wdw at christmas time?

[ado121]

so we went to disneyland just before christmas this year and had a blast. came home to clean clean clean the house, make a turkey, attend numerous christmas parties and welcome santa with all his presents.

so next year, we decided ( ok, i decided since i did all the planning for disneyland, clean of the house, making the turkey, attending all the parties and buying/wrapping all those presents santa brought) that we would like to go away for christmas next year. and skip all the hoopla...

is that a good idea? is it chaotic at christmas? has any canadian did it? what was the weather like? we are from bc so anything other than rain would be fun...

we have small children and to them, santa goes everywhere so he could find us in disneyworld, right?

thanks

amy

 

[drag n' fly]

so we went to disneyland just before christmas this year and had a blast. came home to clean clean clean the house, make a turkey, attend numerous christmas parties and welcome santa with all his presents.

so next year, we decided ( ok, i decided since i did all the planning for disneyland, clean of the house, making the turkey, attending all the parties and buying/wrapping all those presents santa brought) that we would like to go away for christmas next year. and skip all the hoopla...

is that a good idea? is it chaotic at christmas? has any canadian did it? what was the weather like? we are from bc so anything other than rain would be fun...

we have small children and to them, santa goes everywhere so he could find us in disneyworld, right?

thanks

amy

Before Christmas is a good time to go. The week following Christmas is busy. We are arriving before Christmas and doing the parks and then spending Christmas week on a Disney Cruise to relax and avoid the crowds. We are from Calgary so the weather is better than where we are coming from also. It can be unpredictable but pleasant!

 

[deany]

I have never been to WDW in December but I would sure like to. Every year I think to myself, I would love to go away at Christmastime and dispense with some of the shopping, cleaning, cooking, etc. At least once in my life. But yes, it would be very busy the week of Christmas. What about some time at WDW and then a week in the Caribbean or something? Since you have gone all that way, anyhow.
You must be from the coast. Here in Kamloops we have lots of snow, not rain!

 

[ado121]

You must be from the coast. Here in Kamloops we have lots of snow, not rain!

Yes, we are in maple ridge. and today and the last few days its been rain and snow mixed. my parents are in kamloops. they were here for christmas. mom called last night and said it snowed AGAIN. she is getting sick of it. but then she came her for a break and got rain. hehehehe. and i want sunshine!

 

[CanadianGuy]

The week between Christmas and New Years is one of the BUSIEST if not THE BUSIEST of the year at WDW.

I'd strongly advise you go the week before or something like that.

Good luck!

Knox

 

[trivial]

Everyone's pretty much covered it: it's the busiest time of the year to go, and as a result, the most expensive. That makes for a lousy WDW vacation for me, but I know that some people still manage to enjoy themselves. The weather might be a little bit chilly at night, but for the most part should be fine.

In my opinion, a better time to go is right after Thanksgiving. It's value season, so prices and crowds are very low. And the best part: Christmas is in full-swing at Disney World, as all the Christmas decorations and events take place from late-November up until December 31st.

 

[drag n' fly]

Everyone's pretty much covered it: it's the busiest time of the year to go, and as a result, the most expensive. That makes for a lousy WDW vacation for me, but I know that some people still manage to enjoy themselves. The weather might be a little bit chilly at night, but for the most part should be fine.

In my opinion, a better time to go is right after Thanksgiving. It's value season, so prices and crowds are very low. And the best part: Christmas is in full-swing at Disney World, as all the Christmas decorations and events take place from late-November up until December 31st.

You are right that is the best time to go. Here is our dilemma...We have discovered removing our three kids from school is not in our families best interests. We have now bought DVC and are going during the high season to avoid missing school anymore. Yes it is way more busy and way more expensive (for CRO) however good planning and realistic expectations and anyone can go anytime.

