Heads up on Early Dec Crowd Levels

[LoriZH]

my two cents, we are going this time of year and have never been, we booked last February, however, with the codes and the dining plan, I believe more people are staying on site. I'm not worried about the crowds, there are always crowds at Disney, we'll manage. We didn't get in LeCellier either (waiting 6 weeks prior, dumb on my part, but not going to ruin our trip). I think that the weekend we are there is going to be very busy but the week following should be a little less busy. It is true that if you try to get in on a Thursday you have less of a chance, try the week after and see what you get.

 

[froggy33]

I just did a search for the days we will be going Dec 14-Dec 22 on Disneyworld.com and most, if not all hotels came back as AVAILABLE. I have a felling it is just a busy week Dec 3-11. Especially with the Pop Warner. Check the next week! Good luck.

 

[puffkin]

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!

Mousefest is kind of an informal convention, put together by a bunch of Disney websites. They spend most of their times in the parks. I agree, they probably number around a 1,000 or so. Shouldn't have an effect on park crowds. However, most if not all are seasoned, die hard Disney fans. Most will stay on site, eat at the restaurants, etc. So, they will have somewhat of an impact on resort and ADR availability, though due to their size it shouldn't be much. However, it is just one more group descending on the World that week.

 

[scubamouse]

I just did a search for the days we will be going Dec 14-Dec 22 on Disneyworld.com and most, if not all hotels came back as AVAILABLE. I have a felling it is just a busy week Dec 3-11. Especially with the Pop Warner. Check the next week! Good luck.

we moved our trip from Dec 3-11 to Dec 10-18 because we couldn't get into the resorts we wanted earlier. we have friends joining us and staying at WL and they booked last week. We had to get on the phone w/Disney to find out that if one day is sold out, the whole trip looks books. moving by a day, can make a ton of difference.

 

[keishashadow]

FYI, most of the DVC studios were sold out for the 1st week of Dec. in early June this year. Were able to book the 2nd week, but had to waitlist 4 months to get our home resort.

IMO, Mousefest is moreso the reason that all rooms are in short supply the 1st week, than the Pop Warner event.

As for ADR problems, the dining plan has to be the culprit. Everyone's scrambling to book the popular venues...both the folks who usually eat @ TS & newbies on the plan.

Factor in:

*MK closing early for MVMCP and their rest. being booked this summer when the tix were bought;

*Competing w/CP pkg @ Epcot that were also booked before the 90 day window &

*the increased popularity of pre-Christmas in general. I think the dining plan's popularity will eventually stablize/decrease; once the novelty has worn off & WDW raises the prices (which they usually do with such a successful product).

I'm still psyched to go!!!!!

 

[Belle1997]

Thanks for the heads up. We usually do not make reservations and just go an ask if there is any available spot. But I took your advice and call and I am gald I did. There was no available dining for the candlelight processional on Friday Dec2 at 3 tier restaurants or at The Canadian restaurant. Also Chef Mickey's no available dining on Tuesday November 29. And the best I could do for Holly/Vine at MGM was a 3:40 for Fantasmic Package. Slim picking now. But I was able to get the Garden Grill for Novemember 30 for the Candlelight. And it is just my DH and myself. So now I have to figure out what I try next. But at least I got the key places covered thanks.

 

[SJC1984]

I just wanted to agree with the OP that said that the rooms were available for the week of December 11th-18th. I just called WDW and they have plenty availibility in most all rooms for that week. It is the week before that you need to be worried about. We specifically booked the week of the 11th-18th because DH went before during that time period and it was dead. Now I'm POSITIVE that it won't be dead like it was last time due to the good dining/room deals WDW has been offering here lately, but I can't see how the crowds will be that huge until the 17th-ish when schools let out for Christmas break!

 

[graygables]

We are going from 12/6-8 and again 12/11-17 and I have had no problems at all getting the times I've wanted for ADRs, even for a party of 6 (granted, not at Le Cellier, BTDT, don't need to go back ) I've even had to juggle a few in the last few weeks with no problems at all. I do know that my SIL has a convention with MetLife around the 9th and mousefest/pop warner tends to fill things up. I'm not worried about it...I'm not sure anything is as bad as last Feb!!! (Mardi Gras/Super Bowl/Daytona...it was the Bermuda Triangle!!! )

 

[WendyMichaelJohn]

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.

The night of the 4th is a big part of the problem. Try the dates without the 4th and you might find much more availability.

 

[gymnasticscoach TX]

PUFFKIN....off topic, but I just wanted to say that your photo of the dog and cat are the best photo ever! I get a kick out of it every time I see your posts! tooo cute!!!!!

