Touring Plans & Jersey Week?

[Disnamic Duo]

Touring Plans is predicting a pretty big spike in crowds during the first week of November (due to Jersey Week). The crowd levels will supposedly go from a 1-2 to 5-6. Are there really that many people from NJ going that week? Does the attendance really jump that much?

[kathiep]

All school systems in NJ have the first Thursday and Friday off due to teacher's conventions. Individual school systems may have additional days off depending on what schedule was approved by the board. My kids had the entire first week off last year. I have never been during Jersey Week but I do hear the crowd levels show noticeable increases. Talk to a few people in Jersey - and your bound to find someone who's going during that time. That being said, everyone I ask who has gone during that time, still reports crowd levels and wait times to be manageable.

[Strmchsr]

Two things - 1.) I have noticed touring Plans to only be sporadically accurate. I've tried to test their accuracy every trip over the last 3 years and only found them accurate a little over 50% of the time.

2.) A 5-6 isn't that big of a deal. That's almost normal these days.

So, don't worry about it. Go and enjoy yourself. It's not going to be overwhelmingly crowded. Yes a lot of folks come down for the end of the F&WF, Jersey Week, etc, but it's not bad.

[SBETigg]

Two things - 1.) I have noticed touring Plans to only be sporadically accurate. I've tried to test their accuracy every trip over the last 3 years and only found them accurate a little over 50% of the time.

2.) A 5-6 isn't that big of a deal. That's almost normal these days.

So, don't worry about it. Go and enjoy yourself. It's not going to be overwhelmingly crowded. Yes a lot of folks come down for the end of the F&WF, Jersey Week, etc, but it's not bad.

I'm with Chris. The Touring Plans website was way off on crowd levels on many days of our last trip. I don't put much stock in their predictions now (but I still check anyway, because it's part of the planning fun). And "Jersey Week" really isn't just "Jersey Week." A lot of New England schools have those same days off. So keep in mind that 5-6 for crowd levels really isn't a big crowd and just relax and enjoy!

[Gator]

Is it always the same? I'm wanting to go next November, 2011. Wondering if I should avoid the first Thursday and Friday, or the second.

[VWL Mom]

According to the NJEA website, teachers convention for 2011 is November 10-11.

[Gator]

According to the NJEA website, teachers convention for 2011 is November 10-11.

Well that totally STINKS:thedolls:

[Tinkerfreak]

We have been at several different times of year including Halloween, the week before Christmas, end of April beginning of May and Thanksgiving week as well as the first week of November. We went twice at that time of year and it was during Jersey Week and they were the lowest crowds of all the times we have been in the past few years. We had a blast, great temps, lower crowds and the Jersey People we met were all so much fun. If I could pick any week of the year to go that would be my first choice. We usually hit the Halloween party on the 31st and stay for a week after that and get to enjoy the party and the f & W festival.

[MNNHFLTX]

We probably have this discussion come up every year on INTERCOT, lol! Take it from someone who lived near Disney World for many years and went there often during that time frame (and never even knew a "Jersey Week" existed). The crowds in general are increasing in the fall, due to various things--the Food and Wine Festival (as previously mentioned), conventions, rotating school holidays and more people wanting to take advantage of the cooler weather and favorable room rates, etc.) But the crowds are still quite manageable, compared to other peak times of the year at WDW.

[Disnamic Duo]

Thanks for all the replies everybody. That's very encouraging. We've been a few times the week prior to Thanksgiving week, and always thought the crowds were great (low). It sounds like this should be the same.

[CleveRocks]

Someone from Jersey here .... :mickey:

let me tell you my experience during Jersey Week 2006. We went the Saturday before Jersey Week and we left on the Friday of the Jersey Week weekend.

All week, beginning Saturday, crowds were pleasantly light. On the Wednesday of that week, things got slightly "thicker," and on Thursday the crowds got noticably and disappointingly larger. On that Friday, we were there until after dinner time (very late flight home), and around Noon on that day it was so crowded in MK's Fantasyland that I had trouble walking from one point to another, the crowds were so thick.

I can't possibly know if it's that way every year, but believe me, it was very crowded on the Friday of Jersey Week as compared with the rest of the week, uncomfortably crowded.