Crowds First 2 Weeks of December?

[zad's mom]

How are the crowds the first two weeks of December? I know that Mousefest and Pop Waner Superbowl will be occuring at that time. And, are parks hours shorter during this time? Any info. would be much appreciated.

 

[Melrosgirl]

How are the crowds the first two weeks of December? I know that Mousefest and Pop Waner Superbowl will be occuring at that time. And, are parks hours shorter during this time? Any info. would be much appreciated.

Pretty tame I think. I was there the second week of December in 2003.

 

[cobbler]

Magic Kindgom usually closes at 7pm. Epcot at 9 and animal kingdom at 5.

 

[cjsmom5]

We go the week after Thanksgiving. We miss Pop Warner and everything else.. It is pretty tame. And if you go to MVMCP on the weekdays you can walk on several of the rides late at night.

 

[MLAinVA]

Not exactly the first two weeks of December, but we were there Dec 16-19 this past year and it was very quiet on Thurs and Fri, but got pretty busy on Sat and Sun.

 

[rlduvall]

We were there first week of December, last year. I was very surprised at the crowds, BUT, I think the majority of the problem was the hurricane rescheduling (which is why we were there at that time). MVMCP was a total nightmare, crowdwise, and I would never do that again. Again, I think 2004 December was atypical. Also, the first two weeks of December, with the great holiday happenings and supposedly low crowds, is starting to get very popular.

 

[ziggystardust]

We were there just this past Dec (5th-11th) so right in your time frame. Honestly the only time it was crowded was at MVMCP, on a night that was not sold out. It was crazy, we couldn't even see the 1st parade and barely got space for the 2nd one.

I would sooooo go back again during this time. As you can see in my sig, it was the best trip ever!

 

[john2u]

We went the second week in December this past year and the crowds are not even there. All rides during the day where basically a walk on. They were not even offering fast pass. The longest wait we might have had was 5 min.

The park hours are shorter, but in the MK on MVMCP nights, if you do not have a ticket to attend, the park closes to those people around 6:00pm.

I strongly recomend that you attend the MVMCP. We attended 2 of them so we would not miss a thing.

The sights around DW are simply beautiful.

Have a Disney Day
John

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

Also at WDW the second week of this past December. Crowds were wonderful; however, we thought MVMCP was crowded compared MK that day.

 

[sherry8253]

We usually go the first or second week in December and it is always pretty empty. I think the longest wait we ever had was for mission space and it was about 15 minutes. Most rides are a walk on. I always try to beat my DH at buzz lightyear and we usually ride it about 10 times in a row with no wait at all. It is a GREAT time to go... low crowds and great holiday decorations.

 

[jwfla422]

Crowds were very manageable the 2nd week of December this past year. Monday 12-13 was so awesome at Epcot, MS and TT were walk-ons at 3 pm! We found it to be less busy during this time than in October...plus you have all of the holiday perks! Love to go during this time!

 

[cjsmom5]

We typically hit the first weekday MVMCP which has been on Sunday and then the one on Tuesday and again on Thursday. While it was a bit more crowded at the Thursday one we finally got tired and left as we rode Space Mt. 7 times in a row without waiting. Thunder Mt. 4 times in a row. Buzz Lightyear about 7-8 times. The rest of the week we didn't spend much time in MK and instead went to the rest of the parks. We always watch the parade back by Liberty Tree Tavern and didn't have a problem on any of the nights for the first parade.

We have gone on Thanksgiving Day and the week after for the past 4-5 years. And, never found it that busy so I am surprised to hear that this past year was busy ... we must have just not been with the crowds that much. We love this time of the year.

 

[zad's mom]

Thanks to all who replied. I'll start my vacation planning right now.

 

[Dis2times]

We're also going in this time frame and we're hoping for good crowds. We leave the day Pop Warner arrives. We'll be there from Nov. 27-Dec. 4. I would imagine the Monday/Tuesday after Thanksgiving would be pretty slow, yes?

Lisa

 

[tigerlilly]

We are trying to decide if we are going to go this December. For those who have arrived on Thanksgiving does it go smoothly? Do you get good room assignments? Etc.? Sounds like it is a good time of year to go.

 

[cjsmom5]

Actually, we have even found Sunday morning to be pretty slow. Many are packing up to leave and several have not yet checked in. The afternoon it gets busier. Two years ago we rode Buzz about 8 times in a row, until my finger started to hurt from pressing the button, before there was even a little bit of a line. Thanks goodness our DS wasn't into space mountain then.

