NEVER again in early Dec!

[philliplc]

just back dec 3-10 - didn't think it was that bad in the parks (stayed offsite). lots of the groups around, but they were late-arriving so we found it quite managable in the mornings. even saturday at epcot was reasonable.

also went to universal a couple days mid-week. WOW what a contrast - like being in a line-free ghost town

 

[mickyzzzzz05]

I stayed at the All Star Sports Dec 3 to Dec 8th and had no problems. We are both in our 50's and had a ground floor room in Surf and never heard a thing after we shut the door to our room.

The pool and food court were both packed but we didn't use either except to do mug refills.

I would say that the crowds in the park were ok - not as light as they were 10 years ago but this is our 4th year of going in early Dec and we felt that the crowd was comparable to our previous visits.

I had several nice visits with parents of the cheerleaders on the bus rides. Because my experience was good I would like to stay in the first week of Dec again!

 

[HayGan]

I am shocked that so many people are complaining about the crowds. We hardly experienced any crowds. Almost all rides we walk-ons or wait times of 5 minutes or less. I'm not talking about the less popular rides. I'm talking about Splash, Space Mtn. and ToT just to name a few.

I do have to say that we did use TGM and he was right on (except for his call of MGM as a no-go on Saturday.) Before going I really questioned using TGm but after this trip (and all the complaints here) I am now a firm believer in his best days advice

 

[nuke]

Just got back today and was totally disappointed in the crowds. It was shoulder to shoulder people at Epcot Saturday night. The lines for the Candlelight Processional went all the way to Germany and all the way to France the other way.
We saw some cheerleaders but they seemed to be with their families and not in groups. Maybe they were the leftovers.

The good thing was MVMCP on the 7th. No lines, no waiting except to see the characters. Most of the rides were walk ons.

 

[HayGan]

I should say that I did find some of the Pop Warner groups more visible (and more annoying) than last year.

We didn't have any problems with transportation nor did we find any of our buses to be crowded (but it probably helped that we stayed at OKW!)

 

[Hanover]

We just got back today and we didn't experience any large crowds or long waits except for last night's crowd at MK's EMH. Even then, rides were at most a 10 to 20 minute wait.

We saw a few cheerleaders here and there, mostly at food courts, but not as many as when we visited WDW in 2/2005.

 

[angey77]

I won't be going back the first week in December again either - unless they don't schedule so many events for that first week at the same time..

We just got back yesterday - I have posted about our trip on the CB..

I think the days of "low crowds" in December have gone bye-bye.. I hear tell they're booked solid for the whole MONTH!!

Booked solid ... ha!
Get this: We stayed at BCV last Sunday through Thursday. We decided we wanted to stay in WDW Friday night also, extend the trip, so we called CRO and NO deluxs were avail except for Y&BC. I had NEVER been and AKL not be avail and crowds were not that bad. So went to AKL Wednesday night, only to discover from the savannah viewing area that BLOCKS of rooms looked dark. It looked to us like the resorts were operating at a smaller capacity and turning away people. Totally stinks, so we headed back home Friday.

 

[mickyzzzzz05]

Honestly, I'm not trying to but it cracks me up that people who are in the parks on the same days at the same times have such varying stories! Some say they walked right on all the rides and some say they couldn't get near the rides!

I understand your post. Here is something that we saw happen waiting for a bus. A family was waiting when we got there - the bus pulled up about 15 minutes later. Right after the bus came another family ran up to the bus and boarded. They were clearly delighted at making the bus.

I commented to my friend - "The first family is going to be thinking that the transportation system needs help and is slow. The second family was extremely happy at making the bus and with the transportation system. Both will be right.

I think the same thing happens with rides - we had very few rides that were any kind of wait (5 minutes most of the time) but I have seen others post at how crowded the parks were and they were there the same days that we were.

We toured from opening till 11 am and then again from 4 pm to closing everyday because we go back to rest in the afternoon. Maybe that was when the crowds were more noticable.

 

[C.Ann]

Booked solid ... ha!
Get this: We stayed at BCV last Sunday through Thursday. We decided we wanted to stay in WDW Friday night also, extend the trip, so we called CRO and NO deluxs were avail except for Y&BC. I had NEVER been and AKL not be avail and crowds were not that bad. So went to AKL Wednesday night, only to discover from the savannah viewing area that BLOCKS of rooms looked dark. It looked to us like the resorts were operating at a smaller capacity and turning away people. Totally stinks, so we headed back home Friday.

----------------------------

Hmm.. Why do you suppose they would do that?

 

[becca-becca]

It seems from reading the previous posts that this December the crowds were much larger than last year. Do you think this only applies to December? We are going January 19-27 and I am anticipating low crowds. We went last year January 14-21 and thought it was very nice and not very crowded. What do you all think?

