To Those Lucky People Who Go On Xmas...

[Magic4UsZ's]

Where do you stay?

What ages are your kids?

I'd LOVE to go at Xmas, but DH just says it would'nt feel right being away from home on Xmas morning. Everyone would miss the house, dog,cat, gma/gpa...... you get the idea.

Plus is it a hassle with the presents?

Do you decorate your accomodations? if so how do you get them there?

I'm thinking once the youngest (soon to be nine) doesnt, how shall we say this nicely, doesnt live for Santa's arrival, then maybe I can talk him into a Xmas trip.

Thanks for your tips for hopefully a future trip at xmas!!!

 

[SleepyKeith]

My wife and I are going to Disney this year for Xmas. This will be our first time being away from home for the Holdiays and I guess it will feel a little wierd. Most of my family will be there with us, however my wife's family will not and we will miss them a lot I'm sure.

We will be staying the week before Xmas at the Yatch Club and then we are moving to a big house that my Mom and Dad rented at All-star homes for Xmas week.

For presents to make it simple we did a Kris Kringle type thing where each person only has to bring one gift (there will be 16 people in the house).

My sister, who lives in Florida is bringing a tree for the house and each person is bringing a handmade ornament to put on the tree.

Next year we are hoping to come back to Disney with my wife's family.

 

[princessgirl2238]

i absolutely love being there on christmas!!!
my family (about 16-22 of us each time) stay at Poly in several rooms, usually we get ones that have ajoining doors (except for this year my cousin stayed in a different building cause she and her husband got married the day before everyone came down
so we usually go down 4-5 days before christmas eve and go to all the parks and do mvmcp (i actually work at wdw-i can't specifically say what i do cause it might spoil so magic- so they come to watch me also) and then spend christmas eve at mk and christmas day hopping around and have dinner at Rose and Crown for the candlelight processional.
it's not very crowded at wdw until christmas eve- actually about 3pm that day when everyone arrives for checkin at wdw does it actually get really crowded, but mk is open till midnight

usually because my group is so large (we are condidered a grand gathering- although when we first started doing this there wasn't such thing as grand gatherings), we always have to make dinner reservations in advance (we do lunch in smaller groups so it's usually a quick service- although last year every small group had lunch at one of the sit down places at epcot on the same day- it was sort of funny cause we "hit every place in the world in only 2 hours
also, cause we're so big, disney is usually really helpful if there are specific rides that we all want to ride all together (well sort of) and sometimes there is a guest relations person that is willing to help escort us up the back way at a specific time (the cms at the ride already know we're coming) so that way we can just walk on (we don't do it very often).

it's my favorite trip to wdw every year (well except this year cause like everyother cm, i had to work christmas eve and christmas day from park opening till about 4:30 and the people that came to meet me were really nice, but it was still hard to not to walk away with my family after they saw me on christmas eve

but, it won't keep me from looking foward to this year's christmas at wdw (even if i am working on those days )

 

[princessgirl2238]

i forgot to mention is that because we want christmas in our rooms, all the parents send fake christmas trees to poly a few days a head of time and lights for the balconies and stockings, ect... this way right after we check in we decorate the whole room (the first day is always only spent at dtd and decorating)
and for gifts, every one puts their name into a hat and once we all get there, we draw a name and we have to get that person a disney gift and put it under the main tree (in the grandparents room) before we get back from mk on christmas eve
my dad and sis and i always buy eachother several other gifts that we really want (some disney so bought before arriving at wdw).

 

[inloveindisney]

You know, its funny, because I've talked to a few people about this and it always seems like their spouse is more worried about it than their kids.
we have been and it is quite magical if you ask me. We decorated-even put up stockings. Last year it was just me and my husband, so there wasn't a kid factor, but we made it like christmas at home. Got up christmas morning, opened gifts in our jammies, had some breakfast at the resort and then went to the parks. We're taking my family this year with two teenagers. They were willing to give up christmas gifts to go.
With small kids, you can make it just as nice or have a small christmas at the hotel and know that the big one will be at home when you get back. I've heard of people doing it both ways. I guess a big deciding factor would be how many gifts you typically have.
My first thought is that 8/9 sounds like around the time kids don't get quite as excited for that "arrival". It might not be long before you can go.

 

[Disney-For-Life]

Hubby and I went one year for the first week of December, but we dream about going for Xmas day. We hope to stay at Wilderness Lodge or Animal Kingdom because we think they both look so pretty all decorated for the holidays. We would bring our (Disney) stockings pre-packed with small gifts for eachother. Then we dicussed going out after Christmas day and shopping for eachother once everything goes on sale. We looked at quite a few of the holiday menus as well - looks great!

 

[Magic4UsZ's]

this is really great insight on how everyone celebrates xmas

keep it coming people!!!!

Does anyone go to church on xmas day or xmas eve?

