1st or 2nd week of December?

[wittybib]

We're (my mom and I) planning a trip for December (our 3rd this year!) and we're trying to decide between the first and second week of the month. We would go either Dec. 1-9 or 8-16.

I think our preference is 1st-9th, but we're concerned about leftover Thanksgiving crowds and when they might possibly be taping the Christmas parade (we would like to avoid this).

During 8th-16th, we're a little concerned about crowds arriving for Christmas break, and my nephew's birthday is on the 16th (so we would like to be home if at all possible).

Does anybody have any idea which week would be better in terms of crowds? Or have any other tips/suggestions that I haven't mentioned?

 

[OKW Lover]

Because Thanksgiving falls on the 22nd this year, you won't have any left over crowds to worry about if you go 12/1-9. As far as taping for the Christmas parade goes, if it happens during your visit just plan on going to a different park that day.

 

[Disney Ron]

Just an FYI, Pop Warner week is the first week in December.

We were originally planning this week ourselves but went with the second week. There were alot of negative post by DISers about Pop Warner kids running amuck ruining their WDW trips. Just a word of warning.

Mrs. Disney Ron

 

[dana1003]

hi- we just went from dec2-8 and we just missed the taping of the parade which i heard was a nightmare w/crowds. that being said, the weather was awesome, we walked on almost every ride BUT now heres the big BUT, like someone mentioned, it was pop warner week!!! ok, just to warn you, its a bunch of unsupervised middle school kids in football or cheerleading. they were loud, obnoxiuos, did i mention LOUD? the girls would cheer on the bus on the way home. now i dont know about you, but when its 9pm and your tired and your holding toddlers and all you want to do is go back to the room and collapse, the last thing you want to hear is girls cheering and stomping. we stayed at ASM so im sure we got the brunt of it. if your staying somewhere more upscale you'll have no problem. jus make sure you dont get on line behind them becuz they will hold the spot for like 20 of their friends.

bring ear plugs.

 

[dburg30]

We're going the 8th-15th, so sounds like I may actually have planned something correctly

 

[hddanis]

Pop Warner really only affects the resort. If you go the first week of December (hich I have read is the least crowded) Just stay away from the All Stars and Port Orleans (Overflow for them) and you'll be fine. They really don't affect the crowd levels at the parks.

I'm planning a trip down there from Dec 2-6

 

[wittybib]

We've decided on the second week because of the whole Pop Warner thing--and the fact that people over at LiveJournal brought up the exact same point. So, we have no doubt that it would be BAD. And there would be apparently no avoiding it for us because we're POFQ people. So, thanks everybody for responding and saving us!

 

[haley's mom]

During the parade taping, how crowded is the rest of the MK?

 

[motofox4]

from what i hear, the parade taping only affects Main Street so that might be the area you'd want to avoid. Other then that, people have said the rest of the park is fairly un-crowded.

 

[LGH1946]

What is Pop Warner?
I am going Dec. 2-7, Is this bad? I probably can't change my ressies.

 

[elsabear]

Pop Warner week is when football and cheerleading groups decend upon WDW to compete. I beg to differ with the earlier poster who stated that it only affects the resort. We have gone several times in December, last year it happened to be during Pop Warner week. We stayed at Pop Century and the only place we did not see alot of the cheerleaders was at POP! As a previous poster stated there are large numbers of jr high girls who think nothing of walking 5-6 across not moving for anyone, start cheers anyplace they want, try to line buck etc. After we returned I actually wrote a complaint letter to Guest services (1st one I ever did) and spoke with a pr rep who admitted to me that there were a number of groups who were not well supervised and that there were groups who were banned from returning.

 

[katied]

I've been down the 1st week of Dec for the past 3 years (my co. has training down there that week). The Pop Warner crowds are really only an issue if you're staying at a resort w/ them around. W/ my company, we stay at YC/BC, so we don't run into them there. At the parks, you'll sometimes have a crowd of them in line, but overall, it has not been an isuse for us.

The taping of the parade can be an issue. It is VERY hard to get around parts of MK on those days. Once you get thru the crowds, the rest of the park is OK, but you need to plan extra time to fight thru the crowds at the front of the park.

Still, early December is a great time to go. I would not skip the first week for either of these reasons (unless you're at a moderate or value resort - where the kids might just be too much to take).

 

[LGH1946]

Thank you! I just love December at Disney, but I wouldn't go during the holidays!! That would be way too crowded for me.
I just hope that Pop Warner week will not affect the Grand Floridian too much. I have never stayed at GF before and I probably never will ever be able to afford to again. So I hope it will be wonderful. Just me (60) and my daughter (40). This will be a dream trip for us.