Doing Christmas Week...I know it's crowded, I'm crazy & it's expensive...now help me out.

[Naughty Nurse]

This thread has just made me even more excited than what I already was....I am about to visit for my first ever WDW visit 15 Dec-24th Dec....and I am so glad to read all the positive comments in this thread...I will definitely be following alot of the advice that has been given...we are going to be a group of 11...so have almost completed all of our Table Service Bookings...and I have just been researching the last few days about FP options and strategies....which may be difficult with so many people to choose options for....I am sure we will plan to take advantage of EMH both in AM and the PM on different days...but as I don't know when I will be back (as coming from Australia)...I think the hardest thing for me to do will be to allow us time to go have breaks at resort during the day so we don't collapse from exhaustion....but from what everyone is saying here...it is probably something that will help make the whole trip more magical for everyone in our group...I look forward to following this thread and reading more awesome advice

 

[momma of 2]

We will be there from 12/20-12/29-this is our first time being there Christmas morning! Any ideas on how to do Christmas gifts for Christmas morning?

 

[Disneylover99]

We will be there from 12/20-12/29-this is our first time being there Christmas morning! Any ideas on how to do Christmas gifts for Christmas morning?

I would skip it. Get to the parks early and get out by lunch. Relax and open your gifts once you get back to the resort. That's what we did. It worked out great!

 

[sachiiiii]

We did December 25, 13 - January 1, 14 and with the exception of NYE st Epcot it really wasn't as bad as expected. As long as you have your FP+ and dining reservations planned you'll have a great time! Dining reservations ended up being super important for us because they gave us a chance to get away from the crowds and relax. We were even able to make a couple dining reservations on the fly, although they weren't necessarily places we would have chosen to go otherwise.

As far as rides, we were able to do everything we wanted at least once. Take advantage of EMH, especially at night. We did a ton of rides at MK with no wait. Do anything you can't get a FP for early in the day.

After reading about how terrible Christmas time can be at Disney I went in expecting the trip to be decent at best. Even though it was more crowded than usual, it was the best trip we've been on so far! Lots of pixie dust moments!

 

[Summertinkerbell]

We went in 2008/2009 arriving on December 24th and leaving on January 1st.

Best and most memorable vacation of our lives.

It was DD's last Christmas believing in Santa Claus making it all the sweeter.

My tips:

Don't go near MK on Christmas Day. We went to AKL, the least crowded park. Try to do MK early in the week. It gets more crowded later in the week.

Get to the parks at rope drop, and leave in the afternoon for a nap or swim in the pool. Go back to park at night or another resort for dinner and a tour.

Do make sure to attend the Candlelight Processional. We missed church and that served as our church experience in WDW.

Enjoy Osborne Family lights.

Visit deluxe resorts to see decorations, especially GF's gingerbread house.

It is totally doable if you prepare ahead of time and really plan on being in the parks on their least crowded days and times. Yes, it will be crowded, but it will be okay. Everyone will have the Christmas spirit. I hope to do it again one day, perhaps with grandchildren.

Have fun!!!

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

This will be our first Christmas trip since FP+. I'm just wondering which attractions would be the best for FP+. Would the parades and fireworks be best? I normally don't FP+ those but started wondering since the special parade and fireworks will be at MK starting after the last MVMCP. Would it be better to book those rather than rides? I remember it being super crowded after Holiday Wishes a few years ago. Would having a FP+ for that help to alleviate the crowds due to the special viewing area?

 

[jessie31383]

Looks like rope drop and midnight will be our families new friend.

As for the children, our daughters will be 13 and 15 when we visit. Which I thought would be way too old for any of the "kiddie" surprises....that is until my oldest asked if Tinkerbell would still leave gifts and snacks for them every morning for them to find. It's amazing how WDW has the ability to bring us all back to the best of childhood. That's what has our family so excited about the return, even if it is during the "super peak" time.

We are also going the 19th but staying through the 27th. We are staying at CBR. My daughters are 10 and 12 so I am stalking your thread as well =) I have a question for you though, what is the Tinkerbell leave gifts and snacks? What and how did you do that?

 

[NightStar]

Guess I am crazy too ! We are going Dec 17-28 and staying at Kidani. I know it is going to be mobbed but I don't care..I can't wait to spend the most wonderful time of the year in WDW .