 

[xWishes]

I actually can't answer the question because I haven't been there during xmas since I was 3 years old ('89)!

I'm an only child so it was always just me and my parents. Then my mom died in 2004 and it was just me and my dad. We're both lazy bums so we always just hang around the house for xmas. I wanna surprise him next year and go for xmas so I need the answers to these questions, too! Plus it'll make a good convincing arguement. For the past couple years I've just gone with friends since he says he's "over Disney" haha..

 

[momof2dizkids]

This will be our 2nd Christmas at WDW. We bring along a small tree, decorations, stockings, etc. for our room. Oh, I should mention that DD will be 10 and DS will be 7. They wrote Santa and even told him in person before we left that we would be at WDW over Christmas, that way he knew where to find them. We even left out some cookies and milk for Santa on the table by the window. We tried to do our shopping for them while in the parks and even DTD. It was hard, but, we managed fine. We didn't have time to wrap the presents, so, all of their gifts were in the plastic bags (even the ones from Santa). They were so surprised to wake up Christmas morning and find that Santa did find them in the hotel room. We didn't open presents until we returned from MK that night. (I was bound and determined to get to MK as early as possible because I had heard stories of MK closing due to capacity. So, we arrived at MK at 6:40 am) DD made the comment "how amazing is it that everything that we got from Santa came from Disney?!?!" (It was hard not to laugh!!) When we returned home a few days later, they then had another Christmas. They opened presents that my Mom had sent (she lives in PA) and DH's family sent (they live in IN). Last year was our first year that we didn't have to rush around Christmas morning to do the family circuit. It was really nice - it seemed to me like it was our "1st Family Christmas".

 

[momof2dizkids]

I would also like to mention that I am trying to convince my Dad to join us for our Christmas vacation. He hasn't been to WDW since my sister and I were small. But, when my sister died in 94, he and his wife (my stepmom) did not celebrate an anniversary anymore. (she died close to their anniversary date) Plus, she (my stepmom) passed away this past New Year's Day, so, I know that holidays will be extremely tough for him. She had been battling bone cancer for 10+ years and kidney failure for about 6 months. We are trying to tell him that maybe this will help take his mind off of things. But, time will tell....

 

[Magic4UsZ's]

Anybody else have any planning tips?

Was also wondering how far in advance do you start planning?

I'm thinking Xmas 2008 or more likely 2009, youngest will be 11 and oldest 15.

That sounds like good ages to be at WDW for Xmas. (who am I kidding, any age is a great age but am thinking like most parents, I will not be so apt to take DD out of high school for a WDW trip so maybe a "big" trip in December would be a good plan.

Plus we would be escaping from the midwest winter!!!!!!

 

[jejune]

Where do you stay?

Caribbean beach resort.

What ages are your kids?

we're the "kids" even though we're in our 20s.

I'd LOVE to go at Xmas, but DH just says it would'nt feel right being away from home on Xmas morning. Everyone would miss the house, dog,cat, gma/gpa...... you get the idea.

it obviously is a different type of christmas, but i think it's definitively worth experiencing it at least once. or simply do what we are, bring the whole family.

Plus is it a hassle with the presents?

the trip itself is our gift, but i think as long as you can carry it in your luggage or simply buy it once you're there, it shouldn't really be a problem. though, if you fly to orlando, keep in mind that anything that is wrapped risk being unwrapped by security.

Do you decorate your accomodations? if so how do you get them there?

we do decorate our hotel room, we bring the whole thing in our luggage. we bought a mini tree two years ago and bring a small set of battery operated mini-lights as well as small disney decoration to put in it. if you want something bigger or simply don't want to carry anything like it, you could order a tree from disney florist.

I'm thinking once the youngest (soon to be nine) doesnt, how shall we say this nicely, doesnt live for Santa's arrival, then maybe I can talk him into a Xmas trip.

at every disney hotel there is a santa on christmas eve (if i remember correctly), and i think it would be easy to trick kids into not worrying over santa while there... such as christmas morning there is a small present for them with a note from santa, letting them know that he didn't forget them, and safely put all of the rest of their christmas presents back at home so nothing would get broken while traveling. as long as they feel santa hasn't forgotten them, i think it'll be fine.

 

[brasey]

We are surprising DS10 and DD6 this year for Christmas. We will tell them the day before we leave so they have a little time for it to sink in. I am going to write a letter to Santa saying that we aren't going to be home but can he please leave the presents and that we will give him extra cookies next year. We will bring some presents from us but will wait until we get home for santas presents. One of my daughter's gift from us is going to eat breakfast at the castle on Christmas morning and we are going to get them Seaworld tickets to go the day after Christmas. We already brought a small artificial tree and we are going to let them take a few ornaments off of our tree from home to bring down.

