Has anyone gone the week before Christmas and stayed offsite?

[crusoe2]

Going to Disney Dec 16-22. The only onsite accommodations that I think would really be comfy for us are, um, a "little" out of our price range. So we've booked a condo at Windsor Hills. We've stayed there many times so we pretty well know our way around. But we've never gone the week before Christmas. We usually go down sometime in June or in mid-October. I know crowds will be heavier but we'd really like to see all the Christmas stuff. And going earlier in December is not an option - I'm a teacher and DD will be in high school. Neither of us could get away with taking a week off.

So, has anyone gone this time of year and stayed offsite? I'd love to hear your experience. Did it make a big difference not being able to do EMHs or having to wait until 30 days out to book fastpasses? We haven't found that to be a big problem at other times of year. But not sure how much of a difference it will make the week before Christmas.

 

[mds88]

We did that 2 years ago. We made sure to get all our fp+ and dining as soon as our window opened. We were able to get 7DMT & lunch at BOG. We did 2 days MK and one in each of the other parks. We did use a hopper so we could see Wishes on our AK day, which allowed us to do MK on a party day (since we read party days are less crowded) and hop to Epcot afterwards. We did rope drop or close to it everyday. We also planned for one MK day to be during the parties so we could see Festival of Fantasy, and one to be after the parties so we could see Holiday Wishes and the Christmas parade. The fp+ opened like 2 weeks out for the Christmas parade and we were able to snag one. I would HIGHLY recommend this. Its a wonderful parade and was a highlight of our trip. The characters were so interactive. Minnie pointed out we had similar bows on and Anna & Elsa commented on my husbands Olaf shirt! So much fun! Yes it was crowded, but as long as you have a plan I think you will be just fine.