December is a great time to go

[hockey mom]

I would have to disagree with you unfortunately. If you're taking your family (3-4 people) WDW is okay........I didn't like how wall-to-wall it was. It was just packed. I would go at a different time of year next time, even though the lights and things were fantasmic(uh, fantastic), I didn't like how packed it was, cause lines were long and it was just too difficult to get anywhere. Definitely loved the fastpasses tho!

You must have been there over Christmas. We went the second week in December. I would never even consider going between Christmas and New years.

 

[Claud26]

we went the first week of December and everything was walk on, the weather was great except for the Thursday 12/08 where it rained Cats and dogs all day only to clear up for MVMCP.

Coral Reef was Great, got a table right at the 'window', the food was great and plenty and the kids loved their Dessert.
The Meal Plan was Amazing and at Coral Reef we only got charged 1 (obviously a mistake on their part)
I think next time we might go in Late November or maybe Feb.

 

[riu girl]

Regarding crowds we were there Dec 31 - Jan 8. No park on Dec 31, but did parks the other days (except Jan 2 when we felt it was just too HOT!!!). Except morning of Jan 1, we found the rest of the week CROWDED everywhere. Even saw a 2 hour wait time for soarin (just for an example). First couple hours in the parks were slow but by late morning, CROWDED!!!!

The weather was so hot also Dec 31 - Jan 5. I was surprised how hot it was for that time of year. Then quite cool Jan 6-7 (which I preferred for touring).
I couldn't imagine touring disney in the summer when the temperatures would be incredibly high.

Overall, I preferred seeing Christmas decorations at Disney prior to Christmas (like we saw them and several hotels decorated last year the week before Christmas 2004).
But being in Disney Dec 31 - Jan 8, I was not at all interested in seeing decorations since in my mind, Christmas was OVER!!!! Finally Jan 8, they stopped playing Christmas music at Pop Century.

About Coral Reef: we had a 4:30 ADR Jan 1st and everything went perfectly: food/table, service etc. When we left (around 6 pm) there were several people waiting for tables. I thinkthe secret for an ADR is to get it as soon as they start serving dinner (ie: 4:30 pm at this restaurant) then your not waiting for anyone to finish their meal before you are seated. Same thing at CRT: had a 12:15 ADR. WHen we came out a TON of people were waiting to be seated (and saw some really upset faces, I'll tell you). Plus the heat proabbly didn't help anyones mood.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Just wondering what the temperature was Jan 2nd? We were there early December and felt it was a wonderful temperature - one day in the low 80's and the rest in the 70's.

We were there in early October and it was in the 90's every day but with the humidity it felt even hotter. We were soaked by the time we reached the bus every morning.

 

[riu girl]

I don't know the exact temperature for Jan 2 but checked the forecast the previous night (using the weather button on the Pop Century room phone). It said the forecasted high for Jan 2 was high 70s (79 if I remember correctly).

But on January 2nd itself, it felt more like mid/upper 80s. I assume the forecast wasn't quite accurate and by afternoon it felt like it was well into the 80s.
Which I fully understand that for a lot of people, this would be fine for touring, but for me, once it gets that hot, I prefer a beach/pool to be close by.

 

[welovedis]

Just wanted to post something here, I saw this thread while reading the boards page and was happy to hear that the 2nd week of Dec is a good time.

riugirl--we arrived on the 5th & thought the weather was so warm, then had that slight chill spell on the 6th & 7th but it was perfect for Osborne Lights!

We are planning a surprise trip in Dec to celebrate my DS' 10th b-day. The dates would be 12/10-15th, any thoughts on whether this would be too close to Christmas or would still be on the slow side of things?

Did anyone do MVMCP or CP? Wondering what your thoughts are! Hope you don't mind a Western NYer on your board!

 

[hockey mom]

Just wanted to post something here, I saw this thread while reading the boards page and was happy to hear that the 2nd week of Dec is a good time.

riugirl--we arrived on the 5th & thought the weather was so warm, then had that slight chill spell on the 6th & 7th but it was perfect for Osborne Lights!

We are planning a surprise trip in Dec to celebrate my DS' 10th b-day. The dates would be 12/10-15th, any thoughts on whether this would be too close to Christmas or would still be on the slow side of things?

Did anyone do MVMCP or CP? Wondering what your thoughts are! Hope you don't mind a Western NYer on your board!

Those were my dates -Dec. 10th -16th and we loved it. No wait for anything. We did Cp which was beautiful and we did not do the dinner package. We went to Epcot and watched the tree lighting at 6pm(excellent) then raced over tp CP and got in line for the second showing. Got good seats.

MVMCP was EXCELLENT!!! I wanted to do it a second time- that's how much I loved the parade and fireworks.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

We went Dec 3-8th and it was wonderful. We did MVMCP and thought it was nice but we went Sunday night which was probably a mistake and next time I'd do a weeknight one. We did CP with the dinner package and it was wonderful. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

Loved the Epcot tree lighting and the Osborne lights -- we were there when they turned them on and it was fantastic.

Am hoping to go again this December but that will depend on work -- this year had the excuse of turning 40 and said I was going regardless but that won't work this year!!

 

[mom_rules]

We were there 9th to 19th. First time going around christmas. It was lovely but we found the temps to be a little cool and wet. Most days we wore jeans. CP was great but even though we were in line 45 mins before the show we ended up at the back (still great view) because of the amount of other "reserved" seating. I wouldn't go back to Coral Reef-we had 7:00 pm ADR's and didn't get seated until about 1-1/2 hours after we arrived.
We got back on the 19th with where Christmas day fell this year-we had no weekend prior to get ready for Christmas (we hosted the family get together for 20 people). Next time I think we would go and come back a week earlier.

 

[welovedis]

Thanks for the replies! Sounds like we'll enjoy the lights and the fact that we'll get back with a weekend in between the trip & Christmas. Thanks again for being so friendly!