Who has gone in early December?

[FirstTimertoDiz]

We are planning a 7-day trip for June 2006, but I have 5 complimentary park hoppers that expire this December, so I am thinking about doing a surprise trip with DH and Ds- I am thinking about after Thanksgiving, but before the Christmas rush.

Any thoughts? Please tell me any info about crowds at this time, and the weather, and so forth. I think we would be going for maybe a 3 day weekend or something like that, because it is hard for dh to take off work during the school year. Are the weekends still crowded then?

Ok- one last question- lol- I see Pop Warner will be there from 12-4 to 12-10- does this affect the parks much?


THanks so much for your help!!!
Lisa

 

[Peace Mickey Lovers]

Lisa,

We use to go every year the day after Thanksgiving and the following week and the crowds were very light. Last year when we went it seemed to be very crowded, and we asked a CM and they told us the secret was out that this is a good time to go and suggested we go the next week, so this year we are goin 12/2 through 12/10.

By the way what is Pop you are talking about????

Lisa

 

[FirstTimertoDiz]

Hi Lisa, thanks for the quick reply- Pop Warner is the youth football league- they are listing December 4-10 as the Superbowl for Pop Warner at WWoS.

Lisa

 

[disneysnowflake]

We went Dec 11 to Dec 18, 2004.
We originally planned to go from Dec 6 to Dec 13, but changed our plans because of Pop Warner. We weren't sure what to expect from Pop Warner, but my husband's coworker's experience the year before had us change our dates.

Anyway, we loved going in Dec. The weather was chillier than what we expected. If you go during this time I'd suggest buying extra gloves and hats now on clearance (I saw cute Disney ones at WalMart). We took our own gloves, but DS2 lost his the second day. Replacement pairs of those cheapy magic stretch gloves cost $8 plus tax. They are solid black and have no character on them. If you go during a time it may get cold take some extra gloves from home. We're from PA, and it was still downright cold a few days.

The crowds were good during our trip. We're early risers and were at park opening each day. We loved taking advantage of the early opening for resort guests. At Magic Kingdom on one day we rode the teacups a few times and were the only people on the ride. Once the morning went on more people arrived.
The busiest day we saw were definately the weekends. Sunday morning was slow until around 11am, then it got more crowded, but was still not bad.
On Friday Dec 17 we noticed a lot more people at our resort. We stayed at POFQ. We were told that people start arriving for the holidays starting the weekend before Christmas.

I'd highly recommend going in Dec. The decorations are great. In Epcot they had a double decker bus filled with holiday dressed characters. My son got to see all of them and only had to wait behind maybe 1 or 2 other kids. It was awesome. We loved the holiday storytellers in Epcot. We liked MVMCP even though we were cold.

We're going back in early Oct this year, but if we had to go back another time we'd definately choose early to mid Dec.

 

[n2mm]

We went this past December 10-13 and will NEVER go in December again. The absolute worse and most crowded trip we have ever been on. Yes, pop warner was there. We didn't know when we booked this last minute trip. The resorts were ALL at capacity and we had to call daily and finally got a room at BWI. We were at A/S Sports and desperately wanted to move away from the center of Pop warner activities. MGM reached capacity one night and it took 1 hours to get through the turnstile. We had PS, so was very happy, as no one got in anywhere to eat at MGM that night without one. The crowds never died down. There were lots of rides we never rode because the fast passes went very quickly during the day. Never was able to get on TT since we only did EPCOT in the afternoon. We went during this time about 5 years ago and it was so pleasant and relaxing.....not anymore. NO more December for us. Nothing beats May and October, but after December, I really appreciate my other trips much better now.

 

[ContempRocksmySocks]

My family and I went the second week of december a few years ago and it was great. No lines, beautiful decorations, and lots of nice holiday extras. The hotels go to a lot of trouble with decorating and have these awesome gingerbread houses. I would certainly suggests to go during the first two weeks in order to beat the mad rush.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We went the second week of December a couple of years ago and we loved it! No lines and the weather was beautiful! We went last May and it was cooler then it was when we went in December but I think it's hit or miss with the weather. The ONLY downside of going at this time is that the parks close at 7 or 8. The decorations are beautiful and it's so relaxing just to wander around and go on anything you want without a line. We'll be there this Dec 11-17. Can't wait!!

 

[Peace Mickey Lovers]

Oh my gosh, I had no idea about Pop Warner.

Has anyone else had any experience with this? Here I thought we were going at a great time, I listened to the CM at OKW and booked the trip and now I hope I didn't make a huge mistake.

Help!!!

