Christmas at disney

[welshlamb]

This is our first time on DIS so bear with us if nothing makes sense:
We should of been going to Disney for the third time in July, but we've had to cancel. We are now looking to go at Christmas (2006). I would really like to know what to expect, as we've never been at Christmas and any good tips for Christmas eve,day and New years eve.

 

[AlanUK]

Hi welshlamb

Firstly - Welcome to the DIS and UK Trip Planning

I haven't been at Christmas myself so I can't tell you what to expect on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Eve other than that it's going to be extremely busy

That said it's a fantastic time of year to go. You can see all the lovely Christmas decorations at the parks and resorts. You can see the Osborne Lights at MGM and also the Christmas parade

There are plenty of people on here who have been or are going at this time so I am sure you will gets lots of great advice

 

[Eljay]

http://www.allearsnet.com/tp/holiday.htm

Here is a wonderful link to WDW holiday info!

Most of the info seems to be from last year, but I'm sure you can bookmark it and check back when they update it for 2006.

 

[Goofyish]

We went over Christmas last year and had a great time. The decorations, special fireworks, atmosphere are really special

Only downsides are the crowds - Christmas week (from around the 23rd until New Year) is the most busiest time at WDW. You need careful planning and good use of Fastpass to get the most out of that week and avoid the worst of the lines and crowds. But if you are used to the July crowds then you should be able to manage Christmas.
The weeks before Christmas are a lot quieter and but you still get all the special events and holiday atmosphere

The biggest difference between July/August and December is the weather!
We had quite a mixture of weather in December, it was mainly dry although we had a few days of drizzly rain. When the sun comes out it can be quite nice with temperatures getting up to the high 70s.
First thing in the mornings and once the sun goes down the temperatures can drop. You need to pack lots of layers to cover possibilities.
A few nights we had sweatshirts and fleeces on, while other times we could get away with jeans and t-shirt.

You can read my trip reports on the UK Trip Reports Board to get some idea of what it's like. First report is here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=989270

 

[waltfan1957]

This is our first time on DIS so bear with us if nothing makes sense:
We should of been going to Disney for the third time in July, but we've had to cancel. We are now looking to go at Christmas (2006). I would really like to know what to expect, as we've never been at Christmas and any good tips for Christmas eve,day and New years eve.

We only go at xmas its amazing yes its busy but its definitley worth it

 

[Lisash]

Welcome to the DISboards. We just did Christmas & New Year this last Christmas and loved it so much are going again this year. The weather is the main difference we were lucky and had 10 days sunshine but I know people who were there just before us had a few rainy days. The mornings and evenings can be very cool but it soon warms up. The crowds were huge but if you use fastpass it's not so bad. NYE in MK is just amazing. You can't move but if you just accept it's just a day for soaking up the atmosphere you'll have a ball. If you check out the trip reports you'll find quite a few from people out there last December. Happy planning

 

[Miffy2003]

Hello welshlamb and welcome to the Dis

I agree with everything that has been said already!

Christmas gives you things to enjoy that are not there at any other time of year, such as the Osborne Lights at MGM, the Candlelight Processional & Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom. The latter event stops just before Christmas so if you arrive in later December these may have finished for the year already.


It is wonderful to see the parks all beautifully decorated for Xmas and the resorts are wonderful too

The downsides will be the extremely busy crowds in Xmas week and the weather can be very changeable. It can be downright chilly but also can be lovely temps with plenty of sunshine

If you can get out as early as possible in December you will see the benefit of much lower crowd levels before Xmas itself

 

[jockey]

We love WDW at Christmas time. If we go in December we usually go the first two weeks as there are low crowds. As already mentioned the weather is changeable but we can't stick the heat anyway! The CHristmas decorations are wonderful at this time of year.

 

[tink too]

Christmas gives you things to enjoy that are not there at any other time of year, such as the Osborne Lights at MGM, the Candlelight Processional & Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom. The latter two events stop just before Christmas so if you arrive in later December these may have finished for the year already.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with Miffy here - Candlelight Processional does not stop before Christmas - we have attended twice (in 1999 and 2004) on Christmas Eve! This event usually runs past Christmas but stops on or around the 30th of December.

MVMCP at MK does stop before Christmas - usually around the 16th or 17th!

