if you had NO other choices, when would you go? Xmas or Thanksgiving?

[disneyberry]

*sigh* my bf and i are normally off-peak travellers... BUT, this year i'm trying to convince my extended family to go to WDW...

due to a combination of everyone's schedules/vacation allowance, it can only be a short trip (5 nights), and we pretty much have ONLY 3 choices for when to go:

1. Tues before Thanksgiving through Sunday after Thanksgiving
2. Saturday before Christmas through Christmas Day (we might be able to stretch it 1+ day to the 26th...)
3. Christmas Eve through Monday before New Years
   [/list=1]i know these are all crowded times...
   
   
   anyway, which one of these do you think is the least bad in terms of crowds?
   
   which one would you pick if you also had no other choices?
   
   thanks in advance for your help, everyone.

 

[disneyluv4]

We went one year the week before Christmas. We left the 24th, and it just started to pick up. But it was wonderful, not very crowded. It will get crowded after that! I voted for the week before, plus you get to see all the Christmas decorations and it is sooo magical (its magical anyway) that time of year. We love Christmas time at WDW. Have a wonderful trip.

 

[jenjie]

I haven't done it personally but my sil and her family went to WDW over Thanksgiving. They said the crowds were light. They even got into Fantasmic a half hour before showtime.

 

[TREEFROG00]

I voted for thanksgiving, but, I think I just changed my mind. Disney is usually not busy between Thanksgiving right up to Christmas Eve and everthing is fully decorated. You could see the parks from the saturday before Christmas until Christmas Eve and then spend Christmas Eve and Day at the resorts.

 

[cinmell]

I'd choose right before Christmas because I would love to see all of the Christmas decorations and festivities.

 

[BrianD]

I definitely would go with the week leading up until Christmas. There's nothing like like Disney at Christmas time. And while it is crowded then, it's not as bad as the week between Christmas & New Years.

 

[jdads2]

Wouldn't go to WDW at all? You put that in there for fun, right? I can't stop laughing!!

I also picked right before Christmas, lower crowds, lots of decorations.

 

[disneyberry]

Originally posted by jdads2
Wouldn't go to WDW at all? You put that in there for fun, right? I can't stop laughing!!

heh. i put that in the poll anticipating those not-as-nuts-about-WDW folks who might just rather avoid crowds and stay at home...
i know i would rather brave the crowds just to be at WDW for the beautiful decorations... but some of my family members are the type to vote for that last option.

anyway, so far, it's clear that everyone's advising to stay away from the days between Xmas and New Years.

Thanksgiving and the 5days leading up to Xmas are pretty even right now.
any more votes?
any comments on rationale for how/why to choose the 5days before Xmas vs. the week of Thanksgiving?

 

[donna in Oz]

Maybe we just picked a bad year, but when we were there at Thanksgiving in 1997, I had never seen crowds so bad.

The absolute worst was the Friday after T-Day: we were at the MK and the crowd was so dense that you honestly just had to flow with the crowd. It was elbow-to-elbow . . . we got grid-locked in Fantasy Land, and finally decided to take the SkyWay to Tomorrowland just to get out of the crowd. Would you believe . . . a 45-minute wait for the Skyway???

It seemed horrible at the time . . . but little did I know that it would be my last ride on the Skyway (R.I.P. )

 

[ChibiJones]

I don't know the ages of everyone going, but my BF & I did xmas week & had a blast. If everyone is old enough, skip MK & MGM during the day & go at night. They're open until about midnight xmas week. We did AK on Christmas Day & the longest wait was for Dinosaur at 40 minutes. We got there at noon & were done by 5:30pm.

We were at MK for the Keys to the Kingdom Tour during the day. The second the tour finished up, we got out of there. We came back around 6-7pm & practically walked onto everything.

BTW, our trip was 4 days long. My only regret is not spending as much time at Epcot, but that was partially because the weather was cold & rainy, partially because my BF wasn't feeling well after Body Wars.

We also did the Candlelight Processional dinner package. We went to the show first & dinner afterwards so we wouldn't have to rush.

 

[JulesMom]

We have been the last 2 years Dec 20-28 and 21-29. The days before Christmas are great. Smaller crowds than we've seen at Spring Break and June.

Be sure and do Candlelight Processional--it is so amazing!

 

[2belles'mom]

We have gone the week prior to Christmas 2 times. The crowds are quite small leading up to Christmas. We just did December 19-27. It was great! The crowds were actually quite small for the first few days. Even when things picked up (Christmas Eve on) it worked--we did MK on the 26th--did Early Entry starting at 7am--and the place was DEAD until 9:30. It was packed later in the day, but a true treat in the morning.

 

[alyssa810]

I would go christmastime because Thanksgiving is truly my favorite family holiday, and since we peeked in the resorts one year right after christmas while we were visiting Universal we got a small peek at all the decorations and it was awesome!! Plus sometimes you have to experience the parks when it is wicked crowded!! (but not too often!!)

 

[MKFan-PR]

The first two options are best since you'll be leaving when the crowd size starts getting crazy. I think you'll be be allright with the days prior to Christmas, since those days have the lightest crowds of the year, plus all the decorations are up! The days prior to Thanksgiving the decorations are starting to go up, but will not be completed.

I'm sure it will be magical either way!

'Wouldn't go' is actually an option! That was a joke, right?

 

[disneyberry]

'Wouldn't go' is actually an option! That was a joke, right?

hey, 1 person voted for it. heh. hmm... but maybe they were joking though...

anyway, another day has gone by, the votes have doubled... but Thanksgiving and Christmas are still almost dead even. how am i going to decide?

actually, the Thanksgiving option wouldn't avoid the crowds 'cause we would actually go ON Thanksgiving Day plus the weekend AFTER Thanksgiving.

the 5days leading up to Christmas is sounding better though, 'cause you all posted some great reasons to choose it.

i just was under the impression that after December 18th or so every year, WDW crowds start to get really bad.

so, is it really not that bad as long as we leave on Xmas day or the day after Xmas?

 

[bdpa]

I think I would have to pick Thanksgiving. My family would kill me but not as badly as if we were gone for Christmas! They don't like the family not being there together for holidays. Even the small ones! But I love them all - so I won't complain. But if I was to WIN a trip at one of those times...... I would be saying BYE BYE Family!!!

 

[2belles'mom]

Go for the 5 days before Christmas! You will love it! The crowds will get increasingly heavy as Christmas approaches, but will be NOTHING like the week after Christmas. Do MK your first days, and Epcot last. It worked for us! Go for it!!!!!

 

[onemichelle]

Okay, we are planning to go Thanksgiving week. I was hoping someone could tell me that the begining of the week won't be too bad, anyone??
To answer the original question, I would pick the week before Christmas if I could, because I've always wanted to go with all the decorations up. The trouble is that would mean the kids would miss 5 days of school versus 2 Thanksgiving week.
So can someone tell me the begining of T-week is pretty good?