Dec-Jan trip questions?

[carlymcqueen]

Okay, so I've ONLY been to DW in springy months like March and April, and my family just decided to take a short, three-night trip from December 28th to January 1st. Two questions about this trip: what is good to pack and wear? I'm a PA native, so I'm not really sure what is ideal to wear in the winter in Florida. Also, does Disney do anything for New Years?
I'm very excited to go

 

[JennyDrake]

The weather can be ANYTHING! I've seen it 28 degrees in early January and I've seen it 92 degrees! Watch the weather closer to your trip. FL cold is a damp cold, so (to me) it often feels colder than the temperature.

 

[Alesia]

Weather-wise, it might be freezing or it might be warm. Most likely, it will be cold in the mornings and evenings and warm during the day. Plan on dressing in layers.

MK will have fireworks on the 30th and 31st. I think DHS has fireworks on the 31st. Epcot has special fireworks and dance parties on the 31st.

Be aware: you are going during the absolute busiest time of the year. The crowds you will see will make any spring break crowds you've seen look small in comparison.

 

[carlymcqueen]

Be aware: you are going during the absolute busiest time of the year. The crowds you will see will make any spring break crowds you've seen look small in comparison.

I am a little nervous because although we've been during spring break, we've never done this. Do you have any tips?

 

[Alesia]

I am a little nervous because although we've been during spring break, we've never done this. Do you have any tips?

Be prepared to go with the flow.

Do you have young kids?

 

[carlymcqueen]

Be prepared to go with the flow.

Do you have young kids?

nope! it's going to be my sister, my parents, and I. We're huge fans of the rides and shows that don't have huge lines during normal times such as CoP and Tiki Room, but I'm afraid those ones will be crowded too.

 

[FelisLachesis]

nope! it's going to be my sister, my parents, and I. We're huge fans of the rides and shows that don't have huge lines during normal times such as CoP and Tiki Room, but I'm afraid those ones will be crowded too.

You're absolutely right, everything will get crowded. The popular rides will have waits upwards of 3-4 hours. New rides could see a 5 hour wait by mid-day. Even Stitch's Great Escape could get a wait of an hour...

So the three things I definitely recommend to bring during this time are your fastpasses, dining reservations and a lot of patience.

Disney during the holidays is fun, but it will be packed! I don't know where in PA you're from, so you may not get this reference, but think King of Prussia Mall on Black Friday, every day.

Also, since you'll be there early enough, check out The Candlelight Processional at Epcot. It should run until the 30th. It's an hour long show about the story of Christmas. I really enjoyed it!

 

[carlymcqueen]

Disney during the holidays is fun, but it will be packed! I don't know where in PA you're from, so you may not get this reference, but think King of Prussia Mall on Black Friday, every day.

I'm only about half an hour from KOP, so I know exactly what you mean. Scary stuff. But we will make sure to be patient throughout the day!

 

[Alesia]

It's much easier to manage without young kids, so since you're all adults, that will make things easier to manage.

Be prepared to wait for everything - including the bathrooms. Bring your patience.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We went during that week in 2015, and it wasn't all that bad, but we always aim to zig when others zag.

The worst thing we did was to make an ADR! BY FAR our WORST wait was the wait we experienced was our horrible mid-day wait to eat at Liberty Tree Tavern. They don't honor their end, and make us wait 2 hours past our ADR, but if we don't show we're charged a fee?!?!?! (Stick to Quick serve meals and you'll be fine, especially if you can simply avoid eating noon-1pm. The resort QS are especially quiet mid-day.)

Now we'd planned on seeing the MK fireworks - I want to say - on the 30th. But the most magical thing we experienced was a shuttle boat ride on - I think- the 29th of December. We just happened to hop on the WL shuttle boat (towards MK) as the MK fireworks were starting and happened to sit on the front of the boat. It wasn't the kind of thing you could plan, but just- wow!

Another kind of semi-secret treat to see that week is the personal decorations put up by guests staying at Ft Wilderness. It is campy, but fun. Unfortunately for us- we were staying at WL- the shuttle bus back to WL - never arrived. So we went with the flow and headed to the Ft. WL beach to see them. The beach would have been fine, but a small group of (intoxicated) oblivious folks near us kept blabbering LOUDLY through the whole show, and kind of ruined it for EVERYONE else. Folks that inconsiderate kind of baffle us.

In higher crowd times, it pays to use early/late park hours. Most of the year, 25min is our line limit. Holidays, we up our upper limit to 30min. If a line is over 30min, we keep walking.

We still managed to ride many attractions. Mid-day, we rode LM-Dumbo-Barnstormer triad with minimal wait-times and that surprised us.

The other really big work-around we did that REALLY worked well was to spend NYE night at a Universal deluxe hotel with Express Pass. US has all kinds of special events and high $$$ ticket meals on NYE, but we just picked regular park touring and a regular table service meal at Portofino. (We made the reservation just a week in advance.)

The NYE fireworks at US weren't as spectacular as MK, but we greatly enjoyed the much smaller crowds. With EP, park touring was easy. All our waits were 15min or less except Hogwart's Express, and we found our fireworks spot about 20min before they started. Even better, the walk from the park to our hotel was a mere 10minutes!

 

[jaysmom4285]

As far as the weather goes, as noted, it can be very warm or quite chilly, and there's no way to know now what it will be when you go. We've been in December and January many times and have ranged from just shorts and tee shirts the entire time, to lined jeans and down jackets. What we do is check the Orlando weather forecast a day or so before we leave. By that point we can get a good idea of the general temperature trends for the time we'll be there. If they're trending on the chilly side during the day, we pack more long pants and sweatshirts. If it looks like it will be pleasantly warm, we can go for lighter weight clothes, with a few layers for chilly evenings.

