Christmas week, will I regret going to Disney?

[NJlauren]

I may have finally convinced myself traveling at Christmas is right for my family.

I’m a Disney girl through and through, I would love to spend the week at Disney! However I am really worried the crowds will make it so unenjoyable for my family.

Any thoughts or opinions? If I go to Orlando and don’t step foot in Disney will I regret that? Or will I regret going to Disney will it be miserable?

 

[RoseGold]

I went the first week of December and never will do that again.

 

[NJlauren]

I went the first week of December and never will do that again.

Really?!?! That used to be my fav week, was planing a quick trip that week this year.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I went Christmas + NYE week last year (or month lol) and it was VERY crowded, but I've gone that week pre Covid and that was even worse crowd wise. If you don't plan on buying Genie+/ILL, then I wouldn't bother going. Even rides like Figment and Small World had 60+ minute waits. It was beautiful to see the parks and resorts decorated for Christmas but I would still never choose to go that week again. Similar situation at Universal. Insanely crowded to where I wouldn't want to be there without Express.

 

[KristaZ]

It's all about managing your expectations. Go in with the mindset that it's going to be crowded, Genie+/ILLs are a necessary expense, and you may not get to everything you want.

Personally, I would regret going to Orlando and not hitting Disney at Christmas. It's the most magical time of year, literally, and I'm of the belief that as long as you have a plan, the crowds don't detract from that.

 

[2letterwords]

We went for Christmas week for the very first time last month. The parks were super busy but not as bad as I anticipated from reading about previous years. I do believe Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes are necessary during that time for most rides. I utilize DAS and found the experience very manageable. We likely won't do that week again, but it was nice to experience it once.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I may have finally convinced myself traveling at Christmas is right for my family.

I’m a Disney girl through and through, I would love to spend the week at Disney! However I am really worried the crowds will make it so unenjoyable for my family.

Any thoughts or opinions? If I go to Orlando and don’t step foot in Disney will I regret that? Or will I regret going to Disney will it be miserable?

I went in 2018, and had a wonderful time!
Mini trip report here:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/“the-ultimate-split-stay”-december-2018-trip-report.3738929/

As @KristaZ said, it's all about managing expectations. If it's one of many Disney trips for you, I'd definitely do it! The decorations and atmosphere are awesome, and I'm so glad we went!

That said, we've been on all our favorite rides multiple times before, so we weren't upset if we missed something on that one trip. We spent more time people-watching, chatting with strangers/new friends, and just enjoying being there, and less time worrying about "fitting everything in".

 

[sponica]

I may have finally convinced myself traveling at Christmas is right for my family.

I’m a Disney girl through and through, I would love to spend the week at Disney! However I am really worried the crowds will make it so unenjoyable for my family.

Any thoughts or opinions? If I go to Orlando and don’t step foot in Disney will I regret that? Or will I regret going to Disney will it be miserable?

I think if you go in with the right mindset, it'll be fine. I went from the 29th of December to January 7 nearly 20 years ago (eep) and I just remember crowds upon crowds upon crowds. Like I feel like we waited an hour for it's tough to be a bug.
But it's also the barometer by which I measure all trips. Is this line worse than then? Nope!

 

[NJlauren]

I went in 2018, and had a wonderful time!
Mini trip report here:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/“the-ultimate-split-stay”-december-2018-trip-report.3738929/

As @KristaZ said, it's all about managing expectations. If it's one of many Disney trips for you, I'd definitely do it! The decorations and atmosphere are awesome, and I'm so glad we went!

That said, we've been on all our favorite rides multiple times before, so we weren't upset if we missed something on that one trip. We spent more time people-watching, chatting with strangers/new friends, and just enjoying being there, and less time worrying about "fitting everything in".

It will be one of many, right now we don’t have any family trips planned this year.

If we missed something I wouldn’t care, my kids well they are kids . I am debating doing it and maybe spending some days doing other activities we always want to do that we never do in Orlando.

Going to check out the trip report!

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Totally depends on your overall expectations of what you want to do vs have to do and crowds. So long as you're aware that it's pretty much shoulder to shoulder, then you're already ahead of the game. I would plan to use G+/iLL$, take advantage of early/late park days if you can and just be patient. We love holiday time but we try to do an extended weekend usually in mid November to avoid high crowds. It's still busy but not to the level of the week of Christmas.

 

[maltdizzy]

You have to decide what you expect out of a trip. There are people who go every Christmas, year and year, and love it. There is a tangible energy to the larger crowds and holidays. But you have to temper your expectations on attractions and dining and enjoy what you can get.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Only you can answer your own question.

We went just before New Years,and had a great visit. We had G+ on our Epcot day, but did Imagination standby, and did not wait an hour for it.

With G+ though, we did really well, except I almost would not bother with HS. In HS it is either crazy waits, rides down, or G+. with g+ though you only get a few rides before everything worthwhile is sold out for the day. So we only spent a few hours in HS, then hopped to MK.

The other thing I would not do again is the hub for fireworks. It was just too crowded. I don't mind crowds, but what we saw was to the point of feeling unsafe. Tightly packed people to the point that we were stuck where we were.

Other than that WDW is very pricey. So if we go no holiday weeks we keep the length tight. Stay offsite on arrival night at an inexpensive place, keep food costs low. ADR's can be slow, and costs extra holiday weeks, so we trend more to QS on holiday weeks.

We did the cookie run in Epcot, and that was fun. You bought, I think 5 or 6 cookies- get booklet stamped, and they give us a free cookie.

It is also fun to see the decor. This year they did a few holiday overlays, and those were fun. On one prior trip they did not do them. So I would not go expecting them.

 

[NJlauren]

thank you everyone for all the feedback!

I got DH on board and figured my 8 year old was next well I just mentioned the idea and she was crying about being away on Christmas. So said maybe go the 26th and well she didn’t love that either. Since it would mean less gifts . Maybe another year!

 

[rwdavis2]

We usually go the week prior to Thanksgiving. You get most of the decorations without the Christmas crowds.

 

[Her Dotness]

We usually go the week prior to Thanksgiving. You get most of the decorations without the Christmas crowds.

We go then to celebrate my "twin" Mickey's and my birthday.

You get quite a bit of the holiday magic, only missing out on some entertainers like the WS Storytellers and a few other special events that start after Thanksgiving.

Lovely time to be there.