Too late to book for December 2021?

[CSPAGHETTI]

"Lower" is a relative term. It's definitely lower than both Thanksgiving and Christmas, and for that matter it's lower than early November (Jersey week) or October (fall break/Halloween/this year the anniversary) or mid-January (races weekend). It's not nearly as "dead" as it was years ago, but it's still less crowded than other weeks within a couple months in either direction. It's when we usually go for that reason.

Right! I have never tried to book Disney that time of year before, so nothing to base my opinion on other than the crowd calendar sites, but I was surprised they were completely sold out of almost every resort 6 months in advance

 

[Robbydj13]

I was playing around with some potential dates for a trip, looking at 12/4 - 12/10 of 2021, but there is practically no availability at Disney resorts for these dates (Coronado for $858, GF for $1,600, Yacht Club for even more, and Boardwalk.) I was under the impression that early December is a lower crowd time, but I know that there are rebound trips due to Covid cancellations and also higher booking for the 50th anniversary year. But are the hotels really fully booked and I'm way late to the game, or has Disney not yet released inventory at all of their resorts for those dates yet?

Hmmm, I booked the week after that, 10th-20th and had lots of options and good pricing. We booked GDT for a great price.

 

[CSPAGHETTI]

Hmmm, I booked the week after that, 10th-20th and had lots of options and good pricing. We booked GDT for a great price.

Wow, yes, that next week has way better selection! I wonder why.

 

[jujubiee4]

Wow, yes, that next week has way better selection! I wonder why.

I saw that also but my airfare went up more also. I don't like to go too close to Christmas because
i need time to recuperate from my "vacation".

 

[CSPAGHETTI]

Same! And my kids are younger and in school, so I don't want to pull them out later in the month and have them miss holiday activities (even though Disney is obviously way more exciting)

 

[Robbydj13]

Wow, yes, that next week has way better selection! I wonder why.

Not sure. Honestly we go the second week of December every year and it’s great. Not sure how flexible your schedule is

 

[Tonberry]

We've found that the second week of December is much less crowded than the first week. I don't know if it's because more people piggy-back off of Thanksgiving weekend, or they've been told the first week has low crowds. We used to do the first week of December up until about 4 years ago. That's when we noticed the crowds really increasing. We started going later like Dec. 10th or so, and found it much more to our liking.
Also as a personal side note, December week days are awesome, but the weekends are VERY crowded!

 

[Robbydj13]

We've found that the second week of December is much less crowded than the first week. I don't know if it's because more people piggy-back off of Thanksgiving weekend, or they've been told the first week has low crowds. We used to do the first week of December up until about 4 years ago. That's when we noticed the crowds really increasing. We started going later like Dec. 10th or so, and found it much more to our liking.
Also as a personal side note, December week days are awesome, but the weekends are VERY crowded!

I have always thought thanksgiving had something to do with it. And yes, during the week is great during that time, weekends are hit or miss but more on the crowded side.

 

[_19disnA]

I would imagine that locals with AP's are most likely to show up some weekend when the weather is nice and decide to go to Disney. Think that is probably true the entire year as well which explains larger weekend crowds.

 

[Marthasor]

As others have said, just keep checking. Resort availability fluctuates daily and will probably fluctuate even more the closer you get to your dates. We have a trip this month and I was having a hard time finding availability as I really wanted to stay in the EP area. I finally found something a few weeks ago that fit the bill, booked it and then just kept checking to see if something I liked better happened to go into inventory. Miraculously, this morning, I not only found a room I liked better, I found it with an AP discount. People's plans change all the time, so just keep checking.

 

[CSPAGHETTI]

We've found that the second week of December is much less crowded than the first week. I don't know if it's because more people piggy-back off of Thanksgiving weekend, or they've been told the first week has low crowds. We used to do the first week of December up until about 4 years ago. That's when we noticed the crowds really increasing. We started going later like Dec. 10th or so, and found it much more to our liking.
Also as a personal side note, December week days are awesome, but the weekends are VERY crowded!

That bodes well for us since I booked to arrive on Sunday and leave the following Saturday with park days Mon thru Friday. I'm going to keep looking to see if a better resort option pops up, thanks to the encouragement of everyone here. Fingers crossed. Now just have to get over my fear of my kids getting sick while we're there and bungling all the plans (not necessarily covid, just worried about regular old cold/flu germs in such a crowded place). It's their first trip that's been cancelled twice already, so hoping for the best!

 

[emily nicole]

Not sure. Honestly we go the second week of December every year and it’s great. Not sure how flexible your schedule is

That is our go-to week too. We find the crowds very manageable and when it's cooler outside I find my tolerance for crowds increases by a lot, anyway.

 

[Robbydj13]

That is our go-to week too. We find the crowds very manageable and when it's cooler outside I find my tolerance for crowds increases by a lot, anyway.

For sure lol. It’s a great time to go. Except for those 2 times it was insanely cold that week lol

 

[emily nicole]

For sure lol. It’s a great time to go. Except for those 2 times it was insanely cold that week lol

Yeah, you definitely have to pack for all seasons that time of year lol

 

[bwoodfl]

It sure is!! LOL. I wish they had a simple date calendar that you could look and see availability for the entire month, rather than randomly guessing at dates and seeing what resorts/rooms pop up for the range you've selected.

You can see the Calendar of what is available. Once you go through the selection and you see the room type that is not available, click on that title and it will show the calendar which shows dates not available and date that are availalble.

 

[Robbydj13]

Yeah, you definitely have to pack for all seasons that time of year lol

Hopefully the weather is more stable this year. I don’t mind cooler temps, but gloves, beanies, and scarves are more than I want lol

 

[jujubiee4]

Hopefully the weather is more stable this year. I don’t mind cooler temps, but gloves, beanies, and scarves are more than I want lol

How cold was it?

 

[focusondisney]

You can see the Calendar of what is available. Once you go through the selection and you see the room type that is not available, click on that title and it will show the calendar which shows dates not available and date that are availalble.

Can you explain where to look for this a little better? You look at the resort, say Beach Club, water view, garden view & standard are the room types. What do I click on? Because I can’t click on those.

 

[Eastern]

Can you explain where to look for this a little better? You look at the resort, say Beach Club, water view, garden view & standard are the room types. What do I click on? Because I can’t click on those.

Maybe they are talking about a DVC calendar.

 

[focusondisney]

Maybe they are talking about a DVC calendar.

Thanks! I never thought of that.