As long as you understand that Christmas time is very crowded - it is a lovely time to visit! As stated before, bring clothes for all types of weather - it rained in torrents on Christmas Day 2004 and we needed thick jackets on Boxing Day because it was quite cold and windy. The weather soon returned to a more pleasant climate though!

FYI - Epcot was almost empty on the 1st of January!

 

[Strommie]

We are going 2nd-11th December this year and can't wait We are looking forward to all the christmassy things

 

[Miffy2003]

Thanks tink too - I have reworded my post to avoid confusion.

 

[welshlamb]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my question. i found all the replies really helpfull. We have re-booked our holiday and we now go on th 16/12/06 - 3/01/07.We are prepared for huge crowds,but can anyone tell me compared to July/August will the crowds be about the same or BIGGER??? The other thing is do you pack jeans and jumpers or shorts and light weight jackets (this is something i really need to get my head round particularly with the mid season and summer sales on the horizon!!!)

My other questions are where,when and how do you book things like Mickeys very Merry Christmas party and the candlelight procession and has anyone ever flown with united airlines? This was the only reasonably priced fare that we could find to tie in with our dates. We've never flown with them before, and we're flying out of Heathrow. This will also be a new experience as we normally go from Manchester...

 

[Goofyish]

Christmas week the crowds are the busiest of any time of the year. On a scale of 1-10, Christmas week is rated 10 (July and August are around 8-9).
There are more EMHs though and the parks are generally open much later than normal, so you can plan to miss the crowds

With you arriving on the 16th you will get at least a week of fairly low crowds (rated 5-6).

As for clothes - you need to pack layers. So whatever the weather you can add or remove layers as required.
You will need jeans for the early mornings and evenings. If the sun is out you will be able to wear shorts during the day. Again for early mornings and evenings a light jacket or sweatshirt/hoodie will be required.

MVMCP tickets usually go on sale around the summer time (I think??). Its best to book early because they do sell out. Keep an eye on the DIS for the anouncement for when tickets are on sale. Usually there is a dedicated thread on the US Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies Board - here's a link to last years thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=752567&highlight=MVMCP

To book you MVMCP tickets call 407-W Disney (00 1 407-934-7639)

Some more infor on the DIS:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/holidays/mvmcp.htm

For the Candlelight Processional you can just line up at one of the evening shows - you will need to start queuing at least an hour before the show though to get a seat.
The other option is to book a CP Package. For this you get a meal at a selected Epcot restaurant and a ticket for the reserved seating area in the theatre. You still need to line up about 30-40 minutes before the show though, but you are guarenteed as seat. Prices depend on the restaurant you pick. We found it best to see the show first and then eat after, but you can do it the other way round.

You book the package via the standard WDW Dine number:
00 1 407-939-3463

Link to last years information:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/holidays/candlelight_processional.htm#hm-xmas-candlelight

 

[mfoz1]

Flew with them 18 months ago because Virgin was fully booked and have to say that it was a realy good experience. We changed in Charlotte both times and it does add a couple of hours on to your flight time but overall the seats were an inch to an inch and a half wider and there was much more legroom on both flights. The entertainment system was also video on demand so you don't have to wait for the longest film to finish before watching the next one. Food was comparable although the flight attendants were more mature and a little crabby! We are looking at going this Christmas as my daughter starts working at Epcot for her gap year in September and Virgin is already fully booked and UA has some very good deals if you go early enough.

 

[tink too]

We flew with United Airlines on our last Christmas trip (2004) we went on the same dates as you are going - 16/12 to 03/01!

We flew from Heathrow (large and busy airport, but well signposted) via Chicago O'Hare. We experienced a few delays at Chicago - we couldn't land at first due to icy runways, so we had a slight delay and once landed, the Customs and Immigration computer system had crashed and there was a huge queue! I'm sure this was just a one off though!

The flight with Ted (United's internal airline) down to Orlando was also delayed as they were having crew shortages (again, maybe due to the weather conditions outside).

We experienced some "crabby" cabin crew, too on the transatlantic leg of the journey only - they wouldn't let DD3 use the toilets on the plane or let us off to use one's in the airport even though we were onboard the plane and waiting to take off for over an hour on the way home! This made DD get a bit stressed as she didn't want to have an "accident" and it did annoy me at the time!

They soon lightened up after we took off, though and were extemely friendly after I asked to buy one of the stewards' favourite aftershaves off the duty-free cart for DH!