December crowds

[aussietravellers]

I am just wondering if it's expected to be busy in the first couple of weeks of December.

I thought that from Thanksgiving to the week before Christmas was usually a lower crowd time (I know there are always crowds). We have been before for just over two weeks leading up to Christmas and it was fantastic and started getting really busy a few days before Christmas.

The reason I ask is because of HoJo's entertainment rate. I have seen that they usually have it in December, but it isn't there at the moment and I thought that they don't have rates up for months that they are expecting the crowds to be reasonable and they don't give the rate. So I was thinking if they are expecting it to be busy in the first two weeks of December, is there something on then to make it busier than previous years?

We may rethink and maybe plan for early Jan 2013 if that will be quieter than the month earlier.

Thanks

 

[Eeee-va]

I would think the main reason the Entertainment rates aren't up would be because that's almost a year away? They probably want to wait and see.

If your goal is to see Disneyland in all its Christmas splendor, then the week after Thanksgiving may have the lowest crowds for that time period. Weekdays in early December should be just fine; I understand weekends might be crowded. The closer you are to Christmas, the more crowded it is. The week of Christmas through New Years are (in general) reported to be VERY VERY VERY crowded. Then the first week of January is also fairly crowded because there are a lot of school breaks.

About the second week of January onward has much lower wait times. But they're also taking the Christmas stuff down at that time, and there will almost certainly be several rides and attractions down for rehab. Haunted Mansion and/or Small World are a given (depending on when you go), and right now the Matterhorn is also down, along with the Sailing Ship Columbia, Cafe Orleans, and a whole bunch of Main Street. In DCA the Redwood Challenge Creek Trail is down and there are quite a few construction walls at Paradise Pier which were not up during the Christmas season. In both parks, the evening entertainment is not running nearly as often as it does in the busier seasons, so if your heart is set on seeing Fantasmic! mid-January is not a good time for it.

Have a great trip, whenever you go!