Heads up on Early Dec Crowd Levels

[valandemmy]

I called again Last night to see if I could get my Le Cellier Time Changed. I started talking to the CM while she looked up the times and she said she could not believe how Busy it was going to be in DECEMBER this year. The week of 11-16th she said all hotels were booked, and I have called for 4 or 5 weeks tring to get into Le Cellier earlier with no luck. She said the entire month looks like what it did for the week of Christmas Last year.

ANYWAY, hate to be the bearer of bad news, just wanted to let everyone know what I Found out yesterday.

Charles, Val and Emily

 

[mickeysaver]

I decided a long time ago that if God was going to find a way for us to actually get to go this year, that we would that it was meant to be. We should not even be going this year. We bought our first house and trust me, there are things that we could be doing with this money, but there is one day of our trip that we just had to make happen. Gabby's mom's health is a mess and has been since her heart attack a few years back. We don't know how much longer that she will be with us. So, Gabby wanted one last photo of her family together. The only way that would happen is at MVMCP. So, we are making a big wish come true on 12/11.

Yes, it's going to be more crowded than it was in 2003, when we last went. Yes, it's essential that you have a good plan. Yes, it would be a nightmare to have to seek out a highly prized ADR at this point. But, you also have to remember, it's just wonderful to be there. I think that a lot of the "booked" resorts are due to an unexpected influx of convention traffic, due to displaced conventions because of the hurricanes. The Best Days guide still shows our week as being very low crowds. I think we will be fine.

Happy Holidays! Maggie

 

[bobbiwoz]

I believe you! We'll be there, and we tried to change a dinner reservation from "4 people" to "6 people" and couldn't. We had to go into a park (first ressie was at Artist Point) and we'll be at 2 tables, I hope they are near each other! I'm glad I planned early enough for the others.

Bobbi

 

[TLHB70]

Yep. You are right. We didn't plan to go this year because we planned to use more Disney Visa reward points/dollars on a trip next year. We normally go in Nov. or Dec. so we had decided to wait until next year in the late Nov./early Dec. time. Well, DH came home just last night and told me that we can go this year. We got online and tried to get a room on Disney property for Dec. 8-Dec. 13, and ALL of the hotels we tried were booked. The only thing that kept coming up available was Saratoga. We then decided that it just wasn't a good time for us to go since it would apparently be very crowded and we weren't able to get the hotel we wanted. I knew that it was last minute planning, but I have done last minute planning before in early December and never had a problem. So once again we will wait until next year in late Nov./early Dec.
For everyone that does get to go, though, HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish that I could be there with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tlbwriter]

I'm still hoping that there will be more people staying at the resorts and eating at the restaurants due to discounts and the dining plan, but not necessarily more people in the parks.

 

[ryanmilla]

...I think that a lot of the "booked" resorts are due to an unexpected influx of convention traffic, due to displaced conventions because of the hurricanes. The Best Days guide still shows our week as being very low crowds. I think we will be fine.

Happy Holidays! Maggie

I'm going off of what Mickeysaver is saying and going to think it is convention traffic. Rationalization is such a wonderful human trait.

But, you also have to remember, it's just wonderful to be there.

Amen to that!

 

[shellybaxter]

Almost every time I've gone the resorts have been so full that people were having trouble getting reservations. Every time the parks haven't been that crowded. I've been in November, May and now Dec with really full hotels, wait times were 10 to 15 minutes in the mornings. Just because disney has done a good job marketing the christmas season and filling its hotels doesn't mean that all of the offsite hotels are full. And LeCellier has been difficult to get for months now, people were having trouble back in March if they didn't book at 90 days. With the dinning plan lots more people are eating table service and the CP dinning package brings even more people to Epcot to eat. I called to change ressies for 2 and 4 people around for Dec 2 - 12, I usually had my pick of times (Places like Jiko, Palio, Raglin Road, 1900 Park Faire, and Kona). I'm not going to worry too much. I think it will be of average attendance, the lines won't be walk ons (except in the early mornings) and they won't be hour waits. Those are my predictions

 

[andrabell]

I've got all my ADR's. I'm not worried one single bit. I've got TourGuide MiKE on my side. Doing the Single Digit Dance!

