This information to December 2022 at Walt Disney World presents a free crowd calendar, suggestions for when to go to & keep away from, climate, new attraction openings & closures, Christmas data, and extra. We cowl what’s occurring at Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. (Updated November 20, 2022.)
Expect extra of the identical in December 2022, and it continues the 3-month pattern starting in October and persevering with in November. Attendance will stay elevated throughout the board as in comparison with regular to due it being the center of vacation season. Christmas attracts crowds, and even the much less busy days throughout this season are worse than another time of 12 months.
With that stated, early December 2022 will stay a very good time to go to because of climate that’s sometimes good (albeit chilly at occasions), with crowds which are usually average. It’s additionally the finest month of the 12 months when it comes to seasonal occasions. That principally “just” means Christmas, however Walt Disney World actually does the vacation season proper. There’s a ton happening at Walt Disney World in December, with festivals at Epcot, Christmas choices within the different three parks, Disney Springs, resort lodges, and extra.
In case it’s not apparent, we’re huge followers of Walt Disney World at Christmas. This is mirrored in December rating extremely on our 2022 Best & Worst Months to Visit Walt Disney World. As mentioned there, December additionally has our favourite week of the 12 months, too! For years, we at all times made a degree of an annual Christmas journey to Walt Disney World, and just about took it on the identical time yearly. As we see it, that is the candy spot when it comes to climate, crowds, particular occasions, and extra. We’ll cowl that within the sections under.
With that stated, one factor we do need to be aware up entrance is that though we love early December and the vacation season as a complete, the month has gotten progressively busier within the final a number of years. It’s a subjectively nice time to go to, however there are few–if any–really “low” crowd stage days. However, it’s nonetheless potential to beat the crowds by using Genie+ and Lightning Lanes, Early Entry, Extended Evening Hours, and different savvy technique. We cowl one of the best & worst method for every park (our up to date for Late 2022) in Best Time-Saving Strategies for Walt Disney World.
Let’s check out what’s going on at Walt Disney World in December, and how one can take advantage of your holiday-time go to…
December Weather at Disney World
Weather at Walt Disney World in December is dicey. If you simply go by historic averages, it seems to be like good climate within the mid-50s to low-70s. The factor is, these are averages. In actuality, the climate you expertise seemingly received’t be a historic common. Packing this time of 12 months is troublesome, since you would possibly expertise climate within the 80s otherwise you may need a chilly entrance with frosty mornings.
The potential for chilly climate closes water parks for the winter, and in excessive circumstances, may cause flower beds and topiaries within the parks to be coated with plastic tarps to guard them (we’ve seen it occur!). Pack for a variety of climate circumstances and pay watch the prolonged forecast earlier than your journey.
During our late-November/early-December journey a couple of years in the past, I packed all shorts and polos and we unexpectedly had lows within the 30s and highs within the 50s. As a outcome, I needed to buy new outfits from The Emporium, which wasn’t precisely low cost…and I used to be nonetheless chilly! In equity, this was an unseasonable chilly entrance that hadn’t been skilled in years, however you’ve been warned! ???? Check out our Winter Packing Tips for Disney put up for extra perception on what to take in your journey.
December Special Events at WDW
I’ll admit that I’m biased in the case of December. For me, nothing else that Walt Disney World does when it comes to seasonal choices compares to the Christmas season. Sure, Halloween is sweet and the opposite seasons have their enchantment, however nothing compares to Christmas.
Walt Disney World does quite a bit for the vacation season, and comprehensively every of these items is past the scope of this put up. Suffice to say, it’s a good time to go to if you wish to get within the Christmas spirit.
Consequently, I’m going to maintain this part brief–in order for you our complete opinions, suggestions, methods, and so forth., for Christmas, try our Ultimate Walt Disney World Christmas Guide. That information covers Christmas leisure you possibly can count on at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Speaking of which, this vacation season marks the return of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP). This onerous ticket occasion has a ton of dates in December 2022…all of that are already bought out. Consequently, lots of you now received’t have the ability to attend even in case you wished to. Nevertheless, the occasion will nonetheless impression your journey as a result of Magic Kingdom opens and closes earlier on Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party days.
