5 Reasons to Visit Walt Disney World in November

The truth is, we have and would visit our favorite vacation destination any time of the year. Walt Disney World in November, though, has wonderful advantages and I’m here to share…

5 Reasons to Visit Walt Disney World in November

Magic Kingdom Entrance in October

The Weather – If you love feeling like you’re in a tropical paradise without those sweltering summer temperatures, November’s a good bet! It’s also a typically very low month for rain in Florida (average of 3 days of rain). With average highs are in the upper 70’s and average lows in the upper 50’s, packing a few layers will get you from rope-drop to park closure in comfort and being able to enjoy pool time at your resort is a strong possibility.

Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival – So much to love about these 87 days! Since the festival runs nearly to Thanksgiving, there’s lots of opportunity to take in those concerts, food booths, and extra special offerings in November. We love getting to Epcot early so we can enjoy a few attractions before eating our way around World Showcase for lunch. Sharing plates makes this technique last longer before all available intestinal real estate is used up and we start feeling nap-ish.

Magic Shot at MNSSHP

Parties – In November, it’s possible to go to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party on the same trip! This year, the Halloween party’s last night is on November 1st and the Christmas party begins on November 8th. Plan ahead and you can hit both of these popular Magic Kingdom events in a single vacation. We’ve yet to experience Mickey’s Vary Merry Christmas Party, but it’s on our to-do list. Maybe next year.

Decorations – Just like the parties, November provides a small opportunity to see both fall and holiday decorations in the parks. After the last Halloween party, the fall decor comes down. By the first Christmas party (November 8th in 2019), Magic Kingdom is all decked out! If you love holiday decorations, wait until later in November and prepare to be amazed. Every park, resort, restaurant – the variety and volume of decorations is simply spectacular. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I think the combination of charming decorations and fun holiday music in Disney’s Hollywood Studios may be my favorite for overall experience.

runDisney opportunities – With the Food & Wine Festival comes the Wine & Dine runDisney events. Since this year will be our first to try them, I can’t tell you yet how they compare to the others we’ve done. I am welcoming the opportunity to burn off enough calories to feel completely guilt-free about all the food booths I’m going to visit.

Have you been to Walt Disney World in November? How did it compare to other times you’ve visited?

Our 2019 Strategy – Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival

We’ve never had a bad visit to Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival. It sometimes gets a bad reputation for rowdy crowds and over-imbibing merrymakers, but our experiences have always been positive. Bear in mind that we are firm believers in that early to bed, early to rise adage – especially at Walt Disney World, so we may be inadvertently avoiding the worst festival guests. That being said, we’re well into the planning homestretch for this year’s Food & Wine visit and I’m getting pretty stoked!

Our 2019 Strategy – Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival

While I don’t do as much extensive pre-festival planning as some, I always make sure to start my research on the Disney Food Blog’s festival pages. I find I rarely have to look anywhere else for the scoop on all things delicious and entertaining. This year I’ve got two major considerations as I build my must-try list: Limited festival time and a big appetite.

Our 2019 Strategy - Epcot's International Food & Wine Festival

Limited Festival Time

Because we’ll be at Walt Disney World for slightly less than four days, We’ll need to be strategic about making the most of our Epcot time. Fewer attractions and more World Showcase is the plan. The Eat to the Beat Concerts during our visit will feature Sheena Easton, Kris Allen, and Boyz II Men. Personally, of the three, I’d pick Sheena Easton if there’s enough time to watch a bit. In the 80’s I loved her music and for a time Sheena and I even sported the same hairstyle. (I’m humming the morning train song now as I type.)

