New Year's?

[countrygal]

Hi everyone,

A friend suggested this board. I just booked airline tickets to go to FL Dec 29-Jan 3. I had to pick these dates due to conflicting schedules and the travel agent assured me that this would be a great time to see Disney for the first time with my kids. After asking a frequent Disney go-er I learned that my agent may have been way off base in suggesting that this was a good idea.

What are your thoughts & opinions? Am I crazy to try and do Disney during this time period? I am sad to think I just wasted $1000 on airfare if I can't take my kids to Disney at least 1 or 2 of the days we're on vacation. They are small and have asked for over a year to go.

Thanks for any input. I'll keep reading the boards for things to definitely not miss for first-timers. I'm especially interested in Animal Kingdom.

Thanks!

 

[Deb & Bill]

You picked some of the busiest days of the year. We were there from 12/31 through 1/12. MK closed because of capacity crowds on a few of the days after Christmas.

If your kids are young, early Jan or early Sept are better times since the parks are not as crowded. They close earlier, but they aren't as packed.

 

[Geoff_M]

Christmas to New Year's is the single busiest period of the year at WDW. Expect crowds... lots of crowds. Dec 31 will be your single worst day. MK usually closes its gates around 11 AM when it reaches capacity. If you're worried about the crowds that day the only park to take your kids to would be AK. It doesn't stay open until midnight, so it's avoided by the NYE partyers and the traffic will be a lot lighter there. The crowds will peak on Dec 31, but the parks will still be very busy up until the time you leave.

All of this isn't to say you made a big mistake, but that you'll have some possible challenges that you'll need to be prepared for and do some advanced research here and other places. I agree that September or a little later in January probably would have been a better time to check, but you can still have a good time on your trip as it stands now.