Which Week in December?

[DisneyGirl928]

I thought about doing a suprise trip for my boyfriend in December...I have been to wdw back in 2000 for the new year but he has never been there around Christmas time....i was wondering if the week before Christmas the 17-22 would be a good time to go?..or should we do a little trip from dec. 30th to jan 4th?...it doesnt matter if we were there for the new years or not i just thought it would be great for him to see Disney with all the Chrsitmas decorations!...any advice on crowds, weather, etc. would be nice thanks!

 

[tjmouse]

I would go before Christmas - much less crowded.

 

[think tink]

yikes don't go anywhere near wdw or florida for that matter the week after christmas. crowded isn't the work for it. we always go sometime in the first 2 weeks of december and it is great. the crowds are minimal, it is warm enough to swim (most the time) and they have the really fun christmas party at the magic kingdom. all the decorations are up in the parks and hotels. this is my favorite time of year to go, have a great time !!

 

[missymagic]

The first 2 weeks in Dec are definitely less crowded but I must warn you Dec 3-9 is Time Warner week which means lots of little cheerleaders at the value and moderate resorts. If you can go before this but after Thanksgiving or after these dates you will be golden. I will be there Dec 8-12. It is beautiful to see all the decorations wich go up at Thanksgiving. Have a great trip, anything else just ask.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

We went the week before and a couple of days over Christmas this past year. It was wonderful!! Judging from the posts on here, the parks were far less crowded right before Christmas than the first two weeks of December. We can't wait to go for Christmas next year!!

 

[jwfla422]

I completely disagree...We were there around that same time this past Dec., from 12-16 thru 12-21. Would never go back again that time. Too crowded for me!! The first day or two wasn't terrible but the days after, yuck!! The counter service restaurants at MGM were 20 people deep with all registers open and the lines didn't move in 10 minutes (we gave up & got a pretzel elsewhere)...at Epcot they ran out of FPs for Soarin by 10am. If we go back for the holidays we'll go back in early December like we have before, much less crowded.

If you go either of these times make LOTS of ADR's and be patient, it's quite busy and I wouldn't go a week before or a week after Xmas again, (but that's me)...we prefer off peak times if possible but I found myself very stressed with the crowds then, WDW is about releasing stress, not getting more! Now, after 1-4, it really empties out. I had family who went this time last month and they said it was empty.

 

[MICKEEP]

We were ther 12/17 thru 12/26 last year and the parks were not crowded at all, except Christmas morning in the MK. Never waited more than 20 minutes for anything and that was the rare case. "The Touring Plans Best Days to Go" worked out real well.

The parks were so empty that we saw Fantasmic on Christmas night and the seats were less than 1/3 filled.

The only line we came across was for Soarin, so we used fastpass for that ride exclusively and we were able to ride it three times.

 

[CPer'sMom]

We were ther 12/17 thru 12/26 last year and the parks were not crowded at all, except Christmas morning in the MK. Never waited more than 20 minutes for anything and that was the rare case

The parks were so empty

ITA ~ We go to Disney every other year at Christmas (same week as above) and it's always been perfect It gets a bit more crowded the closer to Christmas Day it gets......but not bad at all.

 

[DisneyGirl928]

Thanks for all the they great responses i am thinking more about dec. 17-22 it sounds less crowded But this isnt a definite yet money is still a big issue with us ...I want to do this so bad for him but i am afriad it might not happen because of money ...I am curious are there any great discounts or deals that come out for December???? that would be sooo helpful! ...also how is the weather it has been a while since i have been there in December

 

[MICKEEP]

...I am curious are there any great discounts or deals that come out for December???? that would be sooo helpful!

Peak season starts around 12/19 so there are not many discounts available during peak. BUT if your room reservation starts prior to peak season starting you will pay the low season rate for your whole trip.

...also how is the weather it has been a while since i have been there in December

We were not expecting it to be as cold as it was. we went down with shorts and t-shirts and wound up wearing long pants and sweat shirts most of the time. There were some evenings when it was really cold (low 40's).