If Dec 5-12 is supposed to be low crowds why are all of the resorts nearly sold out?

[jerlove]

We are very excited to be going to the world Dec 5-12 and have been told and have seen on most web sites that these dates are always very slow in the parks. My question is this, why does there not appear to be any rooms available at the value and moderate resorts? This is making me think we could be in for a very busy week? Can anyone explain and hopefully make me feel better?

[Justsyd2]

I'm pretty sure that Pop Warner is happening during those dates.

Yup - found the info:

DECEMBER:

*
Saturday, Dec 5 - 1st Round Division II PWLS Super Bowl @ Disney’s Wide World of Sports™ Complex
*
Sunday, Dec 6 - 1st Round Division I PWLS Super Bowl @ Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex
*
Tuesday, Dec. 8 - Wednesday, Dec. 9 - 2nd Round Divisions I & 1st Round II PWLS Super Bowl @ Disney’s Wide World of Sports™ Complex
*
Monday, Dec. 7 - Friday, Dec. 11 - National Cheer & Dance Championships @ Disney's Wide World of Sports™ Complex
*
Friday, Dec. 11 - Saturday, Dec. 12 - Pop Warner Super Bowl Championships @ Disney’s Wide World of Sports™ Complex

[Wants2Live@WDW]

Yeah, as PP said, Pop Warner is going to be there, and the free dining offers made the normally "not busy" times rather busy, I guess. Good luck!!

[fla4fun]

Also, sometimes when you are checking availability, it may only be one night out of your trip that there is no availability. If you play around with your dates a little, sometimes you can figure out which day it is that's messing up your plans. I'm going around the same time (12/2-11) and I would guess it's probably one of the weekend days that is the culprit.

I've been there many years when Pop Warner was going on, and I didn't have a problem with the parks being crowded.

[jerlove]

I knew about PW but was assured it has very little impact on the parks. However the PP makes sense that perhaps it is one of the weekend days that is throwing everything for a spin. I know Dec 5th is supposed to be a very busy day at the parks and then it slows down from there. I will have to play around a little and see if that is the answer. Thanks for making me feel a little better about it.

[DisneyLover75]

I'm sure that between the free dining and the 4/3 promotions going on, it's going to be insane.

We're going the week before that (11/28 to 12/5) and it's booked up that week too. Sigh.

Soooo glad we only have 2 days in the park, and then 2 nights at MVMCP!

[RMulieri]

First, I am someone that travels to WDW in Dec almost every year.Last year I went in Sept only.I will tell you that it is getting a little busier each year..It is more average to lower crowds.It is not Dead and most things have minimum waits except the headliner attractions which can get quite long. I feel so bad for people who hear how dead things are and they book a trip and come back saying that it wasn't so dead...Last year alot of posters came back shocked.It isn't awful, but it isn't dead either...Second, you have the Pop warner kids that week, and while they do not effect the parks all that much, they DO BOOK UP ALOT OF ROOMS.You also have the free dining promotion, the 40% from earlier this year ,the 4/3 has this week blacked out.There really is not that many rooms left for this time frame.

[JPN4265]

Originally Posted by jerlove

We are very excited to be going to the world Dec 5-12 and have been told and have seen on most web sites that these dates are always very slow in the parks. My question is this, why does there not appear to be any rooms available at the value and moderate resorts? This is making me think we could be in for a very busy week? Can anyone explain and hopefully make me feel better?

Free Dining!

[goofy4tink]

Originally Posted by RMulieri

First, I am someone that travels to WDW in Dec almost every year.Last year I went in Sept only.I will tell you that it is getting a little busier each year..It is more average to lower crowds.It is not Dead and most things have minimum waits except the headliner attractions which can get quite long. I feel so bad for people who hear how dead things are and they book a trip and come back saying that it wasn't so dead...Last year alot of posters came back shocked.It isn't awful, but it isn't dead either...Second, you have the Pop warner kids that week, and while they do not effect the parks all that much, they DO BOOK UP ALOT OF ROOMS.You also have the free dining promotion, the 40% from earlier this year ,the 4/3 has this week blacked out.There really is not that many rooms left for this time frame.

