Christmas at Disney

[Lasrnw]

Any information about Christmas would be great....when the decorations go up, best decorated resort, weather in early December, crowds?? Any information would be greatly appreciated.....Just got back yesterday so I MUST start planning my next trip.....and how many more points I MUST get....this is addictive!! HAHA!

 

[Tooneric]

We did a short trip at CBR getting an AP discount. It was a few days before Christmas and was unusually COLD for WDW. So be prepared just in case. Still, it was wonderful. I've heard WLV is beautiful at Christmas. I recommend the Candlelight Processional Dinner package. It's sort of like Fantasmic Dining Experience. You eat at Epcot and get preferred seating at the show. Ahhh, wish I was going back this Christmas!

 

[gjw007]

I go slightly later in the month, usually the week before Xmas. This year I will be there from Dec 10 to Dec 24, so i will be there a little earlier than normal. Orlando can be very nice, highs in the mid 70s, or slightly nippy (highs in the 40s) during this period. Most of the time the high temps were in the upper 60s to lower 70s. There have been a couple times where there were frost warnings and the low temperatures were in the mid 20s, so be prepared for cooler weather.

I havn't been to the resorts to check out Xmas decorations but I like the theming of VWL and I believe that you would like the decorations there.

It depends on what you like, but some of the Xmas plays are good such as Beauty and the Beast at MGM and Mickey's 'Twas the night before Xmas at the MK (in early December I think you can only see this as part of Mickey's Very Special Christmas (I may have the name slightly off) held on certain days). Some other activies are what I refer to as the song-and-dance routine done at Epcot in front of the lagoon with the Disney characters. It is a great time to take pictures with the characters. While I'm not a fan of Epcot, Xmas is a good time to visit the nations.

You'll enjoy Disney at Xmas time.

 

[manning]

The weather, who knows. We were there last December, early, and it was cold. Went back in January and it was in mid to upper 80s.

Dress in layers.

 

[denecarter]

Christmas decorations go up right after Thanksgiving I believe.

As others have already said, the weather can be good for shorts or you may need a jacket/sweatshirt or both outfits the same day.

We've been 3 different Christmas trips now. Dec 25-31 at the Swan 2002... Dec 27-Jan 3 at BCV in 2003... Dec 19-24 BCV and 24-29 VWL in 2004.

We REALLY like staying at BCV and walking to Epcot and the Studios in the nice weather. We had a great BCV 2BR Epcot view of Illuminations and the special Christmas add-on and we could hear the music from the balcony. We added the extra days at VWL in a 1BR (after my parents left) at only a few months out. At both, we had a small tree with "built in" lights that we covered in the rainbow Mickey head ornaments from the DTD Christmas store. We had also brought the lighted garland for the balcony and one of those inflated "Santa" Mickeys to put on the balcony as well. It was cool to see Mickey waving at passing busses, boats, etc. when we were returning to our room.

VWL were nice for something different... but DD17 and I agreed that we prefer our BCV and OKW.

As for crowds... this is what we noticed:
1. Before Christmas... crowds best of the three trips, sort of crowded, may have been same number of people as June... but they weren't as hot and grouchy , MK most crowded
2. Between Christmas and New Year... Christmas Day pretty crazy in the MK (we only stayed long enough for our early lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern... which was fabulous) and it rained on us... a lot; other days there is a noticeable build in crowds towards New Year's Eve... there are something like 3 bowl games within a very short distance of WDW and it seems that a lot of the half-time cheerleader/dancer girls make a day-trip at some point, we saw a football team going onto RnRC, school banners were hanging out the windows at the Y&BC. NYE is VERY crowded... get somewhere early and stay there... we picked the Studios because we wanted to see Sorcery in the Sky (fireworks only shown NYE and July 4th).
3. New Year's Day and later... crowds thin out a LOT... NY Day - between the hang-overs and the bowl games, it just isn't as crowded; for the next few days things clear out... BUT, the special Christmas stuff (Candlelight Processional, etc) is over; there are still decorations up, but some of them aren't quite as "fresh" as they were over a month ago

Soooo to make a long post longer, we decided we prefer to go the week before Christmas... and it doesn't hurt that points are lower then than they are the week between Christmas and New Year... after New Year they go down a lot.

 

[VMS]

We were there this Dec 5 - 10, and the weather was gorgeous -- we were in shorts every day, even in the evening. We heard it was cold right before we got there, and got cold the day we left. We stayed at VWL and loved it, but one day took a tour of a number of the resorts, they were all decorated beautifully. I would recommend taking some time to do this. We went to MVMCP on 12/7 and thought it was VERY CROWDED, though it was not a sold out one. The only other day we thought was crowded was the evening we got there 12/5 we went to MGM and that seemed pretty crowded. The rest of the time it was not bad. Definitely do the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT, that was my favorite thing we did there. Wish we were going this year!

 

[QuiltTeddy]

Thanks to the original poster for the question and to everyone for all the information. I can't wait. We go 12/18-12/23.