****December 2020 Thread****

[Jimmy Mouse]

December 2020 booked and paid for.
Gran Destino Tower Club Level, December 26th - January 3rd.
This will be our 3rd Christmas at Disney but first one not on Christmas day. But it will be our First New Years Eve at Disney! So excited!

 

[J.J.]

We are going back in December 1 - 9, at Kidani Village! We haven't been at Christmas time since 2012. I can;t wait.

 

[AngelDisney]

December 2020 booked and paid for.
Gran Destino Tower Club Level, December 26th - January 3rd.
This will be our 3rd Christmas at Disney but first one not on Christmas day. But it will be our First New Years Eve at Disney! So excited!

This is my first time going during Christmas time. Any tips on beating the crowds on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Which park to avoid on Christmas Day? TIA!

 

[Meriweather]

We'll be there Dec. 1-13.....BR Villas.
Love holiday time!

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

This is my first time going during Christmas time. Any tips on beating the crowds on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Which park to avoid on Christmas Day? TIA!

Only advice I have is book your FP+ and ADR's and bring plenty of patience! We love the atmosphere so the crowds don't bother us. 2 year ago we did Epcot Christmas day and it was very manageable. This past Christmas day we didn't do a park. We did Disney Springs early in the morning and had lunch there then went back to Yacht Club and had a resort day. It was probably our best day of the entire vacation. My wife and youngest did the spa and had their nails done. Me and DD8 rented a sea raycer boat and rode around Crescent Lake and drove to HS twice. It was very relaxing and only around $35 for an hour on the lake. Then we hit the pool for a few hours before dinner. I used to be a park every day guy. Not so much anymore. There is something about a resort day that adds a level of relaxation to a Disney vacation. We now make sure we always have one planned. I think you will be fine which ever park but go early! And if by chance you stay at a Deluxe and can get Club Level, the extra CL FP+ are totally worth it during a busy time.

 

[AngelDisney]

Only advice I have is book your FP+ and ADR's and bring plenty of patience! We love the atmosphere so the crowds don't bother us. 2 year ago we did Epcot Christmas day and it was very manageable. This past Christmas day we didn't do a park. We did Disney Springs early in the morning and had lunch there then went back to Yacht Club and had a resort day. It was probably our best day of the entire vacation. My wife and youngest did the spa and had their nails done. Me and DD8 rented a sea raycer boat and rode around Crescent Lake and drove to HS twice. It was very relaxing and only around $35 for an hour on the lake. Then we hit the pool for a few hours before dinner. I used to be a park every day guy. Not so much anymore. There is something about a resort day that adds a level of relaxation to a Disney vacation. We now make sure we always have one planned. I think you will be fine which ever park but go early! And if by chance you stay at a Deluxe and can get Club Level, the extra CL FP+ are totally worth it during a busy time.

Thanks for the good tips! Planning to visit either Epcot or Animal Kingdom in the morning then Storybook dining for an early dinner on Christmas Day. Maybe visiting Disney Spring on Christmas Eve to stay away from the crowds. We were at WDW years ago on July 4. I think Christmas would be more crowded. Since it’s not our first WDW trip and it’s not going to be our last, we would take it slowly, and enjoy the atmosphere. Thanks again for the insights!

 

[Disneylover99]

Thanks for the good tips! Planning to visit either Epcot or Animal Kingdom in the morning then Storybook dining for an early dinner on Christmas Day. Maybe visiting Disney Spring on Christmas Eve to stay away from the crowds. We were at WDW years ago on July 4. I think Christmas would be more crowded. Since it’s not our first WDW trip and it’s not going to be our last, we would take it slowly, and enjoy the atmosphere. Thanks again for the insights!

We enjoy Epcot Christmas Eve. It’s fun to do the storytellers and it doesn’t feel too crowded. I could be wrong, but I thought I remember reading that DS was packed Christmas Eve. Last minute shoppers I’d imagine.

 

[AngelDisney]

We enjoy Epcot Christmas Eve. It’s fun to do the storytellers and it doesn’t feel too crowded. I could be wrong, but I thought I remember reading that DS was packed Christmas Eve. Last minute shoppers I’d imagine.

Oh no! Thanks for the heads up! Forgot about the locals at Disney Springs!

 

[Disneylover99]

Oh no! Thanks for the heads up! Forgot about the locals at Disney Springs!

It’s probably a mix of locals and tourists looking to avoid crowds at the parks.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

Thanks for the good tips! Planning to visit either Epcot or Animal Kingdom in the morning then Storybook dining for an early dinner on Christmas Day. Maybe visiting Disney Spring on Christmas Eve to stay away from the crowds. We were at WDW years ago on July 4. I think Christmas would be more crowded. Since it’s not our first WDW trip and it’s not going to be our last, we would take it slowly, and enjoy the atmosphere. Thanks again for the insights!

We have found out that Disney Springs is slam packed every night during the holidays. I cannot remember which night we went Christmas week but on our way the Minnie Van driver told us all garages were full! We headed straight to our dinner and left asap. That's why we went back Christmas morning. If you go to Disney Springs right at opening (10:00am) you can get some great shopping in. We always go to The Boathouse and sit at the bar for a drink and some great shrimp. The crowds slowly build throughout the day so I would be out of there no later that 2:00.

