Spending Christmas at Disney - Any advice?

[crusoe2]

After many years of saying we'd do it someday, we have finally booked a Christmas trip to Disney. We're staying at CBR from Dec 20-27. I've been doing searches for tips and advice but most of it seems to be geared to people who are visiting from Christmas thru New Year's. I've seen some comments saying that the days leading up to Christmas are not quite so busy. So I'm looking for some advice and tips on what to expect and how to make the most of those first few days. And then how to survive from Christmas Eve thru the rest of the trip. LOL

And I'm wondering - do you guys think the days right before Christmas will be busier than usual this year? Our school system gets out on the 19th so we'll have almost a whole week from then till Christmas. Which is why we decided this year would be a good time to go for the holiday. Do you suppose more people will opt to do that this year as opposed to going the week after Christmas?

 

[CanadianPaco]

We'll be there Dec 17-25 also at CBR! This will be our second Christmas trip and the dates for our 2010 trip were pretty much the same: up to Christmas Day. Each day closer to the actual holiday was significantly busier. We used the crowd calender from Easy WDW to choose our parks.

We knew MK was going to be insane Christmas Day so we chose MK for Christmas Eve (same this year) and Animal Kingdom for Christmas Day. We're rope droppers and early risers so we were able to get our rides in early.

Of all our trips...all our trips, we have only ever spent one whole day in a park, from opening to closing and it was the MK Christmas Eve. We didn't want to leave for fear of it going to level 4 closing/no entry. It was so worth it! Cannot wait!!!!!!

 

[OhMari]

Rope Drop, do EMH. schedule FP starting at 11:00 a.m.
Relax in the late afternoon, either at your resort or a quiet place so you an enjoy some of the parks at night. If some parks are open till 2 or 3 in the morning, do it at least once. Parks clear out after night time shows.

 

[louis11]

I've been around Christmas time, usually right before Christmas. Earlier in the month the crowds are basically non-existent, as you get closer to the holiday they seem to increase slightly. I've never actually spent Christmas in the parks (we usually leave just before, to get back to our families), but I have several friends who have and they say it's fantastic.

While you're there, be sure to check out illuminations, the holiday portion at the end is amazing. We really enjoyed Mickey's Holiday Party - the crowd levels were small and you get unlimited hot chocolate, apple juice and cookies.

If you're into Christmas trees, many of the hotels have really unique trees that are really cool to look at. The Grand Floridian has a HUGE ginger bread house!

 

[BiggFam8]

We've spent several Decembers at Disney but we have never spent the week of Christmas because of the fear of oppressive crowds. We go the second and third week and the crowds are basically not there. As the time grows closer to Christmas though, the crowds begin to grow. We usually leave the weekend before Christmas and Friday of that weekend we see a difference in the crowds from previous days and Saturday the crowds double. Sunday is almost to capacity and then we know it time to leave. This years vacation is from 12/12 through 12/21. 12/12 thru 12/18, we will virtually walk on rides. All the Christmas glory is there and all is great! 12/19-12/21 will be the more crowded times and things slow down from there. Good luck!

 

[Karlzmom]

I had always sworn we would never go over Christmas based on all the reviews of wall to wall crowds. That changed last year and I was very glad we gave it a try. I had initially booked us from the 20th -27th, but then was able to price airfare on the 17th that more than saved the hotel/tickets and meals to make the trip 3 days longer. Done!

We stuck to parks without EMH, tended towards RD and took Christmas Day off completely. Christmas Eve was at the MK. We did RD, took a long break and then were able to get back in after dinner. Great time!

The only real crowds we saw were the ones that were pictured online...seriously! I have no clue where all the people were as we had little to no wait on most attractions [helped that the legacy FP was still up with FP+ running at same time] but even our standby waits were nothing to get up in arms about. Loved the atmosphere - loved how easy it was to simple be "on vacation" for Christmas...no big dinner to shop/cook/clean-up, no party rushing from stop to stop, no expectation of mountains of amazing presents to be bought and wrapped. No house guests..nothing!

Just a lovely time of relaxing, being served and amused. I have no idea why we didn't do it sooner.

