Dec 10-17, 2011 crowds?

[Momof2J's]

We are planning on Dec 10-17 & wanted to know what the crowd levels were like a few weeks ago. If anyone was there this year during that time, I'd like to hear how it was.

thanks!

 

[mrsr2ro]

We were just there 12/12 - 12/15 in '10 and the crowds were very light - HOWEVER it was when it was bitter cold. We used the easywdw and touring plans to pick which parks to go to and that helped too. But I think the cold was a big factor as well so be prepared for that. The year before we went 12/2 - 12/9 and the weather was nicer, crowds slightly heavier but nothing horrible. Great time of year to go.

 

[mom2val]

Been in 2009 and 2010 during that time frame. We love it and have a trip planned for 2011 around same time (Dec 14-19). Crowds are ok with most lines being 20 mins or less . Fast passes used on Soarin, Test Track and Toy Story Mania but everything else is a short line. We do Fantasy Land first thing in the am or during a parade otherwise those lines are 30+ mins at some attractions.

Weather in 2009 was 60's in am and evenings and days got up to 80. We had 2 days when it was drizzly but never really rained hard. In 2010 it was bone cold 3 days of our trip and the other days it was sweatshirt and jeans weather.

 

[Scubee]

We went down for a "long weekend" from Thursday, Dec 9 through Monday, Dec 13. We loved the weekday crowds. Short wait times and used FPs for the E ticket attractions which got up to around 30-40 minutes at worst. We decided to stay up late and sleep in for this trip (DS7 and DS3 aren't quite ready for commando).

Satuday Dec 11th at MK was a different story. We attended the Friday night MVMCP until midnight, got to the park late Saturday, and it was crowded. It was billed as a 6 but felt like an 8 or 9. We grabbed a few fastpasses and decided to check out the deluxe resort decor and nap. Came back around 7pm and stayed til after midnight. The after-9 crowd thinned out quickly. Sunday crowd was moderate at DHS but manageable.

We had such a great time though that we're already talking about visiting the same time this year.

 

[mom2val]

PP is right Sat Dec 11 at MK was a nightmare. I will never go to MK on a Saturday again!

 

[larryz]

The period is not the "best kept secret" any more. It was more crowded than it has been in years past, but certainly not up to a holiday or spring break crowd.

The longest we waited all week was for TSM and the second longest wait we had was for our ADR at Biergarten. We didn't rope drop either -- but we used FastPasses judiciously.

Monday we did early dinner for F! at HBD (and loved every bite!). We didn't get to the park until about 10:45. All the FPs for TSM were gone, so we braved the posted 70 minute line (took about 60). Everything else was pretty much walk on.

On Tuesday, I walked on to TTAM, Carousel of Progress, SplashMtn, Snow White, and Pirates, 5 minute wait for BTMRR, HM and IASW, 15 minute wait for Tomorrowland Speedway, 20 minute wait for SpaceMtn, Pooh and Peter Pan, FP'd Buzz, and no wait for food at the 'Haus... it was a good day to be in the park.

On Weds and Friday, I walked on to M:S Orange both days. Soarin' required FPs. Everything else was 10 to 20 minute waits. Wait -- TT was 40 minutes stand by so we went single rider. Took us about 10. (We saw a little Italian girl with her little brother in the single rider line -- maybe they need multilingual "single rider line" announcements. I don't think she understood why that line was so much shorter than the stand by, and was shocked to find out she couldn't ride with her brother.)

Thurs was back to DHS for almost no crowds -- waits for RnRC were about 40 mins stand by and 10 minutes single rider. Guess which line we took? We FP'd it, did single rider, went over to ToT for the 15 minute standby wait, then went back to ToT where we had to wait about 2 minutes for our FP window to open.

On Saturday we went to AK, which was not crowded at all -- EE was practically a walk on. The sign said 20 minute wait for standby, but the line moved quickly and we were on in about 15.

It was a good week -- we enjoyed it without going commando, and had plenty of time to shop for pins, enjoy our meals, and hit some attractions we had never done before.

