Spending Christmas in Disney??

[mackeyapp]

Hi All
We just came back from another wonderful 2 week visit and I am already starting with the planning for next year. We generally visit from the 26th to the 9th but next year our oldest will be in junior high and we are thinking about going down about the 22nd. We have never been away from home for Xmas and DH and I both have reservations about this. Any imput from people who have done this and their opinion would be appreciated. I have less than two weeks before I have to start the booking process and would love to get some feedback. Our 2 boys think it will be fun, however they feel that Mom will make it just like home. Not sure I can pull that off!!

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

We have done it once. Everyone (four kids, 2 adults) had a great time but since that one Christmas four years ago, the whole family has chosen to spend Christmas at home. We usually leave a day or two after Christmas and spend New Year's at WDW. We all just like Christmas at home more. It is worth trying once IMHO though. Many on these boards enjoy it thoroughly and many others like my family would rather spend it at home. I would say try it especially if it makes a difference between your usual two week trip and a shorter one.

BTW: Were you staying at the BWV on the third floor at the end of the hallway, Boardwalk view? We were on the thrd floor until January 2 and we noticed a sign on a room door that sounds just like your trip and home.

HBC

 

[mackeyapp]

Thanks for the imput. I think you are referring to friends of ours that were there at the same time as us. They were in fact at the end of a long hallway with a poster on their door. Angela is a regular on the disboards as well and that is where we first met. We were on the fifth floor from the Jan. 4-9 and SSR from the 26-4th. They were at BWV for the first past of their trip and then moved to SSR. They are still there, coming home today or tomorrow.

think we will give it a go this year although I am very apprehensive about this. I love Xmas and have Never been away. We just feel we have to try instead of shortening the trip. Just looking for some reassurance.

Thanks again
Joan

 

[tomandrobin]

We have gone the past three years at Dec 27th. We just can't pull the trigger of being away from home on Christmas morning. We talk about it often, but there is no place like home.

 

[ITGirl50]

I am interested in tips too. We have spent three Christmas weeks at WDW but always left by Christmas eve. This year we plan to stay until the 12/26. I want a tree and Santa to visit. How do you do it?

 

[daisyduck123]

We spent our 1st Christmas in WDW Dec. 20-26.

I thought it would be easier to go to WDW than have our regular Christmas at home, where all the relatives come to our house, we have Christmas breakfast & dinner here for everyone, etc.

Well, planning a Christmas in WDW IS just as stressful...getting the gifts together, planning/packing the clothes (I make sure my family wears matching clothes every day & this time, I wanted HOLIDAY matching outfits!), just getting everything together. I had arranged for Feralpeg to deliver a tree to our room, which at least meant DH & I didn't have to worry about setting up a tree.

Would I do it again? YES, in a heartbeat!

We absolutely loved AKV, which definitely helped to our enjoyment, & we had a great room (5401), right off the elevator, above the lobby, & our door opened right up to the giant Christmas tree in the lobby.

Having the perfect ADRs also helped. I made them at exactly 180 days out & got the perfect places, all at the times I wanted.

 

[cman]

We just got back. We were there 12/18-12/27 - all 16 of us!

It was the first time we spent Christmas away from home so there was a bit of an adjustment. The one thing that helped was that we were down there with the family members we would have spent Christmas with if we were home.

My kids are 15 and 16 so waiting for gifts until we got hime was no big deal. My nieces and nephews are younger but my sister-in-law convinced them that Santa would come a bit later than usual.

We would do it again in a heart beat. Maybe not next year but I'm sure we'll do it again.

 

[dgaston]

We had a destination Christmas with my CA brother and his family at Windsor Hills. I brought a bin of Christmas stuff (placemats, hot pads, towels, and a small fiber optic tree from Walmart). I got Christmas dinner mostly from Publix, but cooked an additional ham and made our traditional breakfast casserole (sausage, eggs, mushrooms and cheese). The WDW trip was the biggest present, but rounded out with Disney dollars for nephews, and the Back Country Segway tour for DH and I. We've spent every other Chistmas at WDW since 1999!

And then on 1/1/08 we moved to AKV as the points dropped for a great end to the trip, despite the cold weather.

One plus is we don't have little ones waiting for Santa -- we did a fun tour of the deluxe resorts on Christmas Day, viewing the gingerbread houses, and sampling a cookie or two.

 

[Granny]

We spent Christmas at WDW in 2006 and agree that it was a wonderful experience. Disney does know how to make Christmas a special time.

Our 2 boys think it will be fun, however they feel that Mom will make it just like home. Not sure I can pull that off!!

I am not all that familiar with Canadian geography, but my guess is that you get a lot of snow and cold weather for Christmas, and that might be woven into your experiences and feeling like Christmas. This is the part of being "like home" that you will have a hard time replicating, and might be more of a factor than you might realize.

 

[Eventer98]

We are going 12/19-12/27 next year as well. We have taken a lot of slack from DH's parents for wanting to spend our son's first Christmas away from them. But we feel it is where we want to be next year and are very excited about it! We have been waiting to have kids in order to make it happen. I appreciate all the PP's feedback!

