Christmas at WDW

[laurenk]

How bad is it really? I just booked 11 nights at BC for December 16th til the 27th. Are the crowds unbearable. We have been several times before, but never for Christmas. Well, actually we went in December right after September 11th, but that isn't a fair comparison, because things were very different then. At that time YC(where we stayed), had the entire 4th floor closed. Boardwalk was a graveyard. So, please, what can we expect?
Thanks!

 

[nasmith]

This year we were there Dec. 19 - 29 --- the crowds were fine (a little crowded, but not too bad) bafore Christmas Day- but starting Christmas Day- it was a zoo, and got progressively worse each day --- parks reached their capacity before noon! Do not try to drive to the MK!! We were staying at the Poly, and as we left on Christmas day to go elsewhere- we saw thousands of cars lined up at the turnstiles waiting to get to a place where they could turn around because the parking lot was full! Imagine, spending hours in a car with your kids on Christmas day, only to be told that the MK was full and you couldn' t go! Wait times at test track on those days were near 3 hours!!

My advice is to do most of everything you want to do before Christmas, then use your last few days to relax, enjoy the resort, catch some of the live entertainers- maybe hit a park at opening for a few rides, then skedaddle out of there- (It's what we did- and it seemed to work)...Jill

 

[CamColt]

Nasmiths reply was just about what I was thinking. We were there this year from the 20th-29th. I was prepared for the worst and was pleasantly surprised.
We got most of our "must dos" done in the beginning of the week. In fact we even got more than we had expected to do then, which helped because it freed up some time at the end of the week.
Christmas Eve day we did World Showcase without too many crowds and then the Candlelight Processional.
Christmas Day we hit MK for opening, did 4 rides(walk on) before our 9:10am PS for Cindys. After breakfast we got out of the MK, reosrt hopped, played mini golf, and went for a sleigh ride at night.
After Christmas, we found by getting to the parks early(EE at MK too) we were still able to get quite a bit done without too many lines. Although, by our last day when we arrived at MK at 11:00 it was mobbed and you could barely walk. It was neat to see it that crowded, knowing we didnt really care if we did anything, but I wouldnt have liked it if I wanted to get stuff done.

I did a 10 part trip report on the TR Board if you are interested. It maybe down quite a few pages by now.

 

[Micca]

I think you'll get the best of both worlds during your stay. Crowds will be light for the first week, but there will be entertainment galore the second week(&everything will be open late). Good timing

 

[Mike Jones]

We did MK on Christmas Eve and it was survivable, and Epcot on Christmas Day was fine. We left on 27th though, so not sure about the rest of the week. Just avoid MK on Christmas Day!