[tmcquaid]

We decided at the last minute to take advantage of the Fall savings and take our 5 and 3 year old daughters to Disney World. Because of our schedules, the only time we could go was the 2nd week of December. Do you think it will be too crowded? The theory I gave my husband was we'd be after the Thanksgiving crowd and before the big Christmas crowd. I just can't imagine too many families pulling their kids out of school in December when they'll be out for break right after that.

[jwdj4lfe]

Hey, tmcquaid! Welcome to DisneyCentral, This is the best site when planning a WDW vacation! You are right, the first 2 weeks in December are one of the least crowded times. I went last year, and it wasnt crowded at all, I only had to get a fastpass for Rock 'n' rollercoaster! Another great benefit going that time of the year is all the x-mas decorations are up! And the weather is nice too! I hope you enjoy your stay here!
Joe :)

[dab]

tmcquaid welcome to Disney Central! The first two weeks of December is in my opinion the perfect time of year to go. The crowds are extremely light, the weather is mild (pack jeans & a jacket/ heavy sweatshirt for evenings) and the Christmas decorations are absolutely amazing! The only drawback to going to WDW during value/off-peak season is that the parks close early... Magic Kingdom usually at 6pm, MGM around 8:30pm, Epcot around 9pm, and Animal Kingdom at 5pm (althought that is their year round closing time because of the animals). Make sure you get tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (Buy them now!!! They usually sell out). Your ticket lets you in the park from 7pm-midnight and it is sooo much fun. They close the park at 6pm and then everyone with passes for the party gets to enter. They have a snow machine that makes it "snow" inside the park and a special parade that they only do for the "party" nights. Your daughters will love it. Ages 3 & 5 are perfect ages for WDW! Will this be their 1st trip?
I wanna go!!!

[BDavis932]

We went the first 2 weeks of December of 2000. We took mostly sweat pants and T-Shirts and BOY did we REGRET it! It was 90º-95º the whole 10 days we were there! On the way home, a freak cold spell was headed our way, and we even saw snow flurries just north of Ocala!!!! Luckily, while we were there, we had 1 pair of shorts for each of us that we wore in the car while traveling. We had to wash them every night, and the boys had to swim in them (I didn't pack swim suits, assuming it would be too chilly...live and learn!!)

We felt like we had the parks to ourselves! It was beautifully decorated and the Osborne Family Light trail was set up at MGM (don't miss this!). They had the Very Merry Christmas Party, and the Christmas Parades. It was wonderful. On our last day, (December 18th) it was the Saturday after school let out for the holiday. That day was packed! We saw wait times exceed 100 minutes! Other than that, our wait times were 5 to 10 minutes. I would love to go that time of year, every year!!!

Have a great trip!

[tmcquaid]

Thanks so much for the information. We were wondering whether we should buy tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party. We thought with so much going on, we wouldn't need to but it sounds like we might want to reconsider.

I just ran into someone at my daughter's school who came back from a Disney Cruise. She said it was fantastic. They were concerned about the time of year being crowded (before everyone starts school) and the heat but she said there were practically no lines at the parks and the weather was wonderful. The longest they waited for anything was maybe 20 minutes. She did say she asked a CM if it was usually that way and they told her since September 11th its still really been slow compared to usual crowds for the specific times of year. On the other hand, strangely enough, another mother at the school that walked up to the conversation just came back from Disneyland and said it was packed!

Thanks again for the info!