*** Official November 2018 Thread - It's Turkey Lurkey Time! ***

[JustMeFran]

I saw it on one of the a couple of the other Nov/Dec travel boards I follow. I will have to go back, find it and check.
Honestly I would trust you guys all more!

 

[CynBeth]

Made our ADR for the Candlelight Processional!

 

[anitsa123]

Made our ADR for the Candlelight Processional!

Had to be at work but my husband was home today had him on the phone before I left and said he was on hold for 50 minutes but we got our ADR two. This will be our first time ever going to it. We usually go the week before Thanksgiving and leave the day before or/on Thanksgiving day back home so we always missed it cant wait I am so excited. Now just saving back for the Christmas party tickets.

 

[CynBeth]

Had to be at work but my husband was home today had him on the phone before I left and said he was on hold for 50 minutes but we got our ADR two. This will be our first time ever going to it. We usually go the week before Thanksgiving and leave the day before or/on Thanksgiving day back home so we always missed it cant wait I am so excited. Now just saving back for the Christmas party tickets.

We have seen it 4 times each with a different narrator and it has been amazing!

 

[Sarah_B]

I’ve never been to Disney during free dining and I am so frustrated by the fact that I wasn’t able to get 100% of my first choice restaurants. It’s just never happened to me before and I’m so spoiled.

 

[kpd6901]

Has anybody heard anything concrete regarding Category 1 seating for Mickey's Backyard BBQ on Thanksgiving Day? We now have a 2:30 and a 5pm ADR, both are category 2. There was never an option to even think about Category 1 upon booking. I called and the CM said it wasn't available. I asked further for clarification if it was sold out or simply not released yet. It just seemed odd that there would be no option. Would figure it would give you an option, but have category 1 greyed out if it was open but sold out. CM understood the difference between it being sold out vs not released yet,and she seemed to feel that from her end it looked as if it was indeed not yet released. Does anyone have any further insight or experience on how this works? Should I call in every morning? Do they often hold back the premium seating for Thanksgiving until closer? If my theory is correct, would I still be able to book it online or only over the phone? Yes, I am aware and ready to pay in full in advance for all 7 in my party. Thanks!

I’ve also been trying for category 1 on Thanksgiving for 5:00. I haven’t been able to get it. I just assumed it was sold out, but I continue to check religiously!

So after constantly checking online and calling about Category 1 for Thanksgiving Mickey's Backyard BBQ, something hit me. There is always only one dinner show each offered night. Premium seating also gets those folks in an hour earlier for a unique meet opportunity prior to everyone else arriving. With a roughly two hour time for meal and show, and only two and a half hours between show start times of the three shows, there's not enough time to get everyone out, clean up, and bring in category 1 people for the next show. So, I called.

CM just gave standard, none available right now reaponse, but then I explained, and she said, " you might be right" She didn't notice it at first then saw their daily calendar splits it up between premier and standard for every show night (only one show per night). Except Thanksgiving does NOT split it up. Again, her, plus she called another CM for another opinion and then thirdly triple checked with Guest Services, too. Everything for Thanksgiving is Category 2. She went way out of her way to confirm that three ways for me. Yeah, she got a good survey. Plus, she had time to kill...my hold time was only 2 minutes.

That means one less thing we need to keep checking on.

 

[jmg5342]

So after constantly checking online and calling about Category 1 for Thanksgiving Mickey's Backyard BBQ, something hit me. There is always only one dinner show each offered night. Premium seating also gets those folks in an hour earlier for a unique meet opportunity prior to everyone else arriving. With a roughly two hour time for meal and show, and only two and a half hours between show start times of the three shows, there's not enough time to get everyone out, clean up, and bring in category 1 people for the next show. So, I called.

