Huge crowds after Dec. 17?

[leighe]

When I planned this trip I was thinking that the crowds would be relatively small since it's almost a week before Christmas but now I'm realizing that just about every school in the country is getting out for Christmas break that Friday. We'll be there Dec. 17-23. What kind of crowds should I plan for?

 

[disney4us2002]

Well, we are remaining optimistic that the big crowds don't actually arrive til about Wednesday the 22nd. Perhaps wishful thinking since many would prefer to arrive before the 19th as the discounts are better. We planned this trip before we knew our school's break. As it turns out, our county decided not to close the whole week before since Christmas isn't til Saturday.

Our intention is to try to get to the parks at or near opening daily stay thru lunch and then take an afternoon break til nearly dinnertime then go back for the evening entertainment in the parks. I've read that the majority of vacationers (not Dis readers) hit the parks between 11am and 1pm so I plan to have all our favorite rides done by that time everyday!

Have you decided to stay with the Grand?

 

[AladdinsPrincess]

I'm trying to be optimistic! My DH and I will be there the 17th - 20th for a quick Christmas trip and I had no trouble booking a room or a CP package, so hopefully those are signs that it won't be too crowded!!

 

[leighe]

We're going to split between the Dolphin and the GF. I'm sooo excited! I'm pretty laid back, so even if the crowds are huge it won't really bother me - I just want to be prepared!

I'll have a lime green ribbon on my bag. Hope to see you guys there!

 

[randyl]

Are the school vacations really that long this year? Up here in Mass, everyone I've talked to said they are getting out on December 22 (as is our DS). And in NH, I beleive they are getting out on 12/22 also. We leave here on 12/19 (yes, I know, our DS will miss 2 1/2 days of school) and we were hoping for minimal crowds up until 12/23 or 12/24 or so.

 

[nicki dahling]

We are there the 17th through the 23rd also. Our kids are all college age, so we were hoping this was a good time to go. Most in our area don't start vacation umtil the 22nd.

Cyndi

 

[Northwoods]

We have to take our DD and DS out of 3 days of school that week. But it seems like about half the schools in MN get two weeks. I think it is going to be more crowded than I had originally hoped.

 

[randyl]

We're going from 12/19 thru 12/27. I am mentally geared for crowds beginning 12/24 and will likely do all our MK activities before then. From 12/24 until we come home, I'm ready for crowds to be crazy (I was there for Easter Sunday and the following vacation week one year). But I was hoping for light crowds up until 12/24.

 

[jmclester]

The "real" crowds, if history holds true, will swell between 12/25 and culminate on 12/31. Prior to that, you should be fine. From my experience crowds are still managable until 12/31.

 

[tjkraz]

Duck and cover!!!

Even when school districts don't get out until later in the Christmas week, many parents will pull their children out of school a couple days early for vacation.

All of the info I've seen coming out of WDW indicates that they expect crowds to begin arriving on 12/18.

Use EMH. Use FastPass. Get Priority Seating now if you haven't already.

Everyone has their own indiviudal interpretation of the word "crowded." While the crowd levels certainly won't peak until the week between Christmas and New Year's, expecting 10 minute wait times after the 18th is probably not realistic.

 

[westjones]

We will be there too, our kids are out starting the 17th until after New Years.

We were there last year at this same time and the crowds were BIG. We just picked the things that were very important to us, and did those. We told the kids not expect to ride very many rides (we each picked one ride that we really wanted to go on and we fast passed those).

MK was the worse. We found MGM to be alright. If you an stay up late, plan to stay after the fireworks (if the park is open, last year MK was open for 1 hour after Wishes). That was the BEST hour of the day. We were able to get on the rides with little wait at that time.

We were surprised that we could just walk into the restaurant in Italy without a PS for lunch.

We had a great time, but we went in with a good attitude and decided to focus on the decorations.

This year our 'main' ride will be the Stitch ride since it is new. Then we want to see the Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast show at MGM. We plan to see the Osborne Lights at MGM for the first time (they weren't there last year). Other than that, whatever happens happens.

Have fun!
DJ

 

[leighe]

Well, I'll go ahead and get ready for spring break type crowds and then if it isn't that bad it'll just be a nice suprise. What's the weather supposed to be like? Has anyone seen a long range forcast?

 

[MrShiny]

We have been there from around the 15th until Christmas in 1999 and 2001. I think even though most kids are out, families are too busy with Christmas preparations to really start their vacations until Christmas at the earliest. In my limited experence, the parks were empty up until Christmas Day itself. That day, MK would fill, but would usually ease up a little (to just very busy instead of massively crowded) after the parade.

 

[Northwoods]

Current forecasts for the 17th - 21st have a high of 64 or 65. Night lows are 45.

I'm still hoping for a warming trend. Would love to have it in the 70s at least.

 

[gottaluvdis]

Our school (here in NH) doesn't break until 12/24. We've been there the week between Christmas and New Year's - never again. I think you'll be better off going before Christmas rather than the week in between. I remember going on 12/29 and being told if we didn't get on the first bus to the parks, the parks would close at capacity and we wouldn't be able to get in. That was also the year we had to buy socks at MK and wear them on our hands for mittens because of the cold. The weather's a crapshoot at this time of year down there.

 

[Iott Family]

I cant imagine Disney without the crowds! We are going the 19-26. We plan on leaving the 18 as the kids get out for vacation the 17th.......look out CBR, here we come!!!!

Since we are going back in June we are going to focus on the decorations and shows/parades.......we already have all our ps's made and even a few ps's for shows with our prince/princess plan. I am planning on making use of EMH and pulling out around lunch time to take a break midday since we have a 9, 7 and 10month old. I am armed with my passporter, birnbaums and all you wonderful Dis'ers on my shoulder whispering your wonderful advice in my ear. This is our first time onsite and we are excited for that!!!! The last time I stayed onsite I was 13 and came down with my church group and we camped out at fort wilderness, thats been more than 15 years ago! I will tie a green ribbon on our stroller please say hello if you see us or smile and wave some more of that pixie dust my way...im a glutton for disny magic!

 

[airforcewife]

Our dates are 12/19--12/27. This is our very first trip. I'm wondering the same really if crowds will be ok until Christmas Eve? Will it just be MK? Or will it be all the parks? Will any be less crowded on a certain day of the week? I realize I'm asking questions with no answers none of you have crystal balls.. but if you were there at this time last year then maybe you could give insight.

Thanks
Robyn

 

[Goofyzgurl]

We're heading out 12/15-12/19. I'm hoping that the crowds don't start until we're about out of there on the last day. From what I've read we'll be doing well because we leave right when it's supposed to get busy.

 

[rkmassa]

We went last year for Christmas. We were there the 21st to the 28th. The crowds were great right up until Christmas Day. We used Fast Pass for more popular rides, but other times we only waited 20 minutes. We watched the parade at MK on Christmas Eve. with very light crowds. We were not on the main street in front of the castle, but over in Adventure Land I think. We just picked a spot about 15 minutes before. No crowds at all. Lots of empty places. My kids had a great time. The traffic coming into Disney on Christmas Day was unbelievable. We were actually at a standstill on the highway. Parks closed early due to capacity, long lines, etc. My DH said never again after the 25th. We are going this year the 18th to 23rd. Hoping for light crowds and warm weather.

 

[SnowWitch]

I go by a simple rule leave the Saterday before Christmas. We,re actually leaving the Sunday before only because we scheduled a weekend at the AKL at the end of the trip.