I'm with you. This will be my 6th year going to WDW for this time frame. And every year it gets busier and busier. It used to be just PopWarner kids there, but they didn't impact the parks too much until some evenings. You did find more DVC people there but they weren't a huge impact. Then, Disney offered free dining...so more folks came out. Most love to stay at the values or moderates with free dining, so between fd and PW people, those resorts filled up fast.
Then, Disney came out with their latest promo...buy 5 get 7 (or whatever the heck it is). It would seem that free dining didn't bring in enough resort guests.
I know that I tried to add on two nights at POP at the end of my stay...12/11-12/13...but there weren't any rooms available. There were a few at Sports but I didn't want to be there. Not much was available at the moderates either...only CSR. I ended up booking the Swan to be closer to my friends.
All those offers have combined to raise the park levels for that time frame. Here's hoping it isn't too crowded. At least the weather is nice as opposed to the heat and humidity of August with the early free dining crowds. That was just plain nightmarish.

[bellemeeko1]

We are going Nov 28th-Dec 5th and when I went on line to book at Shades of Green it said it was totally booked, so we went and took advantage of the 40% off deal and booked AKL.....but for the fun of it I went and filled out the over flow resorts that Shades puts you in when they are booked, that was a Friday night....Saturday morning I had an email saying 2 rooms confirmed at Shades of Green! We called them and told her what had happened and she just laughed and said well we have the rooms for ya! So we cancelled AKL and are going back to SOG....yeah we love it there!! So I suggest to keep trying not only is there probably rooms available I have noticed more and more as the time gets closer some are having to cancel their vacations all together......same goes for reservations to restaurants.

[princessmom29]

Originally Posted by bellemeeko1

We are going Nov 28th-Dec 5th and when I went on line to book at Shades of Green it said it was totally booked, so we went and took advantage of the 40% off deal and booked AKL.....but for the fun of it I went and filled out the over flow resorts that Shades puts you in when they are booked, that was a Friday night....Saturday morning I had an email saying 2 rooms confirmed at Shades of Green! We called them and told her what had happened and she just laughed and said well we have the rooms for ya! So we cancelled AKL and are going back to SOG....yeah we love it there!! So I suggest to keep trying not only is there probably rooms available I have noticed more and more as the time gets closer some are having to cancel their vacations all together......same goes for reservations to restaurants.

It is so wierd to me that the week after thanksgiving is booked, but there are still openings almost everywhere for Thanksgiving weekend. We are going Nov 25th-Dec 2nd, and when I checked Friday for my dates there were rooms in several mods, and some of the values. I don't get it??

[rie'smom]

Originally Posted by DisneyLover75

I'm sure that between the free dining and the 4/3 promotions going on, it's going to be insane.

We're going the week before that (11/28 to 12/5) and it's booked up that week too. Sigh.

Soooo glad we only have 2 days in the park, and then 2 nights at MVMCP!

[HaleyB]

This is also a time of year rooms are shuttered for rehab, which would impact availability.

I also think room blocks are blocked off for PW right now, and as they get their ducks in a row rooms will be released. That is just a guess and so is this, but I wonder if the 45 day mark from the beginning of PW will see a bunch of rooms being released.

[micheleq]

We were there last year the same week, and in addition to PW there were at least two conferences going on. Parks weren't too bad during the daytime.

[DebbieB]

Keep in mind that park crowds also consist of people staying offsite and locals. With the promotions, there may not be as many people staying offsite and it probably is not a popular time for locals, at least not during the week.

I've gone this week many times (and will again this year), I've found that weekends are crowded but weekdays not as much. MK is very crowded on the days when Spectro & Wishes are shown (non-MVMCP dates) and I would expect DHS to be crowded on Fantasmic dates.