CM just gave standard, none available right now reaponse, but then I explained, and she said, " you might be right" She didn't notice it at first then saw their daily calendar splits it up between premier and standard for every show night (only one show per night). Except Thanksgiving does NOT split it up. Again, her, plus she called another CM for another opinion and then thirdly triple checked with Guest Services, too. Everything for Thanksgiving is Category 2. She went way out of her way to confirm that three ways for me. Yeah, she got a good survey. Plus, she had time to kill...my hold time was only 2 minutes.

That means one less thing we need to keep checking on.

Awesome!!! Thanks so much for reporting back!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

@Newsies hello November!! We just booked for Nov 14-18 at POR. We’ve stayed at POR before but we did the Royal rooms when our girls were a bit younger and more princess crazy. This time around we’re staying alligator bayou with the pull down Murphy bed rooms so our daughters have sleeping flexibility. At any rate we’ve never been in November to WDW as a family. We’re very excited. Planning MK on the 15, likely attend MVMCP that night, DHS on the 16 and then AK on the 17. Drive home on 18 looking forward to counting down with everyone.

 

[Newsies]

@Newsies hello November!! We just booked for Nov 14-18 at POR. We’ve stayed at POR before but we did the Royal rooms when our girls were a bit younger and more princess crazy. This time around we’re staying alligator bayou with the pull down Murphy bed rooms so our daughters have sleeping flexibility. At any rate we’ve never been in November to WDW as a family. We’re very excited. Planning MK on the 15, likely attend MVMCP that night, DHS on the 16 and then AK on the 17. Drive home on 18 looking forward to counting down with everyone.

Welcome to the roll call!!

 

[SLim501]

I just booked our trip for Nov 11-16 at All-Star Sports. It is our first stay at a value resort, but it was the only way to get my husband to agree since we have already done 2 big non Disney vacations this year. We are excited. We are celebrating my son's 7th birthday. We last went to celebrate his 5th, so we are due. I feel like I am playing catch up because we usually book farther in advance. I can't wait! November can't get here soon enough!

 

[Newsies]

I just booked our trip for Nov 11-16 at All-Star Sports. It is our first stay at a value resort, but it was the only way to get my husband to agree since we have already done 2 big non Disney vacations this year. We are excited. We are celebrating my son's 7th birthday. We last went to celebrate his 5th, so we are due. I feel like I am playing catch up because we usually book farther in advance. I can't wait! November can't get here soon enough!

Welcome to the roll call!!

 

[Tass]

My family and I are planning a quick day and a half stop at Disney before heading to the beach for a few days. Other than being the week of Thanksgiving, is anything else going on at Disney Nov. 17-19? I have reservations for Pop, but am surprised at the lack of options at other resorts even at rack rate. It just made me curious as to whether there were groups there at this time. Thanks!

 

[julieanddanny]

11/17-24 CBR

Is anyone dining at 'ohana Thanksgiving week? I've been looking since 179 days (yes, I missed it!) and nothing!

 

[sandym718]

My family and I are planning a quick day and a half stop at Disney before heading to the beach for a few days. Other than being the week of Thanksgiving, is anything else going on at Disney Nov. 17-19? I have reservations for Pop, but am surprised at the lack of options at other resorts even at rack rate. It just made me curious as to whether there were groups there at this time. Thanks!

Can I ask which beach you’re going to? Have you been to the beach at this time of year before? We’re very likely going to stay at the beach for a few days over Thanksgiving before checking in to Disney on the 24th. Kids are out of school anyways after Tuesday, so why wait to head south?! Just wondering if it’s typically warm enough to enjoy beach time, even if we can’t get in the water? I’m thinking maybe we’ll do St. Augustine so if the weather is too cold, we can visit the historic sites. We’re in Ohio so the thought of Thanksgiving at the beach sounds wonderful

 

[yeheyprincex2]

11/17-24 CBR

Is anyone dining at 'ohana Thanksgiving week? I've been looking since 179 days (yes, I missed it!) and nothing!

