Crowds Dec13-20th

[srgibbs]

We usually go to Disney in late Sept. We were wanting to go before Christmas this year but don't want to go when it is really crowded. I'm thinking we could pull our 2nd grader out of school his last week as the last three days are only half days anyway. Question is if we checked in On Sat. Dec 13th. and Checked out Sat. Dec 20th what would the crowds be like? Keep in mind we are used to little to no waits in Sept. Any thoughts that could help me decide would be great. We could go in mid Feb. when he has a few days out but the weather is always so rainy during that time. Thanks for your input!

 

[ChelleinNC]

That's a good time to go. All the decorations are up, MVMCP, Candlelight Processional, Osborne Lights, and the crowds aren't bad. It's my favorite time of the year at the World You will notice the crowds starting to pick up at the end of the week, especially Fri & Sat before Christmas, but the beginning of the week should be great.

 

[Disneycrazycrewuk]

We stayed this last xmas from dec 12th till jan 3rd, the 1st week of the holiday was great.
You may have a little longer wait for rides than sep but nothing like the wait over xmas.
The decorations, lights, mvmcp and the castle make it worth the trip over xmas.

sadly we will never go again over xmas so are back to taking our trips in sep

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

We are booked for Dec 13-21 and decided that is the best time to go. Pop Warner and Mousefest are going on during the week before, and I wanted to miss that. We went Dec 19-23, 2007 and it was really nice. It felt more like Christmas, than it did when we went Dec 3-10, 2006. I guess because of the Pop Warner crowds in the evening. Maybe it was just my wishful thinking. the crowds didn't really get bad until Saturday 12/22 and that was only at the park. The resort we were at, AKL, didnt really get busy until we were checking out on Sunday 12/23.

We didn't wait long for anything at all. In fact I was actually able to ride things I hadn't been able to on past trips. Make sure to go to MVMCP one night and see Illuminations, because they add an extra portion at the end with a Christmas Theme. And check out Osborne Lights at DHS.

Suzanne

 

[srgibbs]

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. I'm leaning in the direction of booking this week at WL room only with a AAA rate. Any other thoughts are great!

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. I'm leaning in the direction of booking this week at WL room only with a AAA rate. Any other thoughts are great!

I would suggest you do that as soon as possible, the AAA rooms go fast for December.

 

[kikiV]

we're going dec 6-13. a moderator said this week is much less crowded than dec 13-20, so i kept my reservation. Is this not true?

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

we're going dec 6-13. a moderator said this week is much less crowded than dec 13-20, so i kept my reservation. Is this not true?

Well, in my experience, the crowd levels during the day were nice, but in the evening the parks are full of the Pop Warner kids and their families and they can get a bit rowdy. They will be at WDW during your timeframe and Mousefest will also be there part of that time for their land portion of their meetings, so I am sure it will be alot more crowded than it was when we were there during Pop Warner in Dec 2006.

If you read my PP, I went Dec 19-23, 2007 and had a great experience and didn't have to deal with the tweens and teens from Pop Warner.

All of this in purely my opinion and each person has their own of course, but I hvae been during both times and chose the latter. I also did it so that I could work out to get about 2 full weeks off from work, because I will really need it by then.

Please PM me if you wnat any other info.

Suzanne

 

[srgibbs]

Ok another question. I called and booked a hold on a AAA Standard room at WL for 12/13-12/20. The guy said the room rate on 12/20 was $390 with AAA. I knew it went up but when I checked on the internet it was $390 without the AAA discount. Do I need to check on this or do you not get a AAA discount when it hits Holiday rates? I guess we could check into another hotel for Friday off property. $390 just seems a little high.

 

[corinascot]

AAA doesn't have a discount during the holiday period. It ends Dec 18.

We're planning on Dec 18-22 at WL. I'm hoping to call tomorrow for reservations. THe price jump from Dec 18 to the 19th was hard to swallow. And I know there won't be any codes or discounts for that period. We thought about switching to Jan 1-5 or earlier in Dec, but we really want to go Dec 18-22. Hoping the crowds will be ok.

We've been to WDW the past 3 spring breaks. If we want to go in Dec., we have to skip spring and hold out til DEc.

 

[NJPluto]

Hi!

Sorry, I don't know anything about the Holiday rates and AAA discounts.

We'll be there that same week and we've gone that week for the past two years. We find the crowds very manageable and haven't experienced outlandish wait times for the popular rides.

