Crowd Comparison

[GrantMcR]

For our 2018 trip, we are debating between going the Saturday after Thanksgiving (11/25-12/2) or the second week of December (12/9-12/16). We did the week after Thanksgiving last year and loved it, but airline tickets are cheaper two weeks later and DVC points are a little lower too. Does anyone have any experience with how the crowds compare between these two weeks?

 

[-_Stitch-Up-Scrump_-]

Thanksgiving weekend is very busy. But December is always busy, leading up toward Christmas, there will be lots of crowds, but not as much in the first few days of December. During that time in December, there will probably be less kids, but during Thanksgiving, there probably won’t be as many things wrong with the rides. Also, if you like Christmas a lot I would suggest going in December.

 

[wdw&sonny]

Both weeks should be relatively good for that time of year. You should be just after the Thanksgiving rush and before the Xmas rush. The crowds should be slightly lower the second week of December.
According to UT, average crowd level for 11/25-12/2 is 5.75 and for 12/9-12/16 is 4.875; for whatever that's worth.

 

[GrantMcR]

Both weeks should be relatively good for that time of year. You should be just after the Thanksgiving rush and before the Xmas rush. The crowds should be slightly lower the second week of December.
According to UT, average crowd level for 11/25-12/2 is 5.75 and for 12/9-12/16 is 4.875; for whatever that's worth.

Thank you. That was very helpful. The interesting thing is that Touring Plans seems to think the 2nd week in December will be a little busier. I was hoping to see if anyone had personal experience since none of these crowd calendars really seem to agree.

 

[Klayfish]

Thank you. That was very helpful. The interesting thing is that Touring Plans seems to think the 2nd week in December will be a little busier. I was hoping to see if anyone had personal experience since none of these crowd calendars really seem to agree.

There's a reason crowd calendars don't agree...because they have little to no accuracy value.

We haven't gone the second week of December, but have done Thanksgiving twice...'15 and '17. Also did Christmas both of those years. Everyone wants to see WDW at the holidays...for good reason. So expect it to be busy. From folks I've talked to, early to mid-December is less crowded than the actual week of Thanksgiving and the days after for sure, but not a ghost town by any stretch.

No offense to a new poster, but I'm not sure why PP above would say that the rides would have less things "wrong" with them at Thanksgiving. Doesn't make sense to me. And WDW is in full Xmas bloom by Thanksgiving, so no issue there either.

 

[-_Stitch-Up-Scrump_-]

There's a reason crowd calendars don't agree...because they have little to no accuracy value.

We haven't gone the second week of December, but have done Thanksgiving twice...'15 and '17. Also did Christmas both of those years. Everyone wants to see WDW at the holidays...for good reason. So expect it to be busy. From folks I've talked to, early to mid-December is less crowded than the actual week of Thanksgiving and the days after for sure, but not a ghost town by any stretch.

No offense to a new poster, but I'm not sure why PP above would say that the rides would have less things "wrong" with them at Thanksgiving. Doesn't make sense to me. And WDW is in full Xmas bloom by Thanksgiving, so no issue there either.

I guess I might be wrong on some things, but, when I go to Disney in December I literally get stuck on like 3-5 rides a day, and when I go in November, I usually don’t get stuck as much (1-2 Times). I really don’t know why, maybe people with wheelchairs are trying to get on the rides that are constantly moving (like Spaceship Earth)

 

[GrantMcR]

There's a reason crowd calendars don't agree...because they have little to no accuracy value.

We haven't gone the second week of December, but have done Thanksgiving twice...'15 and '17. Also did Christmas both of those years. Everyone wants to see WDW at the holidays...for good reason. So expect it to be busy. From folks I've talked to, early to mid-December is less crowded than the actual week of Thanksgiving and the days after for sure, but not a ghost town by any stretch.

No offense to a new poster, but I'm not sure why PP above would say that the rides would have less things "wrong" with them at Thanksgiving. Doesn't make sense to me. And WDW is in full Xmas bloom by Thanksgiving, so no issue there either.

Actually, I have been pretty pleased with Touring Plans when I have used it the last two years.

We also did the week after Thanksgiving in '17 and felt like the crowds were pretty good.

I agree, on the rest though. Christmas stuff will be going on both weeks, so that's not a factor. Not sure what was meant about the ride issues either.

 

[kniquy]

I was debating those same weeks and decided for right after thanksgiving 11/27-12/1. Many of the reports this year noted that the crowds seemed busier in those early December weeks than in past years. I don't know if they were offering more discounts or other incentives.

As for flights Tuesdays typically seem to be a little cheaper. I think we are too far out to really see any deals on flights.

 

[DisneyFive]

FWIW, for those December dates in 2017, actual crowds (not predicted) were around 6 or 7 out of 10 for the first 5 days and then 8 or 9 on the final Sat and Sunday.

The week after Thanksgiving started with an 8 but then dropped to 3-7's. (again, actual crowds, not predicted)

So it was much lower the week after thanksgiving.

Dan

 

[lambdabeta]

I vote for the week after Thanksgiving. We are going Nov 26th to Dec 4th. We won't be going to the parks our first day because the crowds are usually high that day. Like DisneyFive said the crowds then decrease for the rest of the week until the weekend. This is based on historical data. I also read that last year the crowd levels just went up every week from the end of Nov to Christmas. That is why we picked our week. Last year we went the first week in Dec. I won't go again during Pop Warner which is always the first week of December. We had a bad experience with cheerleaders. The second week in Dec the crowds will be larger but still less than they will be the week after that. It is up to you to decide what you want. It is never that slow anymore at Christmas time.