 

[Florimel]

We're going for our first Christmas trip away from home this year, and looking forward to it hugely. We're staying at the GF, and won't decorate the room (thought of transporting this as well as everything else accross the atlantic makes us squirm) - but I've heard the hotel decorations are lovely. We're already thinking on portable presents for DD (although bits of the trip will also be presents). We'll have some presents to come home to so cushion the deflation! Planning seriously since Christmas '06 but long term plan since '03.

 

[epfootballcutie04]

Where do you stay?

We stayed at Poly!!!

What ages are your kids?

When i went over Christmas I was in 10th grade, my sister was in 4th and my parents were with us!!

I'd LOVE to go at Xmas, but DH just says it would'nt feel right being away from home on Xmas morning. Everyone would miss the house, dog,cat, gma/gpa...... you get the idea.

We solved that problem by calling grandparents with calling cards and talking for a while. The house we didnt miss at all... i mean, HELLOOOO we were in DISNEY!!!! We've also been in Hawaii over Christmas when i was in 7th grade and my sister was in Kindergarten. We are from MN so we were worried we would miss the white Christmas... WRONG!!! We loved the sun=)

Plus is it a hassle with the presents?

Present's in Hawaii wasn't too bad. Santa brought us hoola skirts, lei's,.... hawaii stuff. He finds you where you go!! When my sister was older, My mom had a phone call with Santa and Santa said he would give my mom $$$ so we could go shopping in Disney=).

Do you decorate your accomodations? if so how do you get them there?

We didn't decorate. Disney's (and Hawaii's) decorations were good enough for us!

 

[daisyduck123]

We're going Dec. 20-26 for our 1st X-mas in WDW.

Staying at AKV.

I have DD12 & DS9.

DS9 still totally believes in everything Santa related.
We're going to load as many presents in our new Dinali as we can fit...the rest will be at home for us when we return.

We're going to decorate our room & get a tree too!
We're going on a 9 day WDW trip at the end of this month & I'm going to buy most of the decorations for our room then...rather than wait & buy them during our December trip.

**For our trip, I've already purchased matching Mickey sweaters & matching Mickey fleece jackets for us to wear during our trip!!
We'll be wearing the sweaters Christmas morning at 'Ohanas & Christmas evening at Chef Mickey's!!

We are soooo glad to be getting away for X-mas.
Our house is always the one where all the relatives (both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.) gather ALL DAY for X-mas. Last year, over Christmas dinner, I announced that this would be the last Christmas we'd be hosting because the four of us would start Christmasing in WDW in 2007! And we meant it!! Can't wait!!

 

[chris7]

We did X-mas 2005 in WDW w/ our daughters who were 6 and 4 at the time. We absolutely loved it and traveled over X-mas 2006 as well (Mexico). We decided to travel over X-mas because we were rebelling from all the expectations of extended family that left us feeling drained and unhappy by the time the holiday season was over. For me being away with just my husband and my kids with nothing to do but make sure we are all having fun is absolutely heaven.

We made sure that the kids knew that Santa would find them in Orlando. We bought a little tree at Walgreens (and took it to Mexico last year) Like another person mentioned, it was amazing that Santa got all their presents from WDW. We stay off-site. In 2005 we stayed at Cypress Pointe, this year we're staying at Windsor Hills in a townhome. We love the price and the space that comes with a condo. Plus, I swear at Cypress Pointe we were closer to the parks than some on site hotels.

We didn't do a park on X-mas day. We got up and did presents, just like at home. We went to Christmas Mass and then had lunch at Trail's End restaurant at Fort Wilderness Campground. While I did not think to fook was terrific, this was a perfect choice because there were a lot of neat things to do before and after lunch. We did the petting zoo, a pony ride, walked through the stables.... After lunch we took the boat across to Magic Kingdom, but did not get off. We had not done any of the boats so we wanted to go on a ride and just see how busy MK looked.

Best trip of my life and obviously we discovered we love traveling over Christmas.

 

[Allison]

It's working perfectly for us this year. We will have Christmas morning at home and will leave for the airport at around 3:00. I am so excited. By 10:00Christmas night we will be in Orlando.

I would have left on Christmas Eve but the kids really did want to be at home on Christmas morning.

I haven't told my parents or sisters yet and we will have to rearranage those plans slightly.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) We spend Christmas in Hawaii every-other-year.
2) Frankly, it isn't much different than being at home.
3) The main differences are
. . . the presents are physically smaller due to luggage
. . . you don't buy presents that need "some assembly required"
. . . you get to go out for brunch on Christmas morning

 

[alissa -dawn]

I was around 10 when we spent Christmas at Fort Wilderness. My parents had put in a special request for Santa to visit our house the Sat. before we left for Disney. So we celebrated a regular Christmas morning at home with presents. We left for Disney 3 or 4 days later and for me and my sister it felt like we were having a second Christmas. We didn't get any more presents on the 25th but we got a huge stocking from Disney Xmas morning......we were so excited. It was just magical being there.