days to avoid Christmas week

[wuzzle02]

Would it be better to skip the parks on December 24 or December 26? This would be in addition to skipping the parks on Christmas Day.

 

[Alesia]

It doesn't matter. Every single day that week is going to be equally busy.

Personally, I wouldn't skip either one.

 

[FelisLachesis]

@Alesia is right, they're both going to be really busy. I would guess that because people still want to be with family Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, that the 24th might be a little lighter than the 26th. The holiday travelers will start coming in the 25th and 26th.

But this year, the 24th is a Sunday, so I would've be surprised seeing families saying "can't make it to Christmas this year, sorry" and heading down the 22nd and 23rd.

 

[Allison]

Neither. Plan well and go with it.

 

[kathy884]

Crowd level 10s every day, so it really doesn't matter. Getting to the parks early when you go is nice, as those first two hours of the day are the best and it's all downhill after that. If you need a break from the parks, resort days are really nice. Seems even though resort are 100% full they don't feel crowded because everyone is at the parks. // If you are doing any meals offsite I recommend going to a place like IHOP or Perkins for dinner (only place you can go eat at a normal dinner time without waiting 45 minutes to an hour to be seated. At these places that cater more to a breakfast and lunch crowd you can be seated immediately.). // It is a totally crazy insane time. But if you are there with other Disney theme park lovers and like this too it can still be fun. I've done that week five times -- have no idea why lol.

 

[Disneylover99]

I wouldn't skip any of those days. Go super early and have fun!

 

[nicolej92]

We were in Magic Kingdom Christmas Day last year, which is the true definition of craziness for some people. However, we had a good time and got to do everything we wanted to do that day. We always do MK over the span of two days, so we got through all of Fantasyland and Tomorrowland on Christmas Day. We went super early in the AM for EMH, made lunch & dinner reservations in the park, and had a blast! The only time I noticed complete and utter chaos was for Holiday Wishes, but we headed back to the hotel at that point anyways.

 

[11290]

Skip days that end in "Y".

 

[toonaspie]

As others said, it's gonna be crazy all that week. But if you really have to go during that time, definitely skip the 26th and all days following into the new year.

 

[IrishNYC]

Days to avoid? All of them.

 

[mamamelody2]

Skip days that end in "Y".

Dang, you beat me to it! LOL.

 

[Disney_and_Wine]

You don't want to skip any day because you are going to do much less each day than you are used to so you need every day you can get. Arrive early. Move with purpose. Be prepared to leave by noon. Enjoy non-park holiday stuff around WDW and get ready to repeat the next day.

 

[clm10308]

I wouldn't skip any day, but then I am probably crazy. Last year We did Epcot on 12/24 and AK on 12/25. They did not seem ant crazier than any other time we have visited. We are not rope drop people even on the holidays. I much prefer late night hours. There I see nothing more fun to me than the MK at 2am.

 

[FastPasser.]

Skip days that end in "Y".

Days to avoid? All of them.

Dang, you beat me to it! LOL.

Add me to this list.

 

[marx]

We've found the parks to be just slightly less crowded in the days leading up to the 25th than after it. Park hours last year had 9AM openings on the 24th for EC and AK (8AM at MK and 8:30 at HS), but from the 25th thru New Years Eve it was 8AM at all parks. We utilized EMH and FP's to avoid lines as much as possible. With a 7AM EMH, the parks aren't super crowded for about 3-4 hours.

The issues will be in planning. Park hours you see now (it looks like the posted hours begin at 9AM) will certainly change. And they may change multiple times. More EMH will be added - certainly at the MK (at least every day from the 24th - 31st) and likely at AK. And the additional EMH likely won't be updated until AFTER the 60 day FP booking window.

Knowing this, last year we booked early FP's (9, 10, 11 - or 8:30, 9:30, 10:30) and utilized EMH for other popular rides at all the parks. We used the posted EMH dates for EC, AK, HS - and anticipated EMH for MK.

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

Been going right after Christmas Day for 15 years. It's doable. Of course at this stage we don't do the all day in the park activity. My advice is to get up early and go to the park. Get out early and go back to hotel to swim rest etc.