First week in December

Ladyandthepuppies

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 12, 2017
Maybe I'm getting a warped sense of Disney reality from all my time on the Dis boards but it seems like there is a HUGE amount of us going the first week in December. I keep hearing it is the most popular week for DVC. Add to that Pop Warner and it just seems like it will be much more crowded than Touring Plans is predicting with their crowd calendar (5 or lower all that week). And yes, I know that not everyone agrees/believes it is possible to predict crowds, but all the same... am I reading the signs better than TP, or am I worrying needlessly? Today in "low season" the posted wait time for Dumbo got up to 65 mins, I don't think my 2.5 year old can handle that! (Even with the play area- 65 minutes is an eternity to a child)
 
We have been there the first week in December last year and the year before. It is crowded during that week and I don’t know why they keep insisting that it isn’t. Epcot gets mobbed with people for the special Christmas activities. And MK has been the most crowded that I have ever seen it on the few nights that it isn’t closed for a party.
 
We have been going for the better part of 20 years. Pop Warner and the Cheerleaders are in competition during the day. There is a bump in crowds at night, which is a good reason to get out and get going early.

The Dumbo time could be because this is one of the few nights that the MK is not shutting down early for a Party. Plus it is an EMH night. both of which leads to larger crowds.
 


That week being popular for DVC doesn't affect anything...it just means that the rooms book up earlier (DVC runs at near capacity year round so the same number of units will be booked at any point in time). That being said, we're DVC and will be there the first week of December :)
 


I am a bit nervous too. I actually looked to see if I could switch us to on-site in late September and everything except for Saratoga Springs was full. Making ADRs at my 180 days was pretty hard too. I guess it doesn't actually matter; we will still be at Disney and are going with low expectations since we are traveling with a preschooler, but I just hope my expectations are realistic.
 
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I guess I must be an outlier. We've gone the first or second week or December for many years and never found it especially crowded, at least not by our standards. Yes, Epcot can be busy, especially in the World Showcase because of all the holiday activities. MK is more crowded on non-party days because those are the only days that it is open late for non party people, but we make it a point to go to MK on a party day, just because others tend to avoid it because of the shorter hours, and it's much less crowded on those days. We're going the second week in December, and I got all the ADRs I wanted, and I didn't do them at 180. At my 60 day mark, I got all the FP+ that I wanted on the days I wanted, and there was multiple availability on multiple days for things like FoP and SDD. In past Decembers, I have also been able to get many extra FP+ after the first three, including for the tier I attractions, although some of those admittedly took some refreshing. In fact, we rarely go on any attractions without a FP+ because I can usually get what I want by refreshing. A good touring plan, like going to MK on a party day despite the shorter hours, can really be an advantage.
 
We will be there 11/26 - 12/5. I didn't have an option since this is the only time I could go during the Christmas season. I'm planning on using Rope Drop with breaks in the afternoon then back in the evening. It sounds like the evenings may be a little more crowded during the end of our stay. Glad we're staying at a Deluxe resort with the Pop Warner teams. We didn't have any trouble getting dining reservations and fastpasses so I'm not too concerned. I'll just be glad to be at WDW.
 
I'm going 11/26-11/30 and my resort is sold out. I'm worried about the crowd level too! It was supposed to be a 5 or lower as well.
 
We will be there 11/26 - 12/5. I didn't have an option since this is the only time I could go during the Christmas season. I'm planning on using Rope Drop with breaks in the afternoon then back in the evening. It sounds like the evenings may be a little more crowded during the end of our stay. Glad we're staying at a Deluxe resort with the Pop Warner teams. We didn't have any trouble getting dining reservations and fastpasses so I'm not too concerned. I'll just be glad to be at WDW.

We have almost the same days (November 27-December 6).

I avoided the values because of Pop Warner - also I'm not a huge value fan most of the time - so I'm not worried about the resort really. The parks were worrying me a bit, but I've been told by many people that they usually go that time of year and it isn't that bad.

Besides, it's all booked now, so might as well just cross my fingers and go with the flow. :D
 
DH and I are going 11/29-12/8. It's our first time going during the holidays. We picked those dates hoping that the crowds wouldn't be too heavy. At least it shouldn't be as crowded as Christmas week, right? I had a hard time getting a few ADR's. I used TP reservation finder and got those hard to get ones. I got all the FP's we wanted, although the website was having problems and it took me almost two hours to book all of our FP's. We are so excited to see and experience all the Christmas stuff!
 
We’ve gone the first week of December for years - never seemed crowded to me despite being sold out of DVC rooms...of course - this year - all bets are off - I’ve never seen Sept and Oct as busy as I have this year...
 
I also go every year at this time (the 2 weeks following TG) and haven’t found crowds to be horrible, but it does seem to be getting more crowded each year. This is also free dining time which can effect ADRs. Go to MK on party days, it’s not nearly as crowded. Just get there early and have a good plan and you’ll be fine. I’ll be there from 11/24-12/7 this year, and I can’t wait!
 
I go a lot in December, and I find the crowds manageable, but I compare them to the October crowds. It is all perspective, I think.
 
Maybe I'm getting a warped sense of Disney reality from all my time on the Dis boards but it seems like there is a HUGE amount of us going the first week in December.

I think we will all acknowledge that DIS does tend to offer a "warped sense of reality". <big grin>

Like a few of the previous posters DW and I have been visiting WDW during the early half of December for over 20 years, first as vacationers then as Disney snowbirds. We have noticed what is a general trend of growing attendance during what had been considered quiet times. What we notice are more families with school aged kids.

Is it Christmas week busy? Of course not. We can easily gauge the park crowd levels by watching the traffic around our vacation villa neighborhood. It starts getting really busy the week before Christmas until after New Years.

Even though the parks will not be empty in early December it is still possible to get things done. It might take a little more time on MDE arranging FPs and then seeking out the 4th, 5th, etc. FPs while in the parks to reduce standby waiting. Personally I am a believer in early to rope drop if you want to maximize getting to attractions while the crowds are the lowest. DW and I do this when we want to visit a popular attraction. Otherwise I can usually find a couple of FPs a day or two out when we decide we want to visit a park for one of our "winter walks enhanced by Disney".
I am sure you will have a pixiedust: visit!
 
We used to go the first week of December and it wasn't very crowded. Before we quit going that week, we noticed a big increse in the crowd. While not as bas as some times of th eyear, a definintely large increase.
I don't know that Disney , by design, really has any slow times any more. And if they do, with the change in ticket prices, I suspect they will shift some people into the "slower times".
 
This morning I got an email that Touring Plans raised their crowd level predictions for that week at most of the parks. I'm not surprised at all!
 
I got the same email, and my week is December 9-16. The changes were only one point, and there were almost as many decreases as increases. I didn't feel it was especially significant.
 

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