First week of December 2013 crowds

[Jenamy1013]

We will be in Disney December 2-9 of this year. I have done research on the best times to go, etc. So we made our decision to go during that time frame based on reviews of many things. Now after reading many threads and discussion boards, I fear I have made a big mistake by choosing this week. I was hoping for low crowds but this seems to be ending up as the exact opposite. Any insight or thoughts? Thanks in advance!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We will be in Disney December 2-9 of this year. I have done research on the best times to go, etc. So we made our decision to go during that time frame based on reviews of many things. Now after reading many threads and discussion boards, I fear I have made a big mistake by choosing this week. I was hoping for low crowds but this seems to be ending up as the exact opposite. Any insight or thoughts? Thanks in advance!

We are going the first week of December, too. So far the crowd calendars still show it as a less crowded week. There are a lot of people on the Dis who will be at WDW that week, which makes me a little nervous. But I think we'll be fine.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

We go down the same week every year. Now it is definitly busier now then it was 10 years ago. With that being said, we still have never waited more then 20 minutes for anything, (having a plan helps with this.) the crowds are not bad. There is no reason to think this year is going to be any different. I know people are talking about hotel crowd levels, but that is NO way to gage crowds at the parks, I also know that some people got a pin code offer for free dining for that week, HOWEVER most people (the general public) didnt get the free dining this year. If anything I have read of people moving there trip dates to free dining dates. That should help a little.

To add to my case, If it helps any, "Touring Plans" crowd levels for that week are:

(Touring plans use a scale of 1 to 10, with a 10 being the busiest days of the year. i.e. Thanksgiving week Wed. until Sat is at 10 everyday)

12/2: 3
12/3: 1
12/4: 2
12/5: 2
12/6: 3
12/7: 6
12/8: 2
12/9: 2


I can also tell you that they had pretty much the same numbers for last year.

I for one, am not worried about the crowds, MB's working and FB+ working, now that is a different subject. But the crowds will be the same as the crowds are every year during that week.

Have a great trip, maybe we'll see you down there.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

I know DIS will be holding thier meet that week and so will WDW but the only real crowd item you need to be aware of is the Xmas parade taping. It is at MK on dec 6th and 7th...the HUB and parade route will get very crowded during the taping which lasts most of the day. (the good news is that it does not effect the rides crowds too much, just a little hassle getting thru the hub or down main street then.)

 

[siskaren]

I don't know why anyone's saying that it will be a crowded week - but I just checked easywdw.com to confirm (http://www.easywdw.com/category/calendar/12-december-2013-crowd-calendar/), and they're showing crowds levels of 4s (like Touring Plans, easyWDW uses a scale of 1-10), for all your dates except for Saturday and Sunday, which are 7 and 6. And the thing to keep in mind about those numbers is that they're an average for the entire WDW complex - the individual parks can have larger or smaller crowds, so look at the park recommendations for each day.

 

[curemyreed]

You picked an excellent week to go!!! I would definitely be at the parks at rope drop with a touring plan from the Unofficial Guide to maximize your experience, but even that isn't as necessary as it would be other weeks. We only go during lower attendance times and we will be there that week, too. We love the Christmas decorations & weather. You may want to consider avoiding MK Saturday. I would go to easywdw and go to his entry for Saturday, December 7th for the Magic Kingdom. It is a long explanation of the cons & pros of going to MK on parade taping Saturday. With the Christmas parties closing MK at 7:00 Thursday & Friday there will be so many more people there Saturday. When you add in the disruption of getting around the park with ropes and floats blocking the way.... It's not for us. We tried it one year, but now know better!

 

[Viva Las Disney]

We will be in Disney December 2-9 of this year. I have done research on the best times to go, etc. So we made our decision to go during that time frame based on reviews of many things. Now after reading many threads and discussion boards, I fear I have made a big mistake by choosing this week. I was hoping for low crowds but this seems to be ending up as the exact opposite. Any insight or thoughts? Thanks in advance!

I'm also going the 1st week of December and was getting really worried about it but came to the conclusion that it's probably not something to worry about based on message boards because we're not the average Disney tourist. Every website I've read rates early December as one of the best weeks of the year to go crowd wise, my theory is people who research everything Disney would know that and schedule their vacation those weeks but I don't think the average tourists would, they would schedule Disney when it's convenient, because of this I'd guess a much higher proportion of DIS and message board members schedule slow weeks than the general public. That's my theory anyway.

As PP's have said Touring Plans and EasyWDW both have our week listed as a slow week so I think we're good.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

The big question Will there still be "Double Dipping".

Let's all just hope that the "Double Dipping" of FB still happens in DEC. This will help make things even easier to make sure there are no long wait times for any ride.

 

[Kristibo42]

We will be there December 3rd to 10th. I got a free dining pin number in the mail. Was so glad by that as when the free dining came out to general public our dates were not included. So I think crowds will be light. Glad we have hopper passes that way if one park is busy we can move to another.

 

[rangerxenos]

We will be there December 3rd to 10th. I got a free dining pin number in the mail. Was so glad by that as when the free dining came out to general public our dates were not included. So I think crowds will be light. Glad we have hopper passes that way if one park is busy we can move to another.

We'll be there from Dec 4 - 12th, we also received a free dining PIN. I can remember when we first went down in December ten years or so ago, the parks were empty, it was wonderful! Now they are a lot more crowded, but still not too bad.

 

[scnrc00]

We will be there from Nov. 30-Dec 6 and also got a free dining PIN and according to touringplans the crowds are still pretty low so I am not worried.

 

[FamilyGuy]

Granted it was 9 years ago and our first trip to WDW, but one of our most memorable trips was December 2004. IIRC, it was the 4th through the 14. The first week was amazinglying manageable (low, by my standards) crowds. The magic of Xmas and mvmcp. One of the best most important suggestions I have for you is to pack hats and gloves for this week. We had some adorable mickey and Minnie hats and gloves that garnered great attention from characters and cast members. And we were able to enjoy the parks even when it was 40-50 degrees which few others were prepared for.
The last couple of days Friday and sat mid December was very heavy crowds. Be prepared mentally and physically and you should be just fine. Enjoy!

 

[Minniekins]

I found an interesting site with some good info, **************.net. There is good info whether it's your first visit, or you've been lots of times! The following link takes you to their page where it ranks the top weeks of the year to go to WDW. http://**************.net/2011/09/19/2013-weeks-to-visit-walt-disney-world-ranked-in-order/

The first week in Dec is the best week of the year to visit, with the second week the second best week to visit in 2013. We are going the second week, so I like reading that, lol! Looks good for you, too!

 

[Minniekins]

bump