Melissa, Hi from PA!
The first week of December is wonderful. We enjoy the lower crowds along with the holiday festivities. The exception is Saturday, followed by Sunday. Please avoid Downtown Disney over the weekend due to the holiday shoppers. World of Disney was packed.
Your best touring will often be in the mornings. Arrive the theme park prior to opening. Even in the off-season, you will greatly benefit from the first few hours in the park. We will get to a park 15-30 minutes before it opens.
We like the morning Extra Magic Hours (EMH), especially at the Magic Kingdom. We are able to get all of Fantasyland and/or Tomorrowland done early with no waits. The park with EMH will be more crowded later in the day. We tour until after lunch and then head back to our resort for a break (swim or nap). We will then go to a non-EMH park in the late afternoon or an evening EMH park. Morning EMH also adds an hour to your touring time in the off-season when parks close early.
Evening Extra Magic Hours are a good strategy to add more touring time to your itinerary. It was great to be at the Animal Kingdom at night. Our son played in the Boneyard while my husband rode Expedition Everest utilizing the single rider line. Unless you go to the Festival of Lion King show, there aren’t enough attractions open in the Animal Kingdom to really utilize the full 3 hours. Magic Kingdom and Epcot evening Extra Magic Hours have more crowds but the later you stay up, the less people there will be in the park.
You will get the rides that are open for EMH done in this time. Just note that not all of the park’s attractions are offered. Here’s a
link to give you an idea of what will be available. Staying up later with your kids will really add time to your touring. Just remember that if you sleep in the next day to choose a park with Evening EMH that night or a park that did not have morning EMH. Have a great time!