Christmas 2010 Crowd Advise

[Goofy4TheWorld]

I am looking for seasoned advice on a 4 day trip in December 2010 that I am studying the feasibility of taking.

I think we could do 4 days, with day 1 being "fly in" day for resort hoping or whatever, and days 2-3-4 a day each for MK, EPCOT, and DHS, and fly home day 5.

What I am wondering is if we go sometime between Tuesday December 7 and Monday December 13, are the crowds much different on the weekend days than they are on the weekdays. My wife is a teacher so she will be missing more work if we want to avoid weekends, but because the trip is so short, we want to minimize crowds if at all possible. We also want to be guaranteed a day for MVMCP.

I was thinking that crowds would be about the same since that weekend (Dec 10 & 11) would still be during school for most people, but I thought I would seek counsel from the experts.

[faline]

I've gone a number of times during that time frame and have always found it to be a good time to go. Even though more folks are visiting during that time than in years past, it is certainly before the holiday crowds hit.

If you attend a Christmas party on a Friday night, you might find that pretty quiet as many locals go to weekend parties. Overall, though, I think you will find the parks quite manageable.

[jensantuit]

We just went last December for the first time, we went Dec. 6th to the 12th. During the week it was not very crowded, we saw a definite difference between during the week and the weekend. Our last day in the parks was a Saturday and we did not get much accomplished due to the huge crowds. I would suggest going during the week if you can and you will be able to maximize your time there. :mickey:

[The Flying Dutchman]

We just went last December for the first time, we went Dec. 6th to the 12th. During the week it was not very crowded, we saw a definite difference between during the week and the weekend. Our last day in the parks was a Saturday and we did not get much accomplished due to the huge crowds. I would suggest going during the week if you can and you will be able to maximize your time there. :mickey:

I agree. During the week, it was very pleasant. During the weekends, we found it to be much more crowded (although, IMHO I don't think it was any worse than late July in terms of crowds AND it is much easier to deal with the crowds when its not 90 degrees with 90% humidity!)

[goofygirl67]

The weekday is less crowded and the better time to go. The weekends are allright as long as you keep clear of the MK. I have started the last few times at MK only to leave due to the crowds. I usually go to EPCOT ot DTD instead.

[KODABEAR]

:snowman:We go early Dec every year and the crowds are much greater starting Friday afternoon-Sunday night. :candy: Start out when the parks open and then return for the party at MK if you are going.:tree: We always plan for large crowds and are pleasantly surprised when they aren't.:stock::santa:

[eeyorepoohfan]

My hubby and I went last December 10-15, Thursday - Tuesday, and the crowds were very easy to manage!!! I don't think I really noticed much of a difference between the weekdays vs the weekend crowds, just a slight increase in crowds. :thumbsup: We were pleasantly surprised! Of course you can never see or do EVERYTHING at Disney World in one trip. But we were able to get much of our must see/do accomplished! Wait times were less than 20 minutes the entire trip. :cloud9: With the exception of Toy Story (which we got a fastpass for and waited about 15 minutes) and Soarin' (it was during EMH and no fastpasses, we waited about 40 minutes). We had many circumstances where we walked onto most of the rides.

My sister, her hubby and nearly 5 year old were there during the week before us (starting Dec 7th) and they said they walked onto most things too. :mickey: They thought it was starting to get crowded at the end of their trip (around when we were starting ours) but we felt it was very reasonable and manageable!

I am trying to see if we can get back there again this year or next. We loved loved loved the Christmas feel and decorations around the parks and resorts. :santa3:

[mom2morgan]

We've gone twice around that time. Honestly, I found the crowds quite manageable all days EXCEPT the Thursday of the Very Merry party. MK was packed (comparitively) that day. The reason for that is that it has the "usual" group, and then the people arriving for the party come in, so they're all there at the same time. My strategy would be to spend most of the day at a different park, and then come right before the party starts, when the regular crowds have been 'dismissed' ;-) The Saturday crowds also seem a little worse at MK than at the other parks, so you might want to work around that. I think Epcot is a good bet on the Saturday, since it tends to feel less crowded - but honestly, that early in December I think you'll really enjoy it.The big crowds dont' really seem to start picking up until the 15th or so.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

Thanks to everyone for your help. It looks like we are going to try and arrive Tuesday and depart Saturday, especially since Tuesday & Saturday appear to be cheaper days for airfare.

We will just try to make sure that our Friday park is HS or EPCOT so that we avoid MK.

Thanks again.