early Dec too crowded!!

[PolynesianLily]

Last year, we went early december and although people SAID the hotels were maxed out, it was not true, or at least it didn't seem true. Manageable crowds

 

[disneyfan2]

no, don't see 3's here. but i saw an eight during my week that wasn't there before

But the week of Pop warner has alot of 4's so that is good for those going that week that were afraid of the crowds

 

[cbsnyber1]

Cripes. . .we have only one day planned at the MK on Dec 16. It's been a 7 forever on Touringplans, today it jumped to 8. What really gets me are the other days of the week - Mon 5, Tues 4, Thurs 5, Fri 4.

Wednesday is locked in for us, so I guess we'll deal with it. The only good news is that the MK is one of the "Best Parks" Wednesday, whatever that means.

 

[RMulieri]

Cripes. . .we have only one day planned at the MK on Dec 16. It's been a 7 forever on Touringplans, today it jumped to 8. What really gets me are the other days of the week - Mon 5, Tues 4, Thurs 5, Fri 4.

Wednesday is locked in for us, so I guess we'll deal with it. The only good news is that the MK is one of the "Best Parks" Wednesday, whatever that means.

Why is that only day an 8? I am totally stumped..The whole week is 4/5 for me except that day...What is the deal

 

[sunburnin]

Have you looked at the updated crowd calendar on touringplans.com? We are looking at days with crowd level scores of a 3. It just doesn't get any better than that!

ETA: Well, that's odd. I had logged in about 1/2 an hour ago and found some of my dates during Pop Warner week were listed as 3's, now they are 4's again. Bad cookies? Not enough meds? I swear, I saw 3's.

Sweet! I heard they never do 3's any more. Maybe someone forgot momentarily and entered the predicted 3!!!! Then someone caught it. What days were the 3s?

(FYI, since the PW week is now within 30 days, its all public on TP now - no flames for asking please )

 

[Damien2213]

First off anyone going through the 4/3 deals I wouldn't worry about it. I don't have those dates in my heads but unless its close to or around spring break dates I don't see it drawing crowds. It certainly won't bring what free dining does.

Second, I can't speak on Christmas/New Years but I have been to Easter twice and the parks are all very do-able. You just have to plan accordingly. In my personal opinion if you don't put the stress of ADR's on yourself and eat at the quality quick service places you can do well during high crowds.

By utilizing EMH Mornings and Evenings when possible and riding while everyone else was eating or watching a parade we got to ride tons of stuff. You wouldn't imagine the areas in MK that go dead during a Parade and Wishes. Adventureland alone becomes a mere ghost town. The only thing to remember is if your going to take advantage during a parade make sure you are on the right side of the parade line.

By doing those simple things you will find 6 plus hours a day where you aren't going to hardly have any waits in lines at all...

 

[Disney Dreamin]

We went last year Dec 11,12&13. The crowd calendar was 4,4,6 respectively. Since it looked like crowds would be low we didn't bother with the recommended parks or making a specific touring plan other than arriving at park opening. This turned out to be a huge mistake! The crowds were much larger than we expected. For Thur 12/11 and Fri 12/12 I would put crowds at a 6 in the am and 7-8 in the pm. The crowds were manageable, but we didn't walk onto anything but our first ride of the day with an average wait of 20-30 min. Now Sat 12/13 was another story. We went to MK which was the recommended park, and it was mobbed. It was not a MVMCP night and POP Warner had ended. Headliner attractions posted waits 45-60 mins before noon. After Spectro the hub and Main Street were wall-to-wall people. I have NEVER seen MK like that before even in peak summer months (never been during Christmas). At one point my DD age 4 who I was carrying, dropped her toy and there was no way I could even bend down to pick it up. I'm talking people brushing next to you on every side. Please go with a plan! Arrive early, use FP wisely and be prepared. That way if there are crowds like last year, you are prepared. I hope for your trip the crowds will be low. Interestingly, we stayed at CBR and the resort seemed very quiet and we didn't see big crowds at the main pool on our warmest day. The temps did get cool. We wore sweatshirts, scarves and gloves every morning, but by the afternoon we were peeling off the layers. Hope this helps.

 

[cbsnyber1]

Why is that only day an 8? I am totally stumped..The whole week is 4/5 for me except that day...What is the deal

What's even stranger is Wednesday is NOT a MVMCP day - the parties are on Tues, Thurs, & Fri - days with much lower predicted crowd levels. I avoided the party days when planning - that now looks like a mistake.

Well, I'll see if Touringplans is right - the website states that a good touring plan is five times more important than choosing the right day of the week.

 

[tfoster]

What's even stranger is Wednesday is NOT a MVMCP day - the parties are on Tues, Thurs, & Fri - days with much lower predicted crowd levels. I avoided the party days when planning - that now looks like a mistake.

