***Official December 2017 thread!

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Whewww....I have missed A TON!!! So So Sorry!!! It turns out that after fair season, which is September 1st....my life got even crazier with being asked to be the new 4H leader...so needless to say I have had a lot going on!!

Fastpass time is almost upon us and I am so excited, over the time I was away I got to book all our activities and excursions for our cruise and now it's just a waiting game it seems! LOL! We were planning 4 days in the Keys and now we are not sure if we will change that to Universal or just go anyway. I know it's a lot of time after they are planning to open to visitors (October 20th) but I am not sure if they will really be ready for tourists, you know what I mean?

Ohhh and my most recent excitement was the opening of Highway in the sky!!! YAAAAAAYYY!!! We saw it, booked it and now cannot wait to do it! We are booked on December 13th, anyone else?

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

As far as crowds, it's been full for quite awhile now, I just keep waiting for the onslaught of rooms come November when final payments are due. Our dates are December 5th - 28th with 1 week off in between for the DCL!

 

[adelaster]

We are going 12/03 - 12/10. I know there is limited availability because we looked before going DVC rental. Based on Disney quarterly earnings reports and what TA's have been receiving, I highly doubt they were holding anything back for promotions. Disney has stated they are eliminating them. I am guessing that most of the freed up rooms are from the Pop Warner week. They have to block off tons of rooms for the event. Some teams can't afford the high rates of Disney and choose to stay elsewhere. I am guessing that those are now starting to show up.

As for crowds, it doesn't matter much. You can't control it. You can only decide if you are willing to cope with it.

Disney has stated that they are eliminating promotions? Would you mind sharing where you read about this?

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Riding Everest when its dark out is even better.

YESSSS!!! This is my favorite way to ride!!!

Hey everyone!
So, that being said, am I to expect the same crowd levels for the first week of December as over Christmas/New Year's???
I understand that there is no "slow" season anymore, and I wouldn't expect to wait 10-15 minutes for Space Mountain, but every hotel booked solid?!
Looks like everyone who runs a crowd calendar will need to update their crowd levels...

Yup, it has been like this since October of last year when we booked! We are Atrium level at the Contemporary and wanted theme park view, tower level and they were sold out and we kept checking over and over and over again but finally got it around the beginning of the year for a bit but when we wanted to extend our stay, we could only get Yacht club Club level for some of the dates we wanted and WL club level for the others...so we have an odd split stay thing going on.


We also have friends joining us this year but they decided to join in March and it was impossible to find them anything. They are a party of 10 and are staying in 3 different Value resorts.

 

[pammydw]

I did a bit more fiddling, and if we were to hypothetically check in on Sunday and check out on Thursday, there were a bunch of available resorts. My guess is we're looking at the influx of the Pop Warner folks on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

That said, according to Dave Shute at **************, Pop has more of an impact on the population of the resorts than the parks. Here's hoping it holds true!!!

My DD and I were there last year at the same time last year for a quick trip when she performed in Disney. We had to stay at POP since it was just a quick 3 night stay, and it was PW weekend. I don't remover it being too crazy crowded, so fingers crossed this will be true for this year too!

 

[BigredNole]

Disney has stated that they are eliminating promotions? Would you mind sharing where you read about this?

They are not going to completely eliminate them, but they are not going to be widespread. In other words, you will find 1 night here, 1 night there. There will not be huge blocks where you get a week. It was in response to the Fall discounts that were announced and extremely limited. The few that were able to get it had very short trips or room hopped when they could.

 

[adelaster]

They are not going to completely eliminate them, but they are not going to be widespread. In other words, you will find 1 night here, 1 night there. There will not be huge blocks where you get a week. It was in response to the Fall discounts that were announced and extremely limited. The few that were able to get it had very short trips or room hopped when they could.

I appreciate your sharing this and
have consistently seen reporting on the limited availability, but I have spent time since you shared this searching and can't find where it was officially addressed. Perhaps you have insider information, or am I just missing it? I thought the discounts were offered to meet target occupancy rates, and lately they haven't had much to fill October through December. At any rate, I have been really watching for the company to make statements on this and haven't been able to find much-so that's why I was so interested in your source.

 

[Astryd]

My DD and I were there last year at the same time last year for a quick trip when she performed in Disney. We had to stay at POP since it was just a quick 3 night stay, and it was PW weekend. I don't remover it being too crazy crowded, so fingers crossed this will be true for this year too!

We were at WDW last year from Thanksgiving day through the first week of December, including during Pop Warner, we were staying at OKW, but the crowds in the park were very manageable.

They are not going to completely eliminate them, but they are not going to be widespread. In other words, you will find 1 night here, 1 night there. There will not be huge blocks where you get a week. It was in response to the Fall discounts that were announced and extremely limited. The few that were able to get it had very short trips or room hopped when they could.

For my October/November F&W trip I managed to snag 2 different discounts, Room only rate for the All Stars the first part of the trip, and then I upgraded us from the All Stars to AKL with a passholder discount for the last 3 nights. The AKL room with the discount didn't show up till a few weeks after the discounts originally came out. I also think you have to find the right number of days to get the discounts, just like booking the rooms. They aren't making it easy. But if they are selling out rooms at rack rate, there is no reason for them to offer discounts.

 

[Rich M]

[QUOTE=

Fastpass time is almost upon us and I am so excited, over the time I was away I got to book all our activities and excursions for our cruise and now it's just a waiting game it seems! LOL! We were planning 4 days in the Keys and now we are not sure if we will change that to Universal or just go anyway. I know it's a lot of time after they are planning to open to visitors (October 20th) but I am not sure if they will really be ready for tourists, you know what I mean?

By then they will be ready for you and would appreciate you coming and supporting them with tourism dollars. If possible visit more mom and pop type of places and spend dollars with them instead of the big corporate type places. They will be very grateful. They have lost a lot.

 

[LindyWebb]

Star Wars desert parties were open for the 24 and beyond. I just happened to see. If you are late in December and looking for desert parties they may be open.

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

By then they will be ready for you and would appreciate you coming and supporting them with tourism dollars. If possible visit more mom and pop type of places and spend dollars with them instead of the big corporate type places. They will be very grateful. They have lost a lot.

[/QUOTE][/QUOTE]

Thank you for this insight! This makes a lot of sense and I think this will definitely be the way we go. Our reservations are at a B&B type place, but I will definitely now purposely think to go to restaurants like that! I kept thinking big corp. was the way to go because they would be open faster and ready but what you say makes a lot more sense. Give to those that need it most!

 

[trill2017]

I've never been to MK during the holidays so, question for the pros: Is the Jingle Cruise better in the day or night to see the holiday changes? Does it make a difference? I was just wondering if there were special lights or just props put into the scenes. Thanks!

 

[gacallaghan]

I had wanted to do the Highway in the Sky progressive dinner, but when I saw the price increase... WOW. So instead I think my son and I will make our own and hit the bar areas of the dining venues along the monorail for appetizers and a drink, then make a final dinner reservation at either the contemporary or Narcosses.

A friend of mine did the Highway in the Sky progressive dinner back in May and was very disappointed with it especially given the price. He said he wouldn't recommend it. Sounds like you are making the right decision!

 

[trill2017]

My short December trip is all about checking out the holiday decorations but I won't have time to see everything. Any tips on which is the "must do" to see holiday decor--Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge? Thanks!

 

[constanze]

Anyone going the week during Christmas to New Years? Are you planning on doing some special events to avoid some of the crowds?

 

[Rich M]

Has anyone noticed when you try to book one day most hotels are available but if you try for a longer stay the rooms aren't available? I noticed i can add multiple one day reservations in a row at the same resort but can not book the same room in the same stretch of time. I did the chat to ask and they said that they are updating there system and they are having problems and to check back later. Very odd to me

 

[adelaster]

Has anyone noticed when you try to book one day most hotels are available but if you try for a longer stay the rooms aren't available? I noticed i can add multiple one day reservations in a row at the same resort but can not book the same room in the same stretch of time. I did the chat to ask and they said that they are updating there system and they are having problems and to check back later. Very odd to me

Yes. I called about it recently. Had five separate reservations for five nights in the same place, same room type. Their system confuses me. I managed to cancel down to three-would love to get to one or two!

 

[Disney & ME]

I don't know if this has been asked or where to ask this. We are currently going Dec 2 to the 8th, we have been looking at availability and there is nothing what so ever. Is it possible that Disney has booked every single room for this week? I know its Pop Warner week. I just cant wrap my head around why there is availability Christmas week and not this week.

I have been wondering the same thing but no DVC rooms either. I found an awesome flight for a short early December stay (we have an annual pass) but we can't find a room onsite.

 

[mickeymomof3girls]

Star Wars desert parties were open for the 24 and beyond. I just happened to see. If you are late in December and looking for desert parties they may be open.

Thank you for the heads up!! I just made reservations. My hubby and 2 of our girls are huge star wars fans! so excited to get to do this with them!

 

[Travelstovegas]

Our 60 day mark is coming up soon since we actually arrive in Disney on 11/30. This will be my first time trying to schedule FP. Any tips on doing it in MDE or does anyone have feedback about whether they've been able to snag the FP's they want so far?

Does anyone think that the park hours will change at all from what they are listed at now for December or are they pretty much set?

Thanks!