Which Park on Christmas Day?

[Tk0021]

Hello all,

First time back since 2018, but this is the first time we will be there on Christmas Day. We are thinking of doing MK, probably like everyone else. One reason for MK we want to have something like a holiday meal and we are think the Liberty Tavern for that. Any one been to the parks on Christmas Day or even different parks on Christmas Day? An suggestions on the park and dinning?

Thanks

 

[leebee]

I haven't done Christmas Day, but my sister has, and we've done 12/24 at Disney and 12/26 at Universal (strictly for the 2 HP parks). My advice? Don't. It really is shoulder-to-shoulder in the parks on Christmas Day. My sister/nieces are Disney vets, and they went into MK, stayed about an hour, and left. Never had the chance to ride anything. They said the crowds were overwhelming, scary, and it was clear that they weren't going to have much fun or get on any of the attractions without stupidly long wait times.

DH and I went to the 2HP parks at Universal on the day after Christmas. It was a madhouse. I was OK at the Hogwarts side as I'd been there before and could navigate somewhat reasonably, but the DiagonAlley side was a waste. It was so packed it was disorienting, and of course hoping to ride anything was ridiculous... like 2 hour waits. We were SO not having a good time.

On Christmas Day, I'd try to snag an ADRs for brunch and dinner, or maybe just a lazy hotel morning with a nice dinner around 2pm.

 

[LisaL]

I haven't done Christmas Day, but my sister has, and we've done 12/24 at Disney and 12/26 at Universal (strictly for the 2 HP parks). My advice? Don't. It really is shoulder-to-shoulder in the parks on Christmas Day. My sister/nieces are Disney vets, and they went into MK, stayed about an hour, and left. Never had the chance to ride anything. They said the crowds were overwhelming, scary, and it was clear that they weren't going to have much fun or get on any of the attractions without stupidly long wait times.

DH and I went to the 2HP parks at Universal on the day after Christmas. It was a madhouse. I was OK at the Hogwarts side as I'd been there before and could navigate somewhat reasonably, but the DiagonAlley side was a waste. It was so packed it was disorienting, and of course hoping to ride anything was ridiculous... like 2 hour waits. We were SO not having a good time.

On Christmas Day, I'd try to snag an ADRs for brunch and dinner, or maybe just a lazy hotel morning with a nice dinner around 2pm.

I reserved MK for Dec 25 this year knowing it might be a bit crowded, but figured we were there for the fun and atmosphere and it's not really about the rides. It's just so magical... but not if it's so crowded it can't be enjoyed at all. I'm starting to have concerns to be honest. We definitely want to go to Epcot on Christmas Eve.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[Tk0021]

I reserved MK for Dec 25 this year knowing it might be a bit crowded, but figured we were there for the fun and atmosphere and it's not really about the rides. It's just so magical... but not if it's so crowded it can't be enjoyed at all. I'm starting to have concerns to be honest. We definitely want to go to Epcot on Christmas Eve.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

We are changing our reservations to HS on Christmas day. I let it up to my kids and they would rather go to a park that is less crowded. Understanding that it will busy at every park, but we don’t want to deal with insane crowds

 

[kpmdjm]

We are going for christmas to this year and I have no idea what park we should go to or where to eat.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

We've not been on Christmas Day to any park but have seen a few youtubers go in the past and as expected, AK is usually the least busy park on Christmas Day. I guess animals don't give off holiday vibes....lol but I'd guess even though it's not as crowded it's all probably pretty insane. I would venture MK is probably outrageous since everyone has similar thoughts as yours, go to LTT to eat a holiday meal, enjoy the christmas shop, I think they do snoap on main street, etc. We have tons of traditions for Christmas and we'll travel before or after the holidays but we're not wired to do a theme park on Christmas day. More power to anyone who does.

 

[DVC Sue]

For me, MK would be the best choice. I think that park has a warmth and a charm that the others lack.

 

[LisaL]

We are changing our reservations to HS on Christmas day. I let it up to my kids and they would rather go to a park that is less crowded. Understanding that it will busy at every park, but we don’t want to deal with insane crowds

I did the same and the family still wants to go to MK. Pray for me!

 

[Her Dotness]

We ate early at CRT one Christmas, met princesses at Fairytale Hall and then decided to head for Main Street. It was shoulder-to-shoulder at 9:30 a.m. from the square to Casey's!

DH uses a powerchair and was inching along because few were paying any attention to who were around them. We literally could not move several times until a wonderful CM spotted DH and a woman in a scooter near us. The CM forged a way through the crowd to get us to the gate to escape that madness.

We heard that MK closed shortly before noon and had no difficulty at all believing that.

If you think you can handle that crowd level, have at it.

I'd advise Epcot or AK. Epcot was where we went. It was about as busy as on a festival weekend. Seemed like paradise in comparison.

 

[clm10308]

Our last Christmas visit, which was pre-Covid, we did AK on Christmas Day. It was wonderful with low crowds. The visit before that, we did not do a park on Christmas Day. Just getting to the Contemporary for Lunch at Chef Mickey’s was difficult. Transportation around MK was crazy.

 

[Genie+]

I reserved MK for Dec 25 this year knowing it might be a bit crowded, but figured we were there for the fun and atmosphere and it's not really about the rides. It's just so magical... but not if it's so crowded it can't be enjoyed at all. I'm starting to have concerns to be honest. We definitely want to go to Epcot on Christmas Eve.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

If you can and don’t mind doing the wee hours, it‘s much better. Ropedrops on holidays are in stark contrast to what the rest of the day holds. Holiday visitors are the least likely to show up to parks at 7:30am. If you can take advantage of the first 3 park hours it’s a much different experience than people popping in 11a-5p.

 

[disney-inspired]

I would rope drop MK and then hop over to Epcot once available. I would love to see what special things they have in each country for Christmastime.