Who says early December is not crowded?

[ArcticWildMan]

Wow! I couldn't believe the people at WDW this year!!! I just got home from 9 days at WDW and the crowds were not "light" by any stroke. I even talked with a few CM's I knew from past visits and they said it was crazy this year with all resorts at or near 100% occupancy. Unheard of for this time of year!!!

Too bad WDW didn't bother adding hours to the parks. Extra hours would have really been nice considering the amount of people. They didn't even bother opening Frontierland early. It sure looked cheesy seeing that sign in the middle of the road saying it wouldn't open till 10AM.

On a side note...is it just me or has WDW cut back on the X-mas decorations? I seem to remember a lot more decorations the last December trip I took. Of course I did see a lot of Santa Clauses posing for pictures for $$$$$. Guess if it involves making a buck, WDW can find a way to exploit it.

This is my last trip to WDW for a while. It just seems cheap with all the cutbacks and the "magic" just isn't there anymore. For the first time ever, I was ready to leave and come back home.

 

[TreeOfLife]

Sorry your experience was that negative. Many of us feel just as let down. Though we still go, we aren't giving the same blinded loyalty we gave a decade ago. Disney has taken away a lot and taken a lot for granted. Those cutbacks in hours often make guests feel like mere sardines in a can. "Had your fun? Good, now go to your room!"

But the good that came out of it was letting our family experience what other attractions have to offer. The pampering lacking in Disney overflows elsewhere, and that "magical vacation" does materialize after all!

 

[TLinden16]

Hmm. I thought the crowds were great when I was there December 4-9th. I never waited in line more than 10 minutes for anything. The only rides that I recall having long lines were Mission Space and Test Track. Other than that, I walked on everything.

Karen

 

[nancyL]

We were there from 12/3 to 12/8 and felt it was more crowded than we anticipated but not as bad as it could have been. the shows were very crowded as was main street and we did have some PS issues- we didnt think we'd have to make so many b/c of the "off season" but everything was booked when we tried to eat.
The longest lines we waited in were about 20 minutes and that was only once or twice. We only had to use fast pass once on test track and we did wait 45 min on mission space (only to have my parents bag out at the last minute! UG- lol)
Anyway, I agree, the "slow" times are more or less gone- even in Sept it was more crowded than anticipated. Oh well, means good things for future expansion and events!
NancyL

 

[3MGIRLS]

This is the fourth year in a row we have gone to Disney the first/second week in December, and we thought the crowds were much bigger. While we didn't have to wait very long in lines because of Fastpass, walking through the streets was difficult at times. I also came home and thought the decorations were not as plentiful. Maybe I'm missing the Osborne lights. It's the first time we came home a little disappointed too.

 

[PamOKW]

Remember that tourism has been off dramatically at WDW since 9/11. It is just now coming back up to what may be the new "normal" (fewer foreign guests). People have been putting off their trips for the last few years and now are opening the purse strings. The dramatic rate reductions and the low crowds may soon be a distant memory. Hopefully, that will also result in Disney bringing spending levels on flowers, etc. back up to pre-9/11 levels as well.

 

[lulu71]

This was my third year going during early December and I agree that it was much more crowded than it has been in the past. I was there November 28 - December 7 and kept wondering when the weekend crowds would thin out, but it didn't happen as dramatically as I thought it might. I recall MK being the worst park for crowds all week long, with Fantasyland being a zoo. Buzz Lightyear and Pirates also had hefty lines as well. At Epcot, the line for SE late afternoon during the week was about 10 minutes (usually a walk-on) and as usual, TT was more than an hour wait. I also agree that moving through the crowds was a little difficult and last minute PS were hard to come by.

All that being said, I would go at this time again but only if I had enough time to take it slow and not get stressed out by the crowds. Having 10 days made it a completely different kind of trip and we were able to do everything we wanted to and just take things slowly and notice all the details, which was great.

 

[erikthewise]

lulu71: This was also our third year in a row doing early December, and our dates were also Nov 28- Dec 7!

While the parks were not deserted as they sometimes were the last couple years, overall we didn't find the crowds to be a problem, perhaps in part because we do our best to avoid crowds.

We used fastpasses whenever possible, got to the parks at opening time, and didn't get in any line that was longer than twenty minutes. Our longest actual wait was 15 minutes for Mission:Space. We did most of our MK touring during Sunday morning (early entry) and MVMCP; in both cases we were able to avoid long lines. Early December remains a very good time of the year to go!

People don't seem to use fastpasses very much when the crowds are moderate, perhaps because they still find the wait times to be tolerable, but that's a great time to use them! Twice on Test Track and once on BTMRR we bypassed a 30+ minute wait to virtually walk on with a fastpass.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Originally posted by PamOKW
Remember that tourism has been off dramatically at WDW since 9/11. It is just now coming back up to what may be the new "normal" (fewer foreign guests). People have been putting off their trips for the last few years and now are opening the purse strings. The dramatic rate reductions and the low crowds may soon be a distant memory. Hopefully, that will also result in Disney bringing spending levels on flowers, etc. back up to pre-9/11 levels as well.

That's exactly what a bus driver told me when I asked last week(I was there 12/6-12/12). I've never been in December, so I can't judge the decorations in general. However, I was very disappointed that MGM didn't offer anything Christmas-y to compensate for the fact that they didn't have the Osborne Lights this year. I think I remember that when they first announced that there'd be no Osborne Lights, they promised some other new Christmas-y stuff. I was so disappointed that I didn't go to MGM-didn't see any good reason. No Christmas lights, yet nothing in its place?

