Back from Dec 2-12. Higher Crowds This Year????

We just got back from our trip Dec 2-12. We chose early december because of the supposed light crowds and holiday decorations. I gotta say we were quite surprised at how packed the parks were. Kind of disappointing, the crowds were much lighter in Nov '06 and Nov '03.

Christmas parade crowds were huge, and lengthened due to rain. Pop Warner kids showed up around the 5th. Brazilians showed up the 10th. Toy Story Mania was impossible unless you nabbed a fastpass in the first 2 hours of the day. Test track & Soarin were constantly over 50 mins. We did manage some walk-ons to SSE, Splash Mtn, POTC. Mostly early in the morning and late at night. Thank goodness for extra magic hours and fastpass!

I don't know if it's the deals Disney is pumping out, or people needed an escape from the down economy or what. I actually expected it to be lower because of the recession. Or maybe people are catching onto the lower December crowds idea. Looks like 2012 for us will be back to mid November, or perhaps October.

What do you think? Is it busier this year than normal? I really don't want to go back in Dec if the crowds are that crazy (well, crazy to me, I'm a little crowd'straphobic).

 

[lovepooh]

We were also there from the Dec 2-11. I have mixed feelings about the crowds. It seemed like MK was packed all the time. The other parks didn't seem quite so bad. I think the Parade and Pop Warner caused the majority of the crowds. I would go in Dec again but probably a week later around the 14th. The parade is done and the Pop warner is done. I am sure its more quite at least I hope so. I agree however it did seem pretty busy for decemeber their slowest month.

Toy Story Mania the new ride was nutz! 80 minute wait times and the fast pass was crazy. We got our fast pass at 11a and it was for 730p at night.
But we were planning a all day at Studios so it was the last thing we did. What a blast of a ride. No wonder its busy!

 

[thegreenfairy]

I just got back, we were down there Dec 10-13 at CBR, at the parks the 11th and 12th. This is about my 30th trip to Disney, third time this year, and it was terrible. I will never go back in December again, and I was hugely disappointed in MVMCP. The CP and dancing lights were not what I was expecting either, mostly due to poor cast member interaction and just generally poor crowd control/organization, IMHO.

I am just shocked that my experience down there last weekend was so totally different from any other Disney experience I have had (including during spring break weeks). At MVMCP, we didn't have our wristbands checked once, and while waiting for the Hall of Presidents my husband and I struck up a conversation with several people waiting around us, and NO ONE had wristbands. We essentially spent over $100 on top of park tickets for something that a lot of people got for free. Due to lines we never were even able to get the 'free' hot chocolate or cookies.

I guess I just don't know how to really react to the whole situation. The experience was just terrible. I would specifically like to give feedback to Disney regarding the MVMCP, but I am just so frustrated that I am not sure if they would care....my husband who as not into Disney as I am, but supportive of my 'habit' was irate, and was shocked that someone like me, who thinks everything Disney touches turns to gold, would be so upset over it.

I think it's time to give up the parks for awhile....oh well. Glad to know I wasn't the only one floored by the crowds.

 

[lovepooh]

We were on the fence about the MVMCP so we decided there was so much more to do christmas wise at all the parks. I personally didn't feel like I missed out on anything. Now I am glad that we didn't go to the party.

I really thought the crowds would be a lot lighter. I was looking forward to it! Oh well its disney and I was just happy to be there!

 

[corey154]

I think free dining helped pack in the crowds this year. I know some people booked their packages for this time of year back when free dining was offered. We go every year in december for Christmas and I noticed bigger crowds this year too. Monday my Mom went to Hollywood studios and they said it was pretty crowded...Toy Story Mania...80 minutes!! I do miss those days when you could go in December with no crowds! I have to say though we did MVMCP on the 10th and it wasn't bad at all. They did check our wrist bands and we even seen people denied access on rides right around the 7pm hour. We timed the rides to the lines with the parades and such and it ended up our longest wait for a ride was peter pan and that was only 15 minutes. You just had to watch what rides you went on at which time...I LOVED being able to go right on most of the rides without any wait, and those with waits were only 10-15 min...I thought it was great...but that was just the one night that we went.

 

[draybook]

I know that they didn't check on the 8th, because that was our first night of the MVMCP and it was wall to wall people. there was even a line at Arthur's sword trying to pull it out, now that's nuts. We are NEVER going back in December. Between the cheerleaders, foreigners and rest of the crowds, we'll just go in September again. The longest wait we had last year in September was Peter Pan at 15 minutes at it's peak. More on these things to come in my trip report.

 

[wm49rs]

I'm sorry to hear that the parks were so crowded.We were originally supposed to go down between the 12-19 of December, but had to reschedule because my daughter caught H1N1. I would be interested to hear if there's been any reduction in the crowds size now that Pop Warner and the parade taping are all wrapped up.....

 

[lovepooh]

I agree I would also be intrested if the crowd size went down this week.
After all both the POP and Parade is done. I know it usually gets busy again the week of Christmas. But my line of thinking this is probably the slower week.

