2019 trip planning : Christmas or New Year's Week? Pros and cons?

[zavandor]

I never did WDW for NYE, but I once went to Disneyland Paris for it. Never again, for me it is just not magical. It's not what I go to Disney for. It is possible to have a good time, but as confirmed by everyone in this thread, you have to think to alternative things to do rather what you would in normal circumstances.

 

[kboo]

We've done Christmas through to the first week of January at Disneyland when our older two were about your children's age. Disney is so good at crowd control (LAX should look into hiring Disney CMs). As long as you only attempt to get onto rides in the first two hours after rope drop, the crowds are manageable. We had an awesome time enjoying the sights and exploring minor attractions that we usually overlooked.

Currently considering visiting during the same time period as you!

Let me know what you decide!

If we don't want to pull our kids out of school, we are limited to Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years.

 

[Mumof4mice]

Let me know what you decide!

If we don't want to pull our kids out of school, we are limited to Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years.

We used to strap DD (3) into an Ergobaby during fireworks, which gave her a good vantage point. At the conclusion, we kept her in the carrier and stuffed DS(6) into her stroller. We felt safer with both kids strapped in this way during the mass exodus. I have seen families using camping harness backpacks, but those are a pain to lug around all day, whereas Ergobaby packs down very compactly.

On our Christmas to January trip we took time to experience a lot of attractions that are now altered/permanently removed for SWGE (disneyland railway, Tom Sawyer's island, big thunder ranch). On one of the days we decided to RD Big Thunder, my daughter's favourite ride, and walked on five times in a row. Many minor attractions had short waits even on days when the park reached capacity in the early afternoon.

A family making an once in a lifetime trip should certainly steer clear of that period. Spending 8 hours queuing to do 3 rides would make anyone disappointed. But Disney is a theme park, not just a "ride park". As DVC owners who will be returning, it's worth trying the holiday season.

 

[kboo]

Also - now that 2020 points charts are out, we'd save 50 points going the week of New Years. We'd have to borrow either 9 or 59 points from 2021. It's not horrible, considering we estimated our purchase needs to account for being able to be in up to a 1BR for a week in premier season.

 

[kboo]

A family making an once in a lifetime trip should certainly steer clear of that period. Spending 8 hours queuing to do 3 rides would make anyone disappointed. But Disney is a theme park, not just a "ride park". As DVC owners who will be returning, it's worth trying the holiday season.

I couldn't agree more. I noticed a TON more "First Visit" buttons when we were there last Thanksgiving. If that had been my first visit, I don't think I would have planned to come back in a long, long time. At least we knew where we were going and knew how to use the app and FP and had ADRs... and even so it was difficult. The kids did not see any fireworks except from the balcony as they were getting ready for bed one night.

 

[TexasChick123]

Also - now that 2020 points charts are out, we'd save 50 points going the week of New Years. We'd have to borrow either 9 or 59 points from 2021. It's not horrible, considering we estimated our purchase needs to account for being able to be in up to a 1BR for a week in premier season.

This made me smile. A lot of people were complaining about the charts yesterday, but it’s nice to hear they are better for some. I have no idea how many points our preferred rooms went up or down because we go at all different times of the year. I’m sure it went up for us in some seasons and down in others. We’re going to WDW in Magic Season this next year, and it is a painful amount of points to spend. Supposedly, that was one of the seasons where a lot of the points requirements decreased. If only they could retroactively decrease it for us...

 

[iheartglaciers]

I couldn't agree more. I noticed a TON more "First Visit" buttons when we were there last Thanksgiving. If that had been my first visit, I don't think I would have planned to come back in a long, long time. At least we knew where we were going and knew how to use the app and FP and had ADRs... and even so it was difficult. The kids did not see any fireworks except from the balcony as they were getting ready for bed one night.

My manager, who has never been to Disney before, mentioned thinking about finally taking his kids over Thanksgiving break... I talked him out of that idea. But I agree, it's doable if you're experienced (and even then, I wouldn't really want to--but I don't have kids and don't have to plan around school yet!), but I can't imagine doing it if you've never been before. And squeezing everything into a long weekend on top of that!

 

[DizneyLizzy]

I would do the pre-Christmas plan. I think more people travel after the holiday. One year I was in WDW from the 20th-23rd and it really wasn't bad at all. I think I read somewhere that NYE is THE busiest day of the year at the Disney parks.

Either way it'll be a great time. It's not like you're a one and done family - you know you'll be back so your trip doesn't have to be headliner heavy. It might just be a different type of trip than you're used to - I think it's all about going into it with the right mindset.

 

[Princesspixi]

I can't speak for Christmas, but we did NYE in MK last year and stayed until the 8th, I ran the marathon. Crowds were bad all week, except the day it poured HA!
Wait times and crowds weren't as bad as I anticipated on NYE but probably only because people staked out their fireworks spot very early in the day. We didn't want to waste our day so we rode rides, watched the parade, and ate in the castle. The longest wait time we had was an hr and it was for Space Mountain and Pirates. We got there at 9 and rode/saw about 17 attractions, so it was a pretty successful day. It took almost 2 hours to get out after fireworks though. We watched from near 7 dwarfs mine train.
All parks were crowded all week, probably because of the influx of runners coming in as holiday guests were leaving. But we got all the fast passes and dining reservations we wanted during our planning, so that helped. All decor was still up, at least through saturday (our last park day).
Overall I'd do it again. My friend who did NYE a few years ago; however, would not. I know you said school break, but the begining of December would be better and you still get christmas decor.