As defined under, MVMCP causes curler coaster crowd circumstances within the park which may appear counterintuitive. One of one of the best issues you are able to do when planning is working round these occasions, as that’ll prevent extra time than anything.
In addition to this, there are a couple of occasions on the ESPN Wide World of Sports December Calendar, of which you ought to be conscious. These are the kinds of youth occasions that solely actually are a draw for fogeys with children taking part in them, however we’ll additionally cowl them in our December crowd calendar part under.
DECEMBER REFURBISHMENTS & NEW ATTRACTIONS
For December closures, seek the advice of our Walt Disney World Refurbishment Calendar. Not a lot is listed as occurring proper now, however that’s a bit misleading. There’s a number of ongoing building all through Walt Disney World, past the scope of attraction closures.
The building challenge that may have probably the most noticeable impression on the visitor expertise is the huge reimagining on the entrance of Epcot. The entrance of the park is a sea of building partitions with a large grime pit within the center because of this. On the plus aspect, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Space 220 Restaurant, Creations Shop, Club Cool, Connections Cafe, and Harmonious all already having debuted within the final 12 months.
There are nonetheless a few issues that’ll debut in Late 2022, and people are the Toy Story Land Roundup Rodeo BBQ Restaurant (possibly) and DuckTales World Showcase Adventure (presumably). It’s additionally potential that one other restaurant or two will reopen, or that presently open areas will increase to serve breakfast or convey again characters. Stay tuned to Open & Closed Restaurants at Walt Disney World for extra updates.
Walt Disney World’s blockbuster addition for this 12 months is Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. For the complete month of December 2022, this can have a Christmas overlay: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Holiday Remix.
Experiencing the brand new journey is a bit difficult, so remember to try our How to Ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind & Virtual Queue Speed Strategy to enhance your possibilities of success for becoming a member of the free digital queue.
Another different is shopping for line-skipping entry through the Individual Lightning Lanes. Those posts clarify every choice, their professionals & cons, and all the things else you might want to know. Suffice to say, don’t simply present as much as EPCOT anticipating to affix the standby line–as there isn’t one.
Beyond that, there are a number of sights that haven’t but opened and received’t till 2023 or later. These embrace the Play Pavilion and Moana’s Journey of Water at Epcot, and TRON Lightcycle Run curler coaster at Magic Kingdom. Those will debut beginning in Spring 2023, so that you received’t have the ability to expertise any of them throughout your vacation season journey.
December 2022 Crowd Calendar for Disney World
We don’t have a color-coded December crowd calendar for Walt Disney World on the prime of this part as a result of it wouldn’t inform the total story of attendance traits. If you spend the ~5 minutes studying this part from starting to finish, you’ll be much better ready to keep away from the worst of December crowds (relying upon when inside the month you go to).
Crowd calendars are much less dependable as a result of how Walt Disney World manipulates attendance patterns, staffing, closures, and journey capability. Since Disney doesn’t launch official attendance numbers, crowd calendars use college schedules, airport site visitors statistics, resort pricing & occupancy, and so forth., as proxies for crowds. This method labored and made crowd calendars dependable for years.
This is doubly true for this December, because the reopening and capability restrictions have thrown one other monkey wrench into issues. We can nonetheless forecast common traits, however that’s about it. With all of that in thoughts, listed below are our crowd calendar predictions for one of the best and worst weeks at Walt Disney World in December…
The starting of December is our #1 week of the complete 12 months to go to Walt Disney World. On the gang calendar, this would be the week for the bottom crowds of December, and is definitely one of the best week of December to go to.
Keep in thoughts that “lowest” is a relative time period. The vacation season as a complete is busier than spring, summer season, or fall. Christmas is a well-liked time of 12 months within the parks–and for good purpose–if you wish to go to throughout this time of 12 months, you possibly can keep away from crowds to a level, however not fully.
The first week of December was comparatively uncrowded, considered one of Walt Disney World’s “best kept secrets.” Thanks to a mixture of crowd calendars pointing friends in direction of these dates, savvy locals, Disney Vacation Members, and in addition as a result of Disney itself providing extra reductions to lure folks and teams down presently of 12 months, it’s not fairly as unbelievable because it as soon as was.