Have fun!

 

[srgibbs]

Thanks again for the posts. The rates don't go up until Friday the 19th so it may just be worth it to stay put and fork out the money for that last night. We get basically what equals a free night in value season with a AAA discount so thats not to bad of a deal. I'm such a penny pincher I just need to not always worry so much about a price as long as we can afford it. I assume the parks stay open a lot later than they do in the fall so that should make up the difference with a little higher crowd level. Also, if we do the Mickeys Christmas Party while we are there that will give us some more time in the MK. Also, we decided to skip the dining plan and just book 3 TS and do the rest at WL or CS in the parks which save some time as well. Now to talk the kids into this being their present from the parents and talking my soon to be 2nd grader out of missing his Christmas Party and Program may be another story. Any more tips are appreciated.

 

[TheMorgans]

We were there this year begining on Dec 13th. We found the park crowd levels to be very similar to what they are in February or late Septmeber when we usually go. It should be a great time.

However, the park hours were very similar to what they are in the fall.

 

[YesMickey]

Ok another question. I called and booked a hold on a AAA Standard room at WL for 12/13-12/20. The guy said the room rate on 12/20 was $390 with AAA. I knew it went up but when I checked on the internet it was $390 without the AAA discount. Do I need to check on this or do you not get a AAA discount when it hits Holiday rates? I guess we could check into another hotel for Friday off property. $390 just seems a little high.

If I were you I would book through AAA. You can go to their website and check the WDW brochure to check the savings for your dates.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Ok another question. I called and booked a hold on a AAA Standard room at WL for 12/13-12/20. The guy said the room rate on 12/20 was $390 with AAA. I knew it went up but when I checked on the internet it was $390 without the AAA discount. Do I need to check on this or do you not get a AAA discount when it hits Holiday rates? I guess we could check into another hotel for Friday off property. $390 just seems a little high.

The rates for that time is 20% until Dec 19. We are paying $147.50/night for the AS Music Family Suite until the last 2 nights and then it jumps to $315/night, but well worth the sacrifice compared to the earlier weeks of December.

Suzanne

 

[whogirl'smom]

Actually, the AAA rate is 15% off the deluxe resorts. We had WL booked, but switched to Pop/GF for the week before since we got a 20% off code in an email. No AAA discount for holiday season.

 

[Millie12591]

I was just curious as to what the Pop Warner thing is all about.

I'm thinking about going Nov.30- Dec. 7th. Could anyone help me out here? And also are all the decorations up? Do they still have the Osborne lights and all that would normally be taking place closer to Christmas?

I also wanted to know what the weather is typically like that time of the year. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I was just curious as to what the Pop Warner thing is all about.

I'm thinking about going Nov.30- Dec. 7th. Could anyone help me out here? And also are all the decorations up? Do they still have the Osborne lights and all that would normally be taking place closer to Christmas?

I also wanted to know what the weather is typically like that time of the year. Any help would be appreciated.

Pop Warner is like little league for football and cheerleading. It is their National Competition.

You should have no problem then, except the taping of the Christmas Parade is the first weekedn in December, so I eould try to avoid the MK on those days. They do still have the Osborne Lights and the Christmas decorations will be up by then.

Weather then can be very difficult. It can be 80 degrees one day and 30 degrees the next, so you have to pack for that. We have been the last two Decembers and had similar weather, which was quite cool for what I thought it should have been. But, I live where ht weather is very similar to Orlando and 60 degrees is only slightly warm to me.

HTH!!!!!

Suzanne

 

[Millie12591]

Does Disney have a calendar that posts when Pop Warner is going to be there? I'm kinda doubting it since people will actually plan around such things. I was also wondering with those who seem to schedule around peak times like I'm trying to do, is there a good time in the spring that I can still see the flowers at Epcot and not get charged through the nose for being there? We went last year in May and it was a still a little to warm for me, not to mention the darn Love bugs!

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Does Disney have a calendar that posts when Pop Warner is going to be there? I'm kinda doubting it since people will actually plan around such things. I was also wondering with those who seem to schedule around peak times like I'm trying to do, is there a good time in the spring that I can still see the flowers at Epcot and not get charged through the nose for being there? We went last year in May and it was a still a little to warm for me, not to mention the darn Love bugs!

Pop Warner is Dec 7-13, 2008.

Sorry, I can't help you with Spring, because we haven't been during that time of year yet.

Suzanne