Question for the December DVC'ers....

[BLTLDZ]

Working on planning a family vacation december 2011. My question is, which week is typically slower? The first week, or the second week? I know with the pop warner, it sometimes makes a difference....We have been the first week, and found it to be managable & enjoyable both weather wise, and crowd wise. However, it seems as though it was MUCH more crowded this past year at that time than 2008

I know that there is no crystal ball, just wondering based on experience.

 

[Crystal_27]

I think the crowds in 2009 were because of the free dining codes that were offered...which Disney has stated will not happen this year. I think that Pop Warner can occur any time during the first two weeks, but I believe that event has relatively little impact on the parks and usually impacts resorts (All Stars, etc.). Unless Disney does offer some sort of code for December, the crowds should go back to the "normal" crowds for that time period.

 

[DebbieB]

The first week of December has always been popular for DVC, the rooms sellout early. I was there last year, I didn't think the crowds were bad. Stay away from MK on non-MVMCP dates and especially the day with evening EMH (last year Monday). We did DHS on a non-Fantasmic day and it wasn't bad at all.

 

[dvc deernut]

WEVE BEEN DOING FIRST 2 WEEKS OF DEC FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS NOW, ITS USUALLY SLOW DEPENDING ON WHICH RESORT YOU BOOK THEY COULD FILL UP FAST EXCEPT SARATOGA. WHEN WE COULDNT GET INTO OKW WE BOOK SSR AND BE PUT ON WAIT LIST FOR OKW OR AKL. WE HAVE USUALLY GOT OUR REQUEST. DEC 2009 WAS VERY BUSY, WE NOTICED AT MICKEYS CHRISTMAS PARTY HARDLY ANYBODY LEFT AFTER FIRST PARADE AND FIREWORKS. BUT IT WAS NO WHERE AS BUSy AS IT GET fOR THE LAsT 2 WEEKS OF DEC.

 

[anbouk]

We were there this past year for the WEEK before Christmas (09) and the crowds were very manageable (sp). We left on Christmas Eve and noticed crowds coming in for the NYE celebrations. The weather was a bit cooler than we had hoped for, no swimming for the kids, but other than that we enjoyed it so very much...we will be back this year same time!

 

[dizfan]

Last year, we were there the first week of December, into the second week.
From what we were told it was a strange year.

They typically film the Christmas parade in there. They always have an extra day or two planned. However, last year was the first time they have ever had to extend the filming dates because of the weather.

We talked to a couple of families who were part of the cheer squad. When the rainouts extended things, Disney was scrambling. They even had some cheer squads that couldn't stay, so they had to fly in other cheer squads.

From what they told us, the streets at MK during the filming are crazy. However, the ride lines are very short. (We avoided MK until the filming was over).

 

[puffkin]

We had friends there the 1st week. We were there the 2nd. Other friends there the 3rd. All groups were veteran December travellers. The 1st week was busy, 2nd week crazy (for December) and 3rd week started crazy and then was pretty dead at the end before picking up on the weekend.

I do think the 2009 crowds were a fluke due to the weather, parade taping delays, and the free dining.

 

[CarolAnnC]

If you are talking about DVC resort availability, then all of December is an extremely popular month. There are many DVC member events such as the Annual Meetings, and since the points were historically lower, the first two weeks had high occupancy due to the Christmas decorations and events already being in place.