday to saturday or something like that. Unfortunately in order to get the free dining, we had to check in by the 15th, and then exactly a week from that was thanksgiving day.. but the whole idea was to spend thanksgiving in Disney. So I had to extend it.. I thought, ok, I'll come home on the sunday (25th) but then I tried to price out flights, and omg the flights on that day (or any day between 11/21 and 11/26) are INSANE!

So we extended it all the way out to 11/27, when the airfare is finally better. It was actually cheaper to stay in WDW than pay like $380 per person for a one way flight.

I'm not overly delighted about taking the kids out of school that long. I'm hoping that the kids will be able to bring some of their homework with them. Either way, there will be a lot of make up work to do.

But, homework notwithstanding, it should be a wonderful time.

We do enjoy our table service meals! If the kids weren't with us, I'd make even more ADRs! Well, maybe not.. the tips would kill me! A lot of times, I overbook my meals, and when we're there, I decide against it, and cancel before the penalty for no show. We'll see, that may happen this time too.

Thanks for the kind words!

Talking about taking the kids out of school this is the first time we will be doing that. They are both in 6th grade. How hard is it, does the school give you a hard time?? Whats a good way to go about requesting that time off for them and wording it so that it sounds like a good thing lol! They will be missing 5 days, but we fly out on Friday night...if possible we could fly out a few hours earlier that day but they would have to miss half a day that day too (not as important, Im ok with getting in to Disney at 945pm-just hope we can still get ME to get our luggage). Is that too much? My kids do really well in school if that matters.

 

[Suelala]

Just wanted to jump on this thread since we coming at the first part of November! We just added a day to our trip and changed resorts, changed our flights and still came out $100 saved!

We are staying at All Star Music with free QS dining, I can't get my husband to commit to restaurants and be happy about it lol. This is our third trip but the first time we are going in November; we went in June this year and May of last year...so the crowds were fairly busy. How is the weather in November usually? Anybody know much about All Star Music and the buses during this time of year (oh btw we are staying Nov 9-17). Hoping for small crowds so that we can relax and enjoy ourselves...June was too busy and too hot. I know the first weekend is busy but how about the rest of our week? I can't ever figure out Touring Plans, they rank the days pretty close to when we went last May (the last week) and that was pretty active...is it really that busy? I was hoping for low crowds!!
Thanks for any advice or tips you all might have! Can't wait for this trip!!

Early November is my favorite time to go, for crowds AND weather. After the F&W fest ends (thru the 12th this year) Epcot will be much easier to navigate. Try looking at easywdw.com; they show a day-by-day look at projected attendance for each park. It seems sound, but this will be the first time I have used it. The weather in early November is usually quite warm,especially during the day,but not unbearable like summer. I have never experienced any rain at that time of year, knock on wood!
I stayed at All Star Music once, and thought the bus service was great, but that was a few years ago!
Have a wonderful trip!

 

[Suelala]

QUOTE=Hoodie;45630221]I cannot believe I haven't seen this thread. We're arriving on the 3rd and staying until the 8th at POR. With my inlaws and my parents in tow. Oh and my best friend (who will be at FW with her hubby) and various other "guests"

First time with 2 small kiddos in tow. I'm varying between being a nervous wreck and REALLY excited![/QUOTE]

Yay! A first trip is so exciting! Don't be nervous,be prepared! Lots of great info here, and if you dont see the answer to your questions, ask and someone will help you out! Bunch of experienced Disney experts here. (No, not me!) Hope you all have a wonderful time!

 

[DisneyLover75]

Talking about taking the kids out of school this is the first time we will be doing that. They are both in 6th grade. How hard is it, does the school give you a hard time?? Whats a good way to go about requesting that time off for them and wording it so that it sounds like a good thing lol! They will be missing 5 days, but we fly out on Friday night...if possible we could fly out a few hours earlier that day but they would have to miss half a day that day too (not as important, Im ok with getting in to Disney at 945pm-just hope we can still get ME to get our luggage). Is that too much? My kids do really well in school if that matters.

Actually, ever since they started second grade, I haven't pulled them out of school to go. So this will be a first for me too. My son has autism so it's not as big a deal to pull him, as he has no homework. But my daughter definitely does. My kids are in 3rd (son) and 4th (daughter) grades.. or will be, come fall.

She'll miss five or six days. I'm a little nervous about breaking this news to her teacher.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm in the same boat as some others here. I have pulled my daughter out for a week every year since kindergarten. We never got any grief from anyone at the grade school. Just a lot of "can I come along...."