 

[luvlifeinfl]

HI All,

My family was at WDW Nov. 21-30 and I know we had Thanksgiving in there, but we have been to WDW during the 4th of July and we have seen crowds. The crowds on this trip were just plan crazy. The weekend of the 28th & 29th we started to see the Pop Warner, Marching bands & cheerleaders were starting to trickle in the groups we unsupervised and just plain disrespectful.

The day we were in DHS we did not even get to ride TSM, by 11am FP was gone. Then w/ the evening EMH's the line was at 90 min. This park gives me a headache since it is smaller & it always seems to be elbow 2 elbow folks.

So Agree w/ above comment that I think the Free Dining brought alot of folks in. With that we found that in some of the TS locations the servers were not at their best, we even had at the 50's Prime Time the server was barley seen I even had to stop another waitress to get drink refills. When the bill came we paid $20.00 tip in cash & then when we recieved our bill at checkouton departure we noticed a 27.00 for gratuity from that location, we took it to the front desk & they only refunded us 10.00, so this waitress got $37.00, mind you the bill for 3 of us was 98.00, so this lady got a 37% tip..

We also just found on this trip that the customer service is not on the top of their game.

I will say we were happy we got to see the decorations for our very 1st time and we also paid 188.00 to go to the MVMCP & we saw some folks w/ wrist bands & some with not. They were not even checking them.

So I believe this was going on before you all arrived.

 

[lovepooh]

You know I have to agree about the servers. We ate at the following locations....

Coral Reef- Great service!!! He earned his tip!
Captain Grille at the Yacht club- Good Service.- Not terrific..
Chef Mickey's- Good Service- Not Terrific
The Wave- Not freindly at all... and the food was kind of icky!
Mama's Melrose- Good service but our kid got sick and they were so understanding they got a GOOD TIP!!!
Le Cellier - Good Service not terrific.
Donald's Breakfast at Tusker House- Good Service not terrific
Cap'n Jacks- Not Bad Service

The Coral reef is the only location I can say that the service was outstanding! This was the first time we have traveled to the world since the dinning plan didn't include the tip. Honestly I thought we would get much better service, since the servers depend on us for their tips.

The Cast members at the hotel were still awesome! Never ran into a rude castmemeber at the parks. I agree about TSM. We got their at 11am and our fastpass was at 730p that night! Nuts let me tell ya but since we had planned to spend all day at that park it was the last thing we did.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Hey guys, you should all definitely complain about the not checking wrist bands thing! They need to know how unfair that is. When my husband and I went to the Halloween party, a CM asked us on the way in if we would be willing to participate in an email survey about the party. I was so glad I said yes because it gave me the chance to voice all my complaints. If enough people do it, hopefully they will start righting some of these wrongs!

 

[kittybubbles]

We've been to a few parties over the years and I think Disney does check wrist bands, but a lot of guest just do not notice they are checking them. I imagine someone could get by w/o a wrist band if they are able to avoid detection for the first couple hours of the party though.

From what I have observed, it seems when 7PM hits, Disney sort of sweeps the park. When I've been back towards Fantasy Land, it seems a few teams of CM's come out, a bunch line up at any entrance point to FL while others walk through and clear areas like toontown forcing folks w/o bands towards the front of the park.

On hot nights (like when we were there on 12/13) when folks have on short sleeve shirts, the CMs just look for your wrist bands...on colder nights when everyone has jackets on, the check is more intrusive as the CM will ask to see your wrist band.

I really can't speak for the nights you all were there, but from my experiences, I really do think Disney does use a very strategic method of clearing the park (including escorting folks w/o wrist bands out or to city hall to buy tickets)

 

[draybook]

Well I know first hand that on the 8th they didn't check squat and there weren't any CM's out looking. On the 11th we had a CM tell us that the 11th was sold out and yet there was about 25% less people that night as opposed to the 8th, which wasn't sold out.

 

[DecWDW]

Hmm, I went to the party on the 8th and was asked several times to see my wristband. We also had plenty of opportunities to get the hot chocolate and cookies. We had a nice vantage point to see the parade without having to wait more than 30 minutes before. We even ambled over to a good viewing spot for the fireworks. Maybe my idea of "wall to wall" is different because I thought it was ok.

The only problem I had was the CMs at DHS. The guy at the little coffee thing at the entrance and a couple of them in Starring Roles? Helllooo? Anybody home? When I met up with my friends later, they said they had a few encounters also.

 

[marcriss]

We were at MVMCP on the 8th & the 10th and both were really good. I think the 8th was a little less crowded, and CRT was only half full. I don't think we waited more than 5 minutes for anything. Wishes was crowded, but that's to be expected. The only things we never got on at MK were Pan and SM (but we have 2 kids who wouldn't ride so that was more our poor timing).

Definitely agree about TSM, we never got on. Pop Warner and Brazilian Tours were more noticeable to me this year too. Had to ask to ride a separate float on Kali to avoid the squealing and potential over exposure from skimpy bikinis (I rode with my almost 8 yr old son).

