December 18-26 Who has been during Christmas?

[Cinderella Mom]

Hi all! We are planning a trip to Disney over Christmas this year! We are frequent Disney goers and typically travel in October or the first two weeks of December. I love Disney in December, there's just nothing like it in my opinion. Now that our children are older, taking them out of school is just not an option. We really do not feel that this is a get everything done, as far as rides go, trip. Has anyone been during this time period? If so, what was your experience? We are rope drop people and plan to take advantage of EMH in each park. I know we won't get as much done as we have in previous trips. Thanks for your help!!

 

[Greatest pawpaw]

Best time of the year to go. Crowds not bad until @ 22nd

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Hi all! We are planning a trip to Disney over Christmas this year! We are frequent Disney goers and typically travel in October or the first two weeks of December. I love Disney in December, there's just nothing like it in my opinion. Now that our children are older, taking them out of school is just not an option. We really do not feel that this is a get everything done, as far as rides go, trip. Has anyone been during this time period? If so, what was your experience? We are rope drop people and plan to take advantage of EMH in each park. I know we won't get as much done as we have in previous trips. Thanks for your help!!

For the past two years, we've done the week before Christmas (last year we did Dec. 16 - Dec. 23) and in 2015, we did Dec. 25 - Dec. 30. We love the week before. The crowds aren't terrible (certainly not like Christmas week) and, if you are strategic, you can see and do a lot and have a wonderful time. If you plan to be at the parks at RD, even better. Based on my experience, you can expect crowds to pick up the Friday afternoon before Christmas (Dec. 21 this year). That was our experience anyway. We were very strategic on very specific things we wanted to do (HDDR plus a Ft. W sleigh ride, MVMCP, EP storytellers, riding FOP, etc.) and the rest was gravy. We also stayed at WL which made the holiday experience so amazing as I could just sit in that lobby and look at the decor for hours. I would probably plan to do the majority of your park touring on Dec. 18 - Dec. 21 and then plan on doing anything extraneous you wanted to do in addition to touring (resort touring, relaxing at resort, dessert parties, etc.) on the weekend and days leading up to Christmas.

 

[Disneylover99]

If you are rope drop people and plan to take advantage of emh you'll love it! It's still easy to get lots done during the first few hours of the day. Enjoy!

 

[Cinderella Mom]

For the past two years, we've done the week before Christmas (last year we did Dec. 16 - Dec. 23) and in 2015, we did Dec. 25 - Dec. 30. We love the week before. The crowds aren't terrible (certainly not like Christmas week) and, if you are strategic, you can see and do a lot and have a wonderful time. If you plan to be at the parks at RD, even better. Based on my experience, you can expect crowds to pick up the Friday afternoon before Christmas (Dec. 21 this year). That was our experience anyway. We were very strategic on very specific things we wanted to do (HDDR plus a Ft. W sleigh ride, MVMCP, EP storytellers, riding FOP, etc.) and the rest was gravy. We also stayed at WL which made the holiday experience so amazing as I could just sit in that lobby and look at the decor for hours. I would probably plan to do the majority of your park touring on Dec. 18 - Dec. 21 and then plan on doing anything extraneous you wanted to do in addition to touring (resort touring, relaxing at resort, dessert parties, etc.) on the weekend and days leading up to Christmas.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience with me. I want to do the sleigh ride in Ft. Wilderness and the HDDR too. Wilderness Lodge is my dream resort! I have Port Orleans Riverside booked because we have friends that need a room for five. That resort is gorgeous at Christmas time!!

 

[BriLovesDisney]

We went Dec 19-27. Loved it. As long as you steer clear of MK on Christmas Day you'll be fine. I recommend NOT doing the sleigh ride at Ft Wilderness. We did it last year and all they did was drive us through the trailer areas. It was a horrible disappointment.

 

[Klayfish]

We did a 5 day Christmas trip in 2015, and this past season were there from Dec 19th through January 1st. We are not rope droppers and do not do EMH (we stay off property), but honestly we had some of the best times we've ever had at WDW. We didn't try to hit as many rides as we do in the summer, just wasn't our goal. But we still used MDE heavily and got on tons of things...one time I even got us on Space Mountain literally back to back. It's crowded, no doubt, but if you've got some patience and a dash of holiday spirit, you'll have a wonderful time!! We did marshmallow roasting at the Poly before fireworks and the kids had a blast!

 

[Liz Z]

Well to be honest we didn't it enjoy it this year as last year during the same week.
We went Christmas New Years week and it was unbearable.

Last year it was crowded but manageable. We had a lot of fun. And the parks are beautifully decorated. We did the dessert parties in MK and Epcot just to get away from the crowds. So i would suggest those parties if you can.