 

[widget]

We are there 17th to 23rd staying onsite and so far have only booked a dinner for when we go to MVMCP. Uh-oh! Looks like it will be no posh dining for us!! What would I need to ring in order to book meals from the UK?? If I dont manage to get lucky - think of the money I will save in food expenses!!

 

[penlanspice]

Getting a little concerned after reading this thread. We are in Disney from the 11/25 to 12/12 and were expecting the crowds to be at very low levels but from reading this thread that doesn’t seem to be the case. I know people are talking about an increase in crowd levels but at an estimate what would you say we will be looking at. Are we talking the sorts of lines we see over Xmas and New Year/July 4th or will it just be a little busier than the normal for November early December days at Disney. All the websites I have checked still predict low crowd levels for this time of year and thats what we are hoping for .

 

[dpic]

Getting a little concerned after reading this thread. We are in Disney from the 11/25 to 12/12 and were expecting the crowds to be at very low levels but from reading this thread that doesn’t seem to be the case. I know people are talking about an increase in crowd levels but at an estimate what would you say we will be looking at. Are we talking the sorts of lines we see over Xmas and New Year/July 4th or will it just be a little busier than the normal for November early December days at Disney. All the websites I have checked still predict low crowd levels for this time of year and thats what we are hoping for .

The resorts are filled mostly during the weekends. We are staying at WL from 12/3-12/11. The weekends are filled, but you can still get rooms during the week. We went during the last week of Oct last year when the resort was filled, too. The lines were very manageable. Also, Pop Warner, a youth football/cheerleading competition is taking place the first week of Dec. They are mostly involved with sports and don't impact the parks like 10,000 families would. Don't worry--you'll have a great trip.

 

[Lucky4me]

I have massive crowd phobia.

Here is my offsite game plan for my Dec.2 trip. It has worked every year for the last 4 at least.

Get to each park that had early entry the day before at opening, being first or very close to first at the turnstiles. This means getting in line 30-45 minutes before park opening.
Go on all our must sees in the first two hours and utilize fastpass the rest of the day. No matter how many people are in the parks we will still be able to enjoy the decorations and Holiday festivities. The only park that really gets bottlenecked is the MK. If that happens while we're there, we'll leave for another park. ADRs have been in place for months, but may be cancelled depending on how each days park touring goes.

We stay away from the Magic Kingdom on Saturday. It's just not worth it.

When we stay onsite, we do the early morning option and get out of that park by 11am. We always missed the huge crowds.

Honestly, I think it will be busy but nowhere near Christmas, Easter and mid summer levels. Relax and enjoy!

 

[WendyMichaelJohn]

I just checked Expedia for the dates of 11/26-12/11. Now I know this is not the most accurate way of predicting how full resorts are, but...

there is availability just about everywhere up until 12/3. From then on it looks like everything is booked. So for those who were concerned about week right after Thanksgiving, looks good so far.

And the Best Days calendar still shows that whole time as being really low on crowds. They have greater access to current hotel bookings so I'd trust their estimation.



SHel

 

[erikthewise]

I remember how last year we were there during Pop Warner week, and there were similar threads about how crowded it was going to be. So on the day we went to MGM, I planned to grab fastpasses for Rock'n'Roller coaster and come back to meet my family at Great Movie Ride.

A great plan, and after several delays at Great Movie Ride, we got back to RnR only find the line was so short they weren't even accepting fast passes! We rode it twice, each time with about a 10 min wait!

Maybe it will be crowded, but I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[WendyMichaelJohn]

I remember how last year we were there during Pop Warner week, and there were similar threads about how crowded it was going to be. So on the day we went to MGM, I planned to grab fastpasses for Rock'n'Roller coaster and come back to meet my family at Great Movie Ride.

A great plan, and after several delays at Great Movie Ride, we got back to RnR only find the line was so short they weren't even accepting fast passes! We rode it twice, each time with about a 10 min wait!

Maybe it will be crowded, but I'll believe it when I see it.

To add to that, in spite of rooms being more booked Pop Warner week than the week after Thanksgiving, the Best Days still lists the Pop warner week as having lower crowds. In fact, it has the only day rated a "3" in the entire year. Pretty low crowds, I'd say!

Shel

 

[cristit14]

Okay, what is the best days list and where can I find it?

 

[LvsTnk]

I just made all my ADR's Mon. with no problem and our trip is the 14th -19th.

I got LTT(5:50) right before the party, HDDR on Sun., some breakfasts. All for a party of 5. I am not too worried.

I think Le Cellier is one of the more popular ones for the Holiday especially for CP.

 

[WDWBetsy]

Okay, what is the best days list and where can I find it?

http://www.touringplans.com/BestDays.htm

Hope this helps!