Dec 17-24 2003??? Crowds?

[timkin]

I've been sifting through some of the threads looking to see what the crowds are like the 7 days prior to Christmas. If you were there during the same time period this year please let me know what you thought. I was there the last week of March 2000 it was very crowded. Last week of Feb 2002 had about half the crowd than March of 2000. My DS will be 7 and DD 9 so it is getting to be a difficult decision to take them out of school for an extended period of time. This Dec 2003 trip would work out good for our family, I just don't want to walk into a wall of people on Main Street. THank YOu.

 

[PamOKW]

Pre-Christmas crowds have a lot to do with where in the week Christmas falls. With it landing on Thursday this year, I would expect the 17-23 to be fairly light. Most people will probably take the week after Christmas rather than the one before. Channukah starts the preceeding weekend so you may get some folks who come down to Florida early to see the grandparents but I wouldn't expect it to have too much influence on the crowd. Disney begins the Holiday Season on 12/20 this year, so they must expect people to start arriving then. I think you'll really start to see things build beginning 12/23.

 

[TreeOfLife]

That is when we are going too. The schools go on breaks around the 22nd-23rd, so it will pick up then. In order to deal with the crowds until the 27th we are staying onsite and taking advantage of ee mornings.

I have been there right before Christmas before, and it is D E A D peaceful!

 

[MarkMichaels]

We are also thinking of going down 12/20-12/26, but have also been debating on going a week or so earlier to avoid the crowds. Our last day of school is 12/19 next year.

I think we are leaning towards being there for Christmas, just making sure we hit the Extra Magic Hour in the mornings and spend afternoons in the pool.

Mark

 

[JulesMom]

We have been there for the last 2 years.

2001 Dec. 21-28
2002 Dec. 22-29

It didn't get real crowded until Christmas Day. With the long hours and EE and FP, the longest wait we had was 15 minutes.

We are planning on going for 2003, too.

We had a fabulous time. It's such a great time to visit.

We arrived early and left about lunch time or early afternoon.

You'll have a great time!!!!!!!

 

[XStAnt]

We went this year 12/22-12/27, which was during Disney's Holiday Season. Most schools started vacation begining 12/20 so DW and I were afraid of huge crowds.

The days before 12/25 weren't too bad. With proper planning we were abale to do everything we wanted.

You should have very light crowds at first, with attendence picking up around 12/22 (I'm guessing). I agree with PamOKW about crowd levels.

If crowds pick up just make sure you get to the parks when they open, go on the major attractions early, and use Fast Pass.

 

[peachgirl]

We were there from 12/19 thru 1/01. As others have said , from the 19th through the 23rd the crowds were very light. Starting Christmas Eve it picked up considerably. The crowds got heavier as the days went on and didn't lighten at all until the 1st.