 

[mackeyapp]

Thanks to you all for making this sound great. I will be showing my DH all your wonderful responses and I will be making notes from some of your tips. I knew I could count on you all to help me through this new experience. Santa is still a major part of our lives so we have to assure one DS that our location will not matter. It will be a challenge to pack but we have lots of time to plan and gets things together.

 

[YodaMouse]

This upcoming Christmas will be the second time we will be at WDW. We were there in 2005 but I only had to plan for 4 adults. This time there will 12 ½ of us: 5 children ranging in ages from 22 mos to 16 yrs, 7 adults, 2 of whom have never been to WDW. We will be there from 20 – 27 Dec.

I always love planning Disney vacations and this is no exception; Christmas just requires extra effort. I have already bought a 4 ft, pre-lit tree and ornaments that I will send down ahead of time. My plan is to have the tree “appear” in our room during the night between Christmas Eve and Christmas morning (glad these kids are sound sleepers). Gifts can be brought down in luggage, mailed ahead of time, or (my favorite) bought while we are there.

I already have an idea of where we will be eating and special events we want to attend and will get ADRs for everything. I told everyone it will be the mother of all crowded and they should expect half the planet to be there. We will take it slow and easy and do what we can when we can.

I just know that between the snow on Main Street, the lights at MGM, the ginger bread houses at the resorts, and the decorations everywhere, this will be a special Christmas everyone will remember for a very long time.

 

[mackeyapp]

The weather here is never a certain. Yes it's winter but that does not neccesarily mean snow for us. We have spent the past 4 New Years in WDW and this year was the first time that we had to have the plow (at home) to remove snow while we were away. The past several years have been Green Xmas's for us although not that warm. Our weather seems to be changing ever so gradually although most people thinks we live in igloos.

In reality the past few years have been terrible for us skiers with family passes. This year is looking better, our friends were skiing on New Year's Day and we are hoping to get on skis this week.

Yes it may seem weird to be in shorts on Xmas Day but I think we would all adjust to that very comfortably. It's missing family that may be the hardest on us.

My Mom passed away so Christmas hasn't been the same for me since then. My Dad is remarried so things have changed on my front.

DH is a bit concerned about how his parents will adjust to these plans.

It's aways tricky juggling family and personal choices.

 

[starbox]

We have not done Christmas at Disney yet - but it's one of those things on the "to-do" list in a few years when the kids are teenagers & Christmas at home and with grandparents is not so much fun! One of these days.

We honeymooned at Disney December 20-23 - and our 20th anniversary is just five years away - so we'll likely try to do the big Christmas trip then.

 

[Eventer98]

My Mom passed away so Christmas hasn't been the same for me since then. My Dad is remarried so things have changed on my front.

DH is a bit concerned about how his parents will adjust to these plans.

It's aways tricky juggling family and personal choices.

My mom was a very big christmas person and when she passed away in 04 it hasn't been the same for me either. My dad is now engaged and although I like his fiance, she isn't my mom. All the traditions I had were gone and the in-laws do way too much..making the holidays more of a chore. So I understand where you are coming from!

The family will just have to adjust...life's too short and DH and I want to do what makes US happy!

 

[WOW]

When the kids were younger we used to go 12/26 or 12/27 and stay until after New Years and it worked perfectly!! I have always wanted to be at WDW on Christmas Day, but somehow I just can't do it....now the "kids" are adults and it would be sort of easier then when they were young...I think everyone would like to do it also, but I still can't commit to that.......I just love Christmas and being home.......sometimes I feel controlling and guilty.....maybe one year I will finally let go of "tradition".

 

[tgropp]

I remember the first time that we were at WDW over the Christmas holidays. We missed our families on Christmas Day but we were there as our family, my wife and our two children. As they are grown up and work/spouse committments prevent us from going over the Christmas holidays like we used to, my children remember them as some of their best Chrismas's ever.We would usually be there from the 21 "st to the 27'th of Dec. The two or three days before Christmas day really get you in the spirit. Everyone is so nice because like you, they are there away from home over the holidays.

 

[mackeyapp]

Thank you TGROPP for saying exactly what I needed to hear. You really put it in the proper perspective for me. When it's all said and done, the four of us will still be together and we can still open out stockings on Mom and Dad's bed as we always do and life will be GREAT. We have already made such wonderful memories with our 2 boys and this will be another one of many special times spent together. Everything else is really secondary.
Sincerely
Joan

 

[mackeyapp]

Eventer98-Congratulations on your "Pending Arrival". How exciting!!

You are exactly right! We have to make our own traditions just as our Mom had done for us. I want our boys to have wonderful memories just as I did growing up and only we can make that happen.

I know they will be thrilled at any venue as long as we are together.

 

[Tinker-Bee]

We went to WDW for Christmas 2006. The boys were 4 and 7 at the time and I had many of the same concerns. I bought a small Christmas tree from Target and packed some wrapping paper. They were both very happy Christmas morning and did not seem to mind being away from home. This past Christmas we stayed home, fully decorated the house and had our traditional Chrstmas at home. Christmas morning our oldest son said it sure was fun having Christmas with Lilo and Stitch. So now our family has decided to go to WDW next Christmas (this time as DVC owners).

As another poster stated, we were together and having fun. That to us is what makes Christmas