Disney for Christmas?

[princessmommy]

Hi everyone!

My husband would like to spend Christmas at Disney this year and surprise the kids If we do this we will probably go Dec 24-31st. How crazy is it during this time? We are annual pass holders and have been many times but never during Christmas. We just want to go and make the best of it. If we can't do certain things because of the crowds...we know we will be back to do it again another time. We are thinking of booking at the new Pop Century.

Tell me about some of your Christmas visits. I would love to hear about them.

 

[jdonat]

We've been going down for New Year's for
about 10 years now (we missed y2k for obvious
reasons). We're usually there between 12/27-01/04
We've done one year that we went for a few days
before Christmas so's we could do the parade and
other things.
Things to note..
1. This is the single busiest time of year. Period. If you can't deal with BIG crowds,
its not a good time to go.
2. The parks, resorts, etc are BEAUTIFUL! Each
park has it's own Christmas tree, and decorations
EVERYWHERE! The resorts all have themed
decorations -usually some kind of gingerbread
house/village/carousel....
3. It can be cool for Florida -we've had freezes
a couple of times -we've also had years that
we completely ditched the squall jackets in the
closet and never used them. Be prepared!
Take light gloves, hats, etc -you probably will
need them at least one night.
4. MK is open early/late, and EC opens early.
Studios open late, too...
5. The New Years fireworks are outstanding. If
you stand in canada, near the entrance of the
Millenium village you can see 3x fireworks..
straight ahead EC, look hard right Studios.. look
over China..Pleasure Island...
6. EC has Christmas (holiday) around the world.
Every pavillion with a Christmas tradition has
their St Nick, et al with stories on how the
tradition developed. It's lots of fun, especially
if you know some of the traditions...
7. Go to the Candlelight Processional at EC.
8. Don't worry about not doing everything -MK's
open late and Fastpass your brains out. We have
had no problem getting into anything over the
Christmas period, if you plan a bit.

Have fun! We'll be down there 12/28 01/04 this
year......
JED

 

[dmonroe]

We've been for Christmas twice; and it was really crowded. I honestly don't know if I would do another time. I don't mind a sorta big crowd, but it was nearly impossible to walk in MK on Christmas day.

What we usually do is go during the 2nd week of Dec. That way we get to see all of the beautiful decorations and take advantage of lower rates and lighter crowds.

 

[din]

Like the other posters, if you do not mind the crowd, it is great.. went there the first time for christmas. Since we have been there many times we targeted only favorites shows and rides...and also as mentioned FASTPASS your way...

DO NOT MISS CANDLELIGHT SHOW!!!!! It is so re-freshing to hear the true story of christmas and make you think what blessings you have for being able to enjoy this with your family.

 

[chell]

Christmas at WDW is simply amazing! Just be prepared to deal with the crowds and enjoy yourself. I wouldn't plan on trying to do as much in the parks as you normally would because of the crowds. But if you go prepared mentally to deal with the crowds and since you are APholders then you should have a GREAT time.

Like jdonat mentioned, make sure you visit the resorts. You will not believe the gingerbread house at the GF.

There are just so many extras to see/do at Christmas.

AND since it is so busy COP and TK should BOTH be open!!!

The Candlelight Processional is absolutely wonderful.

Hope you do go for Christmas and have a wonderful time!!

 

[Sandiebean]

Maybe we'll see you there. We're booked at Pop Century from Dec. 20 (19) to 27th.

Sandie

 

[princessmommy]

Thanks for all the replies about going for Christmas. Sandiebean...maybe we WILL see you there I went ahead and booked Pop Century for Dec 24-31. I think we will have a good time...even with the big crowds. If we think it's too crowded...we won't do it again for Christmas but at least we can say we did it at least once!

With that being said....we are going to Disney in July for 8 nights!