December 3-12 Crowds (Pop Warner, etc.)

[WDWFigment]

We will be taking a trip this December, and are debating whether to go December 3-12 or the week immediately before it. We know that historically the crowds are light this time of year, with the exception of Thanksgiving weekend. Additionally, TouringPlans.com shows both weeks as being 1-3, with the exception of Thanksgiving weekend.

However, we received a PIN code in our email and the 2-11 is blacked out. In the free dining extension released today, it's similarly blacked out (well, if we checked in on the 2nd, we'd apply...but we don't really want it).

I assume these dates are blackout based on current bookings and anticipated crowd levels (i.e. no reason to offer a discount since bookings look good for that week).

We'd rather not go the 27th-5th, but it's looking like it may actually be less busy (and we'd be able to use our PIN code rather than booking through a CM friend). Any thoughts on crowd levels for that period?

 

[RiversideBunny]

I don't think you will have a problem with the week after Thanksgiving week, after the Thanksgiving crowd leaves.
That time is a much better choice than during the time of Christmas Day to New Year's Day.

Sometimes there is a problem for people whose kids don't get out of school until later in December.

 

[marcriss]

We're going the 4th-14th, and we've gone the same basic 10days the last 5 years I think. Each year has been a little more crowded, but I don't expect it to be too crazy. The closer you get to Christmas the worse it gets.

Someone speculated earlier that free dining would be excluded because of Pop Warner. I guess there'd be no way to exclude them from free dining if it's offered to the GP. Since we don't generally encounter too many of them it may be a good week to go, and the restaurants may not be jammed. Fortunately we booked a bounceback offer so the discount isn't an issue for us.

 

[WDWFigment]

Thanks!

I guess I should clarify a bit, which will be worse crowds-wise: a trip that includes the Saturday and Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend but not Pop Warner, or a trip that includes Pop Warner but not Thanksgiving weekend?

Obviously Thanksgiving weekend is going to be insane and much worse than the following weekend. However, is the week of Pop Warner going to be significantly worse than the previous week(days) to justify bearing the crowds for those two days of Thanksgiving weekend?

Initially, I thought the clear-cut answer was that the Pop Warner week would be better, but given that week (but not the previous week) being blacked out, I'm not so sure.

We know Christmas, New Year's, etc. are bad--we plan on going well prior to Christmas (either Nov 27th-Dec 5th or Dec 3rd-12th) so they aren't really relevant. Relative to one another only, which week should be better?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

Tom, I've done a ton of research on the first week of December because we will be down there from Dec 3-12 this year. I'm hearing that the value resorts are nightmares, but the parks in general are not too bad. Crowds are lighter and most of the Pop Warner people have events they attend during the days and are not out too late in the parks at night. I've also heard the restaurants are not crowded at all. I saw somewhere that the first week of December is the #2 week of the year for light crowds. Good luck and maybe we will see you there...

 

[MEyeSeeKayEY]

Tom,
Hopefully this will help.
Here is a link to a thread where I asked a simialr question about those dates earlier this year...

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=564138

 

[Nemo14]

The other thing to consider, Tom, is that the filming for the Christmas parade will be going on during the first weekend of December. We'll be there that weekend, but are planning to avoid MK except for a MVMCP.

 

[C&B Young]

We're going from December 1-9, and were nervous about the Pop Warner crowds too. From what I've read the only real impact is if you're at a resort that the teams are staying at. This was initially a concern for us because we were planning on staying at POFQ, but with the release of free dining (and the lack of availability at POFQ) we're now staying at AKL. We're going to avoid the MK during parade taping days at all costs, though!

 

[lilclerk]

I was there the 3rd - 10th last year, and we never really noticed the Pop Warner kids except in the parks at night. They didn't seem to be a problem.

Crowds weren't bad. The worst lines we saw were unfortunately at the MVMCP we attented (a Tuesday night!) That was a bit disappointing. Other than that, the waits weren't bad at all.
Something to keep in mind is if the hotels are booked, those people aren't necessarily going to be taking up space in the parks. If there's a lot of conventions going on at that time, Disney won't need to offer discounts to book up the hotel rooms, however the parks may not be crowded at all.

