December crowds

[daystar]

Hi,
Does anyone know how the crowds are at WDW in the first week of December???Thanks

 

[tjkraz]

The period from the end of November (weekend following Thanksgiving) up to the week before Christmas is considered one of the slowest at WDW. We visited the second week of December and were satisfied with the crowd levels. There were more people in the parks than we expected, but ride wait times were not too adversely impacted. If you use FastPass and tour wisely, you probably won't wait more than 10-15 minutes for any ride on the weekdays.

Just be warned that the weather can get dicey. It WILL get down into the 40s at night. During the day, it can be anywhere from 50 to 80 degrees. We were there for 7 days, and really only had one day where the weather was above 70 during the day and comfortable for swimming. The rest of the days it didn't get any higher than 67. Certainly it was warmer than back home. But realize that you'll have to pack a wide variety of clothing items (including winter coats if you'll be out after the sun goes down), and that you won't be walking around in shorts and tee shirts every day.

 

[jwfla422]

We were there this past December actually in the second week and in previous years the first week. The crowds were at a low level for the most part (even after all the hype and worry boardies had because they added a 2nd parade on the Sat. of that week and MK was open until 12 then). We were there in Oct. as well and DEFINITELY found the crowds significantly lower during our Dec. visit.

The day we were in Epcot my friends walked on to MS without any wait and then we all went on TT with maybe a 5-10 min wait (no FP). This was about 3:00 in the afternoon. There were no lines at the sitdown restaurants. I hadn't seen Epcot this empty in ages!

tjkraz was correct about the weather. We had a pretty interesting weather mix- when we got there it was HOT, but then...it got REALLY cold, especially at night with wind! Even guests from northern areas were complaining about how cold it was! But, it really got us in the holiday spirit! This is a great time to go to WDW!! Early December..we'll be there again next year at that time too!

 

[cobbler]

Yes the weather can be weird. In 01 it was cold as can be. 03 it was off and on cold and warm. 04 it was warm with the exception of a couple days I was there.

The crowds do seem to be increasing but are still managable. We expirenced larger crowds this past December than we have before but there could have been many variable attributing to that (hurricane reschedules etc).

 

[danny1649]

First or second week of December each year since 1992.We love it the crowds are not that bad,though over the years they have increased a little each year it seems.We love all the holiday decorations and doings like MVMCP,CP,Osbourne Lights.We bring clothes we can layer because the weather can vary big time from day to day.Most of the time over the years it has been great.

 

[KTink14]

We are going Novemeber 27th to December 2nd, just wondering how the crowds were, we hear this is a slowest time of year and are pretty excited about that since we usually go in july, until just this year since we have the disney vacation club we went for halloween and loved the lesser crowds! Also, what does everyone think about the weather and the MVMCP this time, we plan on going to the one durning the week whatever day that is!

 

[tjkraz]

We are going Novemeber 27th to December 2nd, just wondering how the crowds were, we hear this is a slowest time of year and are pretty excited about that since we usually go in july, until just this year since we have the disney vacation club we went for halloween and loved the lesser crowds! Also, what does everyone think about the weather and the MVMCP this time, we plan on going to the one durning the week whatever day that is!

If you're used to summer crowds then you'll love early December. Personally, I thought the crowds this December (2nd week) were larger than we faced back in mid-May '04. But neither time was overwhelming by any stretch of the imagination. If you use FastPass, you probably won't wait more than 10-15 minutes for any attraction with the execption of the slow-loaders like Astro Orbiter or Tomorrowland Speedway.

We did MVMCP for the first time this year and really didn't think it was worth the money. Although that sentiment probably puts us in the minority. We enjoyed the Osborne Lights and the decorations at Epcot better than MVMCP, and didn't have to pay anything extra for those.