December 7 Extended Hours and Pop Warner

[rwgibbons]

We are going to Disney World Dec. 7-14. Originally we were going to do Epcot first on December 7 (we have three kids and thought Epcot would be the least interesting for them, wanted to save the best for later), but then they changed the hours for Magic Kingdom on December 7 to be a crazy 8 a.m. to midnight, and I thought it would be good to begin and end our trip with Magic Kingdom and do Epcot on Sunday, December 8.

Then I got curious as to why they are changing the hours so drastically on that first Saturday only, and I discovered it's the first day of the Pop Warner competitions. Most people say the competition doesn't have too big an effect on park crowds, especially earlier on in the competition since the contestants are mostly involved in the activities. But then why the extended hours on that one specific day? I'm wondering if I'm walking into a landmine by planning to go to Magic Kingdom on that day or if I will simply have the good fortune of being able to go on a day with only moderate crowds and extended hours. Anyone have more insight into this? (This will be my first time going to Disney World; we are staying off site.)

 

[jaysmom4285]

If they extended the hours, they're expecting larger crowds. The Pop Warner competitions have little to no effect on crowds. And non-MVMCP days are always much busier than party days because most people would rather go to MK when it has longer hours than when it closes at 6 for MVMCP. We go every year in early December and make it a point to avoid MK on non-party days for just that reason. The party days may have shorter hours but they also have much lower crowds, which you and your children may find much more enjoyable.

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

It's a Saturday. MK will be packed.

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

Adding to previous post to also note that there is a Party the day before and the day after. This will be a terrible day to go to MK.

 

[WEDWDW]

EVERYBODY will be there that Saturday to see the fireworks since it is a non-MVMCP night-and I mean EVERYBODY!!!!lol

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Everyone says Pop Warner doesn't affect crowds but it does in the evenings. I've gone during Pop Warner time many times and noticed that evenings is when they tend to hit the parks. That's when it gets crowded.
But expect Sat. Dec 7th to be crowded all day in MK because it's one of the few party nights that week.

 

[rwgibbons]

Thanks all for your replies. The next-best option for Magic Kingdom would be Tuesday, December 10. It's a MVMCP party day so crowds should be less (although I'm not sure how much less because touringplans and other crowd prediction calendars don't indicate a huge difference in crowd levels.)

 

[scrappinginontario]

We were in the MK that Saturday in 2018. Thankfully we didn't arrive until evening as it was PACKED and we weren't able to enjoy it at all. (We had already been to DHS, EP and AK that day and all those were fine. We were attempting to go to all the parks in 1 day and ride something in each park.)

When we arrived in the MK last year (around 7pm) we ate at Casey's. Even that was a challenge with long lines outside the restaurant. (Thankful for Mobile order!!) After eating we made our way slowly through the crowds (The hub was full of people waiting for fireworks) to attempt to ride something. We tried it's a small world but the line was 55 mins long and the FP line crossed over almost to Peter Pan. We then shuffled to Tomorrowland and thought People Mover would be a good option. We couldn't even find the end of the line!!

We had really hoped to ride something in each park that day but realized that it wasn't worth the stress to do so so we left 3 hours after arriving having eaten a hot dog and that's about all.

Something to keep in mind about MK in December is that any evening that there isn't a party, the park will be more crowded.

Unless you like crowds I would discourage you from going to MK that day UNLESS you can go 10pm or later and then the crowds will be lighter. I heard later that if we'd stuck it out for about 30 mins more the crowds greatly reduced but we were done by 10pm and called it a night.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks all for your replies. The next-best option for Magic Kingdom would be Tuesday, December 10. It's a MVMCP party day so crowds should be less (although I'm not sure how much less because touringplans and other crowd prediction calendars don't indicate a huge difference in crowd levels.)

I would HIGHLY recommend going to the MK on a party day! We do this often because the crowds are lower until 4pm when party guests begin to arrive and even then it's totally manageable until the park closes at 6pm.

Our experience is that we accomplish far more on a party day, with lower wait times and crowds, than we do on a non-party day.