 

[Melora]

Just to clarify..

We are going 10-18th and the hotels ARE NOT BOOKED. Look it up on Expedia and you will see every resort except 2 of the villas have availability. Its the week before (4-10) that is booked to capacity.

 

[piglet33]

Just to clarify..

We are going 10-18th and the hotels ARE NOT BOOKED. Look it up on Expedia and you will see every resort except 2 of the villas have availability. Its the week before (4-10) that is booked to capacity.

That doesn't mean anything. Expedia had availability for my stay when Disney didn't so I booked only to get a call telling me there was nothing available. We're going Dec. 8-12 and staying at Sheraton Safari. I also got excellent airfare with Jet Blue - $39 each way that I couldn't pass up.

 

[CJBaby]

Just to clarify..

We are going 10-18th and the hotels ARE NOT BOOKED. Look it up on Expedia and you will see every resort except 2 of the villas have availability. Its the week before (4-10) that is booked to capacity.

I agree, I just booked an additional room at WL with a FL rate yesterday for the week of the 12th. No need to panic.

 

[jojowentbyby]

Expedia and other travel companies buy large blocks of rooms WAAAY in advance. Although Disney may show them as booked they are actually just reserved for Expedia's or another travel companie's customers. It is very common that Expedia purchases so many rooms and does not sell them all, while disney is sold out. That is why on Expedia you will see "room only" discounts on last minute deals. They do this with airline seats as well for packages. This also works in reverse. If you go to expedia and they are all booked up Disney or another company may still have some avaliable.

 

[blewits]

Oh Shelly, I pray you are right. I'm scared. We usually go in October with low crowd levels but we are going Dec 10-17 this year. I called to get an extra room for somebody and just about everything moderate was booked and all values were booked.

My family counts on me to plan this whole trip and I always look like a hero becuase we go when there are no crowds. If they have to wait in lines for 30 mins. or more, they (particularly my husband) will think I'm slipping.

I'm good at planning everything EXCEPT actual touring plans. I did buy the ones off of the Unofficial Guide site about a month ago. I didnt think I'd really need them but, I better start studying!

There are 13 of us total going on this trip! AARRGGHH!! The pressure is on.

 

[puffkin]

Don't panic! I think it will be slightly busier than Dec 2003, but the travel industry as a whole is busier now. Here are my thoughts:

-The week before, December 3-10, appears to be extremely busy. There is Pop Warner Football/Cheerleading, Mousefest, several conventions, and the Christmas Parade taping. All those lead to HIGH resort booking, but not much of an increase in park attendance. Most of those groups should be gone by 12/11.

The problem is those arriving that weekend (like we are). The resorts are packed that weekend from those groups, new people arriving for the following week, as well as DVCers trying to save weekend points. I have a feeling there will be tons of availability starting Monday, 12/12.

- Restaurants have been full for months now, even though park crowds have been low. With the Dining Plan's popularity, the DDE card, Fantasmic Dinner package, MVMCP restaurants, and the Candlelight Processional Dinner package, many restaurants are going to be very busy. That doesn't necessarily correlate into larger crowds.

- There are tons of discounts available at offsite resorts. Only when those are full does WDW have crowd problems. Even if the Disney resorts are sold out, crowds will still be light if no one is coming from offsite.

I expect slightly higher crowds than December of 2003 (our last offseason trip) but nothing compared to the summer crowds we usually experience.

 

[HayGan]

I called again Last night to see if I could get my Le Cellier Time Changed. I started talking to the CM while she looked up the times and she said she could not believe how Busy it was going to be in DECEMBER this year. The week of 11-16th she said all hotels were booked, and I have called for 4 or 5 weeks tring to get into Le Cellier earlier with no luck. She said the entire month looks like what it did for the week of Christmas Last year.

ANYWAY, hate to be the bearer of bad news, just wanted to let everyone know what I Found out yesterday.

