Best dates in December

[CaliKT]

Last year my family took a six day/five night trip to WDW in December. We left on the morning of Monday, December 8, getting into the parks in the early afternoon, and left on Saturday, December 17, hopping on the Magical Express around 5 p.m. that day (so a good full day of touring).

We had a fantastic time and were very happy with the overall crowd levels at that time of year. The crowds did pick up significantly on Saturday, December 17, and we were happy to be leaving. I have two younger kids, ages 5 and 7 now, so the shorter park hours actually worked well for us.

We were kind of forced into that specific date range last year by air fares, but we are more flexible this year. We'd like to go back for approximately the same amount of time at approximately the same time of year (first two weeks in December, before schools get out for winter break). I'm looking at the December 2012 crowd calendar and trying to think of the best six or seven day range in that time period to minimize crowds. Any thoughts or advice? Is it worth trying to avoid a Saturday? First week in the month any different than the second week?

 

[padawans]

Last year my family took a six day/five night trip to WDW in December. We left on the morning of Monday, December 8, getting into the parks in the early afternoon, and left on Saturday, December 17, hopping on the Magical Express around 5 p.m. that day (so a good full day of touring).

We had a fantastic time and were very happy with the overall crowd levels at that time of year. The crowds did pick up significantly on Saturday, December 17, and we were happy to be leaving. I have two younger kids, ages 5 and 7 now, so the shorter park hours actually worked well for us.

We were kind of forced into that specific date range last year by air fares, but we are more flexible this year. We'd like to go back for approximately the same amount of time at approximately the same time of year (first two weeks in December, before schools get out for winter break). I'm looking at the December 2012 crowd calendar and trying to think of the best six or seven day range in that time period to minimize crowds. Any thoughts or advice? Is it worth trying to avoid a Saturday? First week in the month any different than the second week?

We were there the same time as you last year. The crowds were great up until the 18th when kids started getting out of school. We did not leave until the 20th. The crowds at Dhs on the 19th were This year schools don't get out until the 21st. I would stick with the same dates if you move it up a week you are going to hit the pop warner crowds.