 

[anewvance]

Yes, it was much more crowded then we figured it would be. But it seemed like the crowds were all around us yet we didn't wait long for really any ride. Very odd!

 

[siouxi31]

We were there from 11/29 through 12/6. The crowds weren't too bad. I think it depends on where you are. For example, most of Magic Kingdom was no wait and easy walking. But, once you walked into Fantasyland it was mayhem.

I did notice that the decorations were not as elaborate in past years. It was one of the first things I said to my husband. I seemed to recall lush hanging poinsietta plants everywhere and they were very scarce this year.

For years I've heard people talk about the decrease in "magic" at WDW. I never felt that way until our most recent visit. Even so, I only slightly felt the magic was slipping because I was still happy to be there.

 

[BonnieA]

I was there from 12/4-12/13. At times it seemed more crowded but we did everything with little to no waits. Walked into Mission: Space on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon with no wait at all. This really suprised me. Got a few fast passes but really didn't need many cause we got there early.

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

We were in WDW from 12/1 - 12/6. Last year we were there from 12/3 - 12/7. To me, it was a lot more crowded this year. I agree with others who said the lines were not that long, but it was more difficult walking and getting through MK. Fantasyland was no fantasy, that's for sure, hehe. Everytime we ended up there, I was looking for ways to escape. I also think trying to scope out places to watch parades in all parks was more difficult this year due to crowds.

It sure was a bit of a surprise seeing so many more people there this year during the first week of Dec, than last year, but after having gone during peak season in the past, it is still a blessing to go in early December.

Tink

 

[SoccerNut]

We were the 12/7-12/13 and I judge the crowds by the wait times and during the week the waits were minimal. I do agree that it was crowded. Maybe it was the hordes of obnoxious cheerleaders or the numbers of strollers since it seemed to be a VERY young crowd.

 

[Shutterbug]

I was there 12/7-12/13 and to me that the crowds got thicker as it got later in the week.
With the CP at Epcot I could usually show up right as it starts and get one of the seats near the front that they free up. I hate to waste 45- 60 min waiting in the stanby line. But at the Wednesday night shows all of them seem crowded and I think they turned people away for seats at the 8:30pm because there werent any left. What was weird, I returned Thurday night thinking there were would be no way any seats available for the 8:30 show. Turned out there were lots. I got a seat about 1/3 away from the stage.
I visited MK on Friday just to do a couple of rides and actually thats all I got to do. I thought it was a zoo. Thank goodness I had gone to MVMCP on Tuesday and had done lots of riding.
Even POC had a 20-25 min wait! I think the Tiki bird room was the only thing there with no wait and not crowded at all.

 

[DebbieB]

I was there 12/6 to 12/12 and didn't think it was crowded at all. We practically walked on the safari at AK on Tuesday, we ended up doing it twice! On Monday at MGM, RnR was a walkon, ToT was about 20 min. On Thursday afternoon, it was the opposite, walked right on ToT and RnR was about 20 min. We walked on Big Thunder twice on Saturday night (it was so cold, I think people left early). We did MVMCP on 12/9, the lines were not bad (we headed to the back of the part first). We did MK on Thursday morning, lines not bad.

Shutterbug - I saw on another thread that the first CP was cancelled on Wednesday night because of the rain. We got into the standby line on Thursday night for the 8:15 and got good seats.

 

[LauraR]

Glad it wasn't just me! I was just there from Dec. 6th-13th, and I picked those dates because I read they had the lightest crowds all year. When I saw so many people, I started thinking, "If it's like this now, how do people even move in the summertime?!" But my husband and I had the same reaction, wondering why the waits for the rides weren't longer if there were so many people. We did go early all the days we went, and walked on quite a few rides at MK and AK. What really took a lot of time was waiting in line so my son could get autographs from the characters!
By the way, does anyone know if they ended up having Wishes on Wed. the 10th? The sky was very threatening, and there was light rain before Spectromagic. We left after Spectro, along with droves of other people (lots of tired kids, including my own) and I was curious whether they actually ended up doing Wishes (it would lessen my regret knowing that they cancelled!)

 

[2cutekids]

This is our second year in a row to go the first week of December. Last year, when we checked into our resort it was deserted. I knew it wasn't going to be the same this time because the resort lobby was packed. Even though there were quite a bit more people that last year, it was still very manageable to us. We did meet quite a few people from England and noticed lots of people speaking foreign languages in the parks. All in all, it was a wonderful trip! It would be almost impossible to get me to WDW anytime during the summer ~ I'm spoiled now!

 

[dmonroe]

We were there December 6-12, as well. This was our 3rd year to go this week of December. I do think it was a little more crowded than previous years; but not horribly so. I didn't find lines to be all that bad except for in Fantasyland; and we just used fastpasses for what we could there.

One thing that does add to the crowds is Pop Warner. I did notice large groups of them in a couple of the parks and at the Boardwalk one night. Sometimes I would really like to change the week that we go so that we can avoid that; but with dh's work and ds's school, that really is the best time for us to go.

 

[wdwnutze]

We were there from 11/27 - 12/5. I also noticed that there were lots of people there. The lines for the rides weren't bad, there jsut seemed to be lots of people. We went when the parks opened and were able to get lots of rides in before 12-1 when the crowds got heavy (I've been in August and in comparison, there were no crowds)and the waits for the rides went to 35-40min. I also noticed that the decorations weren't as elaborate as they have been in the past. Seemed very toned down compared to past years.