I thought December was ??

[lovmy2girls]

One of the least crowded times to go? We bought our AP's in July, the 4th to be exact and wow I don not care what anyone else says it was crowded . We were really looking foward to going in December for a short stay and enjoy the low low crowds. Been calling for a while now and want to change our dates to somewhere around the 9-12 to check in. Nothing! What is going on? Will it be like summer time crowds in December.

 

[WillCAD]

The first two weeks of December are historically not crowded. The crowds build steadily through December till Christmas week.

Lots of people have been having trouble getting AP discounts in December. Just remember, if you can't get your AP rate, that doesn't mean the whole resort is booked, it just means that the limited number of rooms Disney sets aside at the AP rate are booked.

Try several different resorts, and don't forget to mention the discount code EWP, which is the code for AP holders.

Blame it on MouseFest, I guess. Although MF only brings in a few thousand people at most, they are all Disney-savvy online repeat vacationers like us, and many of them use the AP discounts.

 

[Scoootch]

Dec. is also becoming more and more crowded as more people are realizing that they not only want to come to see the Christmas decor but also all the extra holiday events happening such as the MVMCP at MK and Osborne Spectacle of lights that returns to MGM this year...Also the Candlelight processional at epcot to name a few things going on. It used to be one of the least crowded times of the year but not so much anymore I don't think. Keep calling back though, they may add more rooms with the codes or you may get in due to someone elses canceling.

Best of luck!

 

[Tink561]

It will still be less crowded than the summer, though. It won't be nearly as hot either! I can't wait. :jumping4:

 

[F1Julie]

It's not just AP rooms that are in short supply, but even rack rate is mostly sold out. Just out of curiosity, I was checking online for room availablilty during our stay (the 8th-12th) and all that was available were a few rooms at deluxes. All the values and moderates are sold out. I too am very disappointed about this. I was expecting low crowds. I've gone at busier times of year and never had my resort at capacity.

 

[lovmy2girls]

I have been calling back and asking for a FL Resident discount and AP discount. As a last option I could pay rack rate or downsize to a moderate.

 

[lovmy2girls]

I am with you F1Julie We had a great time in July but on the way home we kept saying, we are going to have an even better time in December. NO LINES!!!!!! And what I mean by lines in not waiting over and hour!

 

[Tink561]

I just checked our dates, 12/14-12/19. The Disney site showed availability at AS Sports and Music...Coronado Springs, Carribean Beach, Port Orleans...Poly, Contemporary, Yacht Club. I didn't check any further. I'm hoping it won't be too bad. Maybe lots of people are going either earlier in December or over Christmas.

 

[lovmy2girls]

Tink 561 Were those with a discount or just rack rate??

 

[CarolA]

From what I am hearing Saturday nights are the problem. So... have you thought about breaking your stay up and tried booking it night by night to look for the problem night?

 

[micmacmissy]

lovmy2girls--

Try plugging in extra nights when you look for a reservation online. I read another post where someone was trying to book for 2 nights and there was no availability, but when she plugged in 4 nights, she got a room. She just booked it and then planned on cancelling the extra nights.

Not the most honest thing in the world to do, but you never know why hotels are blocking off certain nights--it is worth a try!

We are going for our FIRST trip to Disney with our whole family--staying at GF Dec 10-15. I purposefully chose those dates so as not to have to deal with crowds (I HATE crowds!). Hopefully it isn't too bad--at least we won't melt in the heat!!!

Good luck--

 

[Tink561]

Tink 561 Were those with a discount or just rack rate??

Those were rack rates. I was just trying to see if things were completely booked.

 

[kelscross]

Could be related to the hurricanes? Lots of people rescheduled their vacations, maybe they picked December when the kids go on break.

 

[musicmom3]

Much of the crowd during the week of December 4 relates to the Pop Warner Superbowl/National Cheer & Dance competition. The athletes are booked into the All Stars and POR.

 

[Carrieberry]

We have been in the first 2 weeks of Dec both in 2000 and 2002. We had been told that this was a fairly uncrowded time to go. We were actually very suprised to see how crowded POFQ (not to mention the buses-ugh!) was in 2000, but the parks were nice and manageable with no waits longer than 20 minutes.We did go over to POR for breakfast one morning and the place was PACKED with teens I assume for the football/cheer compititions-we hardly saw them at the parks. That could explain why only deluxes are available. In 2002 we stayed at BCV and it seemed extremely uncrowded, as did the parks. It was very pleasant but we did notice that it was more crowded in 2002 than in 2000. When we were there in 2000 I asked the CM at the desk at POFQ when the least crowded time to go was and she saiid the second week of Jan until the week before Presidents day, excluding MLK weekend. This trip we had originally planned to leave yesterday (after seeing the footage of the airports we are so glad we postponed!) but changed it to Jan 21-28. Hopefully the crowds will be less or similar to early December. We have never been in January before!

 

[eelvira]

I booked last week using FL resident rates from 12/18 to 12/23 and got the PO Riverside for $79, they also had the CB, CS and for $49 the ASMovies and ASMusic all available for those dates.

I had to call to get those rates. Online they were much higher. Which brings a question and this may be the wrong board to ask. Do I really need to make PS reservations to have breakfast in the hotel I'm staying. In this case for the Boatwright. I hope not so I can just head down and get a table at whatever time we get there.

Thanks
Eric

 

[Miffy]

We were at WDW last year around Mousefest time and altho it wasn't as crowded as the summer, it wasn't exactly empty either. Our past couple of visits had been in January, and we were kind of surprised at the crowd levels.

Anyway, about booking your room. Last year, we had booked 9 nights at the Swan. A couple of weeks before we left, we tried to book AKL instead. No luck. No AP rooms available, for even part of our stay. When we got to WDW, we called WDW res from our Swan room and--amazingly--were able to get the rest of our stay at AKL on an AP discount. We only spent 2 nights at the Swan and the other 7 at AKL. What I'm trying to say is this: Don't give up! Even if you end up making ressies at a 2nd- or 3rd-choice resort, keep calling, even up to the day you leave...or the day you get there! You never know what can happen.

BTW, our AKL AP-discount room was standard view, but when we checked in, we were upgraded for free to savannah view.

 

[Carrieberry]

Eric,
Boatwrights was packed when we were there with all the Pop Warner kid's. The entire resort was very crowded, but we had PS at Boatwrights and still had to wait 20 minutes. I would make PS if you know you will be there during the compititons. If you will not then a PS probably is not necessary, though a lot of people from POFQ do go over to eat at Boatwrights since there is no sit down place at POFQ.

 

[tink2]

I just checked Dec. 5-9 for availability on the website- got offered all 4 moderates, 2 deluxes- and I didn't check any further. I think the weekends are the problem as far as availability goes. Let's hope the weekdays won't be that bad!

 

[Scoootch]

Which brings a question and this may be the wrong board to ask. Do I really need to make PS reservations to have breakfast in the hotel I'm staying. In this case for the Boatwright. I hope not so I can just head down and get a table at whatever time we get there.

Thanks
Eric

I would try and call ahead and make the PS, that way you definetly get a seating -- they do however save a certain amount of tables for walk-ups but chances are 50/50 as to whether they will have a table for you available as a walk up if it's a really busy day.

Oh - and if you do decide to just chance it, if you don't get in, you can always go to to the foodcourt. They have a really nice one at Riverside