Spring Break or Christmas time?

[Deanie1]

I am in the beginning stages of planning a one time WDW vacation with extended family - Myself, DH, 5 adult s and 2 grandchildren. But one son is a teacher so that severely limits our vacation options. We can probably just go at either Christmas or Spring Break. Summer will be just too darned hot for us. Which would you choose? One con against Christmas is the weather and interrupted flights as we are flying from western Canada. I welcome all thoughts and comments on this! TIA

 

[Klayfish]

I've never done spring break, but have done 2 recent trips during Xmas. It's the busiest week of the year, so you need to plan accordingly. How much that will bother you would depend on whether you'd enjoy it or not. Some people would say "avoid it at all cost". We had a fabulous time, and I would highly recommend it...but again, understand it's very busy. Lines will be long (FP+ is your friend), parks will be crowded. But the holiday spirit is awesome!!!

 

[yulilin3]

Anotehr vote for Christmas just because of...weather
With Spring Break you are likely to get some rain/storms, some heat, it's very unpredictable.
Crowd wise I would say they are about the same depending on the date of your spring break, if it coincides with lots of spring breakers in other areas

 

[Greatest pawpaw]

Go the weekend before Xmas and leave around 26th - 27th. Both my daughters are school teachers and so is my wife. Best bang for the buck as crowds are highest the week in between Xmas and new years

 

[gharter]

Both are busy times of the year, but Spring Break is muchmore spread out and not as busy as Christmas.
Christmas - pros: decorations, not too hot, cons: big crowds, can have bad weather trying to get to WDW
Spring Break - pros: not as crowded as Christmas, cons: no Christmas decorations, (there are festivals at EPCOT), weather can be ver warm to moderate.
I would choose before Christmas if you can make that work. You get all the benefits of Christmas without the huge crowds between Christmas and New Years.

 

[tlmadden73]

I've vote Christmas time .. because you can go anywhere from beginning of Nov to middle of January .. and the place is just extra pretty then.

I just went the week before Thanksgiving and loved it. Love all the Christmas theming and all the special Christmas shows. Crowds were a bit congested on the weekend and Veteran day holiday, but during the week, crowds were low.

The MK is especially empty on Christmas Party days -- I would highly recommend that if you don't mind leaving the park by 6:00 - 7:00 pm. Lots of walk-ons, though some rides start to get more crowded after 4:00 PM when the party crowd shows up (we got stuck in a Jungle Cruise line that was posted at 35 minutes, but were in there for over an hour because all the 4:00 pm FP people (from the party) seemed to show up at the same time! They would take a boatload of FP people for every 3-4 families of standby.

The weather was just quite varied.. high of 80s when we first arrived (shorts/t-shirt .. sweating a lot) .. and then high in the low 60s the last few days (pants/jacket weather)

 

[mixmastertoy]

Im partial for Disney at Xmas. It is my favorite time of the year hands down!

 

[Lisa F]

I would vote for xmas. once it gets busy enough there is not a whole lot of difference. I would say even though xmas is busiest, they are also at full staff with long hours and Disney at xmas is truly magical. It's not like spring break will be a ghost town and will have lots of other downsides.

 

[TheSydneyCrosby]

I am teacher who travels to WDW at least once per year. I would vote spring break because:
-It isn't as busy, since spring breaks do vary across the country and here in Michigan, we only coincide with the Florida locals if Easter is in the first weekend of April.
-You are guaranteed warm weather to use pools, enjoy water rides, etc. I have been there at Christmas 3 times and have only been able to enjoy the pool on a few warm days. If I am traveling in the winter, I want it to be warm!

Christmas is beautiful and so fun with the decorations, parades, and parties, but be prepared for it to be very busy. Like, at capacity busy if you are still there New Year's Eve. You would need to make fast passes at EXACTLY 60 days ahead of time and you probably still won't get fast passes for newer rides. Depending on where you stay, the bus rides can be extremely long due to traffic and you may have to wait for several busses because of how full they are.

I am going this Christmas, so clearly it doesn't keep me from going But I go with the mindset that I will only get to ride my fast pass rides and might not spend too much time swimming with my kiddos.

 

[TwinkleKS]

I vote for Christmas because it is the most magical time of the year. We have been able to swim on Christmas Day every year for the past six years. Now last year it was freezing the next day, but it wasn't too bad on Christmas Day itself (or the week before Christmas). Also, because you are from Canada, chances are that the freezing weather you may read about on here as being a possibility won't be cold to you

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I'm a teacher and I vote for spring break. It's the weather that does it for me. My family doesn't celebrate Christmas, but Hanukkah, so the pull of Christmastime doesn't draw me in as it does others. I've seen the pictures and for those who do celebrate, I understand perfectly why they choose that time of year. Simply, for me, I think even if I did celebrate Christmas, I would still choose spring break because it isn't near as busy and like someone else said, the warm weather guarantees you pool days!

 

[momtwoboys]

Spring break! Nice weather, beautiful flowers and its great after a long winter at home! WE love Disney in Spring!

 

[CAQDaddy]

My vote is for Spring because of weather and lower crowds although the decorations are fantastic during the Christmas season.
Either time is still a Disney trip which will always be awesome

 

[runwad]

Spring break is nuts but the weather is great! Never been at Christmas but you just can't beat the weather during spring break! I'm from the North and it's nice to leave the snow and be in the nice sunshine.

 

[kathy884]

I've done both many times and prefer Spring Break as the weather is usually glorious and Christmas week crowds are absolutely insane. The week before or after aren't to bad. Christmas weather is very unpredictable too. I've had highs in the 80s on some trips, and on other highs in the 50s with lows in the 30s -- burr -- too cold.

 

[mom22boys]

If it is a one time only vacation, then my vote is spring break. You should have swimming weather, flowers blooming, and a genuine Disney experience.

That being said, we went last year the week of New Years and if you plan on doing multiple trips to Disney then you have to see Disney in its holiday splendor at some point! Last year, even though the weather was cold and there were crowds (bigger crowds than spring break in my experience), it was still so magical! So magical in fact, that we are going back again this year.

Whichever you choose, I hope you have a magical trip! Enjoy the planning too!

 

[puffkin]

I'd pick Spring Break over Christmas. We enjoy going at Christmas, but the weather is the deal breaker. You just don't know what you are going to get. Spring Break weather is much better, plus the crowds are spread out over a longer period.

Honestly though, the summer really isn't that bad. We typically go the end of August right before school starts and it isn't that bad. If you can go in June though, I would pick that any day over either Spring Break or Christmas!

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Believe it or not, the exact dates of your possible trip impact the specific crowd size expected for both "events". Can you be more specific?