Christmas week advice.. Off property vs on

[mickeymommy3]

I need some help on Christmas week at Disney. We are Disney veterans who have experienced every season at Disney except Christmas. My question is this... Is staying off-property do-able the week of Christmas leading into early January? We own a off-property timeshare, but I'm nervous about this season vs typical summer season. Do the parks typically reach capacity? Am I making a grave error in judgement if we stay off property? Thanks for any info/opinions.

 

[mesaboy2]

I need some help on Christmas week at Disney. We are Disney veterans who have experienced every season at Disney except Christmas. My question is this... Is staying off-property do-able the week of Christmas leading into early January? We own a off-property timeshare, but I'm nervous about this season vs typical summer season. Do the parks typically reach capacity? Am I making a grave error in judgement if we stay off property? Thanks for any info/opinions.

If you get there early in the day, within an hour or so of park open, you should be fine. Going any later risks you being turned away. The parks will reach capacity, particularly MK.

 

[stamot]

We had been at Disney during Christmas and we will be back again this Christmas. We have seen parks at capacity the 25, 26, 28, 30 and 31. It was weird to me to see park at capacity the 28 but it did happened. We were surprise. Even if a park close at capacity it usually opens back in the afternoon (excepts New Year's Eve, crazy day)
I don't know staying off site but if you plan on arriving to the park early I don t think you will have a problem.

 

[maxiesmom]

My biggest issue would be the fact that the Magic Kingdom has EMH mornings every day that week. So if you are off site you will always be entering a park that already has a large crowd of resort guests.

Plus, I would be afraid to leave the park, in case I couldn't get back in. Off site guests are among the first turned away when the parks start to reach capacity.

I have stayed off site quite a few times. But I wouldn't do it over a busy time of year. Just my 2 cents.

 

[tink2]

I have never stayed off property- but I have been Christmas week. I will say that most parks open an hour early for resort guests most days- sometimes this was unannounced/unplanned- but it did happen. MK is scheduled for EMH mornings daily that week. We got sooo much done that first hour (yes, it was dark every morning when the parks opened). Honestly, we felt like EMH mornings was vital that week- more so than any other trip we'd been. We literally walked on rides during that hour. By mid morning- it was packed and reaching capacity by 10:30 one morning. Just something to think about.
Also, think about your transportation. We went Christmas week a couple years ago and I remember it being in the news about people being stuck in traffic for hours. I remember going to/from our resort on the buses and looking at the traffic and being sooooo thankful we didn't have to fight that madness (the crowds in the parks were enough to fight- lol)- and, we only rode the buses in the mornings and at night- we don't take breaks during the day.
Just two points to think about. Either way- Christmas week is so magical!

 

[McKelly]

I second the poster who spoke of the traffic. We stay on-site at Xmas and I am so thankful we are able to when I look at all that traffic coming into the park during Xmas week. Crazy!! My DH would be in a really bad mood if he had to deal with that every day. He drives a lot for work though, Disney is a good break for him, since we bus, boat and monorail everywhere.

 

[rebelbuddhist]

We have been the past five Christmas weeks and never had any problems but we always stay on property. The MDE busses versus driving is a big consideration. EMH are also important during Christmas week-- MK is often open until the early morning hours and HS has had unannounced EMH at night-- both only options if on property. When we leave a park to park hop, we always ask at Guest services if any of the other parks are closed and what the crowd level is at the park we are leaving. Only once did we decide not to leave HS because we were told MK and Epcot were closed but not to on property guests and HS was about to begin closing........ We always choose an on-property resort but we stay at a value since we are in our room so very little-- to sleep and shower and that's about all. We have also driven by very LONG lines of cars on a MDE bus!