Our 2019 Strategy - Epcot's International Food & Wine Festival

Big Appetite

As you may already be aware, our favorite son, Joseph, and I are running the Wine & Dine Challenge for the first time this year. Nothing like running 19.3 miles in two days to make a body mighty hungry! Also, burning lots of calories makes me feel less guilty about the food booth indulgences. Some of this year’s choices are outstanding and my wish-list top five include (in no particular order):

  • Brazil – Crispy Pork Belly with Black Beans, Tomato and Onions
  • The Alps – Venison Stew with Crushed Potatoes
  • Flavors from Fire – The Steakhouse Blended Burger: Blended Beef and Mushroom Slider with Brie Cheese Fondue, Arugula, and a Truffle and Blue Cheese Potato Chip on a Brioche Bun
  • Spain – Seafood Salad with Shrimp, Bay Scallops, Mussels, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, White Balsamic Vinegar and Smoked Paprika
  • Thailand – Red Hot Spicy Thai Curry Beef with Steamed Rice

The only repeat is the Crispy Pork Belly – Raymond and I both love it so much that we once stopped in at Epcot and made our way to World Showcase just to split an order on a super-crowded Saturday night. We were on our way to dinner someplace like Yachtsman Steak House, but had to make time for that one dish. It was the only thing we did in Epcot that day. Even saying the words…crispy. pork. belly. Makes me happy.

While we may not get as much time at Food & Wine as we’d like this time, I plan on making the most of this limited opportunity. If I can manage to squeeze in an order of Morocco’s Spicy Hummus Fries or a bowl of Refreshment Port’s Duck Confit Poutine with Fig Demi Sauce and Brie Cheese Fondue, I’m going for it.

Are you a fan of Epcot’s International Food & Wine Festival? What are your favorite dishes?

Our Next Disney Vacation? Coming Right Up!

Is there anything better than a Disney sea-and-land vacation?  I think not!  In just a few more days, Raymond and I will sail away on the Dream for a little 4-night Bahamian getaway.  I’ve been daydreaming about Castaway Cay and how heavenly that little slice of paradise will be.  Usually I’d prefer to do the land portion of the trip first since the parks are so busy and Disney cruises are more relaxing.  This trip being our anniversary Disney vacation do-over, we’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got.Castaway Cay's Mt. Rustmore

Our Next Disney Vacation? Coming Right Up!

And what we’ve got are some pretty sweet plans!  When we were only going to have the three-night land portion of our trip, I dutifully attempted to book ADRs and FastPasses at the earliest possible moment with mixed results.  I booked dinners at Il Mulino and Yachtsman Steakhouse and left Friday open for Food & Wine since we originally weren’t going to arrive in Orlando until early afternoon.  I booked the only FastPass I could get in Pandora, which was Na’vi River Journey on Saturday morning and then chose some in Epcot for Friday afternoon and Magic Kingdom for Sunday starting mid-morning.

Here’s where having Disney friends all over social media helps – I got a hot tip a couple of weeks ago that some additional FastPasses had opened up for several hard-to-get attractions and SCORE!!!  Na’vi River Journey is out and Flight of Passage is IN!  I’m super excited to see Raymond’s reaction to his first ride on a Banshee.

I’m also very excited to be meeting up with some of those aforementioned fellow Disney fans.  We’re hoping to see Tim from Dad for Disney and his family, Scott from Enchanted Tiki Talk, and our friends Linda and Phillip (we met on the Disney Magic in Norway cruise).  There are even a few more tentative meet-up plans in the works.  It’s good to have Disney friends…they understand me.

Here’s a quick rundown of the Walt Disney World part of this trip…

Friday:  Catch the Disney Cruise Line bus from Port Canaveral to Bay Lake Tower as early as possible, drop off luggage and catch a bus to Disney Springs for lunch at Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ – a place we’ve wanted to try since it opened in 2016.  Initially, I couldn’t find a dinner reservation (we were going to eat there instead of Yachtsman) then realized how early we could arrive straight from the ship and lunch was available.  Win-Win!

After lunch, we’ll make our way to Epcot where we can wander World Showcase between FastPasses for Soarin’ and Spaceship Earth.  When we get hungry for dinner, we can sample our way through some of the Food & Wine booths.  We’ll be in go-with-the-flow mode and can soak up the World at our leisure.

