For what its worth - Jersey Week Crowds

[franw]

I have been agonizing over what is in store for us after reading some of the posts about Jersey week. We had deliberately chosen that time period as I thought it would be really quiet and my parents have a hard time in crowds these days. I was beginning to think they should just stay in their resort after reading reports of the largest crowds ever last year. A CM called from reservations with questions (again) about the names of the parties in our rooms. For all it is worth, she said that they would have to have total hotel rooms booked three times the capacity of all the WDW resorts to have full parks and that the surrounding hotels are nowhere near that booked and just stay away from MGM and MK on the soaps weekend and we should not experience heavy crowds. She said that it is more crowded than the typical November crowds but does not compare with high season bookings. I sure hope she is right.

 

[Disney Ella]

I hope the crowds aren't too bad. Let us know when you get back. I am one New Jersey resident who won't be there.

 

[Julma]

We have been to WDW during Jersey week 4 times (96,98,00,01). The weather was always perfect. No rain and not too hot. Don't worry about the crowds, they were not bad at all. We would get to the parks early and with the exception of MK, they seemed almost empty. Enjoy the anticipation of your vacation and don't worry about the crowds, there aren't any.

 

[hightown]

Hi Franw, Had I not jumped on the Fairytale package right when it came out and moved my trip up, I would have been going with you in November.

We always go the Friday or Saturday at the end of Jersey week. It is busy but not so much that I wouldn't want to go. We don't go to MGM that weekend but we have done MK for EE on that Sunday. You can still do what you want to do early and leave by noon when the crowds come. We used Fasspass too last year and never had to before.

Veterans Day has been that Monday during our trip and that added to the crowds but I think this year, Vets day is actually Tuesday so there won't be the three day weekend crowds.

Food and Wine Festival will busy up Epcot some.

With this trip 9/1-9/8, I now see what NO crowds are like. Fasspass was mostly closed. 10 minute standby for Test Track. But with no crowds, I'll not go back in September. TOO TOO HOT.
I'll go back to our November trip next year. Wish we could go back this November but $$ won't let us.

Have a great time!
Sharon

 

[MinnieGi]

I would agree with what the cm told you about the crowds from our experience there last year. It is much more crowded than other days during value season in November but the crowds are not near the capacity level of summer, Christmas week and spring break.

However I would suggest using EE if on-site or doing the park after its EE day to help with the crowds. As others have said avoid MGM and MK on the weekends especially MGM during the Soaps weekend. The parks in their later hours and Epcot in the evenings is pretty sparse. Actually Epcot seemed pretty empty to us last Nov. even during the day. The hot spots seemed to be MK all week, heavier than normal for a value season. We seemed to have much more room in AK, MGM & Epcot during the weekdays.

Enjoy and I hope the weather is great like it was for us last year!!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Can someone please tell me just when Jersey Week is, and which weekend is Soaps Weekend?

 

[Pryncess'mom]

Jersey Week is the week that schools have days off for NJ State Teachers Convention, this year convention is NOv. 6& 7. We have been then. It was more crowded than we expected. Good luck!

Deb

 

[Mary Ellen]

We were there for 'Jersey Week' and the following week in 99. We will NOT be going again during 'Jersey Week'. The difference in the 2 weeks was night and day.

Good Luck

 

[ncbyrne]

Although my DD is a Kindergarten teacher and has those days off for the convention, alas, we will NOT be in WDW that week. DH and I are from New Jersey but we'll be taking our next Disney vacation May 2-12. We're hoping that it's early enough in May that all schools will still be in session and the crowds low.

 

[franw]

Thanks for all the great info from everyone. I will make a copy of the thread and take it with me. My dad has been really ill for three years and it has taken great planning to get them to be able to go on this trip. For all I know they may choose not to go into the parks anyway but I am sure they will want to see their great-grandchildren in the MK at the very least. I will stop worrying so much (my #1 past-time) and start getting excited about going. It has just been such a long, hard journey lately for them that I want so much for things to go right. Things are pretty laid back here in Colorado and they aren't used to the hustle bustle of WDW. Thanks again to all of you.

 

[EpcotBill]

Just thought I would throw in my two cents. We went during Jersey week 2001. The parks were VERY crowded the entire week. Not as bad as the 4th of July, but very crowded. That was my last WDW vacation during Jersey week. Good luck and remember to use FastPass.

