By what date do the Christmas crowds get crazy?

[EdmondD]

Is it really crowded by December 22nd? December 20?

Thanks!

 

[shanew21]

It all depends. This year the crowds were miserable at the MK on non-party days and Saturdays even a few weeks before Christmas. I was there for a 10/10 and 9/10 day the week before Christmas.

 

[pitpat]

According to recent posts, Dec. 26th the prior year

 

[mom2rtk]

Check resort rates. When they switch to peak pricing you can expect peak crowds.

 

[reluctantredhead]

EdmondD, I was actually wondering the same thing...

We're planning a Christmas trip to WDW this year. The only other time we've gone later than the first week of December was in 2008, when we were there from 12/18-12/26. At that time, all of my research indicated that crowds didn't get bad until Christmas day, so we planned to do the least crowded park (as predicted by one of those touring guide services) on that day, and then leave early in the morning on the 26th. I was really worried it would be wall-to-wall people the entire time, but it was an absolutely incredible trip that we still remember as one of our favorites to this very day...perfect weather, light crowds until the 25th, and an absolutely magical way to spend the days leading up to Christmas. My D was only 6 at the time, and we have precious photos of her standing next to the "Only ___ days 'til Christmas" sign that they put up at the end of Main Street...and she was beyond amazed that Santa was still able to find her at WDW and bring her her most wished-for present.

I know that much has changed since those days, though...I often read on this board that there is no "slow time" at WDW anymore, and I know we definitely noticed in the 2000s some times of the year that used to be completely uncrowded were no longer so...so I'm guessing we may not still be able to count on it being uncrowded until the 25th. Anyone been in the past few years who can share their experience with crowd levels at this time of year?

 

[deedubb]

I think it depends which day falls on the weekend before Christmas day. This past year, we did our first park day on the 23rd (Saturday). It was busy but not crazy. I suspect a lot of people were traveling to Orlando that day as the kids were just starting their holidays. It got progressively busier after that, and the 25th was insane.

 

[Micca]

I'm going to say that the week of 12/17 will start off relatively calm and will build as the week goes on. Mon-Wed may very well be very manageable, but you'll begin to see the crowds grow by Wednesday afternoon. Thursday might not be too bad, but I think Friday through to the first week of January will be insane. If you'd like a week at WDW in December, I'd go the week of the 3rd or the 10th. Even those weeks will be busy, but not to the level of Christmas crowds. *

*Strictly opinion, no science or other influence in the mix here.

 

[DemonLlama]

Every day from the center of the month seems to build. Once people's kids are getting out for Christmas break at school, it's going to be nuts.

We've gone since 2000 at Christmas and the crowds get thicker earlier on every trip. We ended up having to do MK on Saturday Dec. 16 and it was wall to wall.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We were there Dec. 16 - Dec. 23 2017. The first part of the week was fine. We went to MK on a party night (went during the day, then stayed for the party) and it was quite doable. We deliberately did not go to MK on a non-party day this year. EP and DHS didn't feel crowded at all. AK was crowded (but not a "10" crowded) and we still did everything we wanted to do including 3 back-to-back rides (using single ride), with little wait on EE. In terms of crowds building through the week - we stayed at WL and it did not feel crowded until our very last night (Friday, Dec. 22). We had come back from EP late afternoon, went up to our room to freshen up for dinner and took the elevator back down to the lobby. When the elevator door opened the lobby was PACKED with people arriving at the resort. People, luggage carts, luggage EVERYWHERE. It was pretty nuts! We then went to dinner at Artist Point, where we've eaten several times with zero crowds and it, too, was absolutely packed to the gills. We are going again the same week this year and will check out on Saturday morning, Dec. 22. Because Christmas falls on a Tuesday this year, I'm guessing many people will start showing up the weekend before (and that's when we will be LEAVING!)

 

[Gentry2004]

Christmas is a Tue this year so I think crowds will get heavy the 22nd - the Sat before.

We were there this year until the 23rd and only the last day or two were bad.

 

[Elle23]

We were there from 12/14-12/21 and honestly the crowds were not that bad, with the exception of MK on a night between 2 party days. Even then it was only really bad during HEA.

 

[puffkins]

A sure bet is anytime after December 20th.

 

[Janet McDonald]

We were there the 17th-24th in December and it was the best trip we have ever had. Crowd wise, everyone is correct that it somewhat builds leading up to Christmas but we literally rode every ride there, many multiple times, (including Flight of Passage three times in ONE DAY) and never waited more than 15-20 min utilizing fast pass, additional same day fast pass, single rider, and rope drop. The only real issue where crowds affected was on non party days, watching Happily Ever After fireworks. That was INSANE as far as crowds. But to us time is money so for that I did spring for the dessert party since that was a priority for us for this trip. We did the Christmas party and that to was worth it to us to have a evening of little wait times for the rides and the atmosphere. We were there early morning, often with pre park opening breakfasts which helped. had our lunches scheduled for around 1:00 or so, took a two hour or so break, then back to the parks for as late as we could stay. When the crowds got kinda crazy and we didnt have a fast pass for something we would do the rides/shows such as people mover, philharmagic, World Showcase, Nemo Show, Lion King Shows things like that in the afternoon busier times and then hit the most popular rides early morning, with a fast pass, or late evening. With planning and a strategy it was awesome and every day in every park we were in was an 8 or 9 out of 10.

 

[Shanti]

Is it really crowded by December 22nd? December 20?

Yes.

 

[McKelly]

It will be busy starting at Xmas but I found that the crowds were worse the closer we got to New Year's Eve. But it's still a great time!

 

[randumb0]

Just assume it will be busy the entire month. If not then in December we will have another "Why is it so busy?" thread

 

[AngiTN]

All depends on where Christmas falls in the week and when schools start to get out. So it fluctuates a bit every year
But you can be sure it will start to ramp up by the time you get to the 20th and go up from there

 

[Mitzicat]

You also need to take in to account some of the following things: (lets say you are going Dec 2018!) 1. Did Florida have any hurricane's Aug 2018 - Nov 2018 that may have caused travel delays, park closings, other issues that folks would have to reschedule their trip? 2. Did other states see large weather issues in the months leading up to Dec that would cause large numbers of guests to reschedule their trips? 3. When is the last day for annual pass holders to visit the parks before the holiday blackout? 3, 4, 5, 6.....what everyone else said. Again these are just things to think about not necessarily a guarantee each year.

I have been to Disney in early Dec and then just went Dec 12-17. I enjoyed the early Dec trip because of the low crowds. Our recent Dec 12-17 trip we ran into large crowds of people who rescheduled due to hurricanes and folks getting the last visits in on their annual passes before the blackout period.

 

[goofy4prez]

It will be busy in WDW from January 1st until December 31st... There is no such thing as low crowds anymore. It's now some days are busier than others. Every day is crazy anymore.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

According to recent posts, Dec. 26th the prior year