Park Crowds - Dec. 27-31??

[CarpeDisney]

Taking a quick trip this year - Checking in on Dec. 27 and checking out on Dec. 31. 1 BR at Kidani with a Savanna View.....very excited!

This is the first time I'll be taking the family to WDW during the holidays, and have only heard reports about the park crowds on Christmas eve and Christmas day (I heard these days are absolutely packed, and gates sometimes close by noon time). From your experiences, how are the crowds throughout the week between Christmas and New Year's?

Thanks for your help!

 

[MouseMomx2]

The crowds will be big for the entire week between Christmas and New Year. We were there during that time last year and there was no discernible difference in the crowd level from day to day.

My advice would be to get up and out early every day. Be at your chosen park by rope drop and do the things you want to do. Take a break in the afternoon and then head back to the parks for the evening. Keep in mind that the evening crowds will be bigger than those in the morning.

We were with another family last year. I got up early and headed to the parks with anyone else who got up but most everyone slept in. By the time they got to the parks the wait times were huge and they didn't get to experience as much as they would have liked.

It's a magical time to be at WDW...just go into it realistically and with some sort of game plan.

 

[tomandrobin]

The week between Christmas and NYE is called hell week. Christmas Day will have the lightest crowds of the whole week. By NYE Parks, like MK, will close during the day because of reaching capacity.

This will be our 6th consecutive year going that week.

 

[twinklebug]

If you go knowing it's going to be packed and really have no intention of hitting every single ride (all popular ride lines will be longer than long), you should enjoy yourselves.

Enjoy the holiday atmosphere! No place does up the seasons better than Disney

Hint - NYE fireworks are run through the night before in the MK, so if you need to feel like a sardine you have a choice of which day you want to be canned. We hit EPCOT on NYE... wow. Didn't get further around WS than China.

 

[tjkraz]

Expect occasional park closures the entire week. MK is the most frequently impacted although you occasionally hear of Epcot and DHS closing.

The parks have a phased closure system where day guests (those driving in) are turned-away first while Disney resort hotel guests are the last to be impacted. And the closures often last for only a few hours--as soon as enough people leave they will start letting guests in again.

Have fun!

 

[dankevork]

Make sure to go with a plan for that week. This year will be our 6th for that week.

Do some research as to which days will be best for which park (lots of times the EMH tend to bring more people to the park that day, so you may choose a different park that day)

Have a good plan set out for getting fast passes for the longer wait rides and make sure to get new fast passes as soon as they are available....the more fast passes, the less waiting in line with sweaty, tired and worn down people (not that ya'll are sweaty, I'm just saying ) Make sure to get fast passes for the most popular rides up front, because the window to get new fast passes will also lengthen with the more popular rides later in the day.

Finally, expect that all of this planning will have to be changed on a whim at least 1,345,542 times during your stay and you will be alright.... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year