Christmas Week - Looking for a DVCer Perspective

[Granny]

Hi all!

We've been juggling some things and think that we may be able to vacation at WDW this coming Christmas. I've already booked the 2BR at VWL for December 22 - 29 since it doesn't cost anything to make a reservation.

I know that Christmas week is a crazy, crowded week at WDW. We went last summer during 4th of July so I think that gave me a glimpse of what we have in store for us crowd-wise.

Here's my request from you good people. We would like to go to the parks and get in a little touring each day, but we aren’t worried about “doing everything” on this trip. What tips do you have for how to handle this week, and how to approach the parks? We are already planning on touring some of the other resorts to see the decorations in our “off park hours”.

I’m imagining that we’ll be there and all the parks will be slammed with people. I guess I’m just looking from the DVCer perspective to keep our vacation as relaxed as possible while still enjoying the parks in some way. I didn’t post this on the Theme Park board because DVC frequent visitors offer a unique perspective on how to approach a trip like this.

Any tips on how to enjoy this week?

 

[JimMIA]

This is not specific to Christmas week, but it applies to the holiday season.

We went last year from Dec 4-9, and our only real disappointment was the GREAT difficulty getting ADRs at the Epcot restaurants. I mistakenly did not make them right at 90 days (now 180), but I tried about 60 days out. Virtually everything we wanted was booked solid because of the Candlelight Processional Dinner Packages. The only Epcot restaurant we could get was Italy (a mediocre place IMHO, but a place our Italian GM and Great Aunt considered a must). Le Cellier was so overbooked they were not even keeping a wait list -- they just told walk-ups to go away.

You will probably have better luck if you book ADRs right at 180 days, but be prepared for many of the restaurants having major blocks of ADRs set aside for CP.

Also, if you like to go to MK at night, you need to be aware of Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, which closes MK at 5 PM on the nights it occurs. The only time we went at night was for MVMCP, and I don't think we'll do that again -- WAY too crowded.

 

[MinMouse]

Haven't been Christmas week but was in WDW last Easter. WE found that touring the parks first thing in the morning and making a late afternoon/early evening ADR worked best for us. We usually did EMH at the parks we really enjoy MK & MGM. We tried EMH one night in EPCOT ---- it was way too crowded for us. We would enjoy the pool in the afternoon and BWV had some great "entertainment" for the kids every day. I guess it might not be warm enough in December but it may be. We took the time to enjoy some DVC benefits we never set aside time for before. I would have to say on the whole it was one of our best Disney vacations (aren't they all though). It was relaxing and we did our favorite things but we don't feel the pressure to do everything because we'll be back!

 

[sssteele]

However, it's only been my wife and I. We get up real early, and arrive at Parks when they open. It's amazing what you can get done if you're up at the crack of dawn. We did 10 attractions in two hours at the Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day last year. If you have young ones that you can't get up that early, you take longer, of course. By afternoon, the parks are jammed, but we just "people watch" when it's that crowded. We're doing it again this year, but it's certainly not for everyone.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Good to hear from you.

We have been with our family for 3 of the last 4 years for Christmas and New Year's at WDW. We have always went early in the morning, made a reservation for lunch and then went back to the hotel for the afternoon. On some days we went back at night on other days we did other things.

It is a great time of year to go but you have to get out of the parks before the crush of guests arrive in the late morning. Even on the most crowded of days, Christmas and New Year's eve, we had a great time early and were able to get back into the parks late. If you plan for it, it's fine.

We will be arriving this year on the 26th and staying at the BWV.

HBC

 

[castleri]

We have done Christmas week twice and will be there 12/24-12/29 this year again. This for a person who said "I would never want to do WDW during Christmas or Easter week". Being DVC members has changed the whole way we do the parks etc. We got to parks early and made use of FPs for the attractions we "had to do". We did not go to the parks that opened early unless we hopped to them later in the day after some other park. Knowing there were other trips to do the "less important rides" allowed us to just do what was easily doable and then spend time playing mini-golf or checking out the decorations at different resorts as well as some of the lounges for drinks and an appetizer. One day on my own I went from OKW to DTD by bus, to WL by bus to MK by boat to monorail resorts to check out the decorations, then to EPCOT by monorail, to BWV by boat and BCV by foot before going back to DTD to pick up the kids from DQ. We had good weather and were able to enjoy the pool also. We didn't do many table service meals so that didn't factor in for us. It may this year if we decide to go with the DDP and I think it could be restricitive for those who want to see and do everything but okay for those of us who will be back many times to do the things we missed at Christmas. Watching fireworks from locations not in the park itself is also something we have done at times if it was a day we hadn't used a park ticket. The beach at the Poly, the ferry and dock between MK and TTC are two of the place we have been while they were going off. Just don't over plan and you should have a great time. I am also considering at least one of the tours for that trip but need to talk to the other people involved first. Hope you have a great trip. It truly is a magical time if you don't let the crowds make you uptight. Fast Passes and people watching can help in that area greatly.