 

[Candycane83]

Glad I found this thread! Me my DH and DS5 (will be 6) are headed to WDW on Dec 22-28! We were at Orlando last Dec 19-26. We stayed at Universal Orlando but attended the last 2 Christmas parties. At the end of the last party, my son was so unhappy he wasn’t going to get to ride the speedway one more time nor would he get to ride test track so I bought the Canadian promo tickets right when I got back home! Right now, we’re booked for the Dolphin hotel. Hoping for some discounts for Yacht Club or Beach club...

 

[Bethislucy]

We just booked for our first ever New Years Eve Trip. It will be a short trip Dec 31-Jan 3 we will stay on site NYE then move off site. We will have AP's and I just can't justify that much money to stay on property the whole time. Right now we are debating between MK or Epcot for NYE. I'm honestly leaning a little more towards Epcot after seeing MK this past NYE. I know they both will be crazy and we aren't expecting to do much but just enjoy the craziness.

 

[erinlizc]

We are thinking of going mid week to midweek, Dec 3-9th. I'm torn between AOA, FW cabin or CB. WE did FW Cabin last year and it was so awesome, but I love trying new things. We have never been at Christmas.

Ft Wilderness looks like so much fun at Christmas! We just booked (offside condo) for 12/5-12 and I tried to get a campsite there since my parents have an RV and there was no availability anywhere from Oct-Dec 2020. I know there are lots of families who go annually and decorate to the 9's! We will have a multigenerational group and I even thought about renting a golf cart one day to drive around and look at the decorations.

 

[erinlizc]

I have been in Dec. once before, 12/28 to 12/30 in 2015 - stayed in Wilderness Lodge. While we did do EMH and still got to a ton of rides on our one park day (MK) on that 12/29 I think it was - it was SUPER crowded starting in the early afternoon. If I go ahead, I'll consider the Christmas party (possibly, we are Jewish, so we don't need the special Christmas activities per se, but is it lower crowds??) and also going in early and getting out early, too.

I've only done the Christmas party once so I don't have a ton of experience but I do watch a lot of vlogs and read a lot of boards, etc. Our experience was that the party itself felt packed but the rides were very low wait times because people were doing the special party experiences (characters, parades, etc). Many rides were walk-ons. In fact, that particular trip we were in town for another reason and this was literally our only park day. We entered the park at 4 and by 10pm had ridden everything we wanted and we were pooped and ready to go! If you're not uncomfortable with Christmas decor, it's probably a good way to spend a MK day. I would not do a park day before personally. We did a monorail eat/drink tour beforehand to look at decorations and eat and then entered at 4 and that was a packed day.

 

[erinlizc]

Hi all!

Jumping in! Mom and I are staying from 12/23 and leaving 1/2/2021. We're staying 2 different hotels and are super excited.
Any cool things I can "surprise" Mom with for the Holidays?

If you have an open day, maybe book a meal at one of the monorail resorts and spend some time hopping the resorts to view the decorations. We spent a day doing this before doing a Very Merry party that night and had a great time!

 

[Jessj0012]

Does anyone know when it comes time to do dining reservations how does the calendar know you are staying in site and can book the dates for your whole stay. We are going 12/27 to 1/1 so I still have time I just like being extremely prepared and have all kinks worked out prior.

 

[amgallarza]

Does anyone know when it comes time to do dining reservations how does the calendar know you are staying in site and can book the dates for your whole stay. We are going 12/27 to 1/1 so I still have time I just like being extremely prepared and have all kinks worked out prior.

If I am understanding your question - when you log into the site, whatever 180 days is before the start of your stay - sometime at the end of June (I'm coming in on 12/23) you're able to see the entire week. I'm not sure how it knows, but because you have a trip planned with the dates already in place, it allows you to have the entire week opened for booking.

 

[amgallarza]

If you have an open day, maybe book a meal at one of the monorail resorts and spend some time hopping the resorts to view the decorations. We spent a day doing this before doing a Very Merry party that night and had a great time!

We already have a monorail crawl planned, but we just don't know what day yet. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[MoLoh]

This is my first time going during Christmas time. Any tips on beating the crowds on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? Which park to avoid on Christmas Day? TIA!

Last December we went to Epcot on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve we bought the Candlelight Processional Dining Package so we had reserve seating for this event. It was excellent, really captured the spirit of Chirstmas. On Christmas morning we had breakfast at Ohana then did a monorail tour to look at the decorations at the resorts including the awesome gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian. We took our time then went to Epcot which was the most crowded day of our vacation (we were in parks Dec 21-25). We avoided Magic Kingdom since it historically has closed due to capacity on Christmas plus it seemed everyone we talked to was going there. Since Epcot is so large it seems to help feel less crowded.

 

[AngelDisney]

Last December we went to Epcot on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve we bought the Candlelight Processional Dining Package so we had reserve seating for this event. It was excellent, really captured the spirit of Chirstmas. On Christmas morning we had breakfast at Ohana then did a monorail tour to look at the decorations at the resorts including the awesome gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian. We took our time then went to Epcot which was the most crowded day of our vacation (we were in parks Dec 21-25). We avoided Magic Kingdom since it historically has closed due to capacity on Christmas plus it seemed everyone we talked to was going there. Since Epcot is so large it seems to help feel less crowded.

Thanks for sharing your experiences! After researching more, I am planning to do the candlelight processional on Christmas Day and storybook dining on Christmas Eve. Definitely trying to avoid MK on both days. Since MK will be open late till 12 am for the holiday week, we will just go visit after other parks are closed. It means we have to go back to hotel for a nap between rope dropping at other parks and late night at MK. I don’t think we can handle MK morning EMH. That’s too early for us.