?'s Christmas at FW

[JENR]

We are planning on spending Christmas at Fort Wilderness this year. We would stay the week before Christmas and leave the day after Christmas. How are the crowds the weeks before Christmas? What is it like to be in Disney for Christmas? I guess we would get a small tree for the motorhome. As long as Santa can find us, my kids are excited to do this.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

We are planning on spending Christmas at Fort Wilderness this year. We would stay the week before Christmas and leave the day after Christmas. How are the crowds the weeks before Christmas? What is it like to be in Disney for Christmas? I guess we would get a small tree for the motorhome. As long as Santa can find us, my kids are excited to do this.

Its a great time to be at FW, not so much everywhere else. Expect HUGE crowds at the parks (we still went to Epcot on 12/24) The boys went to MK and MGM but my tolerance for that level of crowd isnt what it used to be.
We have gone 4 out of the last 5 years and my biggest advice would be to pick another time if the parks are your focus.

Scott

 

[Millermouseketeers]

We went this past Christmas and yes, the parks are packed. We went at park opening and then out of there by 12. We left with as many fast passes as we could get and then came back in the evening to use those, watch parades and/or fireworks. We rode alot of rides this way. The kids even racked up their total of riding everest times. They count each trip to see how many times they rode it that trip and then their overall total.

 

[PolynesianPixie]

The week before Christmas is a great time to go. The crowds are not bad at all. However, the week of Christmas is about as crowded as it gets! WDW has been known to reach capacity and not let in anymore guests. As a resort guest, you will always be let in, but you will have mega crowds to contend with. Despite all this, we have ressies for Dec 13-26, and wouldn't miss Christmas at WDW for anything!

 

[bama_ed]

Heed Pixie's advice!

Since Christmas is on a Thursday in 2008 the conventional "week before Christmas" advice needs to be clarified. The crowd scale will skyrocket to 10 out of 10 the weekend BEFORE Christmas which will be 20th and 21st and be loaded to the gills through the weekend after New Years (also on a Thursday). Schools etc will not keep kids the week of Christmas so everyone will get out the week before. This strategy is also reflected in the "Unofficial Guide to WDW". Whether you like crowds or not, you should at least have a realistic expectation of what to expect.

We just got back from FW the true week-before-Christmas-Week-2007 and it really was nice and empty but the weekend before (as we left) it was filling up.

Do bring some lights or decorations for your camper/rv/site and you'll catch the Christmas spirit. Doesn't have to be a lot (some folks go WAY over the top).

I would also advise making your ressie ASAP if you don't already have one. Also, if the kids are younger and can afford missing a few days of school you can pull them out for the "true" week-before-Christmas-week" and have some low-crowd days.

Bama ED

 

[LarryJ]

Heed Pixie's advice!

Since Christmas is on a Thursday in 2008 the conventional "week before Christmas" advice needs to be clarified. The crowd scale will skyrocket to 10 out of 10 the weekend BEFORE Christmas which will be 20th and 21st and be loaded to the gills through the weekend after New Years (also on a Thursday). Schools etc will not keep kids the week of Christmas so everyone will get out the week before. This strategy is also reflected in the "Unofficial Guide to WDW". Whether you like crowds or not, you should at least have a realistic expectation of what to expect.

We just got back from FW the true week-before-Christmas-Week-2007 and it really was nice and empty but the weekend before (as we left) it was filling up.

Do bring some lights or decorations for your camper/rv/site and you'll catch the Christmas spirit. Doesn't have to be a lot (some folks go WAY over the top).

I would also advise making your ressie ASAP if you don't already have one. Also, if the kids are younger and can afford missing a few days of school you can pull them out for the "true" week-before-Christmas-week" and have some low-crowd days.

Bama ED

As just stated we got here on the 16th and the 17th - 19th were deserted, but after than it was a mad house and the 25th in the M.K. was grid lock so the weekend before Xmas day until after the Mon following Xmas espect the huge crowds and just adjust. We physically couldn't mover between SM and Frontierland for like 5 min on Xmas day and we just gave up and came back to the TT. We just got back from A.K. today around noon and there were a lot of marathon participants, but marathon weekend was this past weekend and in the past IIRC it was about a week earlier. We expect the crowds to be much less starting tomorrow.

Larry