1st 2 weeks of December

[AdamsMum]

I'm booked in Dec 9-17, had to split my stay at 10 months out.

With DVC being so busy for this period of time, does that also reflect attendance at the parks and the rest of the Disney Resorts? I know there are really no down times these days, but the last time I went in early December was 1998 (or maybe 99) and everything was a walk on.

Are DVC bookings reflective of how busy the time will be? Or will I be pleasantly surprised and have a less busy time?

 

[BillPA]

No, it just DVC is super busy, the parks are generally not so bad.
Here's a link to a crowd calendar, shows typical crowd level:

https://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/crowd-calendar/December-2018/

 

[drusba]

DVC demand bears little relationship to overall demand for the parks. The reason early Dec is of high DVC demand has little to do with any park demand at the time. It exists because the time has the lowest point cost possible and has all the Christmas decorations and events, and not the extremely high park demand that exists for Christmas week.

The occupancy of DVC rooms in early Dec is likely not much different from other times of the year and thus the "DVC" occupancy really does not establish any difference in park crowds throughout the year. The DVC difference is in timing of reservations. Because so many want early Dec, most try to reserve at 11 months out to assure getting a room, but its final occupancy level is likely not signifcantly different than most other times, i.e., the DVC rooms tend to fill or get close to filling all year long; the difference is that for a time like early Dec, the rooms just fill a lot quicker than many other times of the year, e.g., even SSR tends to get quite full much of the year but for early Dec that can occur at or before 7 months out while for a time like mid-June, it may not occur until two or three months out.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I'm booked in Dec 9-17, had to split my stay at 10 months out.

With DVC being so busy for this period of time, does that also reflect attendance at the parks and the rest of the Disney Resorts? I know there are really no down times these days, but the last time I went in early December was 1998 (or maybe 99) and everything was a walk on.

Are DVC bookings reflective of how busy the time will be? Or will I be pleasantly surprised and have a less busy time?

It’s not going to be walk on and hasn’t been for a long time. As you said, there really isn’t any slow time anymore. And then if attendance is low or Disney cuts back on staffing, ride vehicles etc. so there still are waits.

 

[iheartglaciers]

I think December has gotten to be a popular time at WDW due to the weather and decorations. There were some days during my December 2016 trip that seemed more crowded (based on ride wait times and general crowds in the park) than my June 2017 trip. That’s just my experience, but I do think early December has gotten wildly popular even with non-DVC.

 

[AdamsMum]

I'm happy to be going to see the Chistmas atmosphere, and possibly cooler weather too. Heck I'm happy just to be there. I guess the low points cost at that time is responsible for so many booking at 11 months out. I've gone at some busier times and still had a wonderful trip. The beauty of DVC is knowing that I don't need to race around as if it's a once in a lifetime. Thanks all.

 

[iheartglaciers]

I'm happy to be going to see the Chistmas atmosphere, and possibly cooler weather too. Heck I'm happy just to be there. I guess the low points cost at that time is responsible for so many booking at 11 months out. I've gone at some busier times and still had a wonderful trip. The beauty of DVC is knowing that I don't need to race around as if it's a once in a lifetime. Thanks all.

Totally agree! We have a trip booked this December and can't wait

 

[drusba]

It’s not going to be walk on and hasn’t been for a long time. As you said, there really isn’t any slow time anymore. And then if attendance is low or Disney cuts back on staffing, ride vehicles etc. so there still are waits.

As to whether there are any slow times anymore, we had a one-off experience in Sep. We were there Sep 22-29, and had amazingly little rain during that time. The first four days (Sat Sep 22 through Tues Sep 25) had crowds that I have not experienced in over 20 years. Street crowds were very comfortable and the following existed for most of the day at the parks we hit (and our start time daily was 10:30 or after): (a) MK had standby lines that ranged from 5 minutes to 15 minutes on its most popular rides (including the mountains) except for Seven Dwarfs, which was 20 minutes; (b) Stand-by lines at Epcot for Soarin and Test Track were 5 to 10 minutes, only the Frozen ride in Norway got to 20; (c) at Studios, the new rides in Toy Story land had 35 minute stand-by lines (which I consider real short for any new ride) and everything else was essentially a walk-on; and (d) at AKV, the stand-by lines for Avatar rides were 40 minutes (far shorter than I have ever seen them) and others were 5 to 15 minutes.

I began to wonder if Disney's never-ending price increases were actually starting to have a real effect -- we were there last year at the same time and crowds were significantly larger. In any event, starting Thursday, Sep 27 (we did not do a park on Wednesday), crowds increased substantially. I will likely just chalk it up to extreme good luck for four days and not expect to ever see it again.

 

[iheartglaciers]

I get the sense that there are still small pockets when crowds are low, but they're increasingly hard to predict and there is so much variation week to week, or even day to day, since as KAT4DISNEY said, Disney now cuts staff/ride capacity during slower times.

 

[mixmastertoy]

It is also starting to get busy that time (I have gone the first weekend of December the last 10 years) because they are offering free dining too.

 

[Bing Showei]

Historically non-busy park days would have low point cost days on the charts, and conversely, busy park days would have high point cost days, but alongside lower points, to bolster attendance Disney introduced the festivals, free dining, less higher ticket prices, etc.

I think if any relationship existed between “DVC busy” and “WDW busy,” it was that Disney would use the captured DVC audience as filler for low times. They’re just slow to update the charts, so while anecdotally, summer today is apparently thinned out a little and early December has gotten much busier, DVCMC has yet to catch up with the allocations. And DVC members are left holding the Fall Frenzy bag and three and a half months of at-7-months-you-can-stay-anywhere fallacy.

 

[disney junky]

We were there two years ago beginning the Sunday after Thanksgiving for a week. Best time ever! The parks weren't crazy. The weather was delightful. The decorations were great. We were able to book a grand villa. Except for pulling the grandkids out of school, we would do it again in a heartbeat. The hours aren't summer hours though. That was a bit of an adjustment.

 

[Splashboat]

We have gone the beginning of December for the past 12 years. The crowds size seem to get larger every year, particularly MK. I've also been trying to figure out why people are losing manners too. Just because the crowds are bigger or is it with the price increases people feel more entitled.