Alternative Parks for Holidays

[ThePrincess&TheJohn]

My husband and I are thinking of doing a Christmas through New Years trip in 2019. Has anyone spent either holiday in Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom (or maybe even the water parks?!) Rather than MK or EPCOT? Would crowds be significantly less? We would have APs that year and would have done a lot by then so getting a ton done would not be a major priority. HS and AK are actually our favorite parks too. Would we totally be missing the magic of the holidays??

 

[sharonabe]

My husband and I are thinking of doing a Christmas through New Years trip in 2019. Has anyone spent either holiday in Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom (or maybe even the water parks?!) Rather than MK or EPCOT? Would crowds be significantly less? We would have APs that year and would have done a lot by then so getting a ton done would not be a major priority. HS and AK are actually our favorite parks too. Would we totally be missing the magic of the holidays??

Someone posted a picture of AK yesterday on the DIS FB page. The shot was taken around 6:00 or 6:30 p.m. and it was a ghost town. They said it had been easily manageable all day. Unfortunately, by 2019, HS will have Toy Story Land AND Star Wars Galactic Edge should be open. I wouldn't be there on the actual Christmas or New Year's Day. AK would definitely be my choice on the actual holiday days, but if you're going to be there all week, I'd still brave the crowds for the other parks on the other days.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We went Dec. 25 - Dec. 30 2015 (this was the last year of Osbourne Lights) and DHS was the least crowded park. It was very manageable. We went a week earlier this year and DHS was still the least crowded and they did SUCH a great job with Christmas decorations this year! It was so lovely! AK was a little more crowded. EP was actually quite manageable that week because the walkways are so wide there. It tends to absorb crowds well. My only tip for EP over Christmas week is to avoid WS during CP performances as it really clogs up the areas surrounding the theater. We solved that problem by touring FW in the evenings while the shows were going on. If I ever went back that week, I would avoid MK altogether. I don't think you'll be missing out on any of the magic. We also like touring the deluxe resorts to see the decorations (or going to Ft. W for HDDR and a holiday sleigh ride) and can make a whole day out of that!

 

[epcotty]

We've done both around Christmas and the crowds weren't too bad at either most of the time. Even at EP it seems like wait times are higher more consistently than in HS or AK at the time. AK was well decorated this year. We will always miss the Osborne Lights at HS (last time we were there was the last year of those) but nice to hear that they still have nice decorations there.

 

[MrKnight]

In a normal year DHS is a nice "alternative park" for the holiday season, however, keep in mind that 2019 is the opening year for Star Wars Land (SWL) which will dramatically impact crowd levels, I expect that DHS will experience record-breaking crowds after the opening of SWL and for the remainder of the year.

AK is historically the "less popular" park during the holiday season due to limited holiday offerings, also when most people think of Disney and holiday season they think of MKP and Epcot as you stated. This could be the alternative if your goal is to be in the least crowded park, just keep in mind that this does not mean that the park will not FEEL crowded during peak dates.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I think the last couple of years prove that there isn't any rhyme or reason other than MK being packed on all holidays. All crowd calendars advised against Epcot on Thanksgiving Day and it was not that bad at all. That taught me to be officially done with "predictions."

I believe that any WDW park is magical during any holiday.

 

[Keels]

We did three parks yesterday for NYE - we started at AK and rode EE twice via single-rider, had lunch at Yak & Yeti and then went to DHS. We had FP+s for ToT and RnRC. Enjoyed those, had happy hour and a snack at BaseLine Taphouse and then walked back to our hotel (Swan/Dolphin). Enjoyed some drinks and another snack in the lounge at BlueZoo and then entered Epcot via IG right as the early Illuminations were finishing up. We had 9 p.m. dinner at Teppan Edo, and then enjoyed partying until the fireworks at midnight (watched from Japan). We went on TT single-rider right after the fireworks, and then walked on Soarin' right before park close at 1 a.m. Had a leisurely walk back through the World Showcase to get to our hotel and I was asleep by 2!

An observation: they were DEFINITELY throttling ride capacity at ToT. We walked on with FP+ when the wait was 105 minutes for standby ... and then the boiler room was empty and not all elevators were full.

 

[ThePrincess&TheJohn]

We did three parks yesterday for NYE - we started at AK and rode EE twice via single-rider, had lunch at Yak & Yeti and then went to DHS. We had FP+s for ToT and RnRC. Enjoyed those, had happy hour and a snack at BaseLine Taphouse and then walked back to our hotel (Swan/Dolphin). Enjoyed some drinks and another snack in the lounge at BlueZoo and then entered Epcot via IG right as the early Illuminations were finishing up. We had 9 p.m. dinner at Teppan Edo, and then enjoyed partying until the fireworks at midnight (watched from Japan). We went on TT single-rider right after the fireworks, and then walked on Soarin' right before park close at 1 a.m. Had a leisurely walk back through the World Showcase to get to our hotel and I was asleep by 2!

An observation: they were DEFINITELY throttling ride capacity at ToT. We walked on with FP+ when the wait was 105 minutes for standby ... and then the boiler room was empty and not all elevators were full.

Wow! This seems like an awesome day!!