The truth about the crowds, please.

[Fargoman2]

I am thoroughly confused about crowd levels for the first week of Dec., having read so many conflicting reports on these boards. You can't all be right. So what gives? Times have changed and it is indeed crazy busy? People perceive "busy" differently? People are trying to dupe us into thinking it's busy at that time so we won't go?

I guess I have a hard time believing--or at least I don't want to believe--that the crowds have seemingly swelled "overnight" in one year, especially when the guide books rank that week as "level 1(slowest)" for busyness.

So is it busy on the weekends? Every day? Depends on the park? Define "busy" as in busy compared to what/when...?

We are planning to go end of Nov., beginning Dec. 2006 and if the crowds are going to be like they are in the summer--count me out. I need a break from that fight. I guess I had anticipated a more relaxing pace.

So, please someone, share the bottom line truth. THANK YOU!

 

[Minerva]

What gives is that everyone has their own definition of what crowded is. We were there the week after Thanksgiving this year, in the parks from Sunday Nov. 28-Saturday Dec. 3. We didn't find it crowded but others have said it was. I can guarantee you though that it was nowhere near as crowded as it would be during the summer. Sat was the most crowded we saw all week and we were at MK that evening. Still managed to walk onto Buzz more than once, Rode BTMR with a fastpass once because the posted wait time was 30 minutes and another time we went in the standby line with about a 15 minute wait, got places for parades and frieworks with no problem 15-20 minutes before they began. That's not crowded in my book but obviously others will disagree.

 

[dr2004]

Crowds were light until the Pop Warner for me. I would check and book around it.

Keep in mind crowd levels can vary by group. If you travel with teens who like thrill rides, the park may be light since most kids are in school. If you have a toddler or 3 year old and plan on spending time in Fantasy Land (or as I call it Stroller World) well Pooh could have a 50 minute wait on any day and be a walk on at 9pm because the kids are in bed

 

[Amy&Dan]

A lot of it depends on what park you go to on what day. EMH makes parks crowded in my opinion so we avoid them like the plague. Also, what time of day you arrive at the park. If you get there at opening, I guarantee that even on very crowded day, you will get a lot done and have a way different perception than somebody who arrives at noon. But I also think the parks are more crowded and that some of the guidebooks are using crowd models that are no longer accurate. And finally, what you are specifically doing at the park. If you spend most of your day trying to ride Dumbo, Peter Pan and Splash Mountain it will seem crowded. If on the other hand you are more into the World Showcase, Hall of Presidents and Spaceship Earth, you will likely find less of a wait on the grand scale. The parks were more crowded this past October than October 2004 (it seemed) but we hardly waited for anything because we had my elderly parents with us and hardly rode any of the big name attractions. We did a few of thoseime only using a fastpass while my parents waited outside. So, even with those crowds we didn't feel much affect from them.

 

[4theloveofdisney]

We have been at this time for a couple of years now. We skipped Christmas this year in lieu of MNSSHP since we hadn't done that yet.

I can say from our experience that the crowd levels were great. The weekend after Thanksgiving is when we noticed that things started to die down. As far as how busy is busy, we only waited about 10 - 25 minutes for rides. However, MVMCP was a walk on for almost everything. Just my opinion but I think you will find bottlenecks here and there. For example, we have noticed that Fantasyland is always crowded midday so we avoid it at that time. Others may find waiting 15 minutes to be too long and only want 5 minute wait times!

We find this time of the year very tolerable especially because we have been at other times i.e. Spring Break and know exactly how busy it can get!!! I personally think late November/December is a great time to go and it's still our favorite!

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

I'm not sure there is a "truth". Different people tolerate different levels of crowdedness. I know when we stayed at BWI at the end of November through December 3 last year the crowds got definitely heavier at the end of the trip. December 3 was a Friday and we could barely move at all in the Marketplace. The Earl of Sandwich had a line you couldn't believe. It was not at all what I would call light and I'm pretty tolerant of crowds.

 

[Jersey Gerry]

I posted in another place, but will reply in case you didn't see my take on it. We were there Dec 6 -12. We thought the crowds were very light (we went in June 3 years ago and there is no comparison!) In fact, when I mentioned to my husband that some people posted that they thought the parks were crowded, he was really surprised.
The only ride we used fastpass for was Soaring. Everything else we did regular line and never waited more than 10 minutes. The only time we waited in line for food was when it rained at about 11:45am at MGM. Everyone ducked in to Pizza Barn at same time. We went to MVMCP and again didn't wait in any lines for cookies, shows or rides. We did wait a short time (maybe 10 minutes) for our picture.

