If you could pick any 6 days during the holidays....

[3girlswdwdreams]

.... to go to WDW.... what days would you pick... taking into consideration low crowds/wait time as the most important factor?

Hi everyone... we are trying to plan a trip for our family... 3 girls ages 5, 3 and 1. everytime I think we have settled on dates something makes me second guess...

We are trying to avoid Thanksgiving of course, the parade taping and the first week of Dec... like, the 1 - 10 is pop warner (yes, we're staying at value)..and also mouse fest the 6 - 10 i believe.

I thought I had settled on the 11-16.. but now wondering if that is too close to Christmas and it will be getting more crowded by then.

Should I give up on Christmas time and just go for the free dining in Sept... I really am reluctant to deal with the heat and humidity, and hurricane season, with the kids being so young and will be overwhelmed as it is...I don't want hot, sweaty cranky kids and parents.

if anyone has any guidance for my poor soul (LOL) on when would be best for a family of 5 with 3 young children... I would greatly appreciate it!! We are pretty flexible...but were trying to hit value season and would love to see the Christmas party/parade.. but not 100% set on it if another time would be better.

thanks so much!

 

[surfsupdon]

You should be fine from 11-16 in December. Crowds don't heavily descend until the week that contains the actual Christmas Holiday and they stay thick until a few days into January. Schools are in session for your week too, which is another bonus.

Have a really nice Christmas trip to Disney with your family. They are my favorites!!

 

[3girlswdwdreams]

thanks... that makes me feel better!! LOL

If you don't mind another question...

would it be better to go Tue-Sun or Wed-Mon..

the first I am thinking we get an extra full weekday, but may be chaotic checking out, transportation, airport on a sunday... which would be the reason to leave on Monday.

 

[GHOST1000]

our family alternates between the week of halloween (which surprisingly isn't that bad altough it is getting more popular w/ MNSSHP recently ), still warm enough to do the water parks if you want and less crowded and no humidity, and the first week in Nov.( food and wine fest going on:slurp: ) and the week after thanksgiving. Crowds drop off dramatically that week because noone has off. Love that time, less crowds, christmas stuff is up , and has a whole different feel to Disney. Hope it helps, good luck.

 

[ErickainPA]

We loved the 2nd week in December. You can see all the decorations and yet the crowds are low. We were still in value season as well. We stayed until the first day of the peak season pricing (usually a few days before Christmas) and the crowds started up. We also went from Christmas Eve til the 28th and had a good time but the wait times were crazy.

 

[3girlswdwdreams]

thanks!! that is a big help!! I thought about Halloween as well... isn't value season.. but maybe i'll price it and see if it's a big difference.

Have you ever been there during a parade taping.. and/or have any issues with pop warner that week??

I keep thinking if we go that week our last day will most likely be a parade taping day.. and I would probably want to take the kids to MK on our last day... but not with all that going on.

 

[3girlswdwdreams]

Thanks so much Erika!!! that's encouraging!!

 

[ErickainPA]

We neverfaced the Pop Warner or the parade tapings. Having just been at WDW this last week, we never will stay at AS Sports again (was not our choice, was what was left of value resorts). There were so many teams of baseball players and other athletes around. The pool was full of them playing ball, the football field they were playing baseball and football almost hit a family in the head with a ball as they sat on the side. They are noisy and rude.

 

[3girlswdwdreams]

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of going then.. being at the same hotel. We were going to try to stay at pop century.

Do you have any reccomendations on that second week of whether it would be better to stay tue - sun, or wed - mon?? (11th - 16th or 12th -17th)

thanks.

 

[Space Ranger]

We went Dec 1 - 10, 2005. This was during Pop Warner and the taping of parts of the Christamas Special. This was a fine time to be at the parks. It reminded me alot of Sept. crowd levels. I didn't feel that Pop Warner particularly had much effect - every so often you'd run into a fairly small group of kids. I would say that the weekends were definitely the busiest. It seemed like people would come for Sat & Sun to enjoy the decorations at the park, but much less crowded during the week.

Keep in mind that Mouse Fest draws a couple hundred extra people to the parks out of 10's of thousands that are there on any given day. I do not believe that Mouse Fest has a dramatic effect on attendence levels.

I don't see any reason that I would not return to the parks during that time again.

thanks... that makes me feel better!! LOL

the first I am thinking we get an extra full weekday, but may be chaotic checking out, transportation, airport on a sunday... which would be the reason to leave on Monday.

We flew home on a Sunday on that Trip. Not a problem. Orlando is a big airport. Particulary if you've never flown out of Orlando, if you plan on getting to the airport 2-3 hours before your flight leaves, the extra time will help ease most stress. I would rather have an extra weekday at the parks. Arrive at the airport a little extra early and you'll be fine.

Actually, the worst problem I've had flying out of Orlando was in Sept. There was a huricane coming the next day and everyone was trying to change their flights to get out ahead of it. Now that was chaos!

 

[3girlswdwdreams]

Thank you, thank you!! that is great info... I really was leaning for the extra weekday.. so good to know it shouldn't be too crazy if we plan ahead to leave on Sunday.

 

[ErickainPA]

We went from the 13th - 20th of December, which was a Thursday - Thursday. It was not too crowded on the weekends, since it was low crowd season.

 

[happymom52003]

We have always gone to Disney in the spring or early fall until last December. We went the first week and LOVED it! The crowds were very low on the weekdays, the weather was awesome, and the decorations were amazing. We will always be going during the first part of December from now on, even though it will mean taking the kids out of school. It is well worth it! The parade is usually taped the first weekend of December. I highly suggest avoiding the Magic Kingdom that weekend. It is very crowded, and getting around the park can be tricky because Main Street and the Castle area are blocked off part of the time. When we entered the park on that Saturday, we were rerouted BEHIND the buildings on Main Street into Tommorow Land, which meant we missed out on stepping onto Main Street and seeing the view of the castle. As far as which days to go, we have found that unless it is the end of a holiday (e.g. the last Sunday of Spring Break), there is not a huge difference in the crowds at the Orlando airport. We usually like to use a weekend day for traveling since the parks are less crowded on weekdays. I know you will have a great time! Out of my nine trips to Disney, going in December was by far my favorite!

 

[imallearsgurl]

We went last year from December 9-16 and had a great time! It was perfect because Pop Warner and the parade taping had been the week before, and the crowds were light throughout most of our trip. We started seeing the crowds pick up slightly during our last couple of days, but for the most part we enjoyed little or no lines.

Which is good, because I LOVE WDW, but I HATE being around tons of people :drevil: .

Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[3girlswdwdreams]

:sohappy: You guys have been SO wonderful!! thank you!!

we're going for it... Tue the 11th - Sun the 16th. wish we could do a little longer.. but I think this will be a GREAT first trip for our family.... and 5 nights with all of us in one hotel room will be plently for DH and I to take. ROFL

Now, the hard part... WAITING!!!! UGH!

thanks again!!

 

[AutumnKlassic]

Sunday airline tickets can be a whole lot higher than anyother day of the week. So I would look into the tickets price difference