Disney For Christmas

[Luke1423]

Hello Everyone,

My family and I love Disney and have been there 4 times. For the first time we will be going for Christmas this year from 12/24 to 12/30. My girls will be 9 and 5 at this time. I know the crowds are crazy but was wondering what tips and/or advices anyone has for us. We will be staying on Site at the Wilderness Lodge.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[saskdw]

We have spent 6 of the last 7 Christmas in Orlando.

Obviously being there for rope drop helps alot. My advice though is resist the urge to have to be at MK Christmas day. We do DHS Christmas eve and AK Christmas day. Save MK and Epcot for later in the week. They'll still be busy, but alot of people will have already been to them and be moving on to AK & DHS. We try to do the opposite of the majority. No way to completely avoid crowds at that time of year, but every little bit helps.

 

[sjbond]

We were at WDW Christmas of 2013. We went to MK at rope drop on Christmas day and absolutely loved it. Most people aren't willing to get up and be at MK for a 7:00 a.m. opening so the park was not busy at all when we arrived. There is absolutely nothing better than walking down mainstreet, listening to the carolers, and just feeling the atmosphere on Christmas day. It got very busy by noon when we left, but we had at least 4 fabulous, relatively low crowd hours. We were staying at BC so we then hopped to Epcot until dinner, had dinner, then watched The Santa Clause on the beach outside BC. It was an amazing day that we would do again in a heartbeat.

 

[JoeA]

I'd take the time to visit the various resorts, particularly Grand Floridian and Animal Kingdome Jambo. They do a very nice job of decorating. Jampo has a huge tree set up in the lobby and it very pretty.

 

[Hummingbird]

We do MK on Christmas day. There is nothing and I mean NOTHING like walking down Main Street and seeing the castle surrounded by the Xmas decorations & the music on Christmas morning. The key is to rope drop then leave once the park starts to get crowded

Edit: You also picked a wonderful resort. Wilderness Lodge just feels like Christmas to me. We are doing Christmas Week at WL, then moving over to BC for New Year's week since we spend NYE in Epcot

 

[sharonabe]

Just be ready to get up with the roosters; MK will open at 7:00 a.m. every morning that week.

 

[saskdw]

We do MK on Christmas day. There is nothing and I mean NOTHING like walking down Main Street and seeing the castle surrounded by the Xmas decorations & the music on Christmas morning. The key is to rope drop then leave once the park starts to get crowded

I don't disagree.

However the experience is exactly the same on the 27th or 28th or 29th. If they hate crowds like I do and hate getiing up at 5 am on vacation like I do, AK is very nice on Christmas day.

 

[Disneylover99]

We do MK on Christmas day. There is nothing and I mean NOTHING like walking down Main Street and seeing the castle surrounded by the Xmas decorations & the music on Christmas morning. The key is to rope drop then leave once the park starts to get crowded

I totally agree. Just knowing it's Christmas Day and you're at the MK.....that feeling is hard to describe. Love it!!!

 

[Baptist]

Rope drop is your friend! Disney decorated for Christmas is awesome. I know you will have a great time despite the crowds. We prefer to rope drop, eat an early lunch, and then use afternoon FP+.

 

[Disneylover99]

Posted on wrong thread.....Ooops

 

[nardoneje]

We are going back for our second time at Christmas, this year. The most important thing I think is MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS! FP+ what is most important to you and anything else is a bonus. This is the busiest period of time, period. There will be lines and they will be long. We have 4 children and felt is was a very good idea to schedule a TS meal every evening that we are in a park. It gave the kids a chance to decompress, relax and get rid of some of the sensory overload they have going on. A couple times my youngest ended up taking a nap instead of eating. I also think it's very important to go to the park you want at rope drop. Phase closures are very real and very common and by about noon on Dec 30th the year we went, they were almost at capacity. For this reason, we have opted for park hoppers this year... just in case.

 

[Mainemama]

We are going back for our second time at Christmas, this year. The most important thing I think is MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS! FP+ what is most important to you and anything else is a bonus. This is the busiest period of time, period. There will be lines and they will be long. We have 4 children and felt is was a very good idea to schedule a TS meal every evening that we are in a park. It gave the kids a chance to decompress, relax and get rid of some of the sensory overload they have going on. A couple times my youngest ended up taking a nap instead of eating. I also think it's very important to go to the park you want at rope drop. Phase closures are very real and very common and by about noon on Dec 30th the year we went, they were almost at capacity. For this reason, we have opted for park hoppers this year... just in case.

We are also trying Christmas for the first time! I have been thinking AK or just a resort day on 12/25. Just curious... How does a PH help with closures? We are used to Presidents Day crowds. We never do a PH, but I am wondering how you use it when really crowded.

 

[kathy884]

Bring a lot of patience and expect huge crowds and long lines. It is worth it when you can to do rope drop, as others have suggested. Those first two hours of the day will be one of your only times without crowds. If you would like to do as many attractions as possible, I highly recommend using a touring plan that gives you advice on the order to do things to minimize time in lines. I've done five Christmas trips as an adult (I'm not going to count all those Christmas trips I did as a kid back in the 70s lol), and on four I used the plans from www.touringplans.com. An online subscription runs about $10. They saved me hours of line waiting vs. the other trip when I did rope drop, but just came up with my own whimsical order of doing things. // Even when you have a table service reservation, do not be surprised if you have to wait 20 minutes to a half hour to be seated. // If the crowds get to you, you might want to spend some time at the lovely resort you are staying at. This is the one place where you would never know Disney is filled to capacity, as everyone is in the parks and the resorts themselves don't feel crowded at all.

 

[vicki_c]

We are also trying Christmas for the first time! I have been thinking AK or just a resort day on 12/25. Just curious... How does a PH help with closures? We are used to Presidents Day crowds. We never do a PH, but I am wondering how you use it when really crowded.

You leave the very crowded park for a less crowded park (it's all crowded, but there are differences).

 

[nardoneje]

We are also trying Christmas for the first time! I have been thinking AK or just a resort day on 12/25. Just curious... How does a PH help with closures? We are used to Presidents Day crowds. We never do a PH, but I am wondering how you use it when really crowded.

As another poster said, in case you want to leave an overly crowded park for a less crowded one. OR.. say you have a dinner ADR in MK, but when you show up in the morning it's at capacity. You could go to another park in the AM and then hop back to MK for your ADR and hopefully it will have cleared enough that you can get in.

 

[larryz]

We will be staying on Site at the Wilderness Lodge.

WL is our favorite Christmas holiday resort! Enjoy your trip, but temper your expectations on crowds.