Dvc over Christmas

[quandrea]

looking to get the dvc perspective on Disney World over Christmas. My dd will be starting high school in September 2018. Right now we homeschool and can travel whenever we want. That all ends soon. I've been planning our point usage into 2018. We always go down twice. We have a trip planned Jan 2018 and I've considered August 2018 (which dh wants no part of) and twelve nights over Christmas. It would be a few days prior to Christmas and coming home around New Years. That seems to be the only way to avoid astronomical flight pricing.

So what is it like spending the holiday with DVC? I know the parks will be crowded. How do you all spend the holiday? Do you cook a special meal? Do you bring your gifts or save that for home? Do your relatives hate that you are away? Please share in any way you can.

 

[ldo]

we go about every 3rd Christmas, so we can celebrate with relatives the other years. We take smaller gifts and either a little tree, if driving, or a fake evergreen sprig in our luggage if we fly, and some lights to put around our window. We cook a Christmas eve or Day dinner. We have gone to a Christmas AM character brunch a few times and also the holiday luau at the Poly. The decorations at WDW resorts are lovely. Most of the DVCs have something special for Christmas eve.

 

[quandrea]

we go about every 3rd Christmas, so we can celebrate with relatives the other years. We take smaller gifts and either a little tree, if driving, or a fake evergreen sprig in our luggage if we fly, and some lights to put around our window. We cook a Christmas eve or Day dinner. We have gone to a Christmas AM character brunch a few times and also the holiday luau at the Poly. The decorations at WDW resorts are lovely. Most of the DVCs have something special for Christmas eve.

Thank you for your reply. Do you miss home?

 

[ldo]

we usually have a big thanksgiving, as DH's family is local. so, Christmas is very similar. This year, my Mom, widowed, is meeting us for this Christmas at WDW. I would not want to go every year, but even EOY is fine.

 

[quandrea]

I think dh's mother will hate our being away but airfare after Christmas is over four thousand dollars. We just can't swing that and there isn't really going to be another time to travel. I love the idea of a Disney Christmas.

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

We've done Disney Christmas 2 times within last 5 years -- once DD no longer worried about Santa finding her. We usually go down around the 18th and stay til 27th. Crowds are manageable til about 23rd - they get progressively crazier after that.
We are a small family and typically do not celebrate with family so no issue there. We do a nice Christmas Eve dinner out, brunch in the room Christmas Day and dinner at Raglan Road - just so much fun. We bring small, packable presents, and buy something at the World. Decorations are bits and pieces of this and that that we keep in our Owners Locker.
For the post- holiday time, I would plan, light park days, mini-golf/off beat activities, and time around the resort. It is crazy, but it's Disney so it's a special type of crazy.
Any questions, let me know.

 

[quandrea]

We've done Disney Christmas 2 times within last 5 years -- once DD no longer worried about Santa finding her. We usually go down around the 18th and stay til 27th. Crowds are manageable til about 23rd - they get progressively crazier after that.
We are a small family and typically do not celebrate with family so no issue there. We do a nice Christmas Eve dinner out, brunch in the room Christmas Day and dinner at Raglan Road - just so much fun. We bring small, packable presents, and buy something at the World. Decorations are bits and pieces of this and that that we keep in our Owners Locker.
For the post- holiday time, I would plan, light park days, mini-golf/off beat activities, and time around the resort. It is crazy, but it's Disney so it's a special type of crazy.
Any questions, let me know.

Thanks. We usually do light park days anyway. A twelve night trip will probably have four or five park days, probably half days only. We enjoy the pool, community hall, movie nights in. Sounds like that should work. In 2018 we would arrive the 19th, head home New Years Eve or the first of January. Your plan sounds like it would work for us. I'd have to have a tree somehow.

 

[Kim Gillihan]

that sounds awesome! We have to plan this some day!!

 

[clm10308]

We've done WDW twice over Christmas 5 years apart. The first year, we all picked out stockings once we got to WDW. The second time, I brought tiny stockings from Hobby Lobby that I put magnets on the back of to have them on the fridge. Gifts were mostly food treats bought at site and Disney Gift cards for each of the kids.

We didn't have much problem with the crowds. With teenagers rather that younger kids, we skip rope drop and plan instead to stay till closing.

 

[DVC Jen]

We went in 2012 when both of our DDs were in college. It was nice. It was extremely crowded but we were OK with that because we go so often we knew if we didn't do it then we would do it later. I am so glad we did it once and had the experience. I would do it again - but not every year. We drove so we took a little tree and decorated it. We packed a suitcase full of small gifts and bought a few more while there. We did not do a park on Christmas day. Instead we enjoyed a nice room service breakfast in bed, resort hopped and had dinner at Artist Point. Then we did a Wishes fireworks cruise that night. It was relaxing and we really enjoyed it

 

[tgropp]

looking to get the dvc perspective on Disney World over Christmas. My dd will be starting high school in September 2018. Right now we homeschool and can travel whenever we want. That all ends soon. I've been planning our point usage into 2018. We always go down twice. We have a trip planned Jan 2018 and I've considered August 2018 (which dh wants no part of) and twelve nights over Christmas. It would be a few days prior to Christmas and coming home around New Years. That seems to be the only way to avoid astronomical flight pricing.

So what is it like spending the holiday with DVC? I know the parks will be crowded. How do you all spend the holiday? Do you cook a special meal? Do you bring your gifts or save that for home? Do your relatives hate that you are away? Please share in any way you can.

On our first Christmas family vacation in 1994, my wife was a little homesick for her family but that passed quickly as everyone else is in the same boat. It is a very festive atmosphere at WDW. The 5-6 days before Christmas Day are sooo magical. We usually eat our Christmas Day dinner at Whispering Canyon, rest a lot by the pools during the day and parks mornings and evenings. This year will be our 8'th family Christmas vacation and the family has grown from the four of us to eight with spouses and grandchildren