 

[fam4jc]

I still think the crowd level were skewed last year because of hurricane re-bookings for early December. The Unoficial Guide still lists early December as a 1 crowd level. We are going 11/28 through 12/5 (getting out before pop gets there! yikes) I am pretty comfortable that the crowds will be light. but I may be wrong.

 

[KLAIT]

We have gone the week after Thanksgiving for the last 3 years...we arrive the Friday or Sat after Thanksgiving....I can tell you that last year was different than the prior 2 years, but everyone says it was people rescheduling after the hurricanes...and it was busier than usual, but not that bad.

That being said, the 2 years prior, there were no crowds at all. The longest lines were 20 minutes for the biggies like space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Test Track, etc....with fastpasses avail for times close to the current time....

It is the perfect time to go!

 

[WheresGoofy]

That is our favorite time to have our family reunions at WDW...between the Thanksgiving rush and Christmas rush.

 

[dolphindan1]

we have been the last 3 years 2nd week of Dec....pop week also and never had any major concerns...this past year was alot more crowded in the parks than previous years but wait times still never exceeded 20 minutes except TT at 45 minutes

 

[Kaitysmom]

So how much will Pop Warner impact crowds? How many of them are there? We had planned to go right when they're there. Should we rethink this?

 

[jenjersnap]

We were there from 12/10 to 12/20 this past December and it was beautiful, quiet and calm until Friday, 12/17. We absolutely loved it! This year we are going 12/2 to 12/12. It was a tradeoff - nervous about Pop Warner for sure, but wanted to miss even the beginnings of the Xmas crowd because that last weekend was nuts to us and NOT miss DS's Xmas school activities.

ETA: we did have all kinds of weather from VERY cold to shorts weather. Layering is key!

 

[dolphindan1]

In my opinion it doesnt affect park attendance really at all....most kids are off playing there games....the noteable exception was on Friday at MGM because the park closes early for a POP only event.....I wouldnt re schedule unless you move it back one week to the 1st week of Dec.....The crowds are still light....you will see a pack of cheerleaders and a pack of football players but it wont be like you are at a NFL game....We stayed at the All Stars every year and have yet to have any problems with noise or anything except flushing toilets....they are loud....I would go and wouldnt think twice about it....Just do your planning as to which park which day and you will have a wonderful time

 

[disneyw/kids]

I thought thanksgiving week was supposed to be a crowded time some of you say you went the day after thanksgiving, I been thinking about going the day after thanksgiving and staying the next week. Isn't the crowds still heavy the weekend right after thanksgiving?

 

[bengalbelle]

We were there from Dec. 9-13 and had a great time. We were there during Pop Warner, but it only impacted us once when they closed MGM early for a private PW party. We stayed at POFQ and had a few cheer groups staying there. They were well mannered and didn't cause us any problems at the resort, bus or parks.

I think we may have just been lucky because I saw many posts from people there at the same time and they had plenty of complaints about Pop Warner. Unless NOTHING bothers you, I wouldn't stay at a Value Resort during PW. Many complaints I saw came from people staying at Value Resorts.
The cheerleaders would also break out into loud, spontaneous cheers in the parks. Wasn't really a problem unless you were unfortunate enough to be right ahead of them.
I also read a few complaints about the manners, language and lack of supervision for the football players. Again, we didn't encounter this, just repeating what I read.

As far as the time of year - it was beautiful! We were in shorts the first few days and pants and jackets the rest; but being prepared for the weather is as easy as a visit to weather.com. We packed according to the 10 day forecast. The decorations are beautiful, especially at the resorts. We also went to MVMCP which was a lot of fun.
ETA: We did encounter some long wait lines, but it was mostly mid-day until evening. We got FP's and it was no problem. We rode everything we planned to.

 

[LovePug]

We went in early December 2003 for our very first trip. It was fantastic! We walked on most everything. We had nice weather (low 70s during the day, but it gets chilly at night. One night it was downright cold though ). Pack for all types of weather because it can be a crap shoot with the temps. The decorations were gorgeous. We were there during Pop and it didn't affect the crowds in the parks we were in, but we avoid EMH days. We're going back this December and can't wait.

 

[disneyw/kids]

We were there Dec 4-13th and we stayed at the GF and there were no pop warner kids there so if you are concerned stay at a deluxe they don't stay at the deluxe hotels. Also, avoid MGM on the weekend because a lot of locals came to MGM to see the Osborne lights because last year was the first year the lights returned to MGM. SO MGM was to capacity on sat night and we could not get in, but we went to MK and the crowds weren't any worse than any other Sat night. My suggestion is to plan the majority of your vacation during the week. We had very minimal wait times during that week, but the weekend did notice heavy crowds.