Well, I'll see if Touringplans is right - the website states that a good touring plan is five times more important than choosing the right day of the week.

I purposely picked a party day for MK. I think a lot of people go on the non-party days to see Spectro.

We're going Dec 10 - Dec 15. I'm pretty happy with the crowd predictions (four 4s, one 7, and one 5), but I'm a little stressed out about the "best park" changes. If I switch our days accordingly, we'll lose my Donald's Safari Breakfast ADR.

 

[DebbieB]

I purposely picked a party day for MK. I think a lot of people go on the non-party days to see Spectro.

We're going Dec 10 - Dec 15. I'm pretty happy with the crowd predictions (four 4s, one 7, and one 5), but I'm a little stressed out about the "best park" changes. If I switch our days accordingly, we'll lose my Donald's Safari Breakfast ADR.

Me too! Non-party days are crowded. I'm going Dec 5 to 11, we have MK planned for Sunday & Friday, with Tuesday night MVMCP.

 

[quantumottle]

I wouldn't worry about this at all. In my experience, the Touringplans.com calendar does not seem to be all that accurate anyway. No offense, just my own observations.

 

[NeverBeen2DW]

Cripes. . .we have only one day planned at the MK on Dec 16. It's been a 7 forever on Touringplans, today it jumped to 8. What really gets me are the other days of the week - Mon 5, Tues 4, Thurs 5, Fri 4.

Wednesday is locked in for us, so I guess we'll deal with it. The only good news is that the MK is one of the "Best Parks" Wednesday, whatever that means.

What dates are you going? We are going Dec 16 to Dec 20th, debating on staying to the 21st though. We also were going to go to MK on the 16th not happy to hear it is now an 8! I wonder why! Maybe because MVMCP is on the next night?

 

[thesupersmartguy]

We are going Nov 25th - Dec 13th. I think we are a prime example of book a Disney hotel, not do the parks but only a few days. Don't worry, and enjoy your trip!

 

[PoohsFan1]

We will be in Disney from 12/1-12/10 and I used to get extremely stressed while reading about how crowded it will be with Pop/Warner crowd, Free Dining, and the 4/3 deal coming up. Well, I decided that I have too many other things that I have to stress over and being at my all time favorite place is not one of them. We went to Disney in March during Spring break and we were able to manage those crowds to where it really didn't affect us (used FPs to our advantage), so if we can take on those crowds, we can certainly take on the December crowds

 

[sunburnin]

What's even stranger is Wednesday is NOT a MVMCP day - the parties are on Tues, Thurs, & Fri - days with much lower predicted crowd levels. I avoided the party days when planning - that now looks like a mistake.

The MK closes at 7 on party days. If people don't have hoppers, they feel its a waste of a day if the park closes at 7, so they go on the day that doesn't have the party for longer hours. With short hours on Tue, Thur, Fri.... Wed will draw a lot more people.

 

[RMulieri]

The MK closes at 7 on party days. If people don't have hoppers, they feel its a waste of a day if the park closes at 7, so they go on the day that doesn't have the party for longer hours. With short hours on Tue, Thur, Fri.... Wed will draw a lot more people.

Now that I think of it , THE UG bases its crowds on the MK...So that would make ALOT of sense

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

Hotel occupancy isn't always a sure sign of park attendance. Early December should be a great time for the parks.

with all of the FREE dinning and the buy 4 get 3 free offer no wonder its sold out!!!

 

[RMulieri]

with all of the FREE dinning and the buy 4 get 3 free offer no wonder its sold out!!!

Not just that...There was a 40% off resort pincode that went out the beginning of the year for stays in December, as well as a 30% off that went out this summer.Both included early Decmber as well

 

[cbsnyber1]

What dates are you going? We are going Dec 16 to Dec 20th, debating on staying to the 21st though. We also were going to go to MK on the 16th not happy to hear it is now an 8! I wonder why! Maybe because MVMCP is on the next night?

We are there Dec 12 - 18, but it's more a Universal trip than a Disney trip. In fact, the 16th is the only day we're going to Disney, but with a Disney ADR that day as well as reservations during the rest of the week at various Universal restaurants, we can't move to another day without changing everything - don't want to do that.

 

[NeverBeen2DW]

We are there Dec 12 - 18, but it's more a Universal trip than a Disney trip. In fact, the 16th is the only day we're going to Disney, but with a Disney ADR that day as well as reservations during the rest of the week at various Universal restaurants, we can't move to another day without changing everything - don't want to do that.

I was thinking about doing one day at Universal. Do you need to rent a car or can you take a taxi there? We will be staying at CSR. Also, at what age do you think children would enjoy going here? My son is only 7 1/2? I looked at some of the rides and no way would he go on those rollercoasters. TIA!