Planning a ‘last minute’ Christmas Trip

[focusondisney]

Also FYI, Thanksgiving is late this year. There are only 4 weeks between Thanksgiving & Christmas. So everyone will be packing their trips into 4 weeks instead of 5. They’ll all be busy.

 

[DenaRox]

Fellow Canadian here. I’m going the 1st week but I don’t expect it to be lower crowds like it has been in the past. I’m preparing for Christmas busy and if it’s less then woohoo!

I’m a prairie girl so whatever the weather I encounter will be a treat as compared to what I’ll be leaving behind.

This will be my 1st Christmas trip so I got tickets for both Jollywood & MVMCP. Super excited as I haven’t been to WDW since 2013

 

[Hemlock]

OP as of last week Dolphin/Swan has availability and very good rates. We booked months ago and actually rebooked at half the price! Def helpful to have the perks of staying on property during the holiday season as far as EE and the 7 day window for LLMP.

I would LOVE to stay at the Dolphin/Swan!!

 

[JODEE2090]

We went the first week of December last year and I thought it was crowded, but it didn't stop me from booking the same week this year!! I love the Christmas decorations and the music.

 

[Hemlock]

Unfortunately DVC is 95% booked Nov/Dec 2024. 1BR still has options that’s more than 2 or 3 nights.

For DVC November is going to cost more points than December. Ex- 1BR SSR is 34pts/nt during the week in Nov and 24pts/nt Dec.

For that reason you may have more options for Nov. If you can find something in Dec it’ll be 25%+ less points. Mid-Nov should be lower crowds than early Dec (which seems busier and busier every year). I’d try to avoid the first and last weeks of Nov because early on is Jersey Week followed by Vet’s Day the following Monday 11th, and Thanksgiving Thursday is Nov 28 so Nov 23-30 will be BUSY. The sweet spot in Nov is the 12th through 22nd.

We’ve gone a bunch of times in Dec and Jan and generally only get a day or two during a weeklong trip over 80f high. That’s our temp to hit the pool, just more pleasant all around. We’re doing mid-Nov for the first time this year and I’m hoping the weather will be much better for pool breaks, yet still unlikely to be blazing sun everyday.

For Christmas the holiday decorations start going up days after Halloween. All the resorts and parks should be fully decked out by mid-Nov, except Epcot still runs Food & Wine most of Nov. The full Christmas at Epcot experience starts with Festival of the Holidays on Nov 29th.

Thanks for the information. Availability at Disney hotels seems very scarce too - looks like it might be off site for us

 

[Hemlock]

We went the first week of December last year and I thought it was crowded, but it didn't stop me from booking the same week this year!! I love the Christmas decorations and the music.

I cannot wait to see the Christmas decor!!