 

[epcotty]

We've gone on the 22nd/23rd a few times (EP & HS), crowds were large but manageable. FP the popular ones you want, get in line for shows early and avoid really long lines otherwise (come back later if it's something you really want). I don't know about MK,we try to avoid it then due to thinking the crowds would be worse

 

[akaDaddy]

We are also going the 19th but staying through the 27th. We are staying at CBR. My daughters are 10 and 12 so I am stalking your thread as well =) I have a question for you though, what is the Tinkerbell leave gifts and snacks? What and how did you do that?

Tinkerbell gifts and snacks were little surprises that we would purchase before the trip, hide in our luggage and every morning when the kids woke up, they were gifts waiting by the door for them. We gave them toys, shirts and other gifts. To add to the fun, we'd write notes and reduce them on the printer or copiers until it was so small you could just read it as well. The notes would let the kids know what they were going to do that day and what fun they would have.

 

[PFHite]

Love reading all of the comments from those who say it's manageable at that time of year. We've been at Easter and Thanksgiving, but this will be our first Christmas trip (12/20 through 12/27). My one concern is that if we do RP at HS on 12/21, we'll be done with the park well in advance of the Osborne Lights. We are staying offsite so I don't really want to go back to our rental house and then come back for the lights. Any suggestions on what to do to kill some time after we get through the attractions that day?

 

[lovndisney12]

Looks like rope drop and midnight will be our families new friend.

As for the children, our daughters will be 13 and 15 when we visit. Which I thought would be way too old for any of the "kiddie" surprises....that is until my oldest asked if Tinkerbell would still leave gifts and snacks for them every morning for them to find. It's amazing how WDW has the ability to bring us all back to the best of childhood. That's what has our family so excited about the return, even if it is during the "super peak" time.

We are going almost the exact same dates and will have boys 14 and 17. They too are excited about the trip and it surprised me how much they wanted to go when we were looking at choices for a family trip for our 20th wedding anniversary. Disney had been our family's favorite vacation place over the years and I was worried now that they were older that they wouldn't be into it as much. I was pleasantly surprised! Sorry if I've posted to this thread somewhere else but here are my tips as this will be our third Christmas trip (2nd actually over Christmas).

1) Crowds are very manageable if you avoid mid-day - as everyone else has posted - rope drop and/or late really is important if you want to avoid the intense swarms of people

2) Weather is awesome - but do pack layers. We have worn sweatshirts all day and also had nice days to swim in the pool - all in the same trip. No sweating through your clothes by 11 AM!

3) TS Meals - We too were able to get free dining and we utilize TS meals as a great break. Our family enjoys the dining experiences as much as the rest of the trip.

4) Take in all things Christmas - Osborne Lights, Candlelight Processional, Various Santas in the different countries, resort decorations

5) Keep family traditions alive - bring your stockings if you do those, decorate your room (we put lights around the window and brought with a little Christmas tree), read Christmas stories, etc. Just make sure to take time to celebrate Christmas! (At local pharmacy chain I was able to get a Mickey Christmas light up for the window as well as some inexpensive Disney Christmas clings. Over the years we have accumulated many Disney ornaments which go on the little "Disney" tree. On the years we don't go to Disney these are the decorations in our entry way so it is a great reminder of our Christmas Disney trips!)

6) Shop for each other on-site - With the ages of your kids this is perfect and our boys had so much fun doing this last time. Last time when the boys were younger, we gave them each around $10 or $20 to buy stocking stuffers for the rest of the family. This time we are going to give everyone a Disney Gift card of at least $25 (and then they can add to that with their own money) and then draw names out of a hat so they can buy a special Disney gift for someone else in the family. We will then exchange gifts on Christmas day in addition to the handful of small gifts we bring with.

7) Have fun with it! I bought Santa hats last time and we all wore them Christmas day. There were many others in the parks and out and about and it seemed everyone was in a pretty festive mood - at least until early afternoon when we left the parks.

 

[lovndisney12]

We will be there from 12/20-12/29-this is our first time being there Christmas morning! Any ideas on how to do Christmas gifts for Christmas morning?

We did our stockings early before hitting rope drop and then opened the other presents later in the day. We also didn't have a lot of presents and it will depend on the ages of your kids. If presents in the morning first thing are a must - you might want to plan a non-park day or plan to go in the evening.

 

[texasroni75]

We have only been to WDW at Christmas-time once. It was our first Christmas after moving halfway across the country, and it really helped to be at magical WDW instead of at our new home missing the extended family and our other holiday traditions.

