Christmas day at WDW?

[slapwhitey]

I was just wondering if all the parks fill to capacity on Christmas Day or just Magic Kingdom. I would assume they would. I'm going with a large group this Christmas and they think it won't be bad and if the weather is not so great they even think it will be "dead". I'm trying to get them prepared for massive crowds but I'm not sure if they're buying it. They were hoping to park hop on Christmas Day and I'm suggesting pick one park, get there very early and plan on spending the entire day at just the one park. I've never been on the 25th itself so if anyone can shed some light on the subject I would be forever greatful. Thank you.

 

[Sharon Esch]

By far, all the parks will be busy that day, BUT MK WILL BE THE WORST. Hope they take your advice and pick 1 park and go early and stay through the day. Hope your Christmas is wonderful!

 

[lovethattink]

We've eaten our Christmas dinner every year but last year at Crystal Palace. We arrived at 10am and the park had already reached capacity and we were forced to park at Epcot. They did reopen and we made our 2pm lunch. Last year we ate at the Cape May Cafe. The rain and cold did not keep people away.

 

[austinsmommy]

We spend every Christmas at the Magic Kingdom. They have ALWAYS closed by 11:00am due to capacity. I am sure that Epcot and MGM reach capacity VERY early also. Not sure about the AK though. I do remember that there were several days last year between Christmas and New Years that every park including AK were closed due to capacity before noon. It really doesn't matter what the weather is like..we have been there when it was 80 degrees and beautiful, pouring down rain all day, and 45 degrees and freezing cold..wall to wall people every time!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ARCard]

We didn't make it down last year for XMAS, but spent the 25th in MGM in 2003, had a PS at Hollywood and Vine/Fantasmic Package, it was busy, but not unbearable. We didn't even think about planning a PS at MK this year! Also seems like 2000 and 2002 we were in EPCOT, don't remember much about the crowds, so must have not been too bad. Hope this helps.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

We were there on Christmas Day 2004.

It was cold and rainy. We went to AK and it was dead! By about 1:00 p.m., we gave up and went back to the hotel.

We heard that the parade was cancelled at the MK due to the rain. A lot of unhappy people. I am not sure if the park closed or not. AK did not ever close, but once again, the weather was terrible.

 

[momsgoofy]

As this will be our first time at WDW for Christmas, I'm depending upon the DIS boards and other sites to guide me through the trip planning. Since we leave on Christmas day...haven't bought the airfare yet, but planning to leave as late as possible and DH has wanted to do the House of Blues Gospel Brunch the last 2 trips, but it never worked out, that is what we are doing this year on Christmas day. I figure since it's our last day, we will go through check-out, store our bags, head to DD, eat there, spend some time at DQ and then head back to the hotel to leave.

 

[MaryannF]

We land in Orlando at 1pm on Christmas Day. I was hoping to get checked in at Pop Century and then head over to MK. I hadn't thought that the park would already be closed due to capacity crowds. What if you have a ADR for inside the park? I was considering either Liberty Tree in MK or 1900 Park Fare at GF. Looks like if we can get into MK we should stay there and not go to GF for dinner in the hopes of getting back into MK. Someone told me that you have to secure your dining reservation with a credit card for holiday dining. If you give your credit card as a guarantee and then you can't get into the park then you will be charged. I must have had a case of Disneyitis when I booked our trip. Going at Christmas puts different pressures on planning.