Monday and Tuesday are also pretty slow. We see crowds start to pick up on Thursday evening and Friday. We leave on Saturday so can't comment on that one.

Thanksgiving Day check in has always been uneventful for us. Typically goes very smooth. We don't arrive until later afternoon as the flight gets in around 3:30 so by the time we get there everyone is at dinner. Room assignments have been fine for us. Most of the time we get the majority of our requests. Then on Sunday we move over to a deluxe resort and check in then. Again, that goes smoothly as most are checking out. Our room, though isn't usually available until around 4pm due to the heavy checkout. But, we are in the parks anyways. Disney takes care of the baggage transfer.

In regards to Pop Warner -- Typically they arrive the first weekend in December so we don't usually deal with that issue.

That being said, in the past, we have been there when Pop Warner is there and the biggest thing we noticed was at the hotel. That year they were at PORiverside. It wasn't too bad except in the pool and at peak meal times in the food court. We would see them periodically in lines at the park but not all that much so it didn't affect us. Some groups can be obnoxious but when we would say something they would settle down. We have been in education in our past lives so are comfortable in doing that -- while I understand others are not.

 

[micmacmissy]

We were there this past December, and I can tell you one thing: I will NEVER go back in the summer!!!

Here was our schedule:
Dec. 11th Epcot--almost totally empty. Walked onto every ride except Test Track, had to wait 10 min. Kids got to meet Stanley, Nemo, and other characters...there were usually only a few kids ahead of us to meet characters.

Dec. 12th Animal Kingdom--again, almost empty. Walked onto everything, no waits at all, not even on the safari. Even found last minute spots on the parade route, no problem! Met all the Pooh characters in mere minutes--not long lines at all.

Dec. 13th and 14th Magic Kingdom--more crowded than past two parks, felt very crowded to us, but we were used to walking on rides! Didn't wait on any lines before 2pm. After 2, we used FastPass a few times (rides in Fantasy Land were 20 min+ which seemed like a long time, but compared to summer, that's nothing!) Character meet and greets were also great--no long lines, except for Minnie--maybe 7-10 minutes!

Another benefit to us are cool temperatures--no one is cranky, sweaty, or thirsty. Walking is easy when it's not 100 degrees out.

Two things that were not so great: parks close early, but that was not an issue for us as we have little kids, 2 and 4, who are in bed by 7:30 anyway. Also, the weather was cold enough (high of 70) that we couldn't use the pool at the Grand Floridian, where we stayed...but we'd gladly trade these things for the low crowds!!!

 

[Michelle2]

micmacmissy, you made my day! We will be there including those exact dates!! Staying at the GF too! Did that resort seem crowded at that time or pretty empty?

 

[janets]

and the weather was exceptionally warm. I had been expecting very low crowds and no lines, but frankly, I don't think I would use those words to describe our trip. I think a lot of the difference was because of people rescheduling from hurricanes. While we were able to get on some rides with low lines, others were as long as I expected. Dh and ds#1 waited 50 minutes for Splash Mountain at one point, then at another time did a walk on. We walked on to Buzz but by the time we walked out the line was 20 minutes. We waited 25 minutes for Dumbo, but only 5 for the teacups.

I thought there was quite a bit of foot traffic, but compared to what it was like the last time we went in the summer (2001) it was much easier to be there. We're going this year for Jersey Week (11/5-11/12) and I know there will be a lot of visitors, but with ds#1 going into 2nd grade, we can't take him out for a full week again so we're going during the shortened week. I'm hoping for no larger crowds than this past December.

Hope you have a wonderful trip.

 

[micmacmissy]

Michelle2...the GF wasn't crowded at all. We stayed in the Sugar Loaf building, we never really saw many people at all. Of course, the main building had tons of traffic going through it--mainly people checking out the Xmas decorations, for that reason we were VERY happy not to be staying in the main building--it was very noisy!

The grounds were quiet--no one in the pool (bit too chilly), one or two people in the hot tub, but I can't imagine the hotel was even half full. We were on the dock watching the fireworks with about 10 other people--it was perfect.

We ate at the GF in Narcoosee's, Citrico's, and the Cafe...it wasn't crowded at all, we had PSs but the restaurants were empty. We really had a great time, I'm sure you will too!