We checked in on the 17th and left on the 23rd. We had an amazing trip, ate mostly CS because we wanted to be more flexible with mealtimes, and made good use of our park hoppers when we started to feel overwhelmed. We loved seeing the decorations, tasting the special holiday treats, and decorating the window in our room.

The only time we felt the crowds were unmanageable was at the end of the fireworks at MK on our last night. We decided from then on to watch them away from the Hub area and let the biggest portions of the crowd leave before attempting to exit. But, for most people who have visited more than once, that's pretty much a no-brainer

Like others mentioned, weather can be unpredictable. Our first two days we were in shorts and capris. But on other days we ended up with hats and gloves. So, you might have to pack a bit more to be ready for anything.

 

[KristinU]

We did it last year and lived to tell about it! To be honest, we managed expectations, planned like crazy, and had a great time. We'd totally do it again. We did stay out of the parks completely on Christmas day, so I can't speak to that, but Blizzard Beach was lots of fun on that day and not crowded. We did rope drop and even did walk-up lunch at BOG as soon as they opened (probably helped that there were only 3 of us). The only negative was DH getting whacked in the heel by a crazed mother pushing a little girl in a wheelchair toward A&E. Not even an apology or anything and he was bleeding bad enough to go to the medics...big chunk of skin missing and everything - took forever for that darn thing to heal! So yeah, there are masses and some extra risk from that, but all in all, not bad.

Check out the link to my blog in my signature for a trip report

 

[jessie31383]

Tinkerbell gifts and snacks were little surprises that we would purchase before the trip, hide in our luggage and every morning when the kids woke up, they were gifts waiting by the door for them. We gave them toys, shirts and other gifts. To add to the fun, we'd write notes and reduce them on the printer or copiers until it was so small you could just read it as well. The notes would let the kids know what they were going to do that day and what fun they would have.

love it!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cgattis]

Love reading all of the comments from those who say it's manageable at that time of year. We've been at Easter and Thanksgiving, but this will be our first Christmas trip (12/20 through 12/27). My one concern is that if we do RP at HS on 12/21, we'll be done with the park well in advance of the Osborne Lights. We are staying offsite so I don't really want to go back to our rental house and then come back for the lights. Any suggestions on what to do to kill some time after we get through the attractions that day?

Take a boat (or walk) over to BC/YC/BW/SD and look at their decor, shop, have gingerbread

 

[lovndisney12]

One thing to add for anyone driving - we grabbed some window clings and put them in the car for the drive and it made it even more festive and fun. Plus, we would tune into the local radio station for Christmas music - while most songs were the traditional ones we hear back home - some were certainly regional favorites.

 

[pad406]

First it's not 'bad news is it's December 19th through December 26' that's good news

We've been twice over Christmas/New Year, 2010 and last year. Both were absolutely fantastic. 2010 was our first trip and many thought we were mad, but not so, loved, loved, loved it. Yes it's packed, but that's part of the fun. Some simple planning and a lot of patience goes a long long way.

Good that you're on-site. EMH is your friend, even more than most at this time of year. We tend to stay longer (2 1/2 to 3 weeks) as we come a long way so we alternate late nights and early mornings. Your stay is a bit shorter so you won't have as much flexibility as us, but no worries. Not sure at what time on the 26th you're leaving but if at all possible do a morning EMH that day, after the festivities of the 25th people will be tired and less likely to be up early. The one advantage of the place being so busy is that the park hours are very long, MK will be open till 3am at least a few nights, there will be at least one morning AND one night EMH every day. Generally we found that in MK particularly, once the last shows were over the park started to empty, at least with the ages of your kids they will be able for the late nights.

Extra Christmassy things, story tellers in the World at Epcot, decorations in the resorts, the campsites at Fort Wilderness, all wonderful.

I did trip reports on both visits, there might be something of use there for you if your're interested

http://www.disboards.com/threads/off-to-bed-our-first-trip-report.2618645/
http://www.disboards.com/threads/home-again-another-great-trip.3368796/

I also found this thread very useful, http://www.disboards.com/threads/ev...now-about-wdw-christmas-tips-secrets.2233038/

Most of all, have fun. You've been before so enjoy the difference.

And now you've made me all impatient for our 2017 Christmas trip !!!

Oh and one other thing, I know it doesn't help you, but it might help others reading along. If you're there over New Years,MK does a practice run of the NYE fireworks on the 30th. Same show, 1/2 the crowds.