 

[HopperFan]

- LAYERS
- Could be shorts and tshirts / shorts, tshirts and sweatshirts / jeans and tshirts / jeans and coats
- And it can vary day to day so best to have a variety of stuff to wear
- DATES ... well it doesn't get much busier than that so pack your patience
- Be prepared to not get much done attraction wise but take the time to enjoy the rest
- ALL attractions are crowded
- Bigger shows you might normally skip, street entertainment, park details, shops, snacks ....
- NYE at MK can be a sea of humanity
- Last year we did NYE at Epcot, bucket thing, expected horrible
- Had a GREAT time, no attractions, just dance parties, nibbles and night time was spectacular
- Long day but you can sleep on ride home

 

[carlymcqueen]

The worst thing we did was to make an ADR! BY FAR our WORST wait was the wait we experienced was our horrible mid-day wait to eat at Liberty Tree Tavern. They don't honor their end, and make us wait 2 hours past our ADR, but if we don't show we're charged a fee?!?!?! (Stick to Quick serve meals and you'll be fine, especially if you can simply avoid eating noon-1pm. The resort QS are especially quiet mid-day.)

do you think it would be easier if our family made ADRs for odd times, like when people don't typically eat dinner? we're planning on qs for lunch and for our dinners we wanted to try and get ADRs for BoG and Sci-Fi.

 

[HopperFan]

do you think it would be easier if our family made ADRs for odd times, like when people don't typically eat dinner? we're planning on qs for lunch and for our dinners we wanted to try and get ADRs for BoG and Sci-Fi.

Always easier at off times. Early dinners would be good because by then you'll likely be happy for the feet up break. Be on the computer the first day you can as those dates will go fast.

 

[minniegirl19]

I've gone the past three years at this time. It is crowded but completely doable! With fastpass+ we managed to ride everything, see all the shows and get some sleep! lol

Regarding weather it definitely is up in the air so you'll just have to watch closer to when you go. One trip was 90s one was 80s one was 70s. I'm from Ohio (hi neighbor!) and typically I'd be in shorts and a sweatshirt in the morning and a tank during the day. We did have one cold day this past New Years where it was 65 and 40s at night so I'd bring a north face and leggings or jeans in case.

Yes this time of year is crowded but it's by far my favorite time of year! No question do magic kingdom on the 30th and Epcot on the 31st. It's way easier to manage the crowds that way and Epcot is quite the party which New Years is meant to be! Magic kingdom have your fastpasses start early (10ish also the park will open at 7 or 8 so if you can handle a long day if you go early you'll have no lines). Also be ready to see the Christmas parade and the Christmas fireworks! They do both. They also do the New Years part at the end of the holiday ones but just shoot off a less amount of fireworks so I'd still stay for the midnight ones! Sleep in the next day and then head to Epcot! After the fireworks at Epcot at midnight head to test track or soarin instead of waiting for the bus. The lines die down after midnight!

Have fun and go in with a lot of patience and low expectations then when you get more in you'll be happy!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

do you think it would be easier if our family made ADRs for odd times, like when people don't typically eat dinner? we're planning on qs for lunch and for our dinners we wanted to try and get ADRs for BoG and Sci-Fi.

FYI, for background: without (hopeful) bragging, I'm a veteran WDW going back many years.

ADR seating is a bit unpredictable, IME, but taking earlier time slots (per meal range) tends to be better, as does having a smaller group. If you choose to pay out pocket, expect upcharges at the Table service locations (as in WDW jacks up the prices the entire week). If the meal plan looks like it might work out (by pricing meals using the menus and what it cots to add the DDP), you might want to consider it. For QS, both late or early usually work.) A Mickey bar ice cream tides us over.

We've done BoG for both lunch and dinner, and prefer their lunch. The tuna nicoise salad and the sandwiches are very good.

It is also a good time to consider eating offsite. There are tons of choices if you'll have a car. Just skip over the super touristy spots. (like Crossroads Plaza and I-Drive.) You'll enjoy better food for far less $. Literally, there's a Mexican place we discovered kinda near MCO called Azteco D'Oro (not especially close to WDW) where the chicken fajitas are a feast at $16. Probably not worth the drive from WDW per say, but literally half the price of the Epcot Mexican places.

 

[Lynne G]

We've gone to Orlando over Christmas break several years now. Patience, and off times are good. We've been very lucky, and weather has been great, but I've had to wear gloves one year. Here's hoping unseasonably hot the week of Christmas and week after. It's the only time we go now, as college and high school kids means this time of year. Flights already booked, and hotels too. Ending in Universal, at hotel with the unlimited express pass, to round out the end of the year. Even though I've seen Universal crowded, like a sea of people, we always end at Universal, as the express pass is awesome, and walking back to hotel is definitely nice. We also make restaurant reservations, as even in Universal, they are needed that time of year.

Oh, and I've been to KOP on Black Friday. We too live close enough to it, that my youngest likes that mall complex more than the mall 10 minutes from our home.

And while we've had some mild winters, there's something about the holidays in Orlando, that we enjoy. And, I am a sucker for decorations.

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

I am going on New Year's as well. We arrive on the 30th, and plan to spend a few hours at Ep
31st: we are HOPING to get res for Ohana, for early breakfast. Thoughts? are our chances good? we are a group of 10 but are willing to split up the tables if need be. Also hoping for 6 for 1900 Park fare for dinner, and we would prefer normal dinner time, ie between 5-6pm 4 will be at MK for the day, expecting to use 3 fastpasses and just wander and soak it in. 2 will be at Ep doing the same. hence 1900 for dinner. we are hoping to watch the fireworks from 1900 park fare for the 730 ones, or boat it to Contemporary to do the same.