Never, never go at Christmas?

[ILuvDiz]

Hey guys....... how about the week before Easter. You're killing me here.

 

[huey duey & luey]

I was there for NYE 97-98. The parks were really crowded I know MK was closed on NYE. I swore I would never go during Holiday times again. I'll take the kids out of school (even for a couple of shoeter trips so they dont miss too many days). Call me a bad parent but I cant deal with those crowds again!
Tara

 

[gopherit]

Originally posted by MiaSRN62
Don't totally rule-out water parks in December. We've been able to swim during this month the two times we visited during this general time period. In particular, 1998 was very warm. I think it was 83 the day were were at BB and this was early Dec.

Yes, 1998 WAS quite warm... we were there for xmas that year! And which is why we were quite shocked in Oct '99 (cold and wet) and in Jan 2000! That January trip was a real shiver-ye-timbers trip, too (mercury didn't go past 45-50 a few of the days, maybe 55 when we were leaving!) And even if it's 65 or so... it may be warm in the water, but you still have to actually get out! Brrr. Plus, only one water park at a time is open in the winter. This August the kids want to hit them both.

With winter you can't always count on it being hot... August, on the other hand... well, the day it's 35 degrees in August at WDW is the day somewhere else has frozen over as well!

 

[dcfromva]

Originally posted by FriendsOfEeyore
We are considering going this year (Dec 19-25). Sounds like we will get out of there, just before the real crowds hit.

But here is how we are justifying it...

Our two families do not get along all that well. We (dw, ds and myself) usually end up hosting my in-laws. Then on either x-mas or x-mas eve, my dw, ds & I go to my family's house, while her family stays at our house.

THIS YEAR IT WILL BE DIFFERENT!!!! No x-mas family fights. We will be alone for x-mas, and I think that we may enjoy the holiday a little more.

Edward

You will have a wonderful time. I'm not sure how old your DS is, but one of the things we like to do is the CP dining package--We've done it on Christmas Eve before. I can't think of a better way to spend Christmas 'Eve. Then, if you are staying at BCV, it is so convenient to walk "home" afterwards... Oh! And, they should have the Osborne Family Lights again this year.
The way winter break is structured around here, most of the kids don't get out of school until the 22nd of Dec, so my hunch is, the time leading up to Christmas will not be as busy as last year.
-DC

 

[VickiVM]

I might be the only one that didn't necessarily feel that it was super crowded at holiday time. We arrived late, late on Sat. 12/20 and departed around 2pm on Friday the 26th. But two things really worked in our favor: 1)Made several PS's in advance so we didn't have waits at meal time and 2)Went with no expectations of doing it all. We caught some of our favorite attractions and did a few new ones. On Tues 12/23 we got to MK at opening and hit all the attractions at Fantasyland before 11:30 with waits no longer that 15 min. Then went over to Adventureland and hit those attractions. We were done with MK and heading back to room by 1:30. Returned later that evening for Spectro and last Wishes. I knew that after that day we would experience fewer and fewer attractions so by that time we just enjoyed what we could using Fastpasses and went with the flow. Could tell it was extremely busy at Epcot, but so much of it is passive touring that it really didn't bother us. Did CP Christmas Eve and the kids did their masks on Christmas Day.

I really don't feel I need to do WDW at Christmas time again, but I am glad we did. It was special for our family and it was certainly worthwhile. Just plan your PS's in advance and be sure to include CP.

 

[Coastie]

We did it once... never again from the 25th to new years!! Way too crowded. I don't care how well anyone plans, I really can not see having a too good a time with such tremendous crowds. The week before Christmas was fantastic! We could do just about anything we wanted. Great decorations, festivities, the shows, piped in Christmas music, and food... gaining too much weight!!

When all is said and done, it should be experienced at least once in a lifetime. Its only been a few days, but were already for another vacation at Disney!

 

[MiaSRN62]

I remember watching the temps as our trip day approached, and it was in the 80s for quite some time (while you were there), and then dropped 30 degress almost overnight (while we were there).