Now we're pretty much Disney-satiated (at least for the rest of the year). I'll be watching for good deals toward the end of 2012 into Summer of 2013.

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

We went dec 10-17 and it was/ ore crowded than we thought it would be MK was always crowded. DHS was light on the 14th. Epcot was great on the 13th and 16th. Of course it was freezing cold requiring coats hats and gloves 3 days and cold the other days. We had 1 warm day and 1 semi warm day. Still a good time.

 

[cybrkitn]

The year before we went 12/2 - 12/9 and the weather was nicer, crowds slightly heavier but nothing horrible.

Compared to the summer (if you have done that in the past), are the crowds about the same or less? We're planning on going Dec 2-12 this year.

 

[mrsr2ro]

Compared to the summer (if you have done that in the past), are the crowds about the same or less? We're planning on going Dec 2-12 this year.

I have not done summer. It seems crowds really are subjective -- you can have 3 different people give you three different answers for the same day. But I really do think that if you follow the guidelines from either touring plans or easy wdw, and choose the parks they recommend you will be ok. Let me give you specifics --

We never had more then 2 people in line at any CS restaurant.

The only bathroom that we had to wait in line to use was Crystal Palace for our Lunch TS meal.

Monorail lines were non exisitent at the times we used them -- meaning, we'd walk up, there would be a group of people waiting, and we'd all get on the next monorail that arrived. NOW - the one night as we were leaving MK at 7pm on a MVMCP night -- we saw the monorail line was very long, so we walked it back to CR. We only went to EP and MK so never used buses.

Never had to wait more than 4 people in line at a gift shop

Never waited more than 20min for a ride, but we did fast pass the following (which did have higher standby waits) Soarin, TT, Buzz, SM. On Tuesday morning (14th) my DS and I rode BTMRR 3 times in a row with a <5min wait each time. We arrived at the parks around 9:30/10am each day (9am RD).

The only time we felt cramped walking through a park was on that same night leaving MK at 7pm - there was our mass of people trying to exit while a mass of people was trying to enter.

Watched one parade - 3pm at MK - we literally walked up to the rope as the parade was starting. Nobody standing around us.

Went to the CP at Epcot with SCC narrating (night of 12/14). we had the dining package and got in the line at 6pm (for the 6:30 show). We were at the end of that line and I was a little nervous but once they got all in, we had a seat and the benches had empty seats along the edges of the theater. Mind you it was VERY cold that night.

So to me, based on all of these things - it was NOT crowded. However people who were there the same week as us did feel it was crowded... so the only thing I can think is that we hit the right places at the right times.

Even if this were to match a summer experience crowd wise, I can tell you that for ME - I'd much rather be wrapped in coats/gloves/hats than roasting in the FL heat!! Plus there is NOTHING like seeing the castle lit up with the lights.

 

[Momof2J's]

Thank you to everyone who replied! I appreciate hearing your thoughts.

I ended up booking Pop Century this morning since I got a PIN code last night. The 10th was blocked out, so we ended up going with 12/11-12/18/11.

 

[mrsr2ro]

Compared to the summer (if you have done that in the past), are the crowds about the same or less? We're planning on going Dec 2-12 this year.

Oops - just realized you were asking about our trip last year 12/2 - 12/9 --

It was a very goofed up trip -- we had the free dining for the week and it felt like all we did we spend time doing TS. I made the mistake of planning most of them in resort restaurants. First we'd have to GET to the TS place, then 30min ahead, then wait for table (TS were very crowded), meals took a long time (lots of character meals), then travel back to a park. On this years trip we only planned two TS and they were both IN a park (CP and GG). BIG difference. Felt like we wasted a lot of time last year. Also had my daughter who was 13mo along which slowed us down and we spent time in the villa each day. Also took a day out to visit some relatives who live in Orlando. Stayed in THV which felt very remote. Whenever we WERE in the parks, I don't recall having to wait more than 20min for anything and we did FP for anything else. My husband also needed an emergency root canal, my DS had a tummy bug, and my mom fell one night in MK so had to rest the next day.... so yeah - it was a goofed up trip!!! Which is why my mom and I and just my two older kids when back this year as a "redo"

