Jersey Week - how much difference does it really make?

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Thu, 01/23/2014 - 15:35

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Jersey Week - how much difference does it really make?

Jersey Week this year is 3-7 November, and then there is the F&W Marathon Weekend on 8+9 November.
This is our main week in the WDW parks, and we are not onsite that week so not sure when we can book FP+. How much difference does it really make to the park crowd levels/queues? And does it hit all the parks the same?

I have planned Discovery Cove and something else on the F&W marathon weekend to avoid crowds.

We are on DCL for Veteran's day and am planning Legoland+KSC+i-Fly etc on Thankgiving week to avoid crowds (though our WDW tickets will have expired by then anyway).

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Thu, 01/23/2014 - 15:43

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Don't know about Jersey week but marathons usually don't have too much impact on crowd levels. Yes it will be more crowded because of the marathon but it usually isn't super crowded. You can pick out fp+ selections when you get to the park when you are staying off site.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 17:07

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Mandy wrote:

Don't know about Jersey week but marathons usually don't have too much impact on crowd levels. Yes it will be more crowded because of the marathon but it usually isn't super crowded. You can pick out fp+ selections when you get to the park when you are staying off site.

Good to know it won't be too bad, I really hate crowds, I found it too busy in first 2wks September back in 2011 when we were told it would be calming down.

Hoping the experience is improved by then for offsite guests and FP+, I am really worried we won't stand a chance of getting on TSM for instance as the FP+ have all been taken by onsite guests.

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Thu, 01/23/2014 - 17:12

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Disney Holic wrote:

Mandy wrote:
Don't know about Jersey week but marathons usually don't have too much impact on crowd levels. Yes it will be more crowded because of the marathon but it usually isn't super crowded. You can pick out fp+ selections when you get to the park when you are staying off site.

Good to know it won't be too bad, I really hate crowds, I found it too busy in first 2wks September back in 2011 when we were told it would be calming down.

Hoping the experience is improved by then for offsite guests and FP+, I am really worried we won't stand a chance of getting on TSM for instance as the FP+ have all been taken by onsite guests.

I believe that everyone will be able to pre-select their fastpasses sometime in the near future.

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 23:46

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Disney Holic wrote:

I really hate crowds, I found it too busy in first 2wks September back in 2011 when we were told it would be calming ...

Now you're making me nervous! I hate crowds too, and we always rely on our 2nd week of September being very quiet in the parks! We scheduled for the week of Sept 8.

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Thu, 01/23/2014 - 23:54

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PhillNYC wrote:

Disney Holic wrote:
I really hate crowds, I found it too busy in first 2wks September back in 2011 when we were told it would be calming ...

Now you're making me nervous! I hate crowds too, and we always rely on our 2nd week of September being very quiet in the parks! We scheduled for the week of Sept 8.

We visited last September - specifically August 31st to September 8th, and it was the quietest I have ever seen it here. Most rides we could walk right on or, it was a short wait. It was HOT though. I'm sure you will be fine at that time of year. We have quite a few pictures of the low crowds in our trip report (link below) if you want to check it out.

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Fri, 01/24/2014 - 03:30

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JanJ wrote:

PhillNYC wrote:
Disney Holic wrote:
I really hate crowds, I found it too busy in first 2wks September back in 2011 when we were told it would be calming ...

Now you're making me nervous! I hate crowds too, and we always rely on our 2nd week of September being very quiet in the parks! We scheduled for the week of Sept 8.

We visited last September - specifically August 31st to September 8th, and it was the quietest I have ever seen it here. Most rides we could walk right on or, it was a short wait. It was HOT though. I'm sure you will be fine at that time of year. We have quite a few pictures of the low crowds in our trip report (link below) if you want to check it out.

Thanks JanJ! There's only a few weeks a year we'll go (when it's nearly empty is our preference!) and I thought something night have changed or an event was added. I LOVE the super-quiet beginning of September. I'm off to look at your trip report!!

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Fri, 01/24/2014 - 04:31

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What exactly is Jersey Week? Does it have something to do with T-shirts? Or the state of New Jersey?

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 06:09

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Each year, there's a big New Jersey educators conference thingy on a Thur/Fri, so Jersey schools are closed for two days. Families tend to head to WDW for that long weekend or the week. It's definitely a thing.

However, being a New York City resident, I am prohibited from offering any personal opinions.

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Fri, 01/24/2014 - 11:27

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PhillNYC wrote:

Disney Holic wrote:
I really hate crowds, I found it too busy in first 2wks September back in 2011 when we were told it would be calming ...

Now you're making me nervous! I hate crowds too, and we always rely on our 2nd week of September being very quiet in the parks! We scheduled for the week of Sept 8.

It might just have been the last week in August and the 1st week of September that were busy, I can't really remember. I had an 8wk old baby with me and I remember our first day in the parks being really busy and hot, someone told me it would quieten down the next week but it didn't feel much different our 2nd week (1st wk in Sept), I don't remember the last week so clearly, apart from queuing for ages for a dole whip on our last day as I was determined to try one before going home. I didn't go on many rides because of having Lucy with me, who attracted a lot of attention, at Cape May Goofy and Minnie nearly stole her! She was only 11wks old on the flight back home to the UK, with an exhausted mother!

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Tue, 01/28/2014 - 16:11

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We're going to be there August 30th-September 5th and Touring Plans gives it a rating of 3 out of 10 the first 2 days and then goes back and forth between 1 and 2 out of 10 for crowd levels the rest of the trip.

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Tue, 01/28/2014 - 16:47

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Disney Holic wrote:

PhillNYC wrote:
Disney Holic wrote:
I really hate crowds, I found it too busy in first 2wks September back in 2011 when we were told it would be calming ...

Now you're making me nervous! I hate crowds too, and we always rely on our 2nd week of September being very quiet in the parks! We scheduled for the week of Sept 8.

It might just have been the last week in August and the 1st week of September that were busy, I can't really remember. I had an 8wk old baby with me and I remember our first day in the parks being really busy and hot, someone told me it would quieten down the next week but it didn't feel much different our 2nd week (1st wk in Sept), I don't remember the last week so clearly, apart from queuing for ages for a dole whip on our last day as I was determined to try one before going home. I didn't go on many rides because of having Lucy with me, who attracted a lot of attention, at Cape May Goofy and Minnie nearly stole her! She was only 11wks old on the flight back home to the UK, with an exhausted mother!

Well, to be fair, by the looks of it, you probably saw crowds because of the Labor Day weekend in the US. Labor Day is a federal holiday here in the States so for places that don't start school until after Labor Day, it makes sense for a family to squeeze in a vacation the last week of August and then leave on Labor Day or sometime during that week. My local school district, for instance, doesn't start school until the Thursday after Labor Day. Others are there to take advantage of the three day weekend. And those religious holidays are tricky, too. Some schools close for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and the tricky part is that the dates for those are always changing.

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