Yep Jimbo......you are right. We left on either Dec 10 or 11, after being in WDW for 14 days. It was the best 2 weeks I could have ever hoped for. Never fell below 76-83 and all of 10 minutes of rain the entire 2 weeks. When we got home (on the 10 or 11th), I had heard a cold front pushed through central FL. That was a shame. I admit, the weather can be iffy during that time period.

And which is why we were quite shocked in Oct '99 (cold and wet) and in Jan 2000! That January trip was a real shiver-ye-timbers trip, too (mercury didn't go past 45-50 a few of the days, maybe 55 when we were leaving!)

I was also there in Oct '99---for Halloween. We arrived on Oct 30 and the weather was very mild. It was about 68 degrees the night of MNSSHP on 10/31. But come Nov 2 or 3rd, we woke up to 40 degrees in the morning.
Also, I was there Jan 30-Feb 2, 2000 and it was 75-80 and sunny---no rain. Just goes to show how unpredictable these times of the year can be Gopherit.

 

[CarolynK]

I won't say "never, never go at Christmas", but here's our story...We were in WDW from December 21 until Jan 2. This was our third year in a row during this time (NY the last 2 years). We were really excited about spending 2 weeks there (haven't done that since 2000) BUT if we go again next year we will do just one week. The crowds at the park were unbelievable. And we found the CMs (not all, but more often than not) to be less-than-festive.

I won't say that this year was any worse than last year or the year before, crowd-wise, but personally, we're growing TIRED of not being able to move in the walkways at the parks during the holidays. Granted, we weren't trying to go "commando" so we NEVER arrived at park opening, but the wall-to-wall people just starts to grate on your nerves after a while. Of course, we used FP - and were often surprised at the short return times despite a packed park (like when AK was closed by 11:00 a.m. yet FP return time for Primeval Whirl was within an hour [maybe that has something to do with the ride being so far back in the park?]).

From our observations, it seemed like Christmas and NY brings lots of first-timers to WDW. This worked to our advantage since the BEAUTIFUL weather (high-70s the entire time w/not a drop of rain!) allowed us to swim every day in almost-empty pools (at BWV). It seems like first-timers don't want to waste their time at the pool when they can be in the parks!
Overall, if you really want to go at Xmas-NY, and want to visit parks, like everyone else says - you must get there early. It apparently is do-able, but for us, being DVC members, we didn't feel we needed to "see it all" so we mostly swam. But again, the days we DID go to parks, it was very crowded.
And yes, we did make PSs (actually on the drive down on 12/20) for a few places, and got in where we wanted.
If I were to choose Christmas or NY week, I'd choose Christmas because it was the least crowded of the two weeks.

 

[Deemarch]

I'm sure that one of you will know the answer to this...

Do you have to stay in a park once you've gotten in? Can you get a hand stamp and return? I'm talking about the days between Christmas and New Year's. And how about NYE? Do you get to the park you want to be in at midnight and stay all day?

 

[Jacksmom99]

Originally posted by Deemarch
I'm sure that one of you will know the answer to this...

Do you have to stay in a park once you've gotten in? Can you get a hand stamp and return? I'm talking about the days between Christmas and New Year's. And how about NYE? Do you get to the park you want to be in at midnight and stay all day?

I know when we went on NYE for the millenium we were told to stay in the park all day. (Which we did, in line at 6:30am and left @ 1:30am w/ a 9mo old. What was I thinking??!! ) I know several people in line around me were getting through the gates and turning right around and leaving to go back to the hotel. However, the way I see it, the computer knows that you left, and doesn't know if you will return. The only thing it knows is that the park is not yet at capacity b/c you just left with your hand stamp, and therefore will let more people in. I may wrong, but this is how I assume it works.

 

[lenshanem]

I was there for NYE for the millenuim, too. We waited at the Gateway entrance for Epcot. That line!!!
But, really once we got in it wasn't that bad. I think Epcot is so spread out that it can hold a lot of peolpe comfortably. We also never left the park. I kept getting different info from CMs regarding us leaving and being able to get back in. We decied to stay. At oen point my daughter and I took a nap on the grass across from what is now Mission space.
Now MK?!? I cna't even imagine what it must be liek when it hits capacity. The walkways are so narrow there....
I'd avoid it liek the plague on any NYE. OK, so I'm probably gonna eat my words oen day...........