 

[Grumpy92]

Spent many xmases with the mouse. The week between xmas and ny is the busiest time of the whole year. The closer it gets to 12/25 the busier it gets. But there is a way to enjoy the holiday there. Here is some suggestions.

* Do make ADRs before you arrive. You will find it extremely difficult to get a FS restaurant available if you wait until you arrive. QS locations will be the only thing available.
* Get there early. We accomplish a lot by arriving at rope drop and leaving midday. Dont expect to get everything done. We usually make a top 5 list and shoot for those attractions. Anything else we are able to do is cherry on the sundae. Parks will fill to capacity. As an alternative we have spent the day at the resort and Disneyquest.
* Enjoy the holiday magic at the parks. At MK take some time and go to town square at 5pm they have a flag lowering ceromony. They salute a vet and pay tribute to our country. A few minutes later they have a great and entertaining tree lighting ceromony. EC has holiday storytellers from around the world. Dont miss the Candlelight Processional, the dinner pkg is worth it. I have stood in the standby line for an hour for this show. Reserve The dinner pkg with reserved searting it is much easier. Have dinner one night at DHS then stroll the Osbourne lights afterwards. It always puts us in the xmas spirit.
* Visit the resorts. GF has caroling everyday in the lobby with cookies. Visit the life size gingerbread house. Take the hayride at FW, the campers go all out decorating their sites. They are incredible. Think about decorating your own room or have a tree delivered by the florist.
* Celebrate in a small way while you are there. We set a limit on $$ and get a gift for each family member that was purchased at WDW.
* Finally share the holiday spirit and be nice to the CMs that are working that day. After years as a cm I can tell you not everyone has that xmas spirit on xmas day.
I know you will have a magical time.

 

[wendyt_ca]

We finally took the plunge too! We have been talking about experience it for years and we are booked at AKL From Dec 20-Jan 2. We cannot wait! We are anticipating crowds and just going with the expectation of not getting on many rides so that whatever happens we won't be disappointed
We are going to MK on Christmas day but we plan to be there first thing and we booked the dessert party for Wishes. We made sure to book all our reservations as soon as we could.
We plan on buying a small tree at walmart and some decorations a few days before and decorating it in our room. We will go shopping at the outlets and in DTD Disney for each other as well for Christmas this year (it's just DH and myself no children).
We have seen the Osborne lights and holiday Illuminations on a previous trip in November and they are def must do's!

 

[alicia080979]

We have only been in November and love the Christmas decorations. Since DH & I both have off work...I just pulled the trigger on a 12/20-12/28 trip to CBR myself!

Can anyone tell me how the weather usually is? I have tentatively planned on MK dinner on Xmas Eve and EP dinner on Xmas Day. I figured Wishes & Illuminations on those days would be magical. If we go the park just for dinner will they honor our ADRs if they close?

 

[crusoe2]

Thanks so much for all the info and suggestions. I'm in the process of booking our ADRs. So far we have CRT for dinner on the 20th to celebrate DD's b'day, the CP dinner pkg on Christmas Eve, and the lunch buffet at Tusker House on Christmas Day. Now I've just got to decide on where to go the other days and get those ADRs set up. Then I can start working out our FP plan.

Question - is there anywhere on site to have gifts wrapped? I plan to bring along a few Christmas gifts from home and will wrap those before we leave on our trip. But I would love to do a little more Christmas shopping after we get there and it would be awesome if I could get those gifts wrapped so that I don't have to take gift wrap supplies with me. We're driving so I could pack some if I have to. But I'm afraid the room is going to be rather cramped as it is with four people, all the clothes (so that we're prepared for whatever the weather decides to do), the inevitable air mattress (kids won't sleep together), and the Christmas decorations (cause we gotta have a tree).

 

[Malibustyle23]

If we go the park just for dinner will they honor our ADRs if they close?

