December Crowds

[4ubie1]

I was just wondering if the time between Thanksgiving and Xmas has increased -wise over the years or has it stayed pretty low like it use to be? I know that as you get closer to Xmas, the crowds do increase. But I was wondering if the first week of December has remained pretty low for or has it increased lately? I am trying to pick a time or year when there is a low amount of people so any advice would be appreciated.

[the other micki]

Some friends went the 1st and 2nd week of Dec. '08. They said they couldn't believe the crowds. I started a thread about it and lots of other people agreed. It seems the word has gotten out about this time of year. However, the CMs told my friends that there were much lower crowds the week right after Thanksgiving week.

[vorpalswrd]

Everyone has a different idea of crowds. Someone in a previous post had pictures up from the first week of Dec and wait times for rides and I was like "10-20 minute wait times, oh the horror." ...yeah, saracasm, lol. I was last their this time of year in 2003 but still and all I love the weather and all this time of year and I almost let other people's ideas of "crowded" make me change my whole vacation around.

[sassy2000]

We were there the Dec6-15 last yr and found the crowds manageable. I would say they are comparable to when we usually go last wk of April. Most wait times were no more then 25 minutes but your most popular rides like Soarin, TT, EE, ToT, TSM had long waits. We rode everything without waiting more then 15 min by going early and using FP. The busiest time we have been was during mid April spring break crowds and we vowed never to do that again. I think you will find an early Dec trip very pleaseant.

[Madame Leona]

We left the Sunday after Thanksgiving this past December and I was surprised at the crowds. It wasn't summer crowds but it had definetely increased from years passed. We had gone in October of '08 as well and it wasn't nearly as crowded as December.

[chrisNC]

We've gone every year during the first half of December for years. This year was the most crowded I've ever seen it. Nothing to compare to the summer, of course, or a big holiday weekend, but pretty substantial crowds.

The lowest I've personally experienced in recent years was Mother's day weekend last year--it was practically empty.

[mrmcgiv]

we went 12/7/08 - 12/15/08. we have never been there in December so I have no comparison point BUT I thought the crowds were pretty low. The weekends were more crowded, but all in all it was pretty good crowd wise. Much better than when we went in May 07

[Gator]

Compared to 2006, there was a lot more people and a lot more ride goers. Where I noticed it the most was at the parades. If you weren't there 45 minutes before a parade, you got a bad seat. Same with Illuminations: I started looking for a spot 30 minutes in advance and EVERY front line spot was taken. In 2006, I found a fantastic spot 10 minutes before the show. Big difference this time around.