Weekends during 1st 2 weeks in December

[back2disney]

Gathering reports it sounds like the locals invade the parks on weekends during the 1st 2 weeks in December. But is that just relative to the weekdays and the parks are still relatively quiet? I have plans to visit 12/08(thursday) to 12/17(saturday) with a 7day expiry pass no hopping and am thinking of just not doing the weekends instead of risk getting stuck at a crowded park and wasting a day. Any tips on which parks to avoid on the weekends and what do instead if all are crowded. 3 adults and 1 infant, we can split up and do 2 different things if necessary. I haven't been in more than a decade and always went during Spring Break and the summertime which we're of course crowded during the day. Thanks a bunch in advance!

 

[PattiPB]

Hi. We were there this past December 2-16. We avoided the MK during parade taping, and went shopping at the outlets and DD instead of the parks. Shopping was crowded, because I think the locals were Christmas shopping, but it was fine.

HTH~

 

[justhat]

We were there 12/3-12/7 and it was crowded, much more crowded than I ever would have expected for that time of year. The 3rd wasn't that bad (it was a Friday) but the 4th was packed at MK and Epcot. The 5th we went to MGM and AK and they weren't too bad, but definitely not as empty as I would have thought. On Monday we went back to MK and between 9:45 and about 3pm we did Dumbo, Snow White, Peter Pan, Buzz, Tiki Birds, Pooh, Philharmagic, and the Carousel. That was pretty good, I thought (that was me and my 9 month old alone), for about 5 hours. The last day we went to AK for a breakfast PS at Donald's at I think 9, and after breakfast we did Triceratop Spin, Bug's Life, Safari, Conservation Station, and Lion King show before getting back to ASMu for a 2:30 pickup for the airport. Restaurants were fairly crowded during that time, and I would definitely get PSs (we didn't have many before the trip, thinking it wouldn't be so crowded). Hope that helps. The weather was great and we did have a great time, but it was definitely more crowded than we had anticipated (based on a previous mid-December trip).

 

[caribear]

We went the 2nd week in December and did a Sat/Sun/Mon trip. It wasn't really that crowded, but I did notice a definite drop in the amount of people in the parks on Monday. We are going to try and stick to Sun/Mon/Tue trips to avoid the weekend crowds.

 

[TNAngie]

Hello Back2Disney!
We went to WDW Dec. 4-11, 2004. We had a wonderful time. The crowds were present on the walkways and common areas, but during the week, the ride waits were very short. We did notice, however, that Saturday, Dec. 11 the MK was getting packed around noon. We got there early when the park opened. We expected it to be crowded, but for some reason it wasn't. We rode lots of rides in Fantasyland and then headed to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. We rode them without a wait, then used a fastpass. We were pleasantly surprised.
Then, we went to eat at Starlight Rays in Tomorrowland. It was packed!! My husband went to get fastpasses for Space Mountain. When we finished eating we planned to ride Buzz Lightyear, but the line was an hour. We settled for the blue train (TTA). (we really love this ride) There was even a line for it. I have never seen a line for this ride. It moved quickly of course. We decided that after the Space Mountain fastpass, we were out of there. It was really the most crowded I had ever seen. (We usually go during the summer). I would try to at least avoid the Magic Kingdom on December weekends. The park was open til Midnight this night and probably contributed to the late arrivals.
-- Angie