Christmas Holiday at Disney!!!

[miss.ann]

I am very new to this and I am seeking experts only!!!!! I am bringing my family to Disney 12/08-01/02. Kids ages are 10, 9, 21 months. Please tell me the "must sees" of Disney and what to expect that time of year. Thank You.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

WOW what a lucky group to have such an extended vacation at WDW. You will have plenty of time to see all you want to see. I highly recommend riding Soarin. Have fun.

 

[Steve's Girl]

Well, we've been to Disney in Dec. a couple of times, so not sure if that qualifies me as an expert, but.... you will have lighter crowds your first 10 days or so and should probably try to do most of the park touring during that time. The second part of your trip, the parks will be crazy busy! I would plan other activities during the busy time (ie, we have scheduled carriage rides at Fort Wilderness, went to the Chip n Dale sing-a-long, did the tea party at the Grand Floridian, etc over the busy holiday times.)

 

[Mickeypooh99]

Wow. Thats a long time to be at disney. Your so lucky. How many days will you be in the parks? Early December is a great time to visit. If you ask me everything is a must see.

 

[miss.ann]

Sorry All but I need to make a correction. We will be at Disney 12/28/08 until 01/02/08. This HUGE for us so I want to make the most out of the time we have. I've heard negative things about being there that time of year but on the other hand I heard it is simply breathtaking! Need any and all suggestions. Thanks in advance!

 

[miss.ann]

Well, we've been to Disney in Dec. a couple of times, so not sure if that qualifies me as an expert, but.... you will have lighter crowds your first 10 days or so and should probably try to do most of the park touring during that time. The second part of your trip, the parks will be crazy busy! I would plan other activities during the busy time (ie, we have scheduled carriage rides at Fort Wilderness, went to the Chip n Dale sing-a-long, did the tea party at the Grand Floridian, etc over the busy holiday times.)

Thanks for advise!

 

[Angielou1079]

We're going 12/23-1/2 with 9 adults and 3 kids ages 2,1 and 1 month....2 of the adults will be using an ECV plus the strollers and one "adult" is 17......just an FYI my mom read somewhere that the hall of presidents is closed 12/1-12/31.....I can't wait!!! Oh and we were told to get to the park as early as possible because I guess they have different levels of park closings once they reach capacity and ADR will not get us in....

 

[happymommy]

Well, I have been about 20 times, and only once we went 12/26 until 1/2. Thankfully, we had been so many times before on this trip. We were staying at AKL in a concierge room, so we would go to a park for about 2 hours or so, maybe 3, then back to the hotel and swim and relax, enjoying the resort.

The crowds that time of the year at the parks are unimaginable - crazy crazy busy. I was so glad it wasn't our first time to Disney, and there was really nothing we HAD to do. Of course the kids wanted to do Buzz Lightyear and stuff, so we'd head out, do that, then get out of Dodge.

New Years Eve at Epcot, by the early afternoon, it was literally wall to wall people. We had a cruise on Breathless booked for illuminations. That was fun, brought champagne (had dinner earlier at Flying Fish, worst meal I've ever had at Disney) and enjoyed illuminations while folks above us on the bridge at Epcot were very crowded together. Then we took a cab from Yacht club resort back to AKL - best decision ever.

I would say, if this is your first time, I'd either pick another time of the year (any other time of the year) or... Do lots of planning now! Go early to the parks and leave when it starts to get crowded! Get your fastpasses EARLY! Soarin was out of them within a couple of hours every day. So get the fastpass, then go relax, then use it later. If you miss the time on it, they usually let you use it later in the day, just not before the time stated.

Where are you staying? This can make an impact on your trip, as it's so busy that time of the year. I'd bring your own stroller.

I don't want to put a damper on this, but if it's your first visit, is there ANY other time of the year you can go? I've been several times over spring break, and it's nothing like the last week of the year/new years.

If you want to chat or need any advice, feel free to PM me. I love Disney!

 

[happymommy]

We're going 12/23-1/2 with 9 adults and 3 kids ages 2,1 and 1 month....2 of the adults will be using an ECV plus the strollers and one "adult" is 17......just an FYI my mom read somewhere that the hall of presidents is closed 12/1-12/31.....I can't wait!!! Oh and we were told to get to the park as early as possible because I guess they have different levels of park closings once they reach capacity and ADR will not get us in....

If you are staying AT a Disney resort, they will let you in. They just close for day guests (they closed almost every park every day when we went 12/26 - 1/2 one year). But when it's that crowded, I wouldn't want to be there anyway! By that time, we were heading out the door!

Do go as early as you can - you will be glad you did.

 

[pooh4evr]

As far as advice-All I can say is GOOD LUCK we left the world last yr on the 20 and we were glad to be leaving because of the crowd levels (week before there were very little if any waits) You MUST prepare for that --get to the parks early and don't leave becuase you may not be able to get back in because they will close to everyone somedays because of crowds and it doesn't matter where you are staying or if you have dinner plans or anything -- Don't want to scare you but it is the busiest time of the year-- The decorations are neat as are the fireworks and parades -- if you haven't done so already try to make dining reservations if you want to have any sit down table served meals- lunch maybe easier to get into now-- weather can be anything from 80s and warm to cool jacket and pants in the evening so layer, (I know this isn't making sense but I am trying to think of what I have done or read on the bosrds before ) I am sure you'll have a great time as long as you prepare and know that you may not get to do as much as you might if you were going the week befor or after the holidays-- go to the most popular rides early, get fastpasses and use the baby as an excuse too to get child swap passes on rides as well we did that and the oler ones got to ride more things because they would go with DH then with me! HAVE FUN!!!

 

[dizneyluv]

Our very first trip as a family and with extended family was at Disney from Christmas Eve to NY Eve.

We had a great trip. It was very crowded but we were prepared as we researched digilently before arriving.

I would suggest the Unofficial Guide for planning (the new 2009 is out now) and the Passporter for the organization. I used both on my first trip and learned alot.

Go first thing in the morning and do all the must see's first, have a set of fast passes in your hand as much as possible.

Break for a long lunch, naps, hotel swimming etc. Plan the shows, parades, etc. at night. Resort hop and look at all the different decorations. They are fabulous.

There are many wonderful sights to see. Look at this website: http://www.wdwinfo.com/holidays/christmas_world.htm

Go early, be prepared, have a plan. You can have a good time even at the busiest week. There were 10 of us with a 2 year old, two 11 yr olds and one 15 yr old, 6 adults. I wish we had stayed on site, that's my only regret.

If you want to eat at certain restaurants be sure to plan those now and make your advanced reservations.

Take care and have a wonderful trip!