In summary, while more people may be going than in past years, I think it is a wonderful time to go - the crowds are much lighter than summer, the decorations are beautiful and the Christmas spirit is everywhere. We did not find Pop Warner to be a factor. If I hadn't read about it on these boards, I wouldn't have had any idea. That being said, we stayed at POFQ, and did not have the same experience that those at some of the other resorts did.

 

[Got Quattro?]

Keep in mind, disney knows what hsitorical slow times there are from year to year, and their marketting team does everything it can to make sure attendance is up at the same time this year as compared to last year.

 

[maciec]

We were at WDW from 11/29-12/5 and we thought that it was busier than Decembers past. My definition of busy was 70 stand by wait for Epcot on Friday around noon-1pm and the FP brought you back 2 hours later. We also waited in line for Snow White for 40 minutes. Our fault for not doing FP. We did FP for Big Thunder and the wait was 5 minutes, but the stand by was 40. We found that the stand by for most everything was 30 minutes. I don't think that is too bad compared to the year we went in May. MISTAKE! I found that there were a lot of people in the parks, but when it came to the lines they really weren't that bad.

We wanted to try out the Christmas party this year, but I like the Halloween party better. I think that we are going to alternate from year to year. Last year we went the last week of October and found the crowds to be about the same as the first week of December. We also found that the night we chose for MVMCP was a lot more crowded than MNSSHP. It may have been because we were at MVMCP on a AP disount night. Who knows what the logic was, but we had to wait in a lot longer lines this year.

We are going to try going 10/15-10/21 of next year and see how that goes. I am thinking that the people who were coming for an extended Columbus Day will be gone by then and the people coming for Halloween won't have shown up. With my luck I will be totally wrong and it will be very busy.

One thing that I would like to add is that this year when we were there we only got to come out of our jeans and sweatshirts on 1 day to swim which I didn't like. I don't go to Florida to wear jeans, sweatshirts, and jackets. I can stay in Maryland for that!

 

[Pig Pen]

I too think it's all relative. People who have gone in December during the last few years (after 9-11) have become accustomed to unusually low attendence. This year it appears the volumes are creeping back up, so they may perceive WDW as being crowded compared to past years. They may not be comparing the crowd levels to summer/holidays.

Another thing...we have sometimes found that the wait times posted on the boards are not really accurate. One time we saw a wait time of 30 minutes posted for HM but were able to walk right on. This has happened to us several times.

I always find the MK walkways and public areas congested no matter when we go. The main difference I see is in the restaurants and shops...they are much less crowded in Sept/early Dec/January than in March/April/May.

I have gone once in June and said NEVER AGAIN!!! The heat and crowds were literally unbearable....and I am originally from Florida and heat does not really bother me but this was something else....

Due to my work schedule we are going in March this year. Since MK is open late almost everynight and there are 2 Spectros and 2 Fantasmics scheduled during most of the week, I suspect the crowd level is expected to be enormous. Luckily we are no longer commando tourists so I know we will tolerate it.

 

[eeyoreiscool]

At MGM on saturday, parts of the light display had people shoulder to shoulder and not moving because it was so packed. Then other parts of it were less crowded but they still had lots of people. When we moved away from that area, the rest of the park still had more people than normal in it. I would say that it was busier than it has been in the past.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

We just returned as well (BC 12/3-12/10). We thought the crowds were very managable. What I found to be the most interesting was the posted stand by wait times. On Tues 12/6 the posted stand by wait time for test track was 30 min. at 9:40 am. We walked right on and into the "tv" room (for lack of a better term) and when the doors opened on the other side, the CM's were practically pulling us out of there to fill the cars. We rode two times in a row. My DH went to MS and he said the same thing was happening. This same thing happened at SM and BTMRR. Not sure why the posted times were so high, but we didn't wait for anything all week. We either used FP or the wait was fairly non-existent.


Adding: We have three boys that are early risers and were able to be at the parks at just about opening each day.

 

[kkc1021]

We visited Dec 4-9 and found it to be more crowded than our previous visits in January. Based on what I had read here and seen in the various guidebooks, I was expecting to have the parks to ourselves. That was definitely not the case, however the crowds were certainly manageable.


MK was definitely most crowded - we visited on Monday and Friday morning. Arrived at park opening both days. Monday morning we did all of Fantasyland without any delays - but by 11 it was very busy. The walkways seemed particularly crowded and most attractions seemed to have a least a 30 minute wait time by early afternoon. I was traveling with my mother and 3 year old son, so we skipped all of the thrill rides. Big crowds for Spectromagic - we assume this was due to the fact that there were quite a few MVMCP dates this week and Spectro was only running on Mon/Wed during our trip.

We spent Tuesday at EPCOT. Very busy at Soarin and the Living Seas. World Showcase was very manageble. Waited about 30 minutes to get into the Candlelight Processional - it was standing room only for the 5pm show.

Wednesday we did AK. The walkways were bustling, but we only waited 10 minutes for the Safari. Wednesday evening we saw the Osbourne lights - went at 7 after dinner - again bustling - but not crowded.

Thursday we were at MGM. Rained all day, so park was relatively quiet - no waits for any of the shows longer than 5-10 minutes. Went to DTD for dinner and found it very crowded. Lots of people must have opted to shop instead of tour in the rain.

Friday we were at MK until noon. Arrived for 8am EMH. No waits for Fantasyland rides, spent 20 minutes in line at the Speedway. Walked onto Buzz. Crowd level was definitely building as we were leaving.

What made it feel most busy though was the dining. We made at least one reservation per day for a table service meal. At CP, Le Cellier, and Sci Fi we overhead the hostess telling walk in guests that there were no more seating times available for the rest of the day. I was happy we made reservations ahead of time - but we never were able to get a seating for 1900 Park Fare or the early breakfast I wanted at the Crystal Palace.

This was our first visit at this time of year, and I don't think we'll be going back. The decorations were lovely, and we enjoyed special events like the candlelight processional. We just decided that we associate Christmas with cold northeastern weather and the Florida version felt strange. It's also a hectic time of year in terms of holiday prep and it's nice to have a getaway planned after the holiday rush.

Good luck!
Kristen

 

[maddhatir]

I must admit I am one of the people who said it was crowded (dec 4/9) the reason i said that was- I think I have been spoiled because in the past the crowds seemed VERY light (to me anyway)

I agree that everyone's perception of crowded is different and everyone tolorates them differently--- I for one have seen the x-mas decorations plenty of times and would not choose to visit again in december for some time- but if you have never seen them-- it is definately worth the trip!

me, I want the parks to myself........and i have anxiety!

maddhatir

 

[WendyMichaelJohn]

TIME OF DAY! We were there Nov.27-Dec 4 and I have to say, that first part of the week, right up through the 1st, the first half of the day from opening to lunchtime, we walked on EVERYTHING. But we'd pop back later in the day and see lines that were 20-50 minutes long.

FAST PASS! I couldn't get over how many people I saw waiting in long lines (1 hour for Soarin?) when there is a fast pass option. You simply must use it for some rides.

TOURING PLAN! Even if you follow it loosely, you learn a lot of the inside skinny on crowd behavior. We knew what to do first, what to FP and what to save for later in the day. And we felt like we weren't rushed or bound to a plan. Got to stop and see plenty of characters.

MGM was stupid packed on Friday Dec. 2nd. Epcot was crowded but incredibly pleasant on Sat. Dec. 3rd.

From our resort and back, we never once waited more than 5 minutes for a bus and each time we were either the only ones on it or there were only about 5-10 other people. And our resort was filled to capacity. (VWL.)

If we had gone with no plans, not arriving at opening, and not using fast passes, we would have thought it was packed too. I think when people hear "slow time" or "low crowds" they think in terms of how many people you see walking around. I really think those terms refer much more to the wait times for rides. That's how touringplans rates crowds. Personally, I like to see lots of people at the parks having a good time. It's the Happiest Place on Earth, not the Loneliest.

Shel

 

[Lady Belle]

My opinon is that the first week of Dec. is NOT crowded, with the one exception of the day they film the Christmas Day parade in MK. And even then, only Main Street is packed, the rest of the park is just fine. DH and I were there that week in 2004 and we didn't have longer than a 20 minute wait the whole week, and many of the rides were 10 minutes or less.

Even with low crowd levels, it does pay to plan a bit. You should always have an idea of what rides are "must do's" and try to plan meal times either a little early or a little late to avoid the crowds. That was the one thing we DID notice, was that almost all the sit-down restaurants had either mega waits or weren't taking walk-ups at all. DH and I had PS's for all our sit-down meals.

 

[Mo-Yo]

Hi. I've been a lurker here for the past year or so, and I just got back from a great vacation in wdw from 11/30. Folks here were a great help to me in planning, so I hope my response helps.

This may seem a sacrilege to some here, but I once lived in Orlando, and really did not enjoy Disney. We went several times with visiting family members. It seemed expensive, and always crowded, and I REALLY DISLIKE CROWDS.
We didn't have kids.
Our first trip with kids was MArch 2002...before Easter break, and we loved it. It wasn't crowded.
The trip last week was our second. I did a ton a research and loved it even more.

I thought the crowds were extemely managable. We avoided EMH, made an ADR for TS every day, and arrived 15-20 minutes before park opening.

Thurs. 12-1- MK completed fantasyland, Space Mountain, Haunted mansion and Stitch by 11:30. Walked on to everything, but Space which we fastpassed (less than an hour return time, I think). Rounded out the afternoon in Frontierland(FP Thunder, 5 min wait, 30 min standby-Rode splash 2x no wait, no FP), Belle's story at the castle and the parade. The only crowds were when the parade dispersed.

