When to go in December?

[tink68]

Hi everyone. :wave: I have not been on here in awhile and I hope everyone is doing well and had a wonderful holiday.
I have a few questions for you experts on DW.
We were not going to go to DW this year but have decided to maybe try for December. Is it better to go Dec 17-23rd or Dec 26-Jan 1? I have heard about the week after Christmas being the busiest but how is the week before? Also where should we stay? Our choices are Shades of Green (any reviews of this would be great-we have never stayed here), GF, Poly or honestly any deluxe. We have stayed at Contemporary, WL and YC before so a different one would be great. We have decided that if we go at this time we want to stay deluxe so that when we take our daily breaks it is easier to get back to our hotel. We have a 14 yr old and a 5 yr old so daily breaks will be done. I know sometimes parks reach capacity and as long as you stay on property you can get in. Does this include Shades of Green?
Another option for us is to go in August (hot-yuck) LOL or wait until March 2011 and go during Spring Break .
Any reviews, suggestions, etc would be great. Thanks for your help and everyone have a great day.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Thanks for all your info. We just booked Shades of Green for Dec 17-23rd. :sohappy: The price was just too good to pass up. No dining but that is ok. I have basically a year to save. :lol: I would love to try the Christmas Party if we can and we plan on only getting 4 day PH tkts and taking one day to see all the decorations in all the hotels, in fact we may do that on our last day when it starts getting more crowded in the parks. Does Fantasmic show during Dec? My son really wants to see it. Thanks for all your help.

Yes, Fantasmic does have shows although they are now not every night. This has caused a lot of complaints, so when the shows are performed next December is up in the air.
I would suggest you do a Fantasmic dinner package to have an easier time getting a seat. Put it on your list to check back to confirm dates next fall.

 

[tink65]

Thanks for all your info. We just booked Shades of Green for Dec 17-23rd. :sohappy: The price was just too good to pass up. No dining but that is ok. I have basically a year to save. :lol: I would love to try the Christmas Party if we can and we plan on only getting 4 day PH tkts and taking one day to see all the decorations in all the hotels, in fact we may do that on our last day when it starts getting more crowded in the parks. Does Fantasmic show during Dec? My son really wants to see it. Thanks for all your help.

We went to the MVMCP when we were there in Dec and it was really nice....but they didn't close the park then reopen for the party. Basically, everyone who was already at Magic Kingdom stayed. I thought is was grossly unfair to those of us who actually purchased tickets. They saw the same shows and watched the same parades as we did. They couldn't ride any rides, eat the cookies & hot chocolate or do any of the special character meet and greets without the party arm band but IMHO it was not worth the $166 my family paid to get in!! That's some expensive cookies & cocoa! There was a gentleman standing next to us while we were waiting for the parade who actually commented that he would hate to think that he'd paid extra to see this...........Several years ago we went to the MNSSHP and the MK actually closed at 5pm and reopened at 7pm for the party. That is the way I think it should be done for any special ticketed event that is offered.

 

[zurgandfriend]

Went the first week in December 2007 and it was great. There were NO crowds on weekday, weekend were busy. The weather was warm and we went to the pool every day.

 

[tink68]

Thanks everyone for all your advice. I am so excited that we get to go back. Really wanted to stay at the Poly or Beach Club but money is too tight. But I will be at Disney World for Christmas...I think I can suffer thru it. :lol:
Also I am really excited to stay at Shades of Green. It looks really nice and very much like a Deluxe. Just wish we could get the meal plan.

 

[harryk]

Have been going in December for the past 9 years. Alternating between the 1st and 2d week depending on my annual pass. Both weeks have lighter than usual crowds. Went week before Christmas 2 years ago to check it out and found it too crowded and finally bit the bullet this past December and went from the 23d to 30th. I had heard that the crowds were very large - but I could not believe that it would be that crowded. Never again. Lines were excessively long. 90 minutes for Haunted Mansion, 85 for Small World, 2 hours for the new Pixar ride at Hollywood Studios for example.
The Very Merry Christmas Party was finished so settled on the day-time Christmas Parade (looses a lot of it's charm in day as opposed to night).
Castle was beautiful anyway. Have reservations for 7-14 Dec this year.
(We shall bring warm clothing just in case.) :xmas::xmas:

 

[mls]

If I had to pick...

I would go the week before. I'm considering the same week. I was there the week in between in 2008 and 2006. 2008 was the worst! They had some special for Florida residents (to fill it up) and at one point, there were 3 rooms left available on the property. There were a few days that we just stayed at the hotel to avaoid the crowds.

 

[JEANYLASER]

thanks for the info!

