Planning Another Trip, Basic Crowd Question

[Maleficent Dragon]

On my phone with horrible coverage...surfing the web is too difficult at the moment. How busy is Disney the Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving? Would I do better to wait one more week and show up around the 7th of December or is it comparable?

 

[siskaren]

EasyWDW ranked the Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving last year at a 6 and 4, respectively.

 

[phtktz3]

On my phone with horrible coverage...surfing the web is too difficult at the moment. How busy is Disney the Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving? Would I do better to wait one more week and show up around the 7th of December or is it comparable?

Not sure about how busy it is at WDW but if you are flying in airfare that week is usually very expensive! I always go the first week in December and had to change my plans just a bit this past year due to Sunday being Nov 30th which was the Sunday after Thanksgiving and I couldn't get a flight that was reasonably priced not to mention the flights sold out quick!

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

Thanks for the information about the airfare. That may not be an issue as I have some free tickets, but still makes a difference.

 

[phtktz3]

Thanks for the information about the airfare. That may not be an issue as I have some free tickets, but still makes a difference.

Your welcome. As long as you plan early enough you should be able to get the flights you want.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

I usually go the 1st week and a half of December. This past year I went in mid-November and those were the lightest crowds I have ever seen. Everything was pretty much a walk-on. I would like to go again during that time, but most of the Christmas was not up and I am taking my sister to have Christmas with her since she moved away.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Go early December.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

Go early December.

Only of you promise to meet me and my sister!!

 

[phtktz3]

Go early December.

I do know the first week of December is very popular with DVC members. This is when I go every year and I have to book 11 months out at OKW (home resort) This past year I did a split stay but had to wait list for a while to get in at BWV.
This is a great week to visit as the parks are usually not very crowded at all. I've always heard that the week before and the week after Thanksgiving are the best.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

I do know the first week of December is very popular with DVC members. This is when I go every year and I have to book 11 months out at OKW (home resort) This past year I did a split stay but had to wait list for a while to get in at BWV.
This is a great week to visit as the parks are usually not very crowded at all. I've always heard that the week before and the week after Thanksgiving are the best.

Agreed and thank you for your thoughts.

 

[maramarrie]

FWIW, we have done trips at different times of year and the week of Thanksgiving has been BY FAR the largest crowd. It was still fun - because it's Disney - but the crowds were awful. The first week of december will be a lot better, but be aware that is when Pop Warner cheerleading competitions come in, so the parks and some hotels will be overloaded with teenagers. We stayed at Coronado Springs that trip and found out that was where they had a lot of the groups staying. At night the place was overrun and it was hard to get where/what we needed without dealing with teens (and some of their lack of awareness of other people...or lines). I'd still choose early December over late November, simply for crowd and cost reasons. We just won't choose CS during early December again.

 

[goofydisney2015]

My family is planning to go to the same time an I had same question . Thinking we may arrive Sat afternoon and start parks on Sunday .
Plan to check out Fri 4th , looks like that's when Pop Warner starts .
Thinking that shouldn't affect right after Thanksgiving .

 

[IBLarsen]

We were in DisneyLAND for Thanksgiving week a couple years back and stayed through that Saturday after, and it was still VERY crowded (of course DLR tends to be more crowded in general because of locals). However my thinking is, some states only get off a 4 day weekend for the Holiday, making Thurs, Friday and Sat likely busier. Sunday I would think most families are heading home. Everything I've read on hear in the past seems to be a general concensus that the week after Thanksgiving to the mid December tends to be lighter crowds.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

FWIW, we have done trips at different times of year and the week of Thanksgiving has been BY FAR the largest crowd. It was still fun - because it's Disney - but the crowds were awful. The first week of december will be a lot better, but be aware that is when Pop Warner cheerleading competitions come in, so the parks and some hotels will be overloaded with teenagers. We stayed at Coronado Springs that trip and found out that was where they had a lot of the groups staying. At night the place was overrun and it was hard to get where/what we needed without dealing with teens (and some of their lack of awareness of other people...or lines). I'd still choose early December over late November, simply for crowd and cost reasons. We just won't choose CS during early December again.

Agreed about the crowds. We usually show up the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, but I was considering an earlier start this year.

We were in Disney with Pop Warner in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013 and had only 1 very small incident where they affected us. We stay DVC, so perhaps that is why we dont notice them much?!? The incident was in the park and I got parental with them. They were all respectful afterwards.

 

[phtktz3]

Agreed about the crowds. We usually show up the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, but I was considering an earlier start this year.

We were in Disney with Pop Warner in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013 and had only 1 very small incident where they affected us. We stay DVC, so perhaps that is why we dont notice them much?!? The incident was in the park and I got parental with them. They were all respectful afterwards.

Same here. I stay DVC so I've only had 1 encounter with Pop Warner attendees and I also found that once I expressed my parental view they settled down. In most cases if you treat teens with a bit of respect and authority rolled into one they will respond positively.