 

[Granny]

Thank you all for your insights. You confirmed some of my thinking, and added a lot of new thoughts to the planning.

JimMIA....great suggestion on the ADR's. Since we've only gone in the summer, we've never used ADRs and haven't had much problem getting in most places we want to go to eat. Sounds like that is #1 on the planning list to make those ADRs in June, especially for the EPCOT restaurants! Thanks!

What I'm hearing from everyone else is to get to the parks early, hit some attractions and then bug out when the parks get crowded. Unfortunately, my clan is not much of an early morning group (DW and two teeaage DD's). But I should be able to prod them along and get to some parks reasonably early for at least a couple of the days.

MinMouse...what you describe is exactly what we're hoping to do. Capture the "magic of the season" without making ourselves crazy about hitting all the attractions.

sssteele...your energy to hit that many attraction in two hours is enviable! We'll probably be on a less strenuous pace but I think the "people watching" will be a significant part of this trip too. Thanks.

HBC....always great to see you too. Your touring schedule sounds very much like what we will be doing as well. I'm always encouraged by people who "survive" the craziness of Christmas week but still come back. That means you have found a way to enjoy that time of year without overstressing yourselves. Maybe we'll even bump into you at some point!

castleri...I didn't even know there were fireworks for Christmas. Is that just on Christmas eve? We were there for 4th of July this year and the fireworks were great. I think watching them from the Poly beach sounds like a great idea.

Again, thanks to all for the great feedback.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Granny, get them up early every day for 2 weeks before the trip! That way they'll be ready for it when you hit WDW. I would ONLY go very early, and be there right at park opening. Pick a non-early entry park each day, and get out of there by noon. We have often saved Epcot for evenings only, but at this time of the year, even that doesn't necessarily work. If you are planning on taking in the newer attractions (Soarin', Expedition Everest) or the mountains, you need to gather fast passes for those As soon as possible. Even getting them very early in the day could give you a return after noon.

 

[Muushka]

Hi Granny! It's so good to see that you may be going to VWL at Chrstmas!

I don't have many suggestions. We only went at Christmas once, and the only other light I could shed is that we looked at it as a learning expidition. We went into MK on Christmas day just to see exactly how crowded it could get. It was crowded .
But I know that you will be glad to have experienced it!
Our beloved Wilderness Lodge is at her most beautiful.

 

[littlestar]

Hi Granny! Good to see you may be going at Christmas to VWL.

Hope you and your family are doing well!

One of these days, I would like to spend Christmas at VWL. It's on my list of things to do at least once.

 

[Granny]

But I know that you will be glad to have experienced it!
Our beloved Wilderness Lodge is at her most beautiful.

Beloved Wilderness Lodge? I like that phrase...can I borrow it?

Thanks Muushka and Littlestar for the kind words. Yes, we are going from thinking that there wouldn't be a trip this year to instead visiting VWL at a time we've always wanted to try. Well, actually I'd really like to go in early December but that's a few years away when we are empty nested.

Diane....if I tried to wake my family up early at home, I wouldn't survive to even make the trip!

Seriously, we know that this will be a different "touring plan" than the usual WDW trip, and everyone's advice (and kind words) are sincerely appreciated.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I'm glad to see you are getting to go again, Granny! I assume this means things are looking up.

 

[denecarter]

We've been December 25-31, December 27-January 3, and December 19-28.

Generally, it will be less crowded in the beginning of your trip. That is when we do all of the "musts". Of course, I only go at Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Summer... so "less crowded" is a relative term. We found only the Magic Kingdom to be really busy. The temperatures also seemed to have a calming effect on the masses... not nearly so many public temper tantrums and meltdowns.

