Help me decide when to go.

[jsrowdon]

Starting to plan our next trip and would like some input from the experts here on when to go and why. It will by my wife and I along with our 2 kids, son 15 and daughter 5 at time of travel. Kids are home schooled so do not have to work around school schedule.

We are looking at a 12 day trip more than likely, could change to 10 or to 14 but 12 is what I am shooting for right now.

We definitely want to go while Christmas decor is up and MVMCP are running. We were originally thinking the first 2 weeks of Dec but after seeing reports of how busy it is this year during that time I thought I would post and get opinions here before deciding.

The options I was thinking about were.

First 2 weeks in Dec.
the week after Thanksgiving plus the first week of Dec.
The 2 weeks prior to Thanksgiving, not including the Thanksgiving week.

 

[rwdavis2]

We do the week prior to Thanksgiving that usually encompasses Veteran's Day. The initial weekend can be crowded but the weekdays after (this past November) were fine. Did a week day MVMCP and it was nicely uncrowded.

 

[alliecat523]

Isn't the Veterans Day week also Jersey Week? I would stay away from that as it will be crowded. Week after Thanksgiving and first week of December should be good.

 

[jsrowdon]

I didn't realize that was also Jersey week. Prob a good idea to try to avoid that.

Thanks

 

[rwdavis2]

Isn't the Veterans Day week also Jersey Week? I would stay away from that as it will be crowded. Week after Thanksgiving and first week of December should be good.

I caught the end of Jersey week and Veteran's Day weekend. Very crowded Fri, Sat, Sun and relatively empty after that.

 

[Tormania]

We went Dec 6th-13th back in 2013 and enjoyed the light crowds, and were planning a trip for 2017 around the same time frame, Dec 2nd - 9th (or maybe the 9th-16th). I hadn't heard anything about a surge in attendance during the earlier part of Dec this year but I'm just getting ready to start checking into things. Is the uptick in attendance something new this year or have early Dec crowds been growing since we last were there in 2013?? Still think it's prime time to go though, kids still in school (we'll be taking our son OUT for a week to go), nice weather, Christmas decorations, still believe compared to most any other time of year the crowds are still favorable all things considered, but those that go to WDW multiple times a year can provide much better insight.

 

[sharonabe]

We definitely want to go while Christmas decor is up and MVMCP are running. We were originally thinking the first 2 weeks of Dec but after seeing reports of how busy it is this year during that time I thought I would post and get opinions here before deciding.

The week right after Thanksgiving until about the 19th-20th of December will be your best bet. Pop Warner is usually there the first week of December, but that doesn't affect the crowds all that much. If you time it right, there MAY be free dining which would be a plus. If you go the weeks before Thanksgiving you're thinking of, not all the Christmas decorations will be up. MK will be done, but the other parks and the resorts will still be decorating up until Thanksgiving week. You also have a few more Holiday offerings that don't start until after Thanksgiving---Candlelight Processional and Holiday Storytellers at EP.

 

[jsrowdon]

I didn't realize only MK would be finished prior to Thanksgiving and other parks and resorts wouldn't. Knowing that I think we will definitely wait until after Thanksgiving.

Thanks everyone for the info