Fri. 12-2- EPCOT - FP Soarin', walked onto TT, walked on Mission Space, when we went on Soarin' the posted standby was 20 min. The Land PAvillion was crowded. The posted standby for The LAnd ride was 30 min...we didn't ride...we ate. We did HISTA to a nearly full theater, and did Ellen to a 1/2 full theater and went back to POR for a nap. When we returned for our ADR at San Angel Inn, the WS crowds were noticably bigger...but again very managable.

Sat. 12-3 we took the day off. Downtown Disney was busy, but no busier tha any shopping cebter at Christmas time.

Sun., 12-4 - AK Not busy at all. The first Lion King show was 3/4 full. Ran onto KAli - no wait, FP SAfari5 min wait, 30 min stand by wait - maybe. 20 min wait for Dinosaur. No wait for Primerval whirl. 5 min wait for lunch at flametree.

Mon., 12-5 - MGM - walked on ToT, no wait. walked on RaRC, no wait, 1/2 full Little Mermaid show, 10 min wait for GMR, waited for 5 min to see donald, and got a tip that Socerer Micky was alone in the lobby of the Movie Theater next to the BAck Lot Tour. SAw him with no wait. No line for Back Lot Tour, INdiana Jones was 2/3 full, walked on Star Tours, waited 20 mins for ADR at Sci Fi. They were turning people away.

Tuesday -12-6 Day off, MVMCP. Rides were mostly walk on. Adventureland was desserted around 5:30. Rode JC, Carpets, Pirates, and then Thunder. The first parade was crowded, and some of the people were a bit grouchy, but it was spectacular.

Wed - 12-7 - Greatest hits day. PAcked and didn't leave our room until 10:30 or 11.
MGM - DS 9 and I waited 30 min for standby for RaRC. We could have afstpassed, but we had other plans for the afternoon.
EPCOT - Met DH and DS7 and DS5 in Epcot around 12:30. They had FP and rode TT(The posted stand by was 40-50? mins). Walked around the WS, saw Off Kilter and FAther Christmas in CAnada, the beatles group and a street performance in UK, Sleeping Beauty in France, 2 street performances in Italy, Mo'rockin, Fife and Drummers in the US. No wait for dinner at Marrakesh at 5. Rode Spaceship earth on the way out with no wait.
MK - EMH was a madhouse, but DH, DS9 And DD7 didn't wait long for Space (about 15 min.). It may have been because it was during Wishes. Pooh was having technical difficulties so they cleared out the line. DD5 insisted on waiting. After about 15 mins it was fixed. We rode it and headed out, but it was starting to rain. We stopped in Mainstreet for last minute souvenier shopping at about 9 (bad idea). The shop was crazy crowded, and that crowd followed us to the buses where we waited at least an hour for transport back to POR. We'll never do EMH again.

But the truth as I saw it was that the crowds were not at all bad...And I hate crowds.

Also, the Pop Warner kids were noticable at our POR food court in the early a.m. and late p.m., but honestly, we didn't suffer at all from their presence. We had breakfast food in our room. I would sometimes make a coffee run in the am or a treat run in the pm, so I'd see them, but no problems. I didn't really notice them in the parks, but they could be rather perky on the buses.

I would recommend early December as a great time to go. The crowds were not bad, the weather was nice 75-77(high) (45-50 at night low). The decorations were great nad Osborne ligts were amazing, but for for those of us accustomed to cold weather (NJ), it was hard to feel "Christmas Spirit" in spite of the "snow", incredible lights and trees.

Hope this helps.

 

[Tricialiv]

We were there Dec 3 - 7th. Crowds were very low. We didn't use Fast pass sometimes. When we did the time was usually one hour later. We did not go to extra magic hour parks. I avoided them! Sun- MK & Epcot less crowded than I expected. Mon-MGM lines very manageable. Tues- AK & MK MVMCP that night. Lines short! Walk on Dinosaur at AK. Wed- MK & Epcot. Wednesday afternoon got a little more crowded. Example Peter Pan was 40 minutes at 1pm. The last time we were there was in July of 2004. Terrible crowds and heat. We didn't even see Pop Warner except in Hollywood and Vine on Monday (1 group very well behaved) and at the entrance to Epcot. We will definately be going again this week. Weather was good and crowds low. We did both thrill rides and preschool rides with no problem. I had TGM touring plans didn't even need to look at them!

 

[Fargoman2]

Thank you, thank you...

all of you have given thoughtful responses...

I feel much more comfortable now about our decision to go in early Dec. We look forward to the newness of the experience--since we've only gone in summer before.

Thanks again all...Merry Christmas!