Crowds during the week before Xmas??

[zippehsmom]

Just curious about how crowded the parks are the week before Xmas. I want to take my girls on a surprise trip for next Xmas, and get one last trip in before my 2 year old turns 3 (she'll be 3 12/19). I planned to go 12/17- 12/24. Anybody have any experience going during this time. DH will stay at home because he can't get the week before Xmas off.

Thanks

zippehsmom

 

[erikthewise]

I have only a little personal experience but I've read a lot of descriptions. The first few days will be reasonable, but the closer you get to Christmas, the more crowded it gets, and it will be very crowded the last 2-3 days.

If you could go one or two weeks earlier, it would be MUCH less crowded.

 

[fwm]

The crowds the week before Christmas the last two years were similar to summer crowds, with cooler temperatures. It is musch less crowded than the week between Christmas and New Years.

 

[DisLUV]

We only go at this time of the year. We have always gone during the first 2 weeks of December. One the first week and 2x the 2nd week. the 2nd week has always seemed to be more crowded. The main reason is the pop warner superbowl tourney is at that time. Now when I say crowded i mean for someone who only goes during that time. Fur a Summer person it would be empty Hope it helps. We love this time and will only go at this time........

 

[rkmassa]

We have been twice in the last 2 years just days before. Last year was the 18th to 23rd. Year before that was 17th to 28th. I have seen the crowds before and after Christmas. Of course much better before. The days before no way compare to summer crowds. I have been all of my other 8 times in the summer. Summer crowds are bad. The week before Christmas is much better. Now I am not saying walk on rides, but not summer by any means. We saw wait times at TOT, MS, TT, and other very popular rides hover over an hour. Fast Passes were gone by late afternoon for most of these rides. You will need to use FP for the more popular rides. We thought EE was a waste. So many people from the resorts. We didn't manage to get any more done on EE days with the exception of one EE at EPCOT. MK forget it. Later in the evening we managed to ride Buzz 3 times in a row with just walking on, but this was near closing. We didn't notice a real increase in crowds until after the 25th the year before. Crowd levels were about the same before that-manageable. So your days should be good. The most unpredictable thing is the weather. We had days of shorts and days of long pants and winter coats this last trip. Year before we had short/capri days with only jackets at night. You never know. I always pack more for my December trips.