Christmas Crowds

[Boardwalk_bride]

How busy is DisneySea over Christmas? We are considering a Tokyo trip for 9 or so days and want to make sure it won't be insane to visit.

 

[Agent 86]

I've only been in early December and it was busy (as is standard for TDR), but not crazy busy.

We missed the launch of the Christmas decor and merchandise which are typically very busy days.

That typed, we just got back from a trip to Tokyo and we visited DisneySea on a "low" crowd weekday and it was still insane! It took a very long time to even enter the park, despite arriving early, and wait times ballooned enormously once everyone was inside. In the first ... five hours, we only did one ride (40 minute wait), met a couple of roaming characters, saw a show and ate lunch.

It wasn't until the last hour or two that the park actually seemed manageable. So, I think DisneySea's new "normal", even with reportedly "low" crowds, is just so busy that it can almost be unenjoyable.

To be fair, a lot of the high capacity and ... "filler" rides weren't operating - Indiana Jones, Sindbad, 20,000 Leagues, Aquatopia, etc.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I've only visited around Dec 20 which was fine and New Years Day which was crazy but not Christmas Day itself.

Compared to WDW crowds for Christmas and New Years, I find Tokyo Disney crowds less chaotic. There's more couples and groups of friends focused on seeing the Christmas shows, eating seasonal food, etc. Wait times for rides are moderately long but not insanely long like Spring Break or Golden Week.

A lot of people want to visit on the actual day of Christmas so crowds definitely spike on that day and to a much lesser extent Christmas Eve. Crowds can technically be lower between Christmas and New Years because the Christmas event ends on Dec 25 but the wait times for rides are often higher because there's no seasonal shows or themed food to wait for.

So maybe estimate 2-3 hours for Journey to the Center of the Earth for Dec 24 and earlier, 3-4 hours for the 25th to 31st. Nemo wait times of 20-30 minutes up to Dec 24 and 30-60 minutes for the 25th to 31st.