Advice - Christmas Day and NYE

[wmoon]

Hi

We are visiting WDW from Christmas Eve until 4th January. We have been a few times but its our first Christmas trip. Our main priority is just enjoying the decorations and Christmas events with a few Fast passes thrown in as I know everywhere will be insanely busy. There will be me, DH, DS 11 and MIL. I'm looking for some thoughts about my Christmas Day / NYE plans.

Christmas Day: We will be at the Contemporary. We are planning on perhaps walking to MK for opening (we will have jet lag so will be awake super early) to see the decorations and for photos only. Then heading to HS for opening, is it best to walk back to the Contemporary for the bus?
We have lunch at Mama Melrose.
We plan to leave after that and either 1. get the bus back to the Contemporary or 2. get boat to Epcot and stroll (no rides) through to get the monorail, which is better?
At night we have dinner at GF cafe, monorail but allow plenty of time?
Return to the Contemporary to watch Wishes from our room.

NYE: We will be at the Beach Club. I thought walk to Fantasia Golf in the morning. We have Hollywood Brown Derby booked at 4.15pm as part of the Fantasmic package. Is it possible they will extend the opening hours like last year?
If not we thought we would drop ds and mil off at the beach club and go into Epcot if not closed and experience the chaos and fireworks. As 2 adults the crowds would seem much less daunting than taking ds in, is this mad? If closed we'd just watch from beach/yacht club.

Sorry for all the detail and thanks for any advice.

 

[soniam]

I can't comment on xmas day, since we haven't been at the parks then. However, we have been at Epcot for NYE. There are a lot of crowds, but it's not like people pushing and trying to get out of an event that just finished. It's just a lot of people hanging out or standing in a line. It's really pretty easy to navigate. I don't think Epcot has reached capacity in over 10 years, so I think you will be fine. People do start waiting for Illuminations much earlier than normal, so you may not get an ideal spot.

 

[wmoon]

Thanks for your helpful reply.

We will keep Epcot as an option for NYE. I would really like to see their fireworks, a non ideal spot would do us.

 

[deedubb]

You made a brilliant choice with your hotels.

My advice is to avoid travel by car/bus on Xmas day. The roads are gridlock. Definitely walk from Contemporary to MK and back. Any meals at MK on Xmas should be table service. The lines for QS will be brutal, and good luck finding a table to sit at.

Definitely do Epcot NYE for the fireworks.

Have a great time!

 

[wmoon]

You made a brilliant choice with your hotels.

My advice is to avoid travel by car/bus on Xmas day. The roads are gridlock. Definitely walk from Contemporary to MK and back. Any meals at MK on Xmas should be table service. The lines for QS will be brutal, and good luck finding a table to sit at.

Definitely do Epcot NYE for the fireworks.

Have a great time!

Thanks. Mk on Christmas Day if we do it will just be for photos. I have 2 table service meals booked for Christmas Day and probably more table service places booked for this trip than I would have made at any other time of the year.

 

[LA Poolboy]

Looks like you have a sense of reality about it. Crowds are brutal but if you have your reservations you are good. On the choice of bus to Contemporary from DHS or boat to Epcot and stroll to monorail...I like the idea of boat and stroll. But stroll to me means taking my time and looking and even stopping to look at things. Making time during these 2 days mentioned is really not possible. Patience is a real virtue. Have a great time!

 

[wmoon]

Looks like you have a sense of reality about it. Crowds are brutal but if you have your reservations you are good. On the choice of bus to Contemporary from DHS or boat to Epcot and stroll to monorail...I like the idea of boat and stroll. But stroll to me means taking my time and looking and even stopping to look at things. Making time during these 2 days mentioned is really not possible. Patience is a real virtue. Have a great time!

Thanks. I watched a dis you tube thing where they likened Mk on Christmas Day to the movie, Saving Private Ryan so I am trying to shake any perfect images from my mind...

I get your point about the stroll but I’m thinking my patience will be better walking and taking in the chaos than sitting on a bus totally stuck. I think my real concern is getting on the resort monorail at the ttc.

 

[LA Poolboy]

I don't think that will be a problem. The problem comes in as the monorail makes its way around the Lagoon picking up more passengers until you get to your destination. Full. But it is what it is. Christmastime at Disney.

 

[soniam]

Hi

We are visiting WDW from Christmas Eve until 4th January. We have been a few times but its our first Christmas trip. Our main priority is just enjoying the decorations and Christmas events with a few Fast passes thrown in as I know everywhere will be insanely busy. There will be me, DH, DS 11 and MIL. I'm looking for some thoughts about my Christmas Day / NYE plans.

Christmas Day: We will be at the Contemporary. We are planning on perhaps walking to MK for opening (we will have jet lag so will be awake super early) to see the decorations and for photos only. Then heading to HS for opening, is it best to walk back to the Contemporary for the bus?
We have lunch at Mama Melrose.
We plan to leave after that and either 1. get the bus back to the Contemporary or 2. get boat to Epcot and stroll (no rides) through to get the monorail, which is better?
At night we have dinner at GF cafe, monorail but allow plenty of time?
Return to the Contemporary to watch Wishes from our room.

NYE: We will be at the Beach Club. I thought walk to Fantasia Golf in the morning. We have Hollywood Brown Derby booked at 4.15pm as part of the Fantasmic package. Is it possible they will extend the opening hours like last year?
If not we thought we would drop ds and mil off at the beach club and go into Epcot if not closed and experience the chaos and fireworks. As 2 adults the crowds would seem much less daunting than taking ds in, is this mad? If closed we'd just watch from beach/yacht club.

Sorry for all the detail and thanks for any advice.

We also stayed at BC for our NYE trip. It was great. I felt like I could go back to the room at anytime on NYE night. However, the security line might get long as it gets closer to midnight. The walk back to the hotel was so awesome. It was worth every penny, and I wouldn't do it any other way.

 

[wmoon]

I don't think that will be a problem. The problem comes in as the monorail makes its way around the Lagoon picking up more passengers until you get to your destination. Full. But it is what it is. Christmastime at Disney.

Thanks I assume it will fill to MK, empty and refill. I shall try to position us accordingly at Mk when it empties.

 

[wmoon]

We also stayed at BC for our NYE trip. It was great. I felt like I could go back to the room at anytime on NYE night. However, the security line might get long as it gets closer to midnight. The walk back to the hotel was so awesome. It was worth every penny, and I wouldn't do it any other way.

Thanks. We stayed at YC a good few years ago and loved the location so as soon as this trip came YC/BC was the top choice for the second half of the trip.
At least if security is too bad, it’s only 5 minutes back to the resort.
Thanks for all your advice.