Charles, Val and Emily

I was able to get a reservation at LeCellier at the 90 day mark for dinner for a party of 4. I need a party of 5 but haven't been able to get it. However, in my quest to get that table I have been calling Disney Dining on a regular basis. Even as of yesterday that had plenty of availability for LeCellier for lunch. The only restaurants that I have tried to get a change for and have had a problem are LeCellier and Cindy's so I have a pretty good feeling that people are getting worried about crowd levels for nothing.

As I have said before, I'm not going to let the possibility of higher than normal crowd levels spoil our trip as we will be in DISNEY WORLD

 

[erikthewise]

I called again Last night to see if I could get my Le Cellier Time Changed. I started talking to the CM while she looked up the times and she said she could not believe how Busy it was going to be in DECEMBER this year. The week of 11-16th she said all hotels were booked, and I have called for 4 or 5 weeks tring to get into Le Cellier earlier with no luck. She said the entire month looks like what it did for the week of Christmas Last year.

ANYWAY, hate to be the bearer of bad news, just wanted to let everyone know what I Found out yesterday.

Charles, Val and Emily

When they say all hotels are booked, does that include the Swan and Dolphin? Their website seems to say they have rooms for Dec 7-22 at least. You can probably even get discounts through a number of Disney specialist travel agencies, or just call directly. These are good four-star hotels in a great location. I have stayed in both and wouldn't hesitate to stay there again if necessary.

 

[TLHB70]

originally posted by erikthewise

When they say all hotels are booked, does that include the Swan and Dolphin?

When DH and I checked throught WDW's web site last night for the dates I mentioned earlier (Dec. 8-13 and/or 14), Swan and Dolphin also said they were unavailable.
However, after reading some of these posts today, I may ask DH if he and I could check again tonight using Expedia or Travelocity.
Also,

originally posted by puffkin

The week before, December 3-10, appears to be extremely busy. There is Pop Warner Football/Cheerleading, Mousefest, several conventions, and the Christmas Parade taping. All those lead to HIGH resort booking, but not much of an increase in park attendance. Most of those groups should be gone by 12/11.

So.....since we checked the dates Dec. 8-13/14, do you think that was part of our problem? (It does fall into that week and weekend you mentioned.) Do you think we would do better if we check the following week?
I am quite willing to go, even if the crowds do seem to be higher than normal Dec. crowds. Hey, I have even been there Christmas day and the day after, when the gates were closed before noon due to crowds. It is ok with me. After all, it is still WDW................full of fun and magic!!!!!

 

[puffkin]

When DH and I checked throught WDW's web site last night for the dates I mentioned earlier (Dec. 8-13 and/or 14), Swan and Dolphin also said they were unavailable.
However, after reading some of these posts today, I may ask DH if he and I could check again tonight using Expedia or Travelocity.
Also,

So.....since we checked the dates Dec. 8-13/14, do you think that was part of our problem? (It does fall into that week and weekend you mentioned.) Do you think we would do better if we check the following week?
I am quite willing to go, even if the crowds do seem to be higher than normal Dec. crowds. Hey, I have even been there Christmas day and the day after, when the gates were closed before noon due to crowds. It is ok with me. After all, it is still WDW................full of fun and magic!!!!!

If a part of your stay is unavailable (for example, the weekend) the whole quote will come back as sold out. If you check on a day by day basis, you will probably get availability for most of your days, especially after the 11th. I know we had trouble finding availability for the 9th and 10th (friday and saturday).

 

[vic32]

We are going Dec.3-11. Same time as popwarner. My friend's dd's from NJ are
may be coming, they find out on the 19th if they place! She said they were given info on POR. Disney blocks off rooms for the. What is Mousefest?Is that a convention, will they be in the parks alot?
Pop warner is not in the parks all day, she did say MGM is closed early for pop warner on that friday.
I am hoping for low crowds, as thats what we're used to. But as long as I am there, with all the Christmas I am ok!

 

[erikthewise]

The Mousefest people will be in the parks a lot! But it's relatively small, only about 1000 altogether I'd guess.