 

[Calgary DISHeads]

We just had a fabulous Christmas at Disney - and would love to do it every year! We spent the first week in the parks - then our second week mostly at the pool. The parks were a zoo, but we still went for a couple of hours each day. Early morning was still quiet, as were late night openings for on site guests. This year we took it a lot easier than in the past, and although we hit all the highlights at the parks, did not see a lot of stuff but don't regret it either. The pool at the BC had lots of kids activities, and the kids insisted on being there every afternoon - worked great for happy hour! We pulled the kids out of school for the last school but were told that if we were pulling them out, this was the best week to do it. We have bought in AKV so are hoping next year to do BC for the first week to do the parks, then AKV for Christmas week to relax at the resort.

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

We just got back late last night and would do Christmas week again in a heart beat. The crowds were crazy and we stayed offsite. We are not early risers, but are night owls. We did a ton of stuff. We would go to the parks around 10 or 11 am and get on a ride or two, pick up some fast passes for later take in the sights and get out after about three hours. We would then go back in the night and stay till close. This really worked well at MK as we just walked on stuff really late. My kids are 7 & 9 and had no problem. Loved being away at Christmas!!!!!

 

[drag n' fly]

We just got back late last night and would do Christmas week again in a heart beat. The crowds were crazy and we stayed offsite. We are not early risers, but are night owls. We did a ton of stuff. We would go to the parks around 10 or 11 am and get on a ride or two, pick up some fast passes for later take in the sights and get out after about three hours. We would then go back in the night and stay till close. This really worked well at MK as we just walked on stuff really late. My kids are 7 & 9 and had no problem. Loved being away at Christmas!!!!!

We can go all night too due to the time difference. Rope drop almost kills me though!

 

[jayjay13]

I've been to both Disneyland and Disney World at Christmas and we just love it. The 1st time was when my twins were 5 and again last Christmas. We absolutely love the decorations and Christmas parades. It just seems that there is extra Disney magic if you go during Christmas. Yes, I do agree with everyone that the parks were insanely busy but, we've come to expect that at Disney.

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Early December at WDW is #1 IMO, with October a close second-the Halloween party is so much fun, I think it's better than the Christmas party!

Even if you go in early December and come home before Christmas, cut back on what you feel you have to do, can you do that? Try to keep that vacation feeling going.

 

[Tantor]

We have gone the first 2 weeks in Dec and it is wonderful. I get everything done before we go ( I am extremely organized)so all I have to do is enjoy the Christmas season when we get back

 

[joech]

We went from Dec.15 to Dec.29 this past Christmas with DD4 and DSalmost2 and had a great time. We are from Calgary and only had to wear jackets in the morning and at night for about five days. The first week I would highly recommend to anyone. We did go to all the EMH in the morning and got to ride all the big ticket rides. Christmas week beginning on the 24 was a little crazy but here is an example of our day on Christmas day. We arrived at 7:00 for the EMH and we rode Splash mountain twice in a row, Big Thunder 2 times in a row, 1 dumbo,2 times race cars, 1 tea cups, 2 small world. We got all this done by 10:40 when my daughter went to BBB for a princess makeover. I suggest getting up early because you will get more done in three hours than you will get done the rest of the day. We had a great time due to all the things I learned here on disboards. I will have to do a trip report to let others have a great trip too. The best part of our trip was my daughter getting to walk into ToonTown all by herself with Goofy and Pluto escorting her onto the brainstormer rollercoaster. I highly suggest the week before Christmas and only suggest Christmas week if you are well prepared and plan accordingly. Plus, no baking, no cooking, no cleaning and just an awesome time!
Goodluck if you decide to go!
Lorraine

 

[yanners]

I was just there at Christmas 12/21 - 12/29. The weather was quite warm (shorts weather). The crowds were there for sure but I never waited more than 10 minutes for any ride (and I don't think I ever waited even 10 minutes. If you have a good plan the crowds mean nothing.

I bought Tourguide Mike and it was the best $20 I ever spent. I've used both the Unofficial Guide and TGM and what TGM gives you that the UG doesn't is daily morning and afternoon breakdowns and specifics for touring that week.

Go at Christmas. It is truly lovely and the best vacation we ever had. As long as you have a good plan there is absolutely nothing to fear.

