Crowd comparison: Week before Xmas vs. Week after New Year's

[kendall]

Which date span has fewer crowds? I know WDW becomes more crowded as Christmas gets closer. Are the decorations still up in January?

My kid's school usually has 2 weeks off at Christmas. The 05-06 calendar isn't set in stone yet, but I heard that the kids may have off the first full week in January instead of the week before Christmas. Figures - I have reservations starting on 12/19 for a week, and I am thinking of booking for the week of 1/1 instead just in case.

 

[gizfish]

According to the unofficial guide, http://www.touringplans.com/BestDays.htm the week you have already planned starting 12/19 will get progressively more crowded as each day goes by. They don't have their crowd predictions up for 1/06 yet, but since 1/1 is a sunday and will therefore be celebrated on 1/2, that will most likely be a high crowd day. Historically crowd levels drop to about a "3" after New Year's, and from past experience (1/01) crowds at that level really were not an issue. That being said, if your kids are off that week, odds are good that other schools are also off, and that can really throw a kink in the expected crowd level. Maybe wait and see what the levels will be this year for the last week of April. April into May is historically also a "3" (again past experience last year, crowds not really a problem), but this year some of the Northeast schools have off that week and things may be different. Should give you some idea what may happen the first week of Jan 06 with a similar situation.

 

[Partridge4ever]

I asked the same question last week. I know my kids' school is off that first week in January, BUT the schools in the neighboring county are not. I'm thinking it will be more crowded than the usual first week of January, but less crowded than Christmas-New Years week.

 

[pmtaylor]

I have heard different things. We are going Dec 17-23 which I heard is not too bad. The crowds start coming around the 23rd until the first of the year. My travel agent was there the week before Xmas last year and said it was not bad at all.

 

[karebear1]

I'd go the week after New Years. It is not usually crowded and the Christmas Decor is still up. However, beware. ...the WDW Marathon is the 2nd Sunday of the month and crowds for that will start to grow on the Friday before. Crowds usually don't go to the parks though- they're too busy getting ready for the marathon.