Now she's going into 6th grade. We don't know anyone on staff at the Middle School any more. I'm planning to take her out for 6 days in early December. I'm a little nervous, but just assume we'll figure it out. She's my child, not theirs.

I do recall that we took my son out for 5 days in 6th grade (different school). And while they were all nice about it when we told them ahead of time, we still got hate mail from the school. I figure we lived to tell the tale (he's starting his Sophomore year of college this year), so what happens will just have to happen.

My prior experiences have just reiterated to me how fast this time all goes and how we have to make the most of it while we can.

 

[FaerieFire]

Talking about taking the kids out of school this is the first time we will be doing that. They are both in 6th grade. How hard is it, does the school give you a hard time?? Whats a good way to go about requesting that time off for them and wording it so that it sounds like a good thing lol! They will be missing 5 days, but we fly out on Friday night...if possible we could fly out a few hours earlier that day but they would have to miss half a day that day too (not as important, Im ok with getting in to Disney at 945pm-just hope we can still get ME to get our luggage). Is that too much? My kids do really well in school if that matters.

I didn't take DS out of school for his first trip last year — mostly because he'd had two bad colds already that school year and was up to the maximum "unexcused" absences (8 days in our district). We went during spring break, which was busier than I remembered it being from my last trip but not as terrible as I had expected from the talk online. When we talked subsequently about our ideal WDW vacation, he wanted to do both MNSSHP and MVMCP, so that kind of dictated the timeframe we were taking about this time, and I was looking at him missing 8 days just for this vacation, hoping desperately that his principal is one who will accept the educational (and family) benefit of a trip to WDW. But when the district published their calendar, it turned out they had a holiday and three teacher workdays during that period, so he'll only miss 4 days of school.

I'm planning on asking for his homework in advance, so he doesn't get behind, and I'm hoping to get an OK from both his teacher and principal. I have a list of educational benefits ready to give them if persuasion is needed.

I will tell you that when I researched taking him out, one of the few consistent warnings I saw was to avoid taking them out in 6th grade, due to the major changes involved in starting that grade (new school in most places, changing classrooms for the first time, heavier homework than they're used to, more after-school activities and sports, etc.). They also cautioned against doing it in junior or senior year of high school, especially later in the year, due to important events, classes, testing, etc. Our every-other-year plan has me considering switching the schedule one year, since DS will be in 2nd grade this fall, so 6th is a year we should be going.

That said, I think this is largely a matter of your kid, their teacher(s), their school district and principal. Feel them out about it, poll other parents who have done it in the past, see what you can do to minimize problems, and then decide if it's worth it for you and them. Even if they hadn't put in 4 days off during our planned timeframe, I think we'd still have gone and hoped for the best. As it is, I'm still going to do what I can to minimize the problems for everyone, so we can really enjoy it.

°o° Lace — Planning our second WDW adventure, 11/1-10 AoA-LM (Sent from my iPad using DISBoards)

 

[that's nice]

Hey Jen. I rarely venture out of the TRs section but I saw your thread. You can add me to the list POFQ 11/2-11/12.

I'm gong back to read....

If anyone is interested in the PTR it is in the signature...

 

[anjalee6]

We will also be there....November 2-5 @ AKL for our 10th anniversary trip!

 

[jenseib]

Hey Jen. I rarely venture out of the TRs section but I saw your thread. You can add me to the list POFQ 11/2-11/12.

I'm gong back to read....

If anyone is interested in the PTR it is in the signature...

Ummm, I'll think about it.

 

[Caretames1]

She's my child, not theirs.

My prior experiences have just reiterated to me how fast this time all goes and how we have to make the most of it while we can.

Couldn't have put it better.

We'll be pulling our daughter for 7 days this time (longest yet). I don't anticipate any issues as her past trip absences were ok'd, but if it comes to the point of an issue ever, I will just simply remind them of the fact I am her parent and I decide what is right for her and our family.


I also believe it is my responsibility as a parent to make sure that my daughters school work is done quickly on return or requirements are met. So far in my own experiences, a simple report (on the trip) was required by the teachers. I'm sure it will become more in the future as she goes on to middle and high school.

 

[mom2nik]

Just wanted to jump on this thread since we coming at the first part of November! We just added a day to our trip and changed resorts, changed our flights and still came out $100 saved!

We are staying at All Star Music with free QS dining, I can't get my husband to commit to restaurants and be happy about it lol. This is our third trip but the first time we are going in November; we went in June this year and May of last year...so the crowds were fairly busy. How is the weather in November usually? Anybody know much about All Star Music and the buses during this time of year (oh btw we are staying Nov 9-17). Hoping for small crowds so that we can relax and enjoy ourselves...June was too busy and too hot. I know the first weekend is busy but how about the rest of our week? I can't ever figure out Touring Plans, they rank the days pretty close to when we went last May (the last week) and that was pretty active...is it really that busy? I was hoping for low crowds!!

