What will the week before Christmas be like?

[Piglet]

We are now working around college schedules for WDW vacations. This year are booked for Dec 13-21. We have been in Oct, Nov and January, how will this week compare for crowds and weather?

 

[Robo]

Not nearly as busy as one week later.

 

[craigkerstiens]

Weather, expect it to be fairly cold (though it may be warmer to you if you're coming from far north). As far as crowds it will definitely be busy, perhaps the only time that's worse is the two weeks following.

 

[bdiddy]

We went Dec 7th - 24th once and it was AMAZING! The crowds were low, the weather was great. We just needed a light jacket/sweatshirt at night. We've only been in summer, late Sept and then that Dec trip and it's by far my favorite crowd/weather wise. I want to try going in Feb next to see what that is like.

 

[kollerbear]

I've been the week before Christmas both last year and the year prior (leaving Christmas Eve in 2013 and 12/23 on 2014) and have to say that, although the crowds picked up around 12/22 and 12/23, the days before that were much less crowded than I'd ever imagined they'd be. (I've usually only gone in August though--honestly it felt SO much less crowded than I'd ever seen in late August. Later in the evening was almost walk-on in the Magic Kingdom around 12/17.) Given the way the weekends fall, I'd maybe expect the crowds to pick up on 12/19 this year, but most kids aren't out of school before that and the parks are great. Expect crowds to pick up substantially over the course of your stay and make sure you get in at least one great day in the Magic Kingdom early in your stay to make the most out of the lighter crowds and shorter lines. Later in your stay try to focus on enjoying the atmosphere (e.g. Osborne Lights--did them the last nights of our stay each year and can honestly say they were crowded but NOT Wishes/castle-lighting scary-crowded at all) and don't expect to get ANY last minute ADRs or high-demand FP+ later in your stay. So have those plans for the last few days of your stay as ironed out as you can ahead of time.

 

[chartle]

We did that same week 2 years ago and it wasn't very crowded. What was scary was as we were leaving the last friday before Xmas we saw the preparations for the next week. They had 100's of feet of rope set up for queues for the ferry. Looks like it would have held a 1,000 or so guests.

Personally we will never do that time again because we never had Xmas at home that year. We got home that Saturday and had no energy to put up a tree and since we do real trees didn't want it up for a week with no water. .

 

[epcotty]

we usually go slightly after that, but we always go on day trips so we'll avoid MK during that time because we always figure the crowds will still be among the highest. We've gone to both EP and HS a couple times during that time, crowds were large but not too bad

 

[prairiesarah]

The early part of your trip should be fairly light crowds (as light as they get there anyway...). Towards the end the crowds will definitely pick up. I will be interested to see how the crowds are in the few days before Christmas due to the was the holidays fall this year - although I expect from the 21st will get very heavy due to that being the last day for free dining. We are going the 17th to the 27th and are planning for the major part of our touring WDW to be near the beginning of the trip, then spend the later doing other stuff (waterparks, Gatorland, airboat tour etc). Weather can be all over the map - anywhere from the 80's down to the 30's. Most times we've been there in December it has been pretty moderate temperatures (high 60's/low to mid 70's), but it can really vary.

 

[mortimor]

We will be part of it getting busy on the 21st. We are arriving that day to take advantage of the free dining. I would venture it could start to get seasonal busy on the 18-19 due to some people coming in and staying weekend to weekend for Christmas. We go every other Christmas and other years first week of January. Weather can be 80 or cold enough to draw hidden mickeys in the frost on the car windows. Bring clothes for all seasons. Evenings always seem to involve a hoodie or sweatshirt. My guess would be the first few days will be not too busy. If you plan to go the parks each day, I would hit the headliners hard the first few and save the shows and other activities for the last couple days.

 

[Networth]

Those are dates we have gone often. Not bad with crowds till the last 2-3 days by the 19-20th you will see a very large up tick in the amount of people. Enjoy your trip.

 

[gtpoohbear]

We were there 12/19-23 last year. It will get busy towards the end of your dates, but the early part should be very nice. And even by the 21st it won't be nearly as crazy as the week after Christmas.

Weather is very unpredictable that time of year. It was very warm (uncomfortably so for us) last year. Warm enough that we didn't even want to wear our jackets at night when it was raining. And sweating-buckets-hot during the day. But we've been in December of other years when even the daytime was chilly.

 

[GWhitten98]

We have been the week before xmas 2 years ago and it was great. The crowds didn't start picking up until that Friday/Sat.

 

[happypaws]

I'm planning on traveling that week too. I'm celebrating a big birthday that falls in the middle of December. My good friend, who is a CM, has informed me crowds don't usually pick up too much until the weekend before Christmas.

 

[bibba410]

Glad you asked this! We'll be there Dec 13-19. I figured crowds would be heavy-ish - or at least heavier than we're used to. We've only ever been during the flower and garden show (April and early May). But, hey, seeing WDW during Christmas time was on our bucket list. So we'll plan as much as we can, but also try to remember to relax and go with the flow if crowds are large. Hope y'all have a great time!

 

[Piglet]

Thank you all!! Looking forward to this trip so much!

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Though its not crowd related, Disney has made that timing before now peak season with the rates at their resorts. That sucks.