Resort avail. between Thanksgiving and Xmas and crowd levels

[thumperjr9]

So, we want to plan a somewhat last minute trip between Thanksgiving and Xmas. We've been to WDW too many times to count but never near Xmas to be able to see the decorations. I always thought the crowds are a little lower at this time. However when I looked at resort availability there virtually nothing available for a full week or even a few days in a row. So anybody know....what's the deal? It seems like there has more availability when we have gone at spring break than I'm seeing now. Is it going to be crazy busy? It looks like I can get a decent deal offsite but I prefer onsite. Anyone that goes at this time have any insight? If the crowds are going to be insane I might just forget it.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Free dining and other promotions move a lot of people on-campus in this time period. Pop Warner and several other events also eat rooms.

There isn't really a low season any more, and the "secret" of the first few weeks after Thanksgiving is long out of the bag.

 

[raddisneyfan]

Agree, doesn't seem to be any slow season anymore. I will say I do get a couple of weekdays where crowds seem pretty low when I go early December, but weekends are always packed. I generally try to do my MK day on a Tuesday or Wednesday and it's pretty clear. Good luck trying to find hotel now though. I think I booked by resort back in February for December. I think you should book offsite, then keep trying to catch a cancellation onsite--never hurts to keep at it--every day if you can.

 

[thumperjr9]

I know unfortunately a "slow season" no longer exist. We always avoided Xmas week cause of the huge crowds and never been able to go between Thanksgiving and Xmas because of school obligations. My DS17 is taking a gap year between HS and college. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to go for the Xmas festivities. The interesting thing is there is much more resort availability the week between Xmas and New Years. So to all you holiday veterans which week (that the Holiday decorations will be up) would be the best as far as crowds.....we have a ton of flexibility!

 

[Fangorn]

Christmas decorations start going up on Nov 2. MK will be fully dressed within 2-3 days after that. The resorts and the other parks will follow over the course of the next couple of weeks. All decorations should be complete by Thanksgiving week.

While there isn't a slow period anymore, there are slow-er periods within the holiday period. And something to keep in mind - resort non-availability doesn't necessarily equate to packed parks.

The first full week of December is Pop Warner. This event eats rooms like candy, but doesn't particularly impact the parks much, as the participants are doing their own thing at WWoS.

Free dining was offered the week before Thanksgiving week, and weeks 2 & 3 of December. Free Dining takes a lot of rooms also, but tends to shift people from off-site to on-site, not particularly add to the total number of people. The restaurants are more crowded during these weeks, but the parks themselves may not be - particularly week 2.

My personal pick during this time is still the first or second week in December. It's close enough to Christmas to truly feel the holiday spirit, and the crowds aren't overwhelming. As you head into week 3, there's a noticeable increase in the crowds, building to Christmas week.

The week before Thanksgiving will normally have lower crowds, but for us, it just doesn't seem right doing Christmas before we've eaten the Thanksgiving Turkey yet.

Steve

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Park crowd is highly dependent on visitors from off-site, much more so than on-site rooms.

 

[aldeanarmyangel]

When did the free dining promotion end for the November December time frames you mentioned above? TIA

 

[Fangorn]

When did the free dining promotion end for the November December time frames you mentioned above? TIA

IIRC, it ended around the Fourth of July?

Steve

 

[bryanb]

I was also hoping to book a relatively last minute trip in either November or early December. It looks like most of the rooms are completely full.
Disney is definitely in an enviable position of being able to run their hotels so close to capacity, even with the prices they charge.

There are many good deals still to be found in off-site hotels, so i might have to go that route. But I'm still amazed that they're so close to fully booked. Disney must be kicking themselves that they didn't increase prices enough... (or should I not have said that).

I wonder if next year we'll see a slight dialing back of the late year promotional offers.

 

[focusondisney]

I know unfortunately a "slow season" no longer exist. We always avoided Xmas week cause of the huge crowds and never been able to go between Thanksgiving and Xmas because of school obligations. My DS17 is taking a gap year between HS and college. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to go for the Xmas festivities. The interesting thing is there is much more resort availability the week between Xmas and New Years. So to all you holiday veterans which week (that the Holiday decorations will be up) would be the best as far as crowds.....we have a ton of flexibility!

Not surprised the resorts have more availability that week than the others. Rates for that week are the highest of the year. Many people will opt to stay off site rather than pay Disney's premium rate, so the parks are crowded even if the resorts aren't totally booked up.

 

[RangerPooh]

Slow season

Last spring-early July were free dining promotions for fall/winter. Then over summer the fall room only discounts were released, but sounded like there was already limited availability by that point.

Early December is Pop Warner superbowl at WWOS.