Saturday morning we’re headed to Animal Kingdom.  We’ve got FastPasses for Kilimanjaro Safaris, Flight of Passage, and Expedition Everest and I am loving this lineup!  We can hang around until after lunch then rest a while at Bay Lake Tower before meeting Linda and Phillip for drinks and dinner – AbracadaBar (Boardwalk) followed by Il Mulino (Swan).  AbracadaBar recently changed their menu and I’m excited to try a new offering or two.

Sunday we’re planning to rope-drop Hollywood Studios to ride Rock’n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror before hopping to Magic Kingdom where our FastPasses are for Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  We don’t have to rush and can tour at our own pace.  Dinner at Yachtsman will wrap up our plans and Monday morning we’ll head for home.The Red Rock of Big Thunder Mountain

It’s a very short visit, but we’ll be back in February for the Fairytale Challenge and again in May for a family vacation.  There’s a slight chance of a brief January visit as well, but that one’s not certain yet.  I was going for the perfect mix of action and no-pressure touring with lots of free time built in.

If you had only three days at Walt Disney World, what would your priorities be?  How would your plans differ from ours?

WDW Vacation – Getting Psyched for Food & Wine

RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-LandscapeMy countdown calendar finally feels like it’s moving.  The days are ticking by ahead of our long-awaited return to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival.  I couldn’t be more excited!  This may only be my second visit during Food & Wine, but I feel like a seasoned veteran after our weeklong 25th Anniversary celebration at F&W in 2014.  This year we’ll be a party of seven and our plans are really shaping up.  With only two-and-a-half months to go, it feels right around the corner.  It’s Friday today and that means a Friday Five is in order.  Dear Readers, I give to you…

WDW Vacation – Getting Psyched for Food & Wine

  1. Pick a week and book it! – This is the first phase of excitement.  Thinking about going changes after you know exactly when you’ll be there and where you’ll be staying – makes it real and you can set your countdown calendar!  Because I’m a planner I’m also, in this very early stage of vacation prep, starting to think about where we’d like to eat when we’re not enjoying the Food & Wine offerings.  Which brings us to…Citricos-Vince
  2. Make some ADRs (Advance Dining Reservations) 180 days out – “Some” being the important key here.  I think you can over-book dining reservations which may detract from the joy of strolling around World Showcase sampling all the excellent flavors that Food & Wine has to offer.  I like to ensure plenty of festival time, so I book just few carefully chosen reservations that will leave us a plenty of free afternoons and evenings for hopping from country to country on an international culinary tour.  Once those ADRs are booked, I feel more like I know what our touring plans will be each day and that makes me even more exited!RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Menu-Brazil
  3. Wait impatiently for the booths and menus to be announced – I’ve searched everyday for weeks and finally the kiosk and menu info is available – This is a major factor in getting psyched for the trip!  Sure, it’s fun to see what musical groups will be playing during our visit, but that’s not (for us) the primary draw.  You can print out those menus and narrow down all the food and beverage choices to the all important Top-Ten-Must-Try list (yours could be whatever number you like).  I’m not too picky, so I’m leaving room to be flexible and spontaneous in food selection.  It’s not imperative to have a list, but it sure is fun to strategize a festival food plan.  Yes, more excitement!  Check out this year’s lineup here.Disney's Hollywood Studios Tower of Terror
  4. Book those FastPasses ASAP – If you’re staying on property, this means there are only 60 days left before your vacation!  My strategy for Epcot is all about making sure we don’t have to come and go repeatedly from World Showcase once we start our feasting.  On this trip, we’ve got one whole day reserved for Animal Kingdom and I’m excited about having breakfast at Tusker House and dinner at Tiffins…while maximizing attraction enjoyment in between.  On most of the other days, we’ll be park-hopping to keep Epcot part of the action as often as possible.     RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Passport
  5. Reminisce or surf the web (or both) –  I like looking back at pictures and blog posts from our last trip to Food & Wine.  I also like reading about other people’s trips as well as food reviews, booth rankings, and touring tips.  This will keep me entertained and build excitement right up until the day we leave for vacation.RM-Epcot-Food&Wine-Pepper-Bacon-Hash

Are you headed to Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival this year?  What are you doing to get psyched for the trip?