Can't Decide 11/29-12/5 or 12/2-12/8

[JuleeM13]

Does anyone have any thoughts on which week would be better in terms of crowds? I know it's only a few days difference, but at least with the first set of dates the parade taping will fall at the end of my trip.

Are those first few days after Thanksgiving slower?

[diz_girl]

The Disney parade does tape the first week, but Pop Warner week is the following week. If you plan to stay at one of the values or at POR, Pop Warner will affect you more significantly than the other resorts. They get more visible in the parks as the week goes on. They were actually pretty visible in EPCOT the Friday night of the first week, because they games/competition hadn't yet started.

The only other drawbacks to going the first week is that you will be traveling to WDW during Thanksgiving weekend and the tree in the MK isn't up yet because Regis doesn't like it blocking his view for the parade taping (per the KTTK tour).

We actually were in AK the Tuesday of the first week and was able to walk on EE in the late afternoon. If you go that first week, I'd avoid the MK on the Monday (in general)and the Friday of that week. Mid-week should be good.

[ANG]

We've never been at these times before, but we booked for 2 days after Thanksgiving to the 6th.

I'm anxious to hear what people say!

[Strmchsr]

The week after Thanksgiving has become much more popular due, mostly, to so many guide books still printing that it's one of the slowest weeks of the year. 10 years ago, yes. Not any more. Crowds aren't too bad after the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I'd call them moderate, not heavy. The big problem with that week is the Friday-Sunday when the parade is taped. Even then, Saturday is the real problem. Friday is mostly right in front of the castle so it doesn't cause too many problems.

As noted, Pop Warner falls during your second choice. That doesn't make much difference in the parks, but it can make the value resorts, especially the All-Stars, crowded and loud. So, if you were looking at one of those as your resort choice, I wouldn't go then. However, having spoken with some CM friends, it seems a lot of folks are wanting to avoid Pop Warner week, which means park attendance actually seems slower that week than the previous week.

[Disney4us2]

We are going Dec 1-8. This was the same dates as our last trip. I too am curious as to how the crowds will be.