Thanks for any advice or tips you all might have! Can't wait for this trip!!

You will love the ASMu. We stayed there last year just about the same week as you and it was beautiful weather!! It was between 79-83 the whole trip My DD was 5 and swam in the guitar pool every day. The buses ran just fine. We never had to wait for a second and we always got a seat. I think its a great time to go. This year we are going Nov 6 & 7 staying at the Poly then off to a DCL cruise Cant wait. Much PIXIE DUST to everyone

 

[darguel]

In a bit of a dilemma now, we read from the poly resort thread that renovations are planned and underway for fall. Not sure to what extent it would affect us and we're not even sure when fall is! (From a tropical country so not sure when fall really ends!)

Has anyone come back recently frm Disney and can advise? Our next choice is the Boardwalk Inn or the Beach Club. Its our first trip to wdw so we're not sure if we would like Epcot or MK better. Its just the reviews abt long bus waits for the Epcot resorts which is putting us a bit off. And of course the fact that our adrs are all made with poly as our home base.

Shld we stick with the Poly or make the switch? What would you do?

 

[PixiePrincesses]

On the subject of taking kids out of school, 2 of my girls will be missing the last 3 days before Thanksgiving break- 1 in K, 1 in 11th. They're allowed 10 absences in a year, so they'll still have "sick days" if necessary. I'm completely confident it won't be an issue for my K child, but I have fears about my high schooler. My plan is to approach the teachers during open house in August, remind them again at Parent/Teacher conference a few weeks before we leave, and then email/call them all the week before to start getting work from them. I'm hoping her teachers allow her to complete everything she's going to miss, though I'm not sure i believe that they'll even be taught much right before Thanksgiving.

 

[Tracey Lee]

I changed resorts and am now staying at AKL (arriving on 11/15).

I am taking DD (who will be 16 when we go and a sophomore) out of school for 4 days. Last year she missed 3 for Disney and she missed over a week in 8th grade for Disney. Teachers are usually fine with it and she's given HW. And I find Thanksgiving week an easy week to miss. She will miss the Friday before and the Monday after and of course the Mon/Tues of Thanksgiving week. We are flying back on Monday (like a previous post) because of airline flights. Cheaper to stay an extra day than to pay the obscene flight prices!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

In a bit of a dilemma now, we read from the poly resort thread that renovations are planned and underway for fall. Not sure to what extent it would affect us and we're not even sure when fall is! (From a tropical country so not sure when fall really ends!)

Has anyone come back recently frm Disney and can advise? Our next choice is the Boardwalk Inn or the Beach Club. Its our first trip to wdw so we're not sure if we would like Epcot or MK better. Its just the reviews abt long bus waits for the Epcot resorts which is putting us a bit off. And of course the fact that our adrs are all made with poly as our home base.

Shld we stick with the Poly or make the switch? What would you do?

If it's saying Fall, they are probably talking about end of Sept, first of Oct...if you are concerned, maybe call the Poly direct and ask if they know the schedule for the Long houses to be worked on...did you request a certain long house? If so, you would know around when the construction would be....i would wait and see~ask them what kind of reno's they are talking about...if you have your heart set on being there, i wouldn't worry about it! If your room/longhouse is going to be under major reno, they would move you to a better view or room if they need to. They won't leave you high and dry!!
If on the other hand you don't even want to deal with it, I would recommend the BC!!! It's one of our favorite resorts! We are so spoiled to walking into the 'backdoor' of Epcot,..boating to HS and just wandering over the grounds. The only bus we used was to MK. (Or AK if you want to go there)....I think you would love being over there!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

99 DAYS!!!!!!

 

[Broncobilly83]

Has anyone heard about this in the Full November thread

wait! wait! and what are these articles i'm reading that the new fantasyland will only be open to passholders in november?!? please tell me im out of some special loop that has seen postings otherwise... it would be awful to be at disney world and have that open but not be allowed in what??? i get it if it's not ready but...

http://www.insidethemagic.net/2012/08/close-up-with-new-fantasyland-walt-disney-world-shares-sneak-peeks-of-little-mermaid-ride-be-our-guest-restaurant/

 

[smitch425]

Has anyone heard about this in the Full November thread

It was also posted in the BoG thread. Also in that thread, a CM posted that CM previews would be taking place on Nov. 28. From everything I have recently read, the whole area will open sometime in December.