Advice for park planning 12/27-1/1

[Pbeh]

Alright, I need advice from those that have experienced visiting the week between Christmas and New Years. A couple of things first.

1) we can not go another time, I know it's less crowded in January, but we have to go this week.

2) we are staying offsite with family for free, so will not be staying at a resort

3) we have a group of seven, we like rides, not big into character meets or parades. We plan on doing each park once, with MK twice

4) in the past our strategy has been get to parks at openings and avoid parks with morning emh, but I've heard that there is a lot of emh during this week.

We by no means need to ride "everything", but we could use tips to make the week enjoyable and to avoid being poorly prepared. Tips?

 

[cinderella97]

We have been there a couple of times ad will be there again this year too. It will be crazy busy, expect line waits of up to 2-3 hours. MK will have the NYE fireworks on 12/30. The parks will be at different closing levels, since you are staying off site, be sure to be there first thing in the morning and don't leave you might not be able to return. NYE is crazy wall to wall people. We were at Epcot one year and we literally shuffled baby steps around the showcase. It took about 1 1/2 hours for that! We left, don't like crowds like that! Book your dining reservations now!

 

[kiramay]

We did that week in 2011/2012. It's busy but only NYE was horrible. I'd look at the schedules closer to December when more EMHs are added, but evening EMH days tend to be more crowded than morning EMH days, so I'd avoid those.

Get to the parks well before opening to have plenty of time to park and get line.
Make the FPs at your 30 day mark. If you don't get exactly what you want keep checking.
If you don't care about parades that's a good time to ride rides as a lot of people will be by the parade route.
NYE was nuts. We went to Epcot, and by dinner time it was just a mass of bodies and we left after eating.

 

[MommyMeNDisney]

We have been there a couple of times ad will be there again this year too. It will be crazy busy, expect line waits of up to 2-3 hours. MK will have the NYE fireworks on 12/30. The parks will be at different closing levels, since you are staying off site, be sure to be there first thing in the morning and don't leave you might not be able to return. NYE is crazy wall to wall people. We were at Epcot one year and we literally shuffled baby steps around the showcase. It took about 1 1/2 hours for that! We left, don't like crowds like that! Book your dining reservations now!

Do you know if it's the same way leading up to Christmas? We're going 12/17 - 12/25. TIA

 

[cinderella97]

The crowds should start arriving on December 19. You might have a couple less busy days. Christmas day they will start closing using their phases by 10am. Anyone that goes on during the holidays should know that you won't see everything, long lines and everyone's temper is short. That's the truth. When people tell me they are going to Disney fir the first time at the holidays I cringe a little. I don't like seeing people spend a fortune and not like it or complain because they didn't get their money worth.
On the bright side it's one my my favorite times to visit- the parks are decorated, candlelight processional, Osborne lights. - which this will probably be the last year. We know we're not going to see everything and we pack our patience and usually leave early afternoon to avoid the crowds.

 

[acrozier22]

We were at Disney for Christmas last year. My advice would be to get to the park early but don't schedule your fast passes until the afternoon. Lines are the worst from Noon-5 p.m. Schedule your passes during this time and monitor the wait times to determine what else you can do in between those times. I think hitting the shows are good things to do in between fast passes.

Hit up Hollywood Studios at night. Osborne Family Lights Spectacular is the most amazing thing Disney does during the holidays. You can literally hang out in that area for 60-90 minutes.

 

[MommyMeNDisney]

The crowds should start arriving on December 19. You might have a couple less busy days. Christmas day they will start closing using their phases by 10am. Anyone that goes on during the holidays should know that you won't see everything, long lines and everyone's temper is short. That's the truth. When people tell me they are going to Disney fir the first time at the holidays I cringe a little. I don't like seeing people spend a fortune and not like it or complain because they didn't get their money worth.
On the bright side it's one my my favorite times to visit- the parks are decorated, candlelight processional, Osborne lights. - which this will probably be the last year. We know we're not going to see everything and we pack our patience and usually leave early afternoon to avoid the crowds.

Thank you. I'm ok with not doing it all. I actually don't think we'll visit the parks on Christmas Day. So, this shouldn't be too bad for us.

I'm taking my DS (1), so we will go at his pace. He will only know the rides I introduce to him. LOL I'm getting an AP, so we will visit often. We can take our time seeing the world throughout the year.

I agree, it's beautiful during Christmas. I use to sing in the MK park every Christmas season with my high school chorus (many years ago).

 

[kj2mom]

I ditto the go early and book FP+ for afternoon. We were there for the 4th of July, got in at rope drop and had a lovely morning. We had an ADR lunch at noon at the Plaza to relax and regroup. After lunch we had our FP's which worked out perfectly. There are several levels of closure but if you have an ADR that will get you in an hour before the reservation unless closure has reached a level 4. Pack your patience, expect the crowds and have a fabulous time!

 

[Aurora0427]

Do you know if it's the same way leading up to Christmas? We're going 12/17 - 12/25. TIA

No- it will be very busy, especially on Christmas Day, but 12/26-1/4 is when it's absolutely nuts.

 

[MommyMeNDisney]

No- it will be very busy, especially on Christmas Day, but 12/26-1/4 is when it's absolutely nuts.

Ok thx. I'm thinking we will sleep in, enjoy Christmas morning together, then slowly drive back home. So, we will avoid the parks Christmas Day. Hopefully, 12/17 - 12/24 will be ok.

 

[epcotty]

Ok thx. I'm thinking we will sleep in, enjoy Christmas morning together, then slowly drive back home. So, we will avoid the parks Christmas Day. Hopefully, 12/17 - 12/24 will be ok.

We're usually there around then, really busy but still not as bad as later on.