Hitting Christmas, we shift to doing all of those things that we never slow down enough for ususally and our favorite non-headliners... more of the Streetmosphere kinds of things and rides like TTA. Of course, we use FP; we just know we will only get a few for the day.

After Christmas and moving towards New Year's Eve, it gets more and more crowded. Especially with all of the folks coming in for Bowl games (aren't there 3 that are fairly close?). This may have changed somewhat... I don't watch football, but I think Bowl Season is more spread out now. Anyway, we would see football teams on RnRC and the groups of girls who did half-time shows. This is the time we did more relaxing, movies, resort hopping, and people watching. Last time we were there, DD (then 17) and I spent about an hour taking pictures of all of the Christmas trees near FotLK at AK (almost every tree is decorated for a specific character). We took full tree pix and detail pix.

I love DVC. It has changed my entire WDW experience. I know I'll be back sooner or later, so I don't worry if I "missed" something. I can relax and enjoy the atmosphere... and spend a very happy hour taking pictures of character Christmas trees.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

We went for Christmas week last year and we were surprised at how much we could get done with fastpasses. I had my ADR's in place, I made them late, so they were not all my first choices, but they were just fine. If the wait was too long for something, we just moved on to the next thing because we didn't have to do it all. It was crowded, but I guess not as crowded as I expected. We did have a good, good time.

We were at the BWV for the 21-23. We were at the VWL from the 23-25, and it was very pretty. We stayed at the BCV for the rest of the week. All three were decorated very nicely. I would suggest some resort hopping to see the decorations, especially the Grand Floridian.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

Have a Wonderful Trip

Make ADR's, get up as early as you can , and enjoy the magic. There is nothing cooler than waking up and listening to Christmas Carols as you walk through the lobby of WL. Something very special about that .

Have fun .

 

[kimberh]

This thread is so inspiring. I would never have dreamed of going Christmas week because I had always heard the crowds were unbearable. We have just became DVC owners at VWL so I will have to give this some more thought. We always go Thanksgiving and it is starting to get bad.

 

[ksoehrlein]

Great thread! This will be our first time going for Christmas (albeit not on points), and I'm already planning obsessively. My goal is to see all the holiday stuff we wouldn't be able to see during a typical trip. Like almost all DVCers, we've been to WDW recently and know we're going back in the not-too-distant future, so if we skip riding Dumbo on this trip, we'll all survive.

Besides the obvious (CP, other Christmas parades and shows, all the Santas in World Showcase, Osborn Family spectacle of lights, etc), what else should we plan to see? Country Bear Jamboree, for example, might not be obvious to the casual parkgoer as a Christmas attraction, but I'm dying to see the overlay. Are Mickey and Minnie's houses in Toontown Fair decked out for the holidays? I wasn't planning on visiting them, but if they decorate for Christmas, we'll have to see! Anything else in the parks that's not an obvious Christmas attraction but not-to-be-missed nonetheless?

I also plan to devote at least half a day (maybe Christmas Day?) to check out all the Deluxe resorts to see their decorations. Are any Moderates/Values worth the trip?

 

[chiclet]

Our first trip "home" to BCV was at Christmas in 2003. It was our children's first trip and it was a "gift" from Santa. I somehow convinced DD who was 6 at the time to write a letter to Santa asking for the trip as a gift. Santa sent the elves with a few clues and small gifts left on the tree for the trip prior to Christmas.

We went to the parks in the morning and by 1:00 couldn't wait to leave as there was a sea of people. This was especially true of Magic Kingdom. We found Epcot busiest from 6-9 pm.

My mother came with us on that trip and she isn't able to move very fast so getting from place to place quickly was not an easy task. We had our ADR's for dinner and a couple of breakfasts. We don't usually have a sit down lunch, counter service or a snack at most. The restaurants were very crowded. The buses were packed.

That said, it was a magical time of year to be at WDW. The decorations were beautiful. Enjoy!!

 

[goofy4dvc]

Touring the resorts (and DTD) when they are decorated for Christmas is my favorite thing to do. And it's FREE!! Be sure you make it around to all of them -- at least the moderates, deluxes, and DVC properties. And VWL is the best place to be for the Christmas holiday ambiance. Sitting in a rocker in front of that fireplace is so relaxing.

 

[DrTomorrow]

I thought I've been seeing some 'Granny' posts again - good to see you!

One other idea - make sure you can 'hop'; you definitely won't want to limit yourself to one park all day long....

Be well!