December?

[Swilcox]

What's the first full week in December like (12/5-12/12?)

 

[larryz]

Who knows anymore? It used to be a nice quiet time if you avoided the Christmas parade taping and New Jersey Days and the Pop Warner Football crowds.

But now, with ride rationing and all the free dining, it's busy all the time.

 

[Lothlórien]

It changes from year to year depending on when the parade taping is, Pop Warner, etc. For 2015 the parade taping was in November. Generally the crowds are very doable. The crowds start really picking up around the 17th or so.


We were there from the 29th of November through the 9th of December and we never waited more than 20 minutes for anything other than the Dwarves Mine Coaster and Toy Story Midway Mania.

 

[DizDaD7]

Weather I'm sure is probably low 70's which is nice. I'm sure it's not very busy after Thanksgiving week is completed....

 

[Swilcox]

Who knows anymore? It used to be a nice quiet time if you avoided the Christmas parade taping and New Jersey Days and the Pop Warner Football crowds.

But now, with ride rationing and all the free dining, it's busy all the time.

I just checked the pop warner calander on their website. It say that is the week of their Championships.

Is pop warner week really as bad as it seems?

 

[goofy4tink]

I have been going to WDW at this for about 10 yrs. This past Dec is probably the last time. It has gotten busier with every passing year. This past Dec was the most crowded I've seen at this time of year.
I've decided to go down the week of Thanksgiving. Then, I leave in a week long cruise that weekend.

 

[DizDaD7]

I just checked the pop warner calander on their website. It say that is the week of their Championships.

Is pop warner week really as bad as it seems?

Really bad at the values for sure I'm guessing...Just like the Cheerleaders competition.... But then again you have a and remember it's Disney, and nothing else really matters...

 

[jaysmom4285]

It's still one of the less busy times at Disney. You have to keep in mind that "less busy" now is not what it was ten years ago, as attendance in general has gone up across the board. But relative to the super-busy times like Christmas week and July 4, it's very doable. We've always found the lines to be reasonable, with the usual headliner exceptions, especially in the mornings. You get to enjoy all the Christmas decorations and events without the Christmas week crowds. I still rate it as one of the best times to go, but you still have to do some planning to minimize your wait time.

 

[Ensusieasm]

What's the first full week in December like (12/5-12/12?)

Sounds like a good time to go. The weather should be great and crowds much better than later in the month.

 

[texasroni75]

We were just at WDW December 1st-8th. Didn't see any real presence in the parks from POP Warner, but they did take over the common areas of our resort (All Star Sports). Weather was incredible, and holiday decorations were up. As others mentioned, there is really no time to go when parks will be "empty", and MK is always going to be bustling near the hub before parades and fireworks no matter when you visit. But, parks were much less crowded in early December than when we visited right before Christmas a few years ago. I would definitely go back again in early Dec.

 

[Hammill9508]

The first full week in December is when we go each year for our "full week trip. over the past few years I can say it is less busy then summer and holidays. The weather has been hit or miss as well. This past year it was freezing and in previous years we were in the pools when the temps were in the low 80's.

 

[gwb]

I have been going to WDW at this for about 10 yrs. This past Dec is probably the last time. It has gotten busier with every passing year. This past Dec was the most crowded I've seen at this time of year.
I've decided to go down the week of Thanksgiving. Then, I leave in a week long cruise that weekend.

Dw and I have been going at this time or the past 20 years and had our son's family with us this year and it wasn't crowded. For example we used am emh at all parks and in all the parks we were able to ride teir 1 rides multiple times beore we needed to use the fast pass. Yes that included getting on Soarin 2x time with less the a 10 minute wait. My son and grand daughter rode splash moutain 4 times at night, right after each other with little wait. There was hardly any crowd for the drummers at Japan, the acrobats at France and at China. AND!!!!! there was room to see Illumniation easily at Epcot !!! I mean you could walk up about 1/2 hr before and get a good spot with little people around you. (we were in a good spot around Germany.
At all the parks am emh was fantastic there were times we were walking at MK and EPCOT there were no others around us. There were only about 6 kids at Belle's story time. At Gaston's tavren we were the only ones in it.
Only at night did it get as crowded as some past years At Mk Pop warner and the cheerleaders raised their ugly heads and the CM's had to control their loud and bulling antics. We saw 1 pop warner team get escorted out. And at HS the horrible way they had to use (I realize they didn't have many options) to see the last Osborne lights was so bad there aren't words to descibe it. But the rest of the park wasn't crowded. It just seened like everyone in Orlando was there trying to see them.
Over all it wasn't crowded yes it's getting more popular especially with DVC members but stil is a very good time to come due to the Christmas decorations and storytellers

 

[Lothlórien]

Weather I'm sure is probably low 70's which is nice. I'm sure it's not very busy after Thanksgiving week is completed....

I have experienced weather in early December anywhere from 45 degrees to 90 degrees....in the same week!

 

[mernin]

We went this last Dec 12/04-12/13. It wasn't bad during the weekdays - weekends were busier. We did rope drop at each park and planned fp+ for the rides we wanted and thought overall it was fine. I don't think we missed out on anything we wanted to see if do. The morning were not busy. My husband was happy with it and he does not like big crowds. The final Saturday 12/12 afternoon was the busiest during the afternoon. We went to MVMCP on 12/08 and my DD & DH rode space mountain 4 times, SDMT wait was 20 minutes and saw the princess & princes with a pretty short wait.

We stayed offsite so booking fp+ was later and still got what we wanted. Also planned the trip after the 180 days and still got the ADR's we wanted at decent times.

Weather this year was beautiful, but that is something you can't predict!

I wouldn't shy away from it again.

 

[DebbieB]

I was there last year that week, wasn't bad. Weather was beautiful although in some past years when I've been there a cold front came through.

 

[Figmentmommy]

Our family was there 12/8-12/14 last December and crowds were very manageable. We never felt that the parks were over crowded and wait times were on average 20 min - with the exception of the obvious long lined headliners. While I agree it was much busier than December trips we've taken many years ago, we had a great time and wouldn't hesitate to return during that timeframe.

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

We're planning on going 12/11-12/18. What promotions did they offer during this past year? What time of year are the December deals usually released?