So, you’ve decided to begin planning a Disney World vacation! That is so exciting! Now comes the hard work of choosing a time to go.  Many of you may be forced into vacationing during a certain time of the year because of work or school schedules. I completely understand those limitations. If that is you, don’t get discouraged by this post. Going to Disney any time of year is exciting and can be enjoyable!

However, if you have some flexibility in your schedule, there are several things to consider when choosing the time of year that you will travel. Think about what your family enjoys, and what you want to accomplish while you are in Florida. Do you want to be able to fit in a beach day? Do you enjoy hot weather and want to visit the water parks? Do you want to be there for a special event or holiday? All of these things can play a part in the time of year you will want to attend.

If we were planning a Disney World vacation for our family alone, we would consider what works best for our family and what we enjoy. For example, the kids like to swim and enjoy water rides, but I hate the thought of walking around the parks in 100 degree weather. As a family, we don’t get too excited about spending time at the water parks while there, because we feel like we can experience similar things outside of our Disney vacations. My husband and I enjoy the Food & Wine Festival. I love all things Christmas. These things all lead me to think that, if planning our own vacation, we would probably end up going the same time of year we’ve gone the past two time. Even though we have been forced into taking our trips during that time because our girls have performed with Indiana Youth Ballet, here are my reasons why I think it’s a great time of year to travel.

1. The weather.  I don’t have to convince anyone that Florida in the summer is HOT! As previously mentioned, the thought of attending the parks in the summer is almost detestable to me. However, by late October the temps are much more tolerable. In 2015, we experienced a pretty warm week while in Florida with average daily highs in the high 80s to low 90s. It was certainly hot enough to enjoy the pool and water rides at the parks, but it was still mostly enjoyable walking around. In 2016, the weather was more like low 80s and perfect, in my opinion! Again, it was still warm enough for water stuff, but perfect for walking around in shorts and tank tops so we could come home to Illinois with a bit of a tan.
2. The Food & Wine Festival! Now, I don’t claim to be an expert in all things Disney. I’ve only been there three times in my 39 years, but the Food & Wine Festival is awesome! There is daily entertainment, food demonstrations by world renowned chefs and, well, the food and wine! All around the World Showcase at Epcot, kiosks are set up with food from around the world. A quick Google search will give you all kinds of awesome reviews of this spectacular event, but I will mention that the wine slushy in France is a MUST! You can find the menu well in advance so that you can make a plan and try some new things.
3. Low crowds! The other thing we dislike almost as much as we dislike hot weather is large crowds with crazy wait times. The last two years we’ve attended in late October, the crowds have been low. Now, the Halloween party will certainly be sold out the last few days of October, but apart from that hard-ticketed event, the parks this time of year are not super crowded. The most popular rides will still be busy, and you’ll still want fast passes for those, but the lines for most of the other rides and attractions were pretty quick and enjoyable. Disney does a fantastic job at making the queues interactive and part of the experience.
4. The holiday changeover! This was a total surprise to us in 2015! Our past trips have been scheduled over Halloween, so we expected all of the Halloween and fall decorations. What we didn’t expect was to experience part of the transition to Christmas! This will all depend on how far into November you stay, but in 2016 we got to see some of the Christmas decorations when we went to the Magic Kingdom on our last day, November 1. It was really magical to know that the night before, the Magic Kingdom was open super late for Mickey’s Not so Scary Halloween Party and by opening time on November 1, all of the pumpkins were gone and Christmas garland was up. I would love to be one of Cinderella’s mouse friends so that I could watch the cast members transform the park in the wee hours of the morning. I would be lying if I said I didn’t tear up as we walked from our resort bus to the security line and I noticed that the Christmas decorations were up! It literally took my breath away and made my eyes well up with joyful tears. I told you I love all things Christmas! If you want to experience Halloween and Christmas at Disney, the best thing to do is start by looking at the last scheduled night of the Halloween party. While the date of the changeover to Christmas won’t be something that you can find online, you will have a good chance of catching at least some Christmas decorations if you plan to visit the Magic Kingdom a day or two following the last Halloween party. If you are super lucky or planning an extended vacation, you may also be able to catch Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Those dates will be available a few months prior to the event.

There you have it, four reasons why we love attending Disney from late October to early November. I hope this was informative for those of you in the early stages of Disney trip planning. I’ll be back next week with more tips.

Check out the whole Magical Mondays series here!

Here’s a quick iPhone picture of my oldest daughter and I in front of the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. Can you tell I’m excited about that Christmas garland?