Offsite the week before Christmas - any advice?

[crusoe2]

We just booked a condo at Windsor Hills for the week before Christmas. We've stayed at WH several times now so we pretty well know our way around. But we've never been for the holidays. We'll be arriving in Orlando on Dec 16 and leaving to come home a couple days before Christmas. Just planning to do Disney parks. We know we won't get to hit every ride - especially since the onsite folks will get to book fastpasses before we do. Just looking for any information, advice, or tips on what to expect in terms of traffic and crowds and how to make the most of the trip. Anyone done offsite at that time of the year?

 

[Bete]

We've done offsite often during December. Get your park tickets before you go; so, you can get your fastpass plus reservations 30 days beforehand. You will still have some good choices left.

Make advance reservations for the Candlelight Processional and get the dinner package if you want to go. Do the same with a Fantasmic dinner package.

As you get closer and closer to Christmas it will get more crowded. Do more on your first days there with rides and stay in the parks for longer days. Then as you get closer to Christmas concentrate on more shows.

Plan your park days opposite of when onsite Disney guests get early entry.

 

[BigredNole]

I don't think crowds will be too bad for you. As stated above, it will get slightly busier the closer to XMas. You should be able to do most rides. There shouldn't be anything that would cause problems except maybe FEA. You can always hit that at rope drop.

 

[bearzabout]

We stayed near Windsor Hills Dec 2016 leaving on December 23. We did not think the roads (I92) were that busy, except for I-4 which is common. Tip: check google maps for traffic before you start driving. There are many options for getting around and we frequently changed our route based on current traffic conditions.

We had no problem getting into restaurants offsite either.

The parking lots at Disney Springs both filled by about 2pm or so (all 4000+ spaces). It might not be possible to park there if you arrive in the evening. Disney Springs was a zoo. We thought it lost a lot of its charm since it was being crushed by so many people (and we were there during the day - I can't imagine what the evenings were like). There was a 240-260 minute wait for kids to see santa during the day. The staff was giving out pagers and telling people to come back in 4 hours. Unbelievable. The deluxe resorts had character interactions with much shorter wait times (10 minutes or so). Parents were very grateful for that option.

We did the Christmas shows at Seaworld and really loved them. We spent some time at the Disney hotels to see the Christmas decorations and listened to a lot of people complaining about the crowds in the parks. Christmastime is so magical that most people said it was worth it, but we were thankful we chose to see Busch Gardens, Seaworld and Aquatica instead. It was 82 degrees in late December when we went to Aquatica. I could not believe it!

I think the month of December is the best time to see the parks and resorts. Just make sure to pack your patience.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We were there this year on that exact week (December 16th to 24th, flying home Christmas Eve). We stayed offsite at Marriott Grande Vista. Had a SPECTACULAR time.

Crowds were great early in the week, and were manageable right up until we left. Nothing crazy nor problematic at all.

We did all the Christmas events: the last MVMCP at MK, SeaWorld's Christmas Celebration (including Santa's Fireside Feast), and the holiday events Universal (breakfast with the Grinch and Grinchmas at IOA, the Macy's Holiday Parade at the Studios). We also did ICE! at Gaylord Palms. It was all simply magical and felt so Christmas-y despite the gorgeous warm weather.

It has easily become one of our favourite times in Orlando. It will be tough for us to squeeze in now that we've moved so far from home (we just recently relocated to the USA from Canada, and will likely use any December vacation days to return to Canada to visit family) but I would not hesitate to recommend that week at all.

 

[glassslippergirl]

In 2016, Christmas fell on a Sunday. This year, it falls on a Monday. A lot of schools won't get out until Friday 12/22 or thereabouts, which sounds like when you're leaving. This should have some effect on lessening crowds the week before Christmas.