Afraid of crowds at Christmas

[Dis703]

I booked for November 27th to December 6th, thinking it would be a bit slower... but the lack of hotel availability makes me worried it will be pretty crazy... I've only went in October, February & March before.

Surprisingly hotel availability (and same for restaurants) does not seem to be predictive of actual park crowds. At least not in my experience. We went early December 2 years ago and it wasn't bad. The only really crazy day was at MK. Pretty much all week they were at a crowd level 9. Unless it was a party day, but since we weren't doing a party we didn't go those days. The rest of the parks were fine crowd wise.

 

[Momma2PrinceNPrinces]

We’re going 12/23-29. We’re Crazy as h@ll to attempt this...

My dad is taking all of us (family of 10). It will be the first trip for my SIL and her 2 kids (age 4). I told everyone of the sheer insanity the parks will be, but this is literally the only week that works for everyone. We’ll just do what we can and have to deal with it!

 

[VTNuke]

I booked for November 27th to December 6th, thinking it would be a bit slower... but the lack of hotel availability makes me worried it will be pretty crazy... I've only went in October, February & March before.

That first weekend is often when they film the Christmas parade at the Magic Kingdom. That day gets really crowded, although mostly on Main St. Cool to see the parade, but we try to avoid MK on the weekend. The rest of the parks are fine. They also may close at 4:30 on one of those days for the Cast Member party. The crowds are really low for most of that day, but sometimes you can't get fastpasses that day and forget about booking a dinner at MK that day. You may want to avoid the days they have the MVMCP unless you are planning on attending the party. Again, the crowds can be okay during the day, but it can get really crowded once the party goers start to arrive around 4pm.

Other than those few times/days, that week is a great time to go.

 

[gypsy_at_heart]

The first week in December is a GREAT time to go. Hotel availability has a lot to do with Pop Warner football and cheerleading going on during that time. I've been December 2-9 (ish) for 10 of the last 15 years and will be back this year!

Surprisingly hotel availability (and same for restaurants) does not seem to be predictive of actual park crowds. At least not in my experience. We went early December 2 years ago and it wasn't bad. The only really crazy day was at MK. Pretty much all week they were at a crowd level 9. Unless it was a party day, but since we weren't doing a party we didn't go those days. The rest of the parks were fine crowd wise.

That first weekend is often when they film the Christmas parade at the Magic Kingdom. That day gets really crowded, although mostly on Main St. Cool to see the parade, but we try to avoid MK on the weekend. The rest of the parks are fine. They also may close at 4:30 on one of those days for the Cast Member party. The crowds are really low for most of that day, but sometimes you can't get fastpasses that day and forget about booking a dinner at MK that day. You may want to avoid the days they have the MVMCP unless you are planning on attending the party. Again, the crowds can be okay during the day, but it can get really crowded once the party goers start to arrive around 4pm.

Other than those few times/days, that week is a great time to go.

Thanks everyone, that makes me feel a lot better! I do have tickets for a party on the 29th, so I plan to get a lot of of my MK time checked off then.