 

[tink68]

Hi everyone.
Rather then start a new thread I figured I would just use this one again since it is about the same trip. We are now thinking of moving our Dec trip to March 2011. We can stay longer and have more time to do other things if we do this. How are the crowds and do they ever offer free dining at this time? And yes I do know this is Spring Break time.
Also my hubby and I are thinking of taking a trip alone April 29th-May 3rd. Never been during this time so any info would be great to have.
Thanks :wave:

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Tink68
The April-May time is a great time to go. Warmed up pretty well but in between Easter and school out, so not real crowded.

As for March, it varies alot depending on when in March and how the holidays fall. Spring break isn't so bad as it is spread out over much of the month of March. When it coincides with Easter however....not so easy to manage. Best time is 1st or 2nd week in March. IMHO of course!

Neither time is historically known for free dining, but both do offer room rate specials of different sorts, depending. March through Mid May is Flower and Garden festival which is a nice extra if you haven't seen it. Good free concerts in Epcot along with that.

 

[tink68]

Tink68
The April-May time is a great time to go. Warmed up pretty well but in between Easter and school out, so not real crowded.

As for March, it varies alot depending on when in March and how the holidays fall. Spring break isn't so bad as it is spread out over much of the month of March. When it coincides with Easter however....not so easy to manage. Best time is 1st or 2nd week in March. IMHO of course!

Neither time is historically known for free dining, but both do offer room rate specials of different sorts, depending. March through Mid May is Flower and Garden festival which is a nice extra if you haven't seen it. Good free concerts in Epcot along with that.

Thanks for the info. Now if I can just get my parents to agree to babysit the kids for the April/May trip. :lol:
Also, do you know when I can make March 2011 resv? Would it be March of this year? 1 year in advance?

 

[draybook]

I think the main thing here is to establish what your idea of "crowds" is.

Are you like me and my wife, where we think that 20-30 minutes waits is crowded? Or are you like some folks here that think 60+ is busy?

Personally, I loved our trip in September of 2008. We waited 15 minutes peak for Peter Pan and just about every other attraction was a walk on. This past December it was 20-30 minutes for most rides and very crowded. We also experienced the throngs of people without the MVMCP wristbands on the 8th of December.

We're going back in September and giving it another shot, since we don't plan on going back until the FL project is over.

 

[majorrfb]

When to go in December

As previously suggested, the earlier in December the better. My family and I have been to the World during the first or second weeks of December and the week following Christmas through New Years. Early December IS the way to go, if possible. The parks are decorated and the holiday theme is full bore. We go yearly during the first or second weeks of December now due to our previous experiences. Crowds are much smaller and one does not feel like they must rush to get to your favorite attractions. Have a great time :xmas: :sohappy:

 

[dizzney]

You couldn't pay me to go the days between Christmas and New Year's.

We were just there this past New Years Eve, we actually arrived that morning and went into Epcot aorund 4, it was jammed, but we ahd a wodnerful dinner at Rose and Crown (got seated outside witha great view of the early Illuminations) Rode Test Track (someone was tired fo teh aprk and leaving and gave us Fast Passes, walked around the World Showcase and then back to the Boardwalk, we were staying at the Villas with a Boardwalk View room, had our champagne and spent midnight on the balcony with hundreds below us on the Boardwalk and Epcot and MK fireworks going off to eitehr side, IT WAS FABULOUS!

We will definitely do it again, Even my 18 year old DS loved it (and teenagers are tough). We then stayed for 9 more nights and enjoyed the post holidays at the world.

I would not just dismiss the chance to go, it was wonderful, you just need to plan in advance on what you will do.

 

[tink68]

We were just there this past New Years Eve, we actually arrived that morning and went into Epcot aorund 4, it was jammed, but we ahd a wodnerful dinner at Rose and Crown (got seated outside witha great view of the early Illuminations) Rode Test Track (someone was tired fo teh aprk and leaving and gave us Fast Passes, walked around the World Showcase and then back to the Boardwalk, we were staying at the Villas with a Boardwalk View room, had our champagne and spent midnight on the balcony with hundreds below us on the Boardwalk and Epcot and MK fireworks going off to eitehr side, IT WAS FABULOUS!

We will definitely do it again, Even my 18 year old DS loved it (and teenagers are tough). We then stayed for 9 more nights and enjoyed the post holidays at the world.

I would not just dismiss the chance to go, it was wonderful, you just need to plan in advance on what you will do.

Thanks. I think we have decided to wait and go in March 2011 during our kids Spring Break. This way we can stay longer plus make a trip to Universal to see Harry Potter and maybe go to Nasa. I really want to go at Christmas but I think that it would be better for us to go when our son is older and can get around on his own better. With those crowds I really do not want to mess with a stroller. :lol: