Opinions....before Christmas or Week after?

[brianswife]

We have been to WDW 3 times in recent years. 2 times during the 4th of July, which we thoroughly enjoyed and 1 time over spring break.

I really want to go during the Holidays this year . I just don't know if we should go the week or two before Christmas or the week after. I think it would be really neat to be there on New Years Eve. But, I don't want to miss any of the Christmas festivities. One plus to going after Christmas was that we were going to completely surprise the kids and tell them on Christmas day.

What are the benefits and cons of both times? I am torn. I just know I want to go and experience the Christmas magic!

Thanks so much for any input!

 

[Metro West]

You will find the crowds are MUCH lighter before Christmas as opposed to after...there are insane lines for everything and people everywhere.

If you aren't crazy about LONG lines and waiting for everything...even restaurants and restrooms, go before...if crowds turn you on, go afterward.

 

[shaz105]

Welcome Aboard

 

[pittsburghmarc]

No doubt about it. The first 15 days of December are very light in crowds. Christmas to New Years is one of if not the busiest week of the year. Very expensive rooms and they raise menu prices in some of the park restaurants as well.

 

[Savvy55]

New Years Eve 2008, two of the parks were closed off by noon because they hit capacity. Leading up to the week of Christmas is really light. If you DO decide to go the week after, they still have Christmas stuff going on for those who didn't catch it before. I'm not sure how long after, but they still have them.

 

[DisAmyK]

I would definitely say before also. Unless you don't mind the insane crowds. The x-mas decorations and festivities will be in full swing both times you are looking into. With that said my family will be one of those crazy families going the week after X-mas. We can't take DD out of school before or we would much rather go the first 2 weeks of Dec. If you do chose to go after X-mas just remember to be very patient, expect LONG lines and remind yourself you can't do it all in one trip.

 

[IZHAYMAMA]

Just got back on 12/31 from 5 day trip after Christmas. Santa brought the children our trip as a big gift from him. It was awesome watching my daughter read the poem he left telling them about it. She said it was the best Christmas ever! We left immediately driving down and even with the crowds it was very managable. As long as you have a plan and use fastpass wisely, you can still do a lot. We are rope drop people. Magic Kingdom opened at 7am every morning last week and one day we did 6 rides before 8:30 and still fastpassed several other rides throughout the day. Now I will say that it was crazy if you wanted to eat lunch at a counter service restaurants at lunch time but my suggestion is to eat a big breakfast and then eat a late lunch at around 2:30 or so to avoid huge crowds for lunch.

Christmas decorations were great and the castle is unbelievable. The show with Mickey and the gang and Cinderella lighting up the castle was so magical. Even my husband got a tear in his eye!

I can't say that we'll definitely go again the week after Christmas but I can't say that I won't ever do it again.