 

[bobbiwoz]

franw, have a great time with your family, make lots of memories and multi-generational pictures.

 

[Baileymouse]

Another Jersey Week veteran here - yeah, it's a little busier, but last year's Jersey Week coincided with the Super Soap weekend, and that was a definite MUST AVOID!!! I will NEVER do that again. My friend wanted to go but wasting a Disney admission in order to gawk at soap stars was awful - you couldn't get near anything anyway.

I think those two events combined caused the bigger crowds last year. After all, what are those people going to do when they leave Disney Studios? They're gonna go over to Epcot and enjoy the Food & Wine Festival.

Jersey Week when they didn't have Super Soap at the same time was a lot less crowded. We're deliberately going the week before this year.

However, the crowds aren't anywhere near as bad as they are in high season.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[disneymom1]

I have been to WDW during Jersey week 4 times. The crowds are certainly not bad, but they are larger than the crowds the week before or the week after. If you live in New Jersey (like me), this week gives you the opportunity to go to WDW when the weather is good, the crowds are average and the hotel prices are low, without taking the kids out of school for too many days. We have never had long lines.

If you do not live in New Jersey, I would pick a different week in late October or early November. The crowds will be smaller, with virtually no lines at all.

 

[lilkitty819]

Hi
Been a few time to the soap week end on sunday and I can say anyone who wants to get on the rides then there the days to go....Everyone is to busy waiting in line for autograph's...have never waited on those days....in MGM ..Good luck and enjoy

 

[ducklite]

We pased on the Jersey Week thing at WDW and went to Vero beach instead a few years back. Even that was fairly crowded, they were at over 95% occupancy, and well over half the people we talked to were from NJ!

Anne

 

[dcfromva]

...And then, there are a lot of school districts outside of New Jersey that have the Monday and Tues associated with elections off every year. (This year, it is Nov 3 and 4)... Some folks see that as an opportunity to go to WDW and even stretch it into a week or more with the kids only missing 3 days of school.

This year, Halloween is on a Friday--so, for the really ambitious sort, fly out on Halloween afternoon and take advantage of MNNSHP and stay through Nov 9th, take part in the Food and Wine Festival, Soaps weekend (if you are a fan) and the Festival of the Masters, enjoy fairly moderate weather and only take the kids out of school 3 days! (What's not to love? )

Oh! And Nov 11th is a holiday for some schools, too.

We have gone during this time frame a couple of times. I always like to warn folks that it won't be just Mickey and you/walk on all the rides when you get there, but you can still have a great time and it is nowhere near like Christmas/New Years/Spring Break.

-DC

 

[bobbiwoz]

Oh my!

That' what I was afraid of! We're going for Halloween weekend, and so we may be in the first wave of Jerseyans. Well, as you can see, NJ is my second home now, but the first in my heart, so it's fitting that my family will be there.

 

[disneysteve]

We did Jersey Week last year for the first time as our daughter had just started in public school. We didn't know it was actually referred to as "Jersey Week" until after we got back.

Anyway, crowds were very manageable. A bit more than usual for that time of year but nowhere near mid-summer or holiday time crowds. We hardly waited more than 10 minutes for anything. I do recall that Friday was really busy in MK, but other than that we had no trouble.

I agree about avoiding MGM on Super Soaps weekend. Wasn't really a concern for us because we were leaving that day anyway. We spent the day at Downtown Disney enjoying the Festival of the Arts and then headed to the airport for an evening flight home.

We'll be there again this year for Jersey Week and hope to see our fellow DIS'ers there. Look for our green Mickey heads and say hello when you see us.

Steve

 

[barbeml]

I think FTP may make all of November a bit more crowded than usual, but hopefully still manageable. We are going November 15-23. Originally 15-22, but we decided to extend one night just this past Friday. I contacted our DU Agent and she said she was "shocked" that she was able to get us the extra night at CBR, because "November has been sold out forever" at CBR.

Yikes! Looks like we may need that extra day to get it all in!

If it is any comfort to the OP, the worst crowds we experienced were for our pre-Christmas/Millennium Celebration trip. Apparently, we hit it just when the Europeans were starting their holiday. While MK was unbearable, all the other parks had modest crowds. MK always seems to be the worst. Just plan to start there early and head to another park when MK gets to be too much.

Good luck!