Our expectation is that this week results in the 7/10 vary, which is much better than the ten/10 crowds of Thanksgiving and even what’s typical for mid-December, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. (Last 12 months, this week had a crowd stage of 4/10. However, attendance and wait occasions have been increased throughout the board in Late 2022, so don’t count on crowds on par with the previous. Circumstances have been very completely different final 12 months with folks inflicting journeys because of the Delta variant and reinstated masks guidelines.)
All round Walt Disney World, crowds will start to choose up the second week (December 4-10, 2022). However, that shouldn’t be as pronounced this 12 months as within the final a number of.
Normally, the second week crowd surge is pushed by Pop Warner, a youth sport occasion that pulls tens of hundreds of friends to Walt Disney World. However, it has been moved to Universal Orlando for 2022 (and for all future years). This is a big win for everybody else, as Pop Warner spiked attendance ranges. Expect some members to nonetheless go to Walt Disney World, however not sufficient to impression crowd ranges in a significant method. Consequently, we’re anticipating crowds which are “only” within the 8/10 vary.
The third week (December 11-17, 2022) nonetheless isn’t horrible on the gang calendar due to the best way Christmas falls on the finish of the next week. Expect average to excessive crowd ranges.
Still worse than the 2 weeks earlier than it, however not bonkers. However, in case you have the selection to go to any of the primary three weeks of December, positively select one of many first two. Crowds will seemingly be within the 8.5/10 vary.
All bets are off starting the Saturday earlier than Christmas. With this vacation and New Year’s each as soon as once more falling on weekends in 2022, it’s fairly secure to foretell even this far out that December 17, 2022 would be the begin of heavy vacation crowds at Walt Disney World.
This is when peak vacation crowds will descend upon Walt Disney World for the rest of December. From this week on, each single day ought to see peak attendance and excessive numbers on the gang calendar–you’re a strong string of 10/10 dates. These final two weeks of December 2022 would be the busiest stretch of the 12 months at Walt Disney World. This is among the worst occasions of the 12 months to go to until you recognize what you’re doing.
This consists of each Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. For some purpose, lots of people count on any vacation itself to be mild when it comes to crowds, and assume they could have the ability to “outsmart” different friends by happening the vacation–the vacation itself is packed, too. If you dislike crowds, these two weeks are an terrible time so that you can go to.
With that stated, the night of Christmas Eve tends to drop off as in comparison with the remainder of the busy week and Christmas morning sometimes begins out a bit slower–however that is relative to the remainder of the week, not in absolute phrases. It’s nonetheless very busy!
Despite all of those dates being 10/10 on the gang calendar, the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve is often the busier of the 2 weeks, with wait occasions which are about 20% increased. They’re each 10/10 as a result of Christmas continues to be one of many 10 worst weeks of the 12 months, it’s simply round #7 as in comparison with New Year’s, which is usually #1 or #2.
For extra particular recommendation for the latter vacation, see our Tips for Surviving New Year’s Eve at Walt Disney World. That information will enable you navigate and outsmart the crowds, in addition to benefit from the distinctive leisure and fireworks proven on and earlier than NYE.
Due to the Disney Park Pass reservation system, particular person parks and days of the week should not as related as they have been prior to now. It was the case that weekends can be busier as a result of locals and others taking vacation season getaways. In the final couple of years, that has ceased to be the case–and day of the week traits have grow to be much less related (and extra unpredictable).
With that stated, there are two parks with their very own quirks. First, Epcot will probably be considerably extra busy on weekends, particularly when Florida faculties like UCF have away soccer video games. Epcot’s attendance will probably be lightest on weekdays earlier than 4 pm, with heavier crowds after work as locals prove to graze on the competition cubicles. Epcot may also be busier on days when fan-favorite celebrities are narrating Candlelight Processional.
On Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party nights, Magic Kingdom closes to common ticket holders at 6 pm. Consequently, the park is much less busy throughout the day time hours on dates when MVMCP is held, and extra busy on non-party days. This might sound counter-intuitive, but it surely’s as a result of the occasion is separately-ticketed.
