lines in december?

[bears163]

we are going the 2nd week in december. anyone know of past wait times for rides?

 

[tjkraz]

We were there the 2nd week of Dec '04. Using FastPass to avoid any excessive standby lines, I don't recall waiting more than 15 minutes for anything. Note that we weren't in the parks mid-day when lines are typically the longest--we stick to the mornings and evenings.

Honestly, there were a lot more people at WDW than I had expected based upon things I've read here and other places. There were definitely more folks than we saw in our other recent trips (January, May, September.) But the sheer volume of guests didn't appear to negatively impact the ride wait times to any great degree.

 

[poohj80]

I think last year may have been a fluke with all the folks who had rescheduled their hurricane canceled trips to later in the year.

 

[lllovell]

I am also hoping for the "hurricane" fluke for last year as the crowds seemed much heavier than the year before. We went in December of 2003 and it felt like the entire park was ours ours OURS!!! No lines for anything (we didn't even know what fastpass was and it didnt matter because apparently they were all closed during that trip). This past December trip (which also was over a bit of the Thanksgiving weekend which I am sure also upped the crowds) was still quite enjoyable, but I do hope that occasionaly we hit it just right again to have that truly magical feeling of having "The World" or ourselves!

 

[crcormier]

I've been the 2nd week of December both last year and the year before and I don't recall waiting more than 15-20 minutes for anything. Some lines were longer here and there, but a little planning and 15 minutes should probably be the max wait.

 

[bears163]

just made our reservations for dec 6-11. planning on doing the x-mas party thing too. can't wait.

 

[CharlesTD]

We experiance wait times of about 10 to 15 minutes max when we are there the first couple weks of Dec never anything very long.

 

[lulu71]

Our experience was the same as tjkraz. I will say that I'm not buying into the hurricane fluke thing because this is our fifth year going at this time and crowds have gotten thicker every year. It was the best kept secret while it lasted, but word has spread. Don't get me wrong it's still a great time to go, but don't believe the stories of walking onto everything and not seeing a soul around. That was the way it was in 2001, but hasn't been that way since.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

Our experience was the same as tjkraz. I will say that I'm not buying into the hurricane fluke thing because this is our fifth year going at this time and crowds have gotten thicker every year. It was the best kept secret while it lasted, but word has spread. Don't get me wrong it's still a great time to go, but don't believe the stories of walking onto everything and not seeing a soul around. That was the way it was in 2001, but hasn't been that way since.

Ours too. We went the first week in December 2003. I really was surprised at the amount of people in the parks. I thought it was going to be less crowded, based on all the guide books I read saying this is the slowest time to go. We thought we would just walk on everything.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't as bad as June, no by a long shot, but it wasn't the ghost town I had visioned either.

And, as you can see from my countdown, it wasn't horrible...we're going this December again!

 

[Safari Queen]

We go every year that time. Crowds seem to increase as you get closer to Christmas. Sunday-Thursday before there were no lines over 15 minutes, Friday just a few attractions had long waits, and Saturday it was packed at most rides. We try to do all our favorites early in the week and concentrate on special things like fireworks and parades closer to the holiday. When the parks are full during the day the resorts tend to be quieter, so days are relaxing and we enjoy our nights in the parks and DTD.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Our experience has been similar, except this year the MVMCP was PACKED!

 

[wanna-b-Tink]

We've gone during the first two weeks of December for 4 years, this year being year 5. After the Thanksgiving crowd goes home, the place is pretty much dead. I mean, we've been able to ride Splash Mountain 3 and 4 times in a row without even getting out of our log! We used to make our December week from around Dec 7-14 or so, but with our son in school now, we start with Thanksgiving Day so he doesn't miss as many days.

I imagine that 2004 was a hurricane fluke also.

 

[poohj80]

We've gone during the first two weeks of December for 4 years, this year being year 5. After the Thanksgiving crowd goes home, the place is pretty much dead.

Can someone please give me an idea of when the Thanksgiving crowd goes home? I am assuming Sunday but that may not be valid. We will be arriving on Sunday after Thanksgiving and staying the week to kickoff our holiday season.