 

[draybook]

I don't know what parks you guys were at but on the 8th at the MK all the rides were at 20-30 minutes and then some. I think the lowest we saw was Small World at 10 or 15. I know because I literally have a 2 inch stack of Fastpasses that we didn't get to use because even FP lines were 5-10 minutes each.:shrug:

 

[plattjas]

We didn't do the MVMCP, but we were in Cosmic Ray's eating one night when they started the dance. They started going through the place and checking for wristbands at about 7:30.

I'm glad we got the free dining this year. But after the experience, I think I'd rather pay a few hundred more to have less crowds.

Here's another thing I noticed. What's with all the broken AA's? Barbossa wants to hide his head behind his arm in POTC. And the last Jack Sparrow looks like he's on drugs. Zazu has a half closed lazy eye in the enchanted tiki hut. Test track was always broken. And when it wasn't, it was 70 minutes. Soarin's video quality is getting terrible. Finally rode EE for the first time, and to our disappointment all you could see of the yeti was a flashing strobe light of his face. Fantastic. Seems like Dinosaur is missing some effects.

Seems to me like Disney is more concerned with packing in the crowds and making as much money as possible, than keeping up their reputation of a magical experience. I'd say it's tarnished.

 

[stefan74]

We were there December 5-12 thinking it would be a slow time of the year. WRONG!!! It was the busiest I have seen. I have been for Thanksgving in 88, 04, 06 and thought it would be lighter crowds first week in December. I asked my travel agent and she told me, most likely it was due to the great dining deals Disney had out as well as Pop Warner. Also, the day we were leaving, December 12, it was the busiest I had ever seen it on one day. Epcot was crowded and we had to wait to ride Test Track for about an hour! Could not believe it!

Will never go back the first week in December...although I do love the Christmas decorations and music! Trying for March 2011, during Mardi Gras in Louisiana, so hoping for lighter crowds.

Thank goodness for fastpasses and touring plans! We were able to get on all of the major rides using fastpass and the touring plans. I could not believe how fast the fastpasses for Toy Story Mania would run out. One day we were there, they ran out at 12 noon and the wait was 110 minutes. That was the longest wait we had seen while in the world.

All in all, it was a magical experience my family and I will never forget!

Have Magical Dreams!:snore:

 

[talfonso]

I was there (the MK) on the 6th - and it was CRRRRAAAAAAAAZZZZZYYYYYY! I faced a long line in the TTC for our monorail that matched my Christmas Red shirt (yes, Monorail Red), saw filming equipment all over the place, and saw swells of crows congesting Main Street USA. The crowds and equipment, along with all the decor bedecking the front of Cinderella Castle, were tell-tale signs that I was there when they filmed the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade! (I was relieved to miss some of it due to going to Christmas Mass in the morning instead of midnight so I don't have to see my mug on ABC!) I saw the Jonas Brothers on the castle Forecourt Stage (believe me!) whilst buying cocoa for me and Muetti and heading to Space Mountain, which was recently refurbished at that time. the line was fairly short, so I rode it without a hitch. I went to the TTA to kill time before using my Fastpass for Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, then I headed to Stitch's Great Escape, which was a walk-on! We headed to Mickey's Philharmagic, but technical difficulties made us walk out of there, then we waited in some long line to "it's a small world" (I survived).

After photo ops and all that, I headed to the Haunted Mansion, where the queue stretched almost to the segment of the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade (based on the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party). Fortunately, the line moved rather quickly. The last ride of the day was on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, where the wait time was 60 minutes - I saw a few Pop Warner Scholars here and there, even on queue, but they were mostly well-behaved. We headed home after that because:

1. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party was starting in a matter of hours, which meant that we don't have tix for that.
2. The parade filming!!!

On a very fortunate note, there were no Brazilian tour groups or Argentinean youth herds around there!

 

[Horizons19]

We just got back from our trip Dec 2-12. We chose early december because of the supposed light crowds and holiday decorations. I gotta say we were quite surprised at how packed the parks were. Kind of disappointing, the crowds were much lighter in Nov '06 and Nov '03.

Christmas parade crowds were huge, and lengthened due to rain. Pop Warner kids showed up around the 5th. Brazilians showed up the 10th. Toy Story Mania was impossible unless you nabbed a fastpass in the first 2 hours of the day. Test track & Soarin were constantly over 50 mins. We did manage some walk-ons to SSE, Splash Mtn, POTC. Mostly early in the morning and late at night. Thank goodness for extra magic hours and fastpass!

I don't know if it's the deals Disney is pumping out, or people needed an escape from the down economy or what. I actually expected it to be lower because of the recession. Or maybe people are catching onto the lower December crowds idea. Looks like 2012 for us will be back to mid November, or perhaps October.

What do you think? Is it busier this year than normal? I really don't want to go back in Dec if the crowds are that crazy (well, crazy to me, I'm a little crowd'straphobic).

We were there for 2 weeks - 2nd & 3rd weeks of Dec. (arrived 12/6) and it was more crowded than years past (and we go every Dec so I know). I think it was because of the free dinning and other promotions.