Christmas though New years Details

[diamondect4]

I have been to Disney 50 times but I have never gone the week of xmas and new years. I know it's busy but are there any other secret tips someone can give me on what to do and when. Or is it just like any other trip but with a little more patients.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Rope drop! My inlaws just went and said RD still gave a big advantage.

 

[ferd]

I'm a Florida native and passholder, and this past holiday season was the first time I braved the parks (or more specifically MK) during the holiday season. We went to Magic Kingdom on Christmas Eve, got there at rope drop and were able to get lunch reservations just a couple days before. We were able to do several attractions and character meet and greets and see the Christmas parade at 3pm (though we did claim our spot in liberty square about 1 1/2 hours prior while our daughter slept in her stroller.) We left around 5 and all in all had a very festive and happy and pleasant time. Would definitely do it again and plan to next year. It helped make our Christmas Eve very special.

We went back to MK on December 30th (again at rope drop) and early on the park felt smothering. The waits were INSANE and the park was quite honestly almost impossible to manuever. Waits were upwards of 170 minutes for the Rapunzel side of Fairytale Hall. 45 minutes for Small World. Close to 2 1/2 hours for Peter Pan. Just really a mob scene. We left around 1 pm and were happy to do so.

(Also it's important to note that this was back when legacy FP was still in place.)

 

[llbmom]

We were just there 12/30-1/4. I did not plan on being in MK or EPCOT on NYE since I knew the crowds would be insane. When we arrived on 12/30 we got to the MK around 10pm for the fireworks. These are the same ones they put off for NYE. The park was extremely crowded but we just rode the train and hung out on Main St. About a half hour before the castle show and fireworks we found a great spot outside Casey's. The park had EMH til 3am-this was the best! We just made our way around the park going from ride to ride. The most we waited was about 20min right after the fireworks. If you do not have young children I would definitely recommend this. We were able to ride so much. For NYE we had lunch at Sanaa, toured AKL and spent the rest of the evening at AK. It was open until 8 and really cleared out after the parade. We did however get into ALOT of traffic on our way to AK with everyone trying to get to MK or EPCOT. It took us 1.5 hrs to get from POFQ to AK! So keep the crowds in mind even if you think you have planned to avoid them. New Years Day we got to MK a few minutes after opening. It rained most of the time we were there so I think that cut down on the crowds a bit but it was still packed by lunch. We had plans to leave around 2pm and were glad to get away from the crowd. This trip was just myself and DD(17). We had a fabulous time and I would not hesitate to go again. You can avoid the crowds if you plan accordingly. I followed the easywdw recommended days and I think that helped alot. We also enjoyed touring the resorts to see the decorations and the Osbourne Lights were awesome! We saw them the last night of our trip and it was definitely a great way to end our vacation. Have fun planning!

 

[xie]

We have gone the week following Christmas through January 4-5 the last two years.

If you want to do it, prepare yourself in advance that you will have to deal with heavy, heavy crowds. You can't see a lot in terms of what's right around you - there are people everywhere. There will frequently be waits for even bathrooms if you're female, unless you are savvy enough to know where the more hidden ones are.

As for actually riding things - go early or go late. Anything between 10am and late evening is madhouse material. If you go to rope drop, you can ride some things before people manage to get into the parks (and that time of year, rope drop can be 7am or 8am). And like a poster above me mentioned, as long as you don't have small kids and you can stay up late- the hours after 11pm can be quite good as the standby lines are shorter during and after the final fireworks show (that time of year, usually that's 10pm or 11pm except for NYE itself when it's midnight of course). MK often stays open until 2-3am that week. They close for 4 hours to clean it and then open back up at 7.

It's a very different experience than going any other time of year. We filled a lot of our afternoons outside the parks - for example we went on a monorail/boat tour of the resorts one afternoon, to see all the decorations. Twice that week we flat out went offsite (one night we just couldn't face dealing with MK again, and decided to see a movie, but given the traffic and congestion problems at DTD and the AMC there, we left property went to the Pointe for dinner and a movie).

 

[ferd]

There will frequently be waits for even bathrooms if you're female, unless you are savvy enough to know where the more hidden ones are.

THIS! I took a picture of one of the lines coming out of the ladies bathroom simply because I thought it was both comical and insane. I opted to just hold it.

 

[Desnik]

We have gone to WDW Xmas week once in 2012. We will go again this year because we had such a great time.

Can you arrive a few days before Xmas? We found the few days before, like the 21-23 were great in the parks. We rode everything we wanted utilizing EMH. We never encountered huge crowds. We stayed till the 28th and kept out of the parks the 25th and on. There was so much to do we didn't miss them. We did notice the influx of crowds at the resort as we checked out and were glad we were leaving.

 

[johde]

I have been to Disney 50 times but I have never gone the week of xmas and new years. I know it's busy but are there any other secret tips someone can give me on what to do and when. Or is it just like any other trip but with ta little more patients.

You've been given great advice so far. I have not been the week from Christmas to New Years but I have been just before and just after. The MK has some of the longest hours of the year. As other's have mentioned, arrive early (7 a.m.) or stay late (Midnight-3 a.m.) and you can breeze through the park. Between noon and 7:00 is a mad house. Ideally if you're staying onsite, you'd leave, take a nap, and come back refreshed for the evening.

We have gone to WDW Xmas week once in 2012. We will go again this year because we had such a great time.

Can you arrive a few days before Xmas? We found the few days before, like the 21-23 were great in the parks. We rode everything we wanted utilizing EMH. We never encountered huge crowds. We stayed till the 28th and kept out of the parks the 25th and on. There was so much to do we didn't miss them. We did notice the influx of crowds at the resort as we checked out and were glad we were leaving.

That really depends on the year, "Busy season" tends to run Sunday before Christmas to Saturday after New Years. In 2009, I extended my vacation by a few days until the 23rd of Dec. when they were offer free admission on your birthday (Dec. 22). With Christmas on Friday Dec 21st was a mad house.

Then in 2012/2013 my Vacation was Dec 31st, to Jan 7th. Both Disney and Universal were packed all week. For 2014/2015 I expect busy season to be Dec 21 - Jan 3.

 

[diamondect4]

Thanks for the advice and I will be traveling with my wife and 3 DD all under 10. So I will make sure to plan everything in advanced and make sure we arrive early!!! That seems to be the common advice....

 

[alldiz]

Go early ride some rides…have a late bkfst early lunch..go back to hotel relax and then use your fast pass plus selections for the afternoon evening.

 

[diamondect4]

That's a great idea to save the FP for the evening! TY