How crowded at Christmas time really?

[Steamboat Girlie]

Just back from Dis and now I really need to go again. Thinking of planning a trip for Christmas, arriving on the 25th and staying thru Jan 1. Am I crazy. How bad is it at that time?

 

[nativetxn]

I've never toured WDW during that time frame but I have relatives who did. It is the most crowded time of year but if you plan carefully and use fastpass you should be alright. Just be prepared for longer lines everywhere.

Katholyn

 

[Ted and Holly]

We visited the week between Christmas and New Years back in 2000. It was ridiculous. During that week, there was record attendance at AK and the other parks reached capacity by 9:30 on at least 3 days.

We are usually visiting family that week now that we moved. But I think we'd avoid the parks that week anyway.

Ted

 

[EsmeraldaX]

My cousin and her DDs did it last year. They said never again. It was wall to wall people. MK closed to capacity several days and there were few FPs left by midday. She hated it. You pay absolute hightest prices all year during that week as well.

I wish it was not so bad then because I have that week off / w pay from work every year but every vacation place is peak rate and packed.

 

[WDSearcher]

The week between Christmas and New Year's is the most crowded week of the year. The crowds will be the worst that you have ever seen at a Disney park. There are lines for Hall of Presidents, for goodness sake!

Is it doable? Sure. But you're talking heavy-duty planning in order to get into shows and onto rides. Not to mention the lines you'll stand in for fast food, the bathroom, merchandise, trams, busses, monorails, boats ... you get the idea.

Some people love it -- they love the crowds and the shoulder-to-shoulder thing and talking to people in line and seeing all that humanity. Others ... not so much.

If going back to Disney is something you HAVE to do, and you want to see the Christmas finery, go earlier in December.

 

[jmclester]

Ditto to all of the above. Went that week 4 years ago. Never again. Even the roads were so congested (on NY eve) we couldn't park hop because the buses were in gridlock. We finally took the water taxi from EPCOT to MGM and the lines were so long at the gate we could barely see the entrance. We've been the 4th of July twice and it was nothing compared to this! Apparently there are those who like it but not us. In contrast, the year before, we went the week before Christmas and everythng was a walk on.

Look out Disney....11/2-11/7...here we come!!

 

[disneyagain]

My sister and drove from NY with 5 children (aged: 8-15). We arrived mid-day on 12/27 and left at 4:00 am on 1/1/04. We had fun got to see most everything we wanted to see...but it was commando style!

Are you staying on-site? This is a must, this time of year, you HAVE to take advantage of early magic hour.

We stayed at the Dolphin, we did EMH all days, were back at the hotel by 1:00 everyday, for a rest/swim. Then we headed back to the parks around 5:00 for dinner and the rest of the evening. The rest really extended our "quality" park time, if we tried to stay from entry to close, we would have been miserable, exhausted and crabby!

I've been many times, so know the ins and outs and most of the little tricks to get around. We did see alot of people that appeared to be OVERWHELMED! My sister never would have made it on her own.

New Years Eve day, my daughter, 2 nephews and I headed over to Epcot for EMH (7:30am)to ride test track and mission space. We hoofed it from the WS entrance and quick got a fast pass for MS and rode test track. Got off test track and walked on (with FP) to Mission Space. We got off MS at about 8:15 am and the MS queue was 180 minutes...YIKES! We headed back to the hotel to pick up the others to head to AK. My sister said that they were already running banners across the TV that Epcot and MK were closed due to high attendance.

We planned AK for that day, because it was only open until 5:00, so we figured the NYE people would be at the parks that were open until midnight....We were at AK by 9:15, did Bugs Life, Safari and Kali and then over to Blizzard Beach by noon for the rest of the day. This was a great plan for NYE day....crowded, but reasonable.

Good Luck! Go with a plan and enjoy whatever you do even if it's people watching and seeing everything all decked out for Christmas...It really is a beautiful time of year!

 

[hammertime]

Went Dec 26 - Jan 3rd.

The worse thing about our trip -- the crowds. I will never go back during the x-mas break. Jan 2 and 3 was less crowded and more enjoyable.

 

[NMAmy]

Where were all you people a couple of weeks ago when I started planning a trip for Christmas?? Now, I might reconsider --we'll be there from the 18th to the 29th. Will that first week be as bad? I've noticed that the rates are lower then.

 

[jmclester]

The 18th-24th should be great and even the days up until NY eve should be manageable. I would avoid MK and MGM on your last 2 days. These 2 ususally are at full capacity by 10-11 am.

 

[craziefortigger]

We did WDW last yr 12-25 til 12-28....

Christms is Crowded
But....
Christmas w/ the Mouse, can't get much better than that. The decorations are incredible, the shows are totally awesome and the Holiday Spirit IS in the air!

I love going at that time BUT you must either

A. Go commando style the entire time, do your research, plan your days and know what is a must and what you are willing to miss

or


B. Not care and spend plenty of time walking, waiting in line or people watching

We did Epcot on Xmas day - got there at 8:30am and didnt leave til it closed. NO waits more than 15 min, used Fast Passes and DID NOT ride TT or MS. Only wait was for food so book PS!!!!!!
The other days were crowded but in the end we saw everything and did everything we wanted to. Lots more walking back and forth to get to things w/out lines or get back for the FPs

I think EVERYONE should enjoy Christmas w/the Mouse at least once

Have Fun
Patty

 

[TwingleMum]

I went for the week between CHristmas and NYE for the millenium and we had a group of 30 people. We had a blast. The only "bad" day was NYE and we went knowing it would be. So we did the parks early in the day went back to resort ate dinner and watched the fireworks from our resort. We had our own NYE party. It was great.

 

[jdonat]

Ok.
We've gone down for the week between
Christmas and New Years for every year but
1999/2000 (tough to do when you work for
a computer company)
It's Busy. I tell you that three times.
But, you can do LOTS if you plan some.
Get in early -Extra magic hour works fine, but
if not, get in at "rope drop" at the parks that
ARENT doing Extra Magic Hour.
Stay on-site.
USE FASTPASS!!!!!!
Get your PS for food NOW if you have any idea
what you want to do for "fancier" food.
We've found at the parks, get in early, go to
11ish, and then go back to the resort to swim,
eat, shop, etc.
Take a nap.
If you freak out because of the crowds, there
are quiet places in all the parks, even when
the parks are crazy (like the Japanese garden
at EC, behind the Christmas store at the MK, and so on...)
Go back to the parks that are open late and do
stuff at night -especially the MK after Spectromagic and
Wishes. -you should be able to get onto most
rides pretty quickly.
Now, this is pretty serious commando park going, but
it does work.....
The parks and resorts are BEAUTIFUL this time
of year -you won't be able to just walk onto
rides like you would when its not peak hours,
but it will work just fine.