It depends on what phase of closing they currently have. You can see the list here: http://www.wdwmagic.com/park-closing-phases.htm

 

[DizMagic]

We did almost this same time frame a few years back. We went to Epcot Christmas Day and had lunch at Le Cellier. and spent Christmas Eve in Magic Kingdom. While the crowds were present, honestly I have been at worse times - namely New Years! Also, we didn't notice a serious uptick in crowds until about the 23rd. so you should have a couple of pretty easy days. I would suggest doing your must dos then, and just plan on being a little more flexible the 23-26 and you should be fine.

I would go this time of year again. I will NEVER go New Years again. if that tells you anything.

 

[dutchdisneyfamily]

We are going over the same dates, and staying at the Coronado. I wondered about the crowds as well. We also have the CP package for Christmas Eve. This is the first time we have done this time of year. We usually go in June. I have read that the weather can vary a lot. Anywhere from the 80's during the day down to the 30's at night.

 

[katt789]

I think from what I've heard, stay away from MK christmas eve night through christmas day.

A lovely and relaxing way to spend the day is to spend it at the resorts, have a nice sleep in, hang by the pool, take a monorail resort tour, check out AKL for the animal viewings, go walk through AoA to see all the decorations/statues over there. Have a dinner on the BW area, etc.

Be ready for crowds, and heavy ones, don't be focussed on doing everything, or even everything you'd normally do, utlize the fp system to get all your fave rides in and get ph to be able to leave the park if things are too crazy

 

[dhorner233]

I'm going 12/13/14 - 12/20 specially to avoid the crowds.

So excited - I got a reservation for dinner at the Be Our Guest Restaurant!!

Does anyone know of any "super thread" for the Christmas season at DW. All I'm seeing is mostly focused on Christmas Day.

Disneyland has a "Super Thread" devoted to Christmas time with pictures. I would love to see some picture of previous Christmases at Disney World.

 

[Brook1099]

This is going to be the best holiday for us we are booked for BCVillas Sat 21- til the 27th. going to get as much done at rope drops as possible.. have some great dining booked along with CP package then heading for the weekend to Anna Maria Island* this is my present) coming back to Disney on Monday the 30th and staying GFVillas for the week and a surprise visit that my kids are going to flip with my BFF and her family and celebrate NYE with them at Discovery Cove, a day at Seaword and a day at Aquatica and a lunch at Trex.

I am thinking a visit to walmart for a small tree and DTD for ornaments and decorate our own on night after dinner. I am so excited already!!

 

[fanoforlando]

We are planning to go to Epcot on Christmas day , we have been talking about spending Christmas day there for the past 5 years and are finally pulling the trigger. We have that day off and plan on spending the day there.

 

[LuvGoofy6]

Loved the atmosphere - loved how easy it was to simple be "on vacation" for Christmas...no big dinner to shop/cook/clean-up, no party rushing from stop to stop, no expectation of mountains of amazing presents to be bought and wrapped. No house guests..nothing!

Just a lovely time of relaxing, being served and amused. I have no idea why we didn't do it sooner.

That is exactly how I feel! I am looking forward to a "true" Christmas vacation this year. We are going from Dec. 21-27~ my kids are older so it works for us. We do put our tree up, decorate our home a bit and exchange a few gifts before we go~but nothing like the work of doing the entire holiday and festivities that would take place if we were home.

 

[LuvGoofy6]

I am thinking a visit to walmart for a small tree and DTD for ornaments and decorate our own on night after dinner. I am so excited already!!

Brook1099, I was thinking about doing this, too. I read somewhere that someone brought a small fiber-optic tree that fit in her carry-on luggage. So the fiber-optic provided lights and she bought small Disney ornament to put on the tree. I think I saw that Shopko had the mini Disney ornaments this past year. I have a small fiber-optic that I use in my classroom so it would be easy to bring it home and take it for our trip. We will be there at the same time!

 

[1stvisit0909]

Brook1099, I was thinking about doing this, too. I read somewhere that someone brought a small fiber-optic tree that fit in her carry-on luggage. So the fiber-optic provided lights and she bought small Disney ornament to put on the tree. I think I saw that Shopko had the mini Disney ornaments this past year. I have a small fiber-optic that I use in my classroom so it would be easy to bring it home and take it for our trip. We will be there at the same time!

We took a small tree in our carryon luggage. It was great!