 

[mmafan]

its pretty light but it depends on weather and what deal is out at the time..but overall a great time to go

 

[cybrkitn]

Oops - just realized you were asking about our trip last year 12/2 - 12/9 --

It was a very goofed up trip -- we had the free dining for the week and it felt like all we did we spend time doing TS. I made the mistake of planning most of them in resort restaurants. First we'd have to GET to the TS place, then 30min ahead, then wait for table (TS were very crowded), meals took a long time (lots of character meals), then travel back to a park. On this years trip we only planned two TS and they were both IN a park (CP and GG). BIG difference. Felt like we wasted a lot of time last year. Also had my daughter who was 13mo along which slowed us down and we spent time in the villa each day. Also took a day out to visit some relatives who live in Orlando. Stayed in THV which felt very remote. Whenever we WERE in the parks, I don't recall having to wait more than 20min for anything and we did FP for anything else. My husband also needed an emergency root canal, my DS had a tummy bug, and my mom fell one night in MK so had to rest the next day.... so yeah - it was a goofed up trip!!! Which is why my mom and I and just my two older kids when back this year as a "redo"

Thanks for the info. Sounds like the wait times were the same as they were for us back in October 2006. Not too bad. Much better than the summer months and do-able. We also over-planned on TS dining as well and will be doing things much differently this time around.

I've gone over to Touring Plans, but there is a fee of $10.95/year in order to subscribe and see the crowd levels. Not worth it IMO for just a one-time look.

 

[mrsr2ro]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like the wait times were the same as they were for us back in October 2006. Not too bad. Much better than the summer months and do-able. We also over-planned on TS dining as well and will be doing things much differently this time around.

I've gone over to Touring Plans, but there is a fee of $10.95/year in order to subscribe and see the crowd levels. Not worth it IMO for just a one-time look.

I got a discount for it through allears.net so I didn't pay as much. There is much more to it than a 1 time look. Lots of info on projected wait times by ride throughout every day of the year. I referenced it A LOT.

 

[budbeerlady]

It was MUCH busier than I had thought it would be. Busier than August by far. Saturday the 11th the crowd was so large they lead us out backstage in MK. We had a good time in the cold but I am thinking about other weeks now instead for a future trip. We used fastpass to our advantage but didn't get near as much done as we do on summer trips.

 

[mom2rtk]

It was MUCH busier than I had thought it would be. Busier than August by far. Saturday the 11th the crowd was so large they lead us out backstage in MK. We had a good time in the cold but I am thinking about other weeks now instead for a future trip. We used fastpass to our advantage but didn't get near as much done as we do on summer trips.

I wouldn't gauge the entire week on what happened the 11th. You have to understand going into this time of year......... the Magic Kingdom closes early 4 nights a week for the party. This heavily drives crowds into the MK on non party nights. Add to that the fact that the weather was nice on the 11th and was preceded by cold weather and they were expecting another cold front........ and you get a HUGE crowd that night.

Yes, it was busier than in previous year. Sort of a moderate crowd level, but still manageable.

 

[mrsr2ro]

I wouldn't gauge the entire week on what happened the 11th. You have to understand going into this time of year......... the Magic Kingdom closes early 4 nights a week for the party. This heavily drives crowds into the MK on non party nights. Add to that the fact that the weather was nice on the 11th and was preceded by cold weather and they were expecting another cold front........ and you get a HUGE crowd that night.

Yes, it was busier than in previous year. Sort of a moderate crowd level, but still manageable.

MVMCP does really mess up the crowds. This is where Park Hoppers really get their value. We toured MK during the day on two of the party days and then hopped somwhere else for the evening. Then on the non party day when everyone was probably packed into MK we did EP which was empty.

 

[mom2rtk]

MVMCP does really mess up the crowds.

So does MNSSHP!