Disney in Dec. 2013 Question

Hello! I am researching a trip to Disney in Dec, and have seen that people recommend the week after Thanksgiving. I'm looking at Nov. 29-Dec. 8th OR Dec. 6-15th.

I understand that the first couple of days (Nov. 29-Dec. 1) may be busy because there still might be Thanksgiving traffic but I figured we could spend those days going to Kennedy or Legoland or Gatorland.

Which week do you think would be best. I appreciate your time! This is our first trip in 5 years, so I want to make sure its as close to perfect as possible.

First of all welcome to Intercot.


We have a trip schedule Dec 12th to 16th, and this will be my second trip in December during the same time frame. I have found that the crowds were very manageable as you seem to catch it between the holidays.

I would think anytime between Dec 1st and the 20th would be good, but that is my guess.

Happy planning...:mickey:

:welcome: to Intercot!

Weekday wise both weeks are pretty similar. Weekends are always busy and more so during special times like Christmas.

Nov 29-30th will definitely still be packed with people who are there for Thanksgiving. Dec 7th is the parade taping so that will be a busy day at Magic Kingdom.

December 8th through 14th is Pop Warner. It doesn't usually affect the parks much but if you are planning on staying in a value resort , there will be a lot of Pop Warner kids there.

We usually go with the mid December dates but it is really just because that works best with our schedule. I think either week will work great. Have fun planning!

Hi, someone recently asked in the Theme Park board about the week following Thanksgiving, I'll paste in my reply. We love that week!

Here was my answer:

This is a great time to visit, right after Thanksgiving. Through our research over the years, most sites will rate this week as either the #1 week to travel to Disney or top 3.

We have a trip planned this year again. We usually arrive on Saturday after Thanksgiving, and use that day to get settled, hit the pool, go to Downtown Disney for dinner. Crowds that Saturday are still way up from the holiday. On Sunday crowds begin to thin some, and by Monday it is great. No park is really crowded that week, but we usually follow the method of going to a park after it had PM extra magic hours the night before for even smoother crowd levels.

We then head home the following Saturday (7th).

Christmas decorations are up in full force, and I believe its almost an overnight transition from Halloween to Christmas the first week of November.

One other note, last year we were at the MK when the Christmas parade was being taped (we did not realize that). As we arrived we panicked thinking we really messed up, but once you navigate past Main Street the rest of the park was empty. Many people were around the parade route, but we just avoided it and were fine. I think the taping is the 6th and 7th this year.

We have gone in both time frames and not had a problem with crowds. I think the longest we waited for anything was 15 minutes. I would not hesitate to go at that time again:mickey: