Which week in December?

[CharmedLife]

I'm so excited to be planning our next trip home in December 2006. I've never been there before in December, and am wondering which week people would recommend - the 1st or 2nd? We were there in October 2005 and the crowds were a little more than we expected - I'd like to go at a low-crowd time if possible.

Thanks!

 

[1000th happy haunt]

I'd recommend the second week in December. Pop Warner will be there for their Superbowl and Cheerleading competition from 12/3-12/9 (I called them to check the dates). That tends to increase the crowd level. And the week before Christmas the crowd level starts to build up.

I'm planning on 12/7-12/14 myself.

 

[CharlesTD]

We prefer the first 2 weeks in Dec. We have Dec 3rd to the 15th booked along with a cruise.

 

[missymagic]

I agree with second week. Pop warner is crazy week many many kids. Done both weeks but 2nd is definitely better. If you can do mid 2nd week into 3rd week that is the ultimate!!

 

[cobbler]

I agree on the Pop Warner thing. Try to avoid that if you can.

 

[JimMIA]

We went 12/4-12/9 this year and were not overwhelmed with the crowds. Don't know if Pop Warner was there, but if they were, we didn't notice.

One bit of advice I would offer, though, is to make your dining reservations as far ahead as you possibly can. We got closed out of some of the Epcot restaurants because they were completely sold out with the CP dining packages. Le Cellier, in particular, was impossible.

 

[rayzke]

THANKS!...this is good to know we were thinking of a "first week in December" trip as well...

 

[CarolMN]

We've alternated those weeks every year since 1998.

The difference (in park crowds) is not noticable. As far as the Pop Warner people go, unless you are staying at the one of the same resorts they are at, you probalby will not notice them at all.

AFAIK, they have never stayed at a DVC resort, LOL!

Pick the week that works best for you and don't worry about it.

Best wishes -

 

[coasterbob]

We have done 1st week of December, 3 times, and will be doing it again this year! It works for us, and we didn't notice the lil football players at all...

But, pssst, don't tell too many people so that we can have it for ourselves (DVCers)..... Bob

 

[DisneyMomJen]

We went pretty much the same dates this year and last year. Dec 7 - 11. Last year was wonderful. This year seemed so much more crowded. I am not sure why there was such a difference.

 

[keishashadow]

We were in the parks from 12/10 thru 12/14 & again on 12/18. AK on the 18th was as crowded as I've ever seen it.

Other parks were busy too, but ok if you did early EMH & FP'd wisely. I expected Epcot to be busy but, not as bad as it was. The line for the late CP stretched back around the lake as far as I could see. Lots of grumbling from people who didn't get a seat.

 

[DonnaL]

We were just there 12/10 thru 12/17 and crowds were very manageable.
I did notice the first two days (Sat and Sun 10th and 11th) were a bit more crowded and that was the end of the Pop Warner/cheerleader thing this year.
Rest of the week was great though.

 

[CharmedLife]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! We were thinking of the 2nd week, and it sounds like everyone is confirming that for me. I know they changed the dining reservations to 180 days out, so hopefully that won't be too much of a problem for us. We'll miss the association meetings the 1st week, so hopefully it will be a little easier to get the DVC resort we want if we decide not to stay "home".

Thanks again!

 

[CharmedLife]

We went pretty much the same dates this year and last year. Dec 7 - 11. Last year was wonderful. This year seemed so much more crowded. I am not sure why there was such a difference.

I'd be curious to see comparisons of total visitors from 2004 to 2005. We went the same time in October both years, and 2005 was DEFINITELY more crowded than the same time the year before. I think that Disney business has picked up since the recession ended. You only have to look at the "room-only" discounts to see this - in 2004 Disney had TONS of discounts available with codes (I surfed mousesavers every day). In 2005 there were barely any - Disney didn't have nearly as much trouble filling up their rooms this year as they did the last few years. So no matter when we choose to go it will probably seem busier than we remember

Still.... I'd rather be waiting in line at Disney than waiting in line for the cafeteria at work!!!

 

[bears163]

we were there dec 6th-12th 2005. i think the pop people were there. we saw alot of cheerleaders. if you use FP the best as you can you will have no problem at all. the longest we waited was like 20 minutes. we saw a wait time of 90 minutes but we fp it & waited only 5 minutes. the weather sucked. rained everyday but one & it was cold. i am used to going in september. planning our next trip from the end of sept. to begin of oct. hope the crowds are alittle smaller

 

[DemoBri1]

I would say that you cannot go wrong with anything starting the week after Thanksgiving until the start of the week leading up to Christmas.

We were just there this past year from 11/28-12/8. The weather was in the mid to hi 70s each day with the exception of 1, and we also had a couple of 80 days. The crowds were very manageable. The big "new" attraction will be EE at AK next year, and Soarin' will probably still be fairly popular. More than likely you'll have to FP those rides early in the day in order to get a decent return time.

The Pop Warner kids were there, but no one really noticed them. Just be prepared as tourism in FLA has recovered, and there aren't going to be too many "empty" park days.

 

[rayzke]

Is there a web page or some place that I can call to see if there are any special events (i.e. Pop Warner) happening when we plan on going?