 

[Baboo]

Another vote for go! We were there this Christmas from the 22 to the 27 and had a wonderful time! Yes the crowds were nuts (especially at Epcot) but before we went, we decided that if we didn't ride everything that was fine. We went to see Christmas at WDW and made sure that we saw as much of the Christmas stuff as we could. Seeing Gary Sinese read the Christmas story at Epcot on Christmas Eve and standing in the middle of the Osbourne lights with snow falling around us on Christmas day is a memory we'll always treasure.

 

[Lillian68]

I was there this past break the second week around New Year's and there were a couple of very cold days. The week before I was there it was in the 80s, and the week after I left it was to get into the high 70s, so weather wise you can never tell. You have to back for both types of weather and pray.

As far as crowds were concerned, it was busy. I've been there leading up to xmas, checking out by Christmas Eve (this was three years ago), and the crowds were fine. I think some US schools don't get out until the 24th.

This year I took advantage of Extra Magic hours for Disney resort guests, and that made quite a bit of difference. The first night I arrived, though I had been up since 3 a.m., I went to the MK at 11 p.m. and stayed until 2:30 a.m. for the EM hours and had no lineups whatsoever. A few days later I went at the same time only p.m., and I couldn't move in Fantasyland. Only got one attraction before I had to go to Epcot for dinner reservations. Of course, Fastpasses for Soarin' and TestTrack were long gone, and there was nothing to do but line up if you really wanted to ride.

Hint, riding TestTrack on the single rider at around the time of Illuminations is the way to go. I rode twice in 15 minutes, and this was Jan. 4th. They've got single rider lines for Everest at AK, and Rock 'n Roller Coaster at Studios (though at Studios it still took 45 min. at 10 a.m. on the 4th).

Therefore, if you go between xmas and NY, then expect long lines at the parks. If you're a guest, do the late hours and spend the time by the pool during the a.m. The best time is the week leading up to xmas.

If you want to do dinner at Epcot, book as early as July/Aug., or consider lunch at any of the restaurants.

good luck.

 

[Lillian68]

I was there this past break the second week around New Year's and there were a couple of very cold days. The week before I was there it was in the 80s, and the week after I left it was to get into the high 70s, so weather wise you can never tell. You have to back for both types of weather and pray.

As far as crowds were concerned, it was busy. I've been there leading up to xmas, checking out by Christmas Eve (this was three years ago), and the crowds were fine. I think some US schools don't get out until the 24th.

This year I took advantage of Extra Magic hours for Disney resort guests, and that made quite a bit of difference. The first night I arrived, though I had been up since 3 a.m., I went to the MK at 11 p.m. and stayed until 2:30 a.m. for the EM hours and had no lineups whatsoever. A few days later I went at the same time only p.m., and I couldn't move in Fantasyland. Only got one attraction before I had to go to Epcot for dinner reservations. Of course, Fastpasses for Soarin' and TestTrack were long gone, and there was nothing to do but line up if you really wanted to ride.

Hint, riding TestTrack on the single rider at around the time of Illuminations is the way to go. I rode twice in 15 minutes, and this was Jan. 4th. They've got single rider lines for Everest at AK, and Rock 'n Roller Coaster at Studios (though at Studios it still took 45 min. at 10 a.m. on the 4th).

Therefore, if you go between xmas and NY, then expect long lines at the parks. If you're a guest, do the late hours and spend the time by the pool during the a.m. The best time is the week leading up to xmas.

If you want to do dinner at Epcot, book as early as July/Aug., or consider lunch at any of the restaurants.

good luck.

 

[ado121]

thanks so much! everyone has such great opinions!

 

[smkiss02]

We went last year from Dec. 27 until Jan. 3 and it was so much fun. The Christmas decorations are beautiful and the weather was nice. Coming from -50 weather, everything felt warm. The second day we were there it was actually TOO warm.

Christmas is the most expensive and busiest time of the year. The parks were very crowded, but honestly, with fastpasses and just waiting, I think the most we ever waited in line was 45 minutes (and that was only ONE ride), the rest of the time was usually about a 15 minute wait without the fastpasses. We stayed offsite and didn't get to the parks until about an hour or so after opening and we still walked on to some of the rides.

I say GO FOR IT!