 

[pooh4me]

Mouse planet.com on it's weekly WDW update lists every thing that is going on at WDW including Pop Warner and sometimes a year in advance. Check it out before you plan your trip.

 

[Olaf]

I was down at SSR the same week as the cheerleaders (saw all the cheerleaders at Orlando Airport waiting for Disney's Magical Express), and there were none of them staying at SSR.

Actually, there was a group there. They were an older group (purple uniforms) and very well behaved. I spoke with one of their Moms/chaperones. She's DVC and stayed there specifically to avoid the madness of the values during Pop Warner.

 

[WaltD4Me]

Do you think this only applies to December? We are going January 19-27 and I am anticipating low crowds. We went last year January 14-21 and thought it was very nice and not very crowded. What do you all think?

I think you'll be fine!

The early December secret is just OUT and early December just isn't going to be the same, plus I've heard Pop Warner gets bigger and bigger every year, which doesnt help. It used to be they were just at the Values, then there were some at POR too, but now they have spilled over to more of the moderates just due to the sheer size of the competition.

I wonder how this week will be now that the Pop groups are gone?

 

[Karnak]

The castle is always closed off during the shows. That has been the case for years now. And the only parts that get roped off is Fantasyland for the fireworks. That too has been happening for some time as well.

The castle was closed off during the entire day, not just during shows, and that was true on both Tuesday, Nov. 28, and Friday, Dec. 1. This wouldn't have been as much of a problem if it hadn't of been for Fantasyland being roped off TWICE during the "Party." (In order to get from Tomorrowland to the Haunted Mansion, for example, it was necessary to walk around the castle through huge crowds, making for much more walking and loss of touring time.) If they can't put off the fireworks without roping up part of the park, perhaps they could set off the fireworks a bit further away from the park.

Still had a great time at WDW, and will be back, just not during the holiday season.

Enjoy.

 

[NCRedding]

Booked solid ... ha!
Get this: We stayed at BCV last Sunday through Thursday. We decided we wanted to stay in WDW Friday night also, extend the trip, so we called CRO and NO deluxs were avail except for Y&BC. I had NEVER been and AKL not be avail and crowds were not that bad. So went to AKL Wednesday night, only to discover from the savannah viewing area that BLOCKS of rooms looked dark. It looked to us like the resorts were operating at a smaller capacity and turning away people. Totally stinks, so we headed back home Friday.

I amy be mistaken, but I think that the block of rooms blacked out may be the ones that are being turned into DVC for the Villas at Animal Kingdom Lodge, so they are probably undergoing renovations at this time.

 

[lulu71]

This thread is interesting because we have gone to WDW the first week of December since 2001. The first year we went (granted it was after 9/11) it was almost spooky how empty it was. At one point during the MVMCP in Frontierland we did not see a single person anywhere around us. Each year, it got more and more crowded at this time. This year we skipped, it sounds like we made the right move.

 

[MichelleVW]

This thread is interesting because we have gone to WDW the first week of December since 2001. The first year we went (granted it was after 9/11) it was almost spooky how empty it was. At one point during the MVMCP in Frontierland we did not see a single person anywhere around us. Each year, it got more and more crowded at this time. This year we skipped, it sounds like we made the right move.

We were there the 3rd week of Dec 2001 and you're right...it was EMPTY. We went in early Dec 03 and early Dec 05 and it's been more crowded every trip.

 

[angey77]

I amy be mistaken, but I think that the block of rooms blacked out may be the ones that are being turned into DVC for the Villas at Animal Kingdom Lodge, so they are probably undergoing renovations at this time.

Good point and I was thinking that also, but the rooms were kind of scattered throughout on different floors. Are they going to be mixing the villas in with the regular rooms in the main building?

 

[maddhatir]

Can you please be a little more specific on where to look this up or give a link? Thanks

You can EASILY find it if you click on Theme Parks above on this site!- it takes you right there.

 

[keishashadow]

What the heck is an inner city punk?? Are they the same as bratty, spoiled, hoodlum, suburban punks?

The behavior you encountered isn't an inner city/suburban issue. It's the result of a lack of respect and adult supervision.

Agree 100% here!

I volunteer & work w/different youth groups based on my son's interests & have chaperoned @ many large events.

IMO, it's typically the naive, pampered suburbanite kids (who for some reason tend to think all things ghetto - or what they see on MTV, etc. as chic - are cool...let them spend the night in a project & they'd change their mind in a hurry lol) who tend to act up once they're out of ma & pa's sight for the 1st time.

Things they'd never considering pulling in the cul-de-sac, they evidently think it's is okay to stut their stuff in an anonymous, public place. BTW, not that it matters but, I live on such a street & we are white & nerdy.

Comes down to the chaperones actually chaperoning their charges.