I have been checking daily for ADR for 11/22-12/1, with zero luck. We have been lucky in the past to get a ADR a few weeks before our trip so I have not given up hope. i may also break down and sign up for the touring plans alert system I have heard about. good luck to ya

 

[kpd6901]

11/17-24 CBR

Is anyone dining at 'ohana Thanksgiving week? I've been looking since 179 days (yes, I missed it!) and nothing!

I have been checking daily for ADR for 11/22-12/1, with zero luck. We have been lucky in the past to get a ADR a few weeks before our trip so I have not given up hope. i may also break down and sign up for the touring plans alert system I have heard about. good luck to ya

As frustrating as it is to not have all of your ADRs set so that you can be ready for FP on Day 60, if you are at least a little flexible on your day off but time, I wouldn't worry too much. People have multiple reservations as backup plans if they need to switch their dates around when they can finally book other things then they drop the extraneous ADRs. I would advise to keep checking, setup on some reservation finders and watch the November ADR cancellation thread - you can't ask or say what you are looking for, just what people are looking to drop, then if you are interested, send a pm to schedule a time for them to drop and you to grab it. Again, try not to worry if you just want to be sure to fit it somewhere and maybe can swap a day or two within your schedule if needed.

 

[Tass]

Can I ask which beach you’re going to? Have you been to the beach at this time of year before? We’re very likely going to stay at the beach for a few days over Thanksgiving before checking in to Disney on the 24th. Kids are out of school anyways after Tuesday, so why wait to head south?! Just wondering if it’s typically warm enough to enjoy beach time, even if we can’t get in the water? I’m thinking maybe we’ll do St. Augustine so if the weather is too cold, we can visit the historic sites. We’re in Ohio so the thought of Thanksgiving at the beach sounds wonderful

We're going to Anna Maria Island (on the Gulf side). It's about a 2-hour drive from Disney. We have never been there, nor at a FL beach in November, so I can't comment on the weather from personal experience. Weather websites show temps in the upper 70's to mid 80's at that time of year. I'm not sure how warm the water will be for swimming though. Our kids are also out of school that week and it's an area we wanted to visit - our kids are older (high school and college), so they are content to just sit on the beach listening to music and taking in the scenery with us. If it's not beach weather, Tampa has aquariums, museums and Busch Gardens.

I've been to St. Augustine and it's a great town with lots of options if the weather doesn't cooperate for a beach visit. Have fun!

 

[julieanddanny]

I have been checking daily for ADR for 11/22-12/1, with zero luck. We have been lucky in the past to get a ADR a few weeks before our trip so I have not given up hope. i may also break down and sign up for the touring plans alert system I have heard about. good luck to ya

I've had the request on touring plans and wouldn't you know it - I got an alert this morning for 11/19 at 6:30pm and reserved it. I'm still searching though as it's not my preferred date. I had only asked because it seemed so odd to not see any availability- even really late at all that week. I was beginning to wonder if they were closed to refurb or something!

 

[lovingeire]

We're going to Anna Maria Island (on the Gulf side). It's about a 2-hour drive from Disney. We have never been there, nor at a FL beach in November, so I can't comment on the weather from personal experience. Weather websites show temps in the upper 70's to mid 80's at that time of year. I'm not sure how warm the water will be for swimming though. Our kids are also out of school that week and it's an area we wanted to visit - our kids are older (high school and college), so they are content to just sit on the beach listening to music and taking in the scenery with us. If it's not beach weather, Tampa has aquariums, museums and Busch Gardens.

I've been to St. Augustine and it's a great town with lots of options if the weather doesn't cooperate for a beach visit. Have fun!

Gulf water is normally warmer than the Atlantic. So that might up your chances of being able to swim. I always feel like the Gulf feels like bathwater in the summer so maybe it would actually be refreshing in November!

 

[Woth2982]

We are heading to the World November 8th (still don't know where we are staying yet) and Getting on the Dream for 3 nights the 9th. Staying at the Grand the 12-14 then heading home