Thus far, Magic Kingdom crowd ranges have been 10/10 most non-party days, whereas crowd ranges have been 3/10 to 4/10 on occasion days. That quantities to a median wait time differential of about 15-20 minutes per journey, which provides up over the course of the day to the purpose which you can accomplish extra within the party-shortened days when Magic Kingdom closes at 6 pm.
Once once more, we strongly advocate doing Magic Kingdom throughout the days shortened by MVMCP, after which hop to a different park by ~4 pm. Even with 4/10 or 5/10 crowd ranges, you’ll nonetheless come out forward by avoiding Saturdays, Mondays, and different non-party days. (So lengthy as you’re positive skipping fireworks or night in Magic Kingdom–however you possibly can at all times Park Hop over on a special night!)
Although Magic Kingdom closes earlier to common friends on MVMCP days, it additionally opens earlier. This is a big benefit, as coated in Photo Report & Strategy: Magic Kingdom Early Entry at 7:30 am on Party Days. We’ve additionally coated the upside to the total day at Magic Kingdom on the shortened days in our new My “Party Day” at Magic Kingdom WITHOUT Genie+. Those are particular to the Halloween Party, however the very same thought applies with Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.
Finally, Disney Springs, resorts, eating places, and bars at Walt Disney World all are busier throughout the Christmas season. This is because of a mixture of vacation dinners and locals eager to benefit from the free Christmas decorations and leisure. Be certain to make ADRs for any positive eating exterior the parks, and bear in mind that you simply’ll encounter heavier crowds in Disney Springs.
This ought to all underscore why we don’t actually take care of conventional color-coded or numerical Walt Disney World crowd calendars. None of the above traits may very well be adequately conveyed by a easy graphic, and it’d be straightforward to grow to be annoyed if we merely had an December 2022 crowd calendar beginning with a bunch of seven/10 or 8/10 days after which two straight weeks of 10/10 days. Hopefully this gives extra nuance to how Walt Disney World attendance and wait time traits are–and should not–predictable through crowd calendars.
December Discounts & Pricing
Discounts of as much as 25% off rooms at Walt Disney World for APs & Floridians have been launched for many nights by December 25, 2022. There’s additionally the Christmas Deal for Disney+ Subscribers, however dates are extra restricted throughout the vacation season.
Those aren’t the one offers obtainable for reserving proper now.For all the things else, see All Current Walt Disney World Discounts. You can even save with last-minute offers on DVC level leases–simply be conscious of the versatile cancellation insurance policies, as they’re not practically as versatile.
If you’re reserving a room-only low cost, you possibly can determine for your self which resort is perhaps finest by studying our Walt Disney World Hotel Reviews. To lower your expenses on airfare, we advocate ITA Software to seek for one of the best costs. Obviously, none of this does you any good in case you’re planning on visiting in a couple of weeks and have already booked your journey, but it surely must be helpful for these of you contemplating a December go to to Walt Disney World.
Overall, December is a superb month to go to Walt Disney World in case you can work round all the caveats talked about above. This is a type of months with so many exceptions that they nearly swallow the rule. It is true that the unhealthy occasions (when it comes to crowds and climate) may be actually unhealthy, however the upside in case you can plan round teams and the final two weeks, and also you’re prepared to roll the cube on climate, is so nice that it’s powerful to think about December a “bad” month.
Our secret to visiting this time of 12 months is beginning your journey the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and ending it previous to Pop Warner beginning. This is considered one of our favourite weeks of the 12 months to go, and in case you can handle to go to then, not solely do you get all the Christmas choices, however crowds aren’t as chaotic, and there’s a higher probability of excellent climate. Just don’t go round spreading that ‘secret’ an excessive amount of, as it could not keep a good time to go to in case you do! ????
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Learn about lodges on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To lower your expenses on tickets or decide which kind to purchase, learn our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips put up takes a novel have a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, one of the best place to start out is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for all the things you might want to know!
Your Thoughts
Do you want Walt Disney World in December? Are you a fan of the vacation choices at Walt Disney World? Will you be visiting for Christmas 2022? Hopeful that extra of the conventional visitor expertise is introduced again for this vacation season? Do you agree or disagree with our recommendation? Any questions we may help you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!