Prepare for Big Crowds in Early Dec!

[cgorn]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but for all of us who booked early December in hopes of enjoying holiday festivities without large crowds (as is history), it looks like we have been thwarted by Disney's amazing promotions.

I checked to see if any other resorts were available during my stay (12/4 to 12/9 at POP), and the ONLY place that came up was Saratoga Springs. I checked the next week (12/11 to 12/16) and the ONLY places that came up were CSR, YBC, Poly, and GF, and I think one more high-end deluxe. No values, no moderates except CSR.

My wife called Disney who said they don't think the parks will be too crowded despite this news -- that some people might just be going to visit resorts and not parks (which doesn't make sense to me). The only other saving grace I can think of is that maybe the Disney resorts will be packed (since all the promotions involve staying on property), but if surrounding hotels are not, then maybe the parks won't be too bad.

Sorry, everyone!

 

[LMO429]

I would think the hotels that are not disney owned are not booked to capacity.

We are going the second week of dec as well. I will follow good touring plan techniques and be prepared for crowds and just hope for the best.

 

[DisneyDreams4]

I hope it will not be too crowded after thanksgiving.

 

[ogreenlee]

i'm hoping with mid-term exams for the older kids will keep them away the week before christmas.

 

[DisneyDreams4]

It might be crowded but you'll just have to fast pass the big attractions.

 

[MamaMouseCO]

A CM told me they didn't think the parks would be crowded - they apparently have conferences booked in (aside from PopWarner), since it's their value season for lodging pricing - companies take advantage of the pricing. He said the resorts would be full, but the parks shouldn't be bad at all.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

It won't be that bad. This is our third time down there at this time and it still way better than summer crowds.

Plus, whenever you do a search for multiple days, even if the resort is only booked to capacity for one of those nights, it shows the whole period as being unavailable.

 

[momof2cutegirls]

The Pop Warner football games will be going on so a lot of people will be at WDW for that...they are usually only in the parks in the evening. It won't be as bad as you think!

 

[Capt_Jack_Sparrow]

I think that what we are seeing, with the resorts being so full, is that anyone who would normally be staying off property is staying on property because of the great deals. I think the Park levels will be close to normal in years past, but the offprperty hotels will be empty and the on property hotels will be Filled.

 

[JarrothsMom]

In 2008 I went during MLK weekend. You could not find a room ANYWHERE!! No great "free" dinning promo...or 4/3 promo either. It was the $1400 (or $1600) family of 4 thing. I was sooo nervous thinking it was going to be bad. I was VERY surprised. We just followed the plans...went at opening...then we would get FP...and it was not bad AT ALL...except MK that Sat. night!

 

[Bete]

for about the last four years. Last year we had free dining (Visa promo) and this year is the same.

Based on last year, the parks will not be empty, but they won't be overpacked, either. The free dining restaurants will be packed!

We used fastpass and we were able to see what we wanted last year without a problem. In our case we had 12 days to play with; so, we could take our time with everything.

 

[cat83]

The only other saving grace I can think of is that maybe the Disney resorts will be packed (since all the promotions involve staying on property), but if surrounding hotels are not, then maybe the parks won't be too bad.

Thats exactly it.

 

[ols386]

We will be there Dec. 9-12 (staying at the Poly), which is the same week that Pop Warner is scheduled to be there. Although, I think the kids for Pop Warner mostly stay at the value resorts, and are involved in the activities during the daytime hours.

We are going with the attitude that it will be busy, and we will deal with the crowd level as positively as possible. And if by some freak chance, it' not as crowded as we anticipate.....then all the better!!

 

[WDWTeri]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but for all of us who booked early December in hopes of enjoying holiday festivities without large crowds (as is history), it looks like we have been thwarted by Disney's amazing promotions.

I checked to see if any other resorts were available during my stay (12/4 to 12/9 at POP), and the ONLY place that came up was Saratoga Springs. I checked the next week (12/11 to 12/16) and the ONLY places that came up were CSR, YBC, Poly, and GF, and I think one more high-end deluxe. No values, no moderates except CSR.

My wife called Disney who said they don't think the parks will be too crowded despite this news -- that some people might just be going to visit resorts and not parks (which doesn't make sense to me). The only other saving grace I can think of is that maybe the Disney resorts will be packed (since all the promotions involve staying on property), but if surrounding hotels are not, then maybe the parks won't be too bad.

Sorry, everyone!

I wouldn't worry about it. We have been down when you couldn't find a WDW room, but the parks were empty. I think the convention crowds have a tendency to make Epcot busy at night, so you might have to plan around that, but if you have ADR's in place you should be fine. The Pop Warner kids have pretty full schedules during the day, but if they spread out at night to the parks, even if there are several thousand of them(just guessing, no idea of the numbers) it should still be fine. Nightime shows like Fantasmic and Illuminations will probably fill up faster than typical early December, so you'll need to take that into consideration.

I think this will still be one of the best times of the year to be at WDW. Have a great time.

 

[aprilp]

Last year the values and mostly all the mods filled up and it was still pretty dead at the parks, so I cant imagine it would be too much worse this year.

At least we wont have to deal with the heat. I can stand being in lines if there isnt sweltering heat to go along with it.

No matter the crowds this is still my favorite time of year to go, because you are minus the heat and plus the decorations!

 

[goofy4tink]

I've been to WDW at this time for the past 6 years. It gets busier and busier every year. But, here's the thing. Disney offered free dining for this time frame. They didn't fill enough rooms with free dining...so they came out with that latest promotion..buy 4 get 3 free. I doubt that a ton of people decided to take their kids out of school at this time just so they could take advantage of that promotion.
I think that a lot of people who were already booked somewhere in Orlando, changed over to WDW resorts, to take advantage of the buy 4, get 3 free promo. But, I could be wrong. I just don't see it as being hugely crowded.

 

[Angel4135]

I just checked my dates Dec. 12-18th and I could get Pop, PoR, CS. They had rooms open so maybe not so bad. This week and last week was the 45 day mark for many people with packages going in early Dec. Maybe Disney had cancellations??? I'm looking for nice weather, and low crowds! Lets keep our fingers crossed.

 

[maroo]

A CM told me they didn't think the parks would be crowded - they apparently have conferences booked in (aside from PopWarner), since it's their value season for lodging pricing - companies take advantage of the pricing. He said the resorts would be full, but the parks shouldn't be bad at all.

I can confirm a conference for December 17-19. It is one of those that is in Orlando every 4 years. Conference activities during the day and parks at night!

 

[Racknack]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again ...

Good planning trumps crowds every time.

Karnak

 

[PoohsFan1]

It won't be that bad. This is our third time down there at this time and it still way better than summer crowds.

Plus, whenever you do a search for multiple days, even if the resort is only booked to capacity for one of those nights, it shows the whole period as being unavailable.

That is so true. We decided to extend our vacation 2 more nights and when I was looking online (plugged in our dates of the trip) to see if there were availability (staying at BC), it was showing no availability. But since we are extending our stay at the end of our stay, I decided to plug in the dates from the date that we originally were going to check-out on and add the extra nights and once that happened, there were a lot of different resorts that popped up (including the BC). I then called MCO to extend my stay without any problems.