Just booked Christmas now scaring myself

[akaler2010]

We were at Universal Islands of Adventure a few days before NYE on a Saturday last year. Overall, it wasn't that bad. You just have to expect crowds. I had read all these horror stories but when we got there, we were pleasantly surprised. The biggest thing is just know that you may have some longer waits. Having snacks or entertainment for the waits is a big plus.

We were able to swim several times, but we also had to wear pants and sweaters almost every evening. I highly recommend packing lots of layers!

You'll have a great trip!

 

[Shellandscott]

The park closes due to capacity, that means small world will have a 45 minute wait at least, all the majors will be 2-3 hour wait. Also keep in mind there is a good chance that FP will be FP+ by Dec and that will add more restrictions to how many FP's you will be able to get. If you are a roll with it kinda person you will be fine.

I think it would be a nightmare. I went on Martin Luther King weekend once and it was too much wait times for me. Pirates was 30-40 minute wait, Small world was 25-35. Those are my litmus test rides, if it is more then 20 minutes then the majors are usually 45-90 minutes. The parks never came close to capacity, during MLK weekend, but wait times where still more then I wanted. I would never want to wait 60 minutes for a ride let alone 120-150 minutes.

Keep this in mind when you read reviews, one persons “horrible” is another persons “ it was super crowded but fun”

It depends on your definition.

 

[Dasha Hermosilla]

Agree to what people are saying.... I will say, when people say be there at opening... They do mean OPENING (or prior) Not "around" opening. We were at DHS this year NYE day and it was unpleasant (and judging from the streams of people heading to MK that was MUCH worse). We were fine with it and just did a couple things, had lunch and then went back to hotel early. Really, though by noon the parks are Wall to Wall people so you need to be smart about arrival, departure and what you ride when to maximize your trip pleasure and minimize waiting in lines. My one son really wanted to ride the teacups and by 11:00 the line was probably 1 1/2 hours.. I just couldn't stomach that and thankfully he was reasonable and agreed we could ride it "the next time".... Whew.... Flexibility out of a 4 year old.... Shocking and pleasantly surprised!

 

[CTdaizy]

We went 2 years ago for New Years (which happens to be DD's birthday) knew it would be crowded but made the most of it. We were standing at a park entrance 30 minutes before opening each day and were allowed in each day early. Toy Story Mania twice before the 8am opening, Soaring one before opening, and got FP for another ride.. You really just have to plan ahead and be willing to adjust! We had big plans to be in Epcot for the midnight countdown.. By about 4pm the place was wall to wall people and other parks were closed to capacity. Kids wanted to leave and go swim- fine with us. At that 4pm time, the wait for Test Track was 240 minutes!!! Still had a great time at hotel, and saw fireworks from balcony. The other days besides NYE were not as bad!

 

[4DisneyNUTS]

Thanks everyone this is extremely helpful. My son who has special needs is amazing in crowds he actually likes it. He is our designated crowd get through err lol. He does this feet shuffle thing that just makes getting through crowds very easily. I am going to look into splitting the trip and see if we can stay on site at universal too. That is a great suggestion.
I am going to look up a lot of deals and see what that turns up

 

[tgropp]

If you are a "Christmassy" person, do not hesitate on going to WDW at Christmastime. This will be our seventh time over Christmas and yes it is busy but it is always managable. I do find the Christmas atmosphere is amazing but after the 26'th, some people do become agitated by the crowd size. Magic Kingdom will probally close at points of the day on Christmas Day and New Years Eve but that is expected. It has and always will be our favorite time to visit WDW.

To me, a Christmas vacation to spend time with just your family was great, but to have it at Disney was just icing on the cake. We have been doing Christmastime at WDW for almost 20 years and we now have grandchildren and our kids now want their children to expeirence what they did when they were young, so it can't be that bad.

 

[AmyB2006]

Also is swimming totally out of the question? I have been in Dec before and can not remember if we swam.

You can totally swim in December down here, as long as there's not a cold fron that just moved through. Normal December weather is still high 80s, give or take. And Disney heats the pools slightly.

What horror stories are you seeing on Google?

 

[M&C]

We were there in December 3 years ago. It was FREEZING! They were actually breaking record lows. We flew out of Chicago, so thankfully we all had our winter coats. Our last day it did warm up into the 70's. it's beautiful there during Christmas. ENJOY!

Hey, we were there then too! First time I saw plants getting covered. But, we had fun nonetheless.

We go at Christmas time every other year (but I'm trying to eke out a Christmas trip this year, our off year) and we really love it. The weather is nice (except for those few days 3 years ago), decorations are wonderful, and so much to do! We don't care about the crowds, we just leave the parks when it feels too crowded for us. It's a really nice way to spend Christmas break.

 

[kdzgon]

Ok I just booked from Dec 22nd to Jan 3rd and made the mistake of googling Christmas at Disney to see all these horror stories. Anyone have any tips on how we can make this enjoyable? and another thing we plan on staying at SSR and driving over to Universal a lot because DS 5 is a super hero nut and has never been there before. Another issue is DS is 13 and has special needs kinda like autism (he is classified as autistic but its from a stroke in utero). he has been to WDW and DL a lot in his life so he travels ok BUT if things are way too out of the ordinary I am worried. If I didn't see the horrors on google I wouldnt be so worried.
Cast DH 44
me 42
DS 13
DS 5
Staying SSR and planing on buying the 14 day Universal flex ticket. It includes wet and wild but we will most likely not go there because it will be too cold. At this time we have no plans on going into the Disney parks.

So any help or suggestions on how to make this a great trip would be really appreciated

As others have said, it's about managing expectations. Also, rope drop is your friend - if you can hit the parks early, it will be a lot less stressful, especially for your 13 yr old.

One note: if your time is flexible, consider hitting Universal sooner rather than later within your trip. Universal adjusts their prices dramatically for the front-of-line passes (even if you don't want them, there is a reason for that high price) and IMO Disney is better at managing crowds than Universal.

It's a beautiful time to visit as long as you do a little planning but keep some flexibility. Enjoy!

 

[Scotch]

You can go fishing, horseback riding, miniature golfing, learn how to shoot a bow and arrow and so on.

Where can you go for an archery lesson? My kids would love that.

Edited to add: oops, I just read further on this thread and found the answer.

 

[com_op_2000]

Since you are not doing any of the Disney parks, I would suggest you consider canceling some of your days at SSR and try to book some on-site hotel at US. Anyone staying at one of US's hotels get front of the line access all day within both US and IoA. You will save a lot of time waiting in lines and some of those lines can be 90+ minutes, during the Christmas/New Years holiday week.

 

[4DisneyNUTS]

I'm going to do this and see what I can do That is a great suggestion!