Going at Christmas and nothing booked!!

[MarkC]

I have to disagree with some people on here; first of all, it's not too late at all to book a room. In fact, for five years in a row, I had planned trips during christmas literally a week before dec 25, and never had a problem getting a room.

As for the crowds; it's hit or miss. I usually only stayed until Dec 26, so I never saw how progressively worse crowds might have gotten towards the new years; but i found that the days before the 25th were fairly calm, and Christmas was usually fairly crowded but nothing extreme.

If this is the only time that those friends of yours can go; I'd say go for it.. IF they have the luxury of booking another time, perhaps that might be better.

 

[aubriee]

I find it scary that several have said don't go. We just made our reservations last Wednesday. We are also staying three days. Dec. 30-Jan 2.
If anybody has any advice (besides don't go) please send it my way. In the meantime I will be pouring over this site and a couple of books to make it as enjoyable as we can during the three days.

Hi,

I am by no means an expert but would like to offer a few suggestions for you:

1. Get very familiar with the park maps. Know exactly where you are going as soon as that rope drops at park opening and head there. Don't dawdle looking at the sights and stopping for lame rides. As you enter the parks go left. The tour guide on my KTTK tour said they had done research and most people as they enter the parks automatically turn right. Same thing with the lines, always go left as that line seems to move faster.

2. Since you are staying on site use EMH and get to the park at park opening. You'll be surprised at what you can do in just those first few hours before the crowds arrive. Fantasyland at MK will usually take you several hours to do, but if you go there as soon as the park opens you can do everything in a little over an hour or so. Let the kids know ahead of time that WDW is not a relaxing vacation and there will be no sleeping in. When we went in Sept my son and D-I-L decided to sleep in one day. My ex and I went to MK and rode everything in Fantasyland by the time we met them at 11:00am. We went back later in the day, so they could do Fantasyland and waits were like 30-45 minutes (this was during one of the slowest times of the year, by the way).

3. Use fast passes-always have one in hand. Get one as you enter the park and before you use it, get another one (as soon as the time on the first one says you may). Since your kids are older you may also want to consider using the single riders lane--you may not get to all ride together, but you will get on the rides MUCH quicker.

4. Prioritize--have your kids make a list of their must do things and don't waste time waiting in line for the nonimportant lame rides just because you come across them.

5. Get park hoppers, so that if the park you choose that day is full you can go to another one that may not be that bad.

6. Probably most important is make ADRs NOW if you haven't already. CS gets old fast, so have each kid pick one restaraunt (with a backup in case you can't get in) and try to get ADRs.

7. Pray that all the experts are wrong and it's not going to be as crowded as they expect. I decided a few weeks ago to take my GD down there Jan 2-8th and called immediately at like 80 days out and was pleasantly surprised to get every ADR I asked for (including CRT and PSB).

8. Relax and know you are going at a busy time and won't get to do much. Enjoy the time with your family and just absorb the magic that is WDW.

 

[dgaston]

I will be at WDW during Christmas week too, since DH teaches HS and it's a lovely chance for us to meet up with his brother and sister-in-law from Iowa. Yes Christmas is crowded, but you still can have a wonderful time. With teens, you might want to try for some of the buffets -- Crystal Palace, Cape May, Boma are some of our favorites. And you can make ADRs for Trail's End, a buffet at Fort Wilderness, a neat ferry ride away from the MK. Definitely have the kids choose favorites. My family likes thrill rides, so we ride the mountains at MK. Tomorrowland, not Fantasyland is our first goal. At MGM we're all about RnR, ToT first thing in the am. During Christmas week EMH is at 7am at MK all week long. I would shoot for as close to 8 as I could get the kids moving. That means buses near 7 am. Also I think park closings are most likely to happen on Christmas Day and NYE. That's been my experience on other Christmas trips. Make some ADRs, plan pool time (I like Ol' Man River, and the hot tub at POR) and create family memories. That's what Disney magic really is.