 

[swrtrr]

I would take the Thanksgiving crowds over the Pop Warner thugs any time. We were there during Pop Warner week last December and I have never seen a worse group of unsupervised little thugs, and it seemed like the ones that were supervised, were supervised by adults (I use that term loosely) who were just as bad as the ones they were supposed to be supervising. If you can deal with the language (every other word was a curse word), line cutting and overall thug attitude, this is not a bad time to go. This was the experience that we had with them. Just my .02

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I would take the Thanksgiving crowds over the Pop Warner thugs any time. We were there during Pop Warner week last December and I have never seen a worse group of unsupervised little thugs, and it seemed like the ones that were supervised, were supervised by adults (I use that term loosely) who were just as bad as the ones they were supposed to be supervising. If you can deal with the language (every other word was a curse word), line cutting and overall thug attitude, this is not a bad time to go. This was the experience that we had with them. Just my .02

Great...we can deal with the cursing and some of the bad behavior, but line cutting is such a hot button issue for DH and myself...and it looks like a chunk of our trip will coincide w/Pop Warner. Hopefully, they won't be out much during the day like the other posters noted. The last time anyone cut us in line anywhere- we got the police involved to make the situation right. Granted, it was a very different non-Disney situation, but still- I don't want a trip with any of that.

 

[gallerie]

We will be there Dec 5th-9th. Not really worried about crowds. had trouble getting into a couple restaurants at the time we want though. I love WDW at christmas and going early December with less crowds makes it more magical!!

 

[DisneyFan1003]

I'm interested in everyone's opinions as well since we are planning to take our daughter the first week of December (2011) for her 2nd birthday...we've never been down in early December, so this Pop Warner stuff is news to me!

Also, Tom - I'm going to plead "stupidity" on this one - what's the PIN code?

 

[marcriss]

We had very little Pop Warner interaction (but we stayed at YC). I think we ran into one cheering group at MVMCP (probably that same Tuesday) and one Brazillian group of barely dressed teen girls at AK/Kali River Rapids.

There were a couple of conventions at our hotel, so maybe that does play into things.

 

[corey154]

It's a toss up, we always go for MVMCP the first week of december, but over the years it's gotten more crowded. (I miss the days when we could go to Disney and there were no crowds..lol) Dec 1st-3rd has been good to us in the past.

Biggest factor would depend what hotel you're planning on staying at. We went last year during pop warner week (we stayed dec 9-11th due to work schedule), it was a short two night trip and only went to MK. We were staying in a cabin at Ft Wilderness. The only pop kids we ran into were in the park but we never had any issues with them. (My little picture in the corner was from this past dec trip) The day we went to MVMCP we arrived about 430Pm and MK seemed busy, but crowds died out fast. I have no idea what the other parks looked like though.

I've tried to figure out what I'd do if it was me trying to book for my family and I have no idea...glad I could help huh? lol, sorry!!!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I'm interested in everyone's opinions as well since we are planning to take our daughter the first week of December (2011) for her 2nd birthday...we've never been down in early December, so this Pop Warner stuff is news to me!

Also, Tom - I'm going to plead "stupidity" on this one - what's the PIN code?

I could be wrong, but I think he's talking about PINs that were sent out to people about a month ago. The PIN I got was for a 40% discount on room rates, but as OP stated- it excluded certain dates- similar to the free dining that was just announced. I don't know about PINs by email, but we got ours by mail and it was Monsters Inc. themed. And of course- it excluded our travel dates. Not sure how they decide who is sent these PINs. :shrug: And if OP was referring to some other PIN- well, them I'm clueless about that.

 

[disneygirl1]

Hey Tom, first off, congrats to you and Sarah!!! We will be there the 3rd to the 11th this year!!! This will be the 2nd time we went during POP Warner week and I have to be honest, it was not bad at all... They are rarely in the parks during the day b/c that is when they compete, and unless you are saying at a value resort. I think you will be fine!

 

[dclick4968]

We've been that exact same week for the past 3 years. Although the crowds appear heavy (I.E. walking down Main Street), the wait times were SUPER low (I.E. 20 mins for Peter Pan, less than 30mins for Mtns, etc.). Each of the past 3 years have increased in attendance (or so it seems), but still VERY light compared to T'giving weekend.