This year for some reason you could not move. You had to keep your eyes focused on the ground so you wouldn't walk into people. Disney seems to be packing them in more so like there's no tomorrow.

It seems like there were a lot more foreigners than last year since their economy wasn't good last year.. just speculating but maybe thats why the parks were jam packed

Unfortunately that's the time we like to go rather than the summer because of the heat. Shes a teacher so brakes are limited. Don't know if we'll try it again

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We went Dec 19-27. Loved it. As long as you steer clear of MK on Christmas Day you'll be fine. I recommend NOT doing the sleigh ride at Ft Wilderness. We did it last year and all they did was drive us through the trailer areas. It was a horrible disappointment.

For many people, the point of the sleigh ride is to see the decorations that are put up by the people staying in the campsites. Yes, certainly, if you aren't interested in seeing that, the sleigh ride would be a waste of time. I really enjoyed it!

 

[Redarrow5150]

Have gone twice during your dates. Lower the expectations and utilize RD and you should be fine. Chance to do other things besides rides and see the resort decorations. Epcot WS has Christmas around the world which is really cool.

 

[FastPasser.]

I'm all over WDW during that time of year, and every other time of year as well, and by far it's my favorite time period, however, I will not vacation there during most of Dec.

 

[CinderellaDream]

We've been three times in the week leading up to Christmas and love it. We never actually been there on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day though. I agree with a PP who said the partks don't start to get really busy until the 22nd but it really depends on how the dates fall and when schools get out for the holidays. Rope drop is your friend! As you mentioned, this would not be a trip to ride every attraction at every park but it can certainly be a fun trip. The Christmas decorations and music everywhere are just icing on the cake!

 

[shanew21]

Week before Christmas is crowded but not terrible, with the big exception being avoid MK on non-party days. Since HEA is only shown on non-party days, everybody goes to MK for those days and it's a freaking mad house.

 

[720L]

We've done 2 Christmas trips. Like others said, rope drop is a must. I loved being there Christmas Day. Yes it was busy, but we expected that so it didn't bother us too much.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Week before Christmas is crowded but not terrible, with the big exception being avoid MK on non-party days. Since HEA is only shown on non-party days, everybody goes to MK for those days and it's a freaking mad house.

I agree. We actually avoided MK on non-party days last year. We did MK on a party day (with a regular ticket) and then stayed for the party. The only downside is, we missed HEA. We are doing the same week this year and will do one party day at MK to get our rides in (we will not stay for the party this year, however) and one short MK evening to see HEA and will book the dessert party for that evening.

 

[disneyvoice]

We were there December 17-23 several years ago. It was great at the beginning of our trip, crowds were actually fairly light. However, the crowds gradually increased until the absolute zoo of December 22. We were at MK that day so it might not have been as bad in other parks. But it was so crazy on the 22nd that we left shortly after noon because it was just not even remotely pleasant - like complete and total standstill everywhere on Main Street and we didn't even feel like we could look around to enjoy anything. We just left and took the monorail to the various resorts to see all the Christmas decorations. It was still a really fun trip! I think the key to being their at crazy busy times is to be flexible and know in advance what your limit is. If someone in your party is getting frustrated than just leave and find something else to do. As long as you are prepared for the massive crowds in advance you will be just fine.

 

[clm10308]

If you can stay up late, 11pm until 3 or 3 am (until closing) is the best time for rides in MK. That is my favorite time to go.

 

[shanew21]

I agree. We actually avoided MK on non-party days last year. We did MK on a party day (with a regular ticket) and then stayed for the party. The only downside is, we missed HEA. We are doing the same week this year and will do one party day at MK to get our rides in (we will not stay for the party this year, however) and one short MK evening to see HEA and will book the dessert party for that evening.

Exactly what we did (MK on party night and dessert party/night at MK for HEA). The crowds were horrible on that HEA night, even during the EMH until 1am. Crowds were significantly better on the party day.

 

[BriLovesDisney]

For many people, the point of the sleigh ride is to see the decorations that are put up by the people staying in the campsites. Yes, certainly, if you aren't interested in seeing that, the sleigh ride would be a waste of time. I really enjoyed it!

I did it many years ago and it was through a wooded area with fake snow and Christmas lights. So it was very different than what I imagined and from what Disney advertises.

 

[reluctantredhead]

We went for a week up through December 26 ten years ago, and crowds weren't bad until Christmas Day. That said, I've read recently here on the Disboards that crowds now start to get bad the weekend before Christmas, which will begin December 22 this year. I've also read that the MK gets the most crowded, so this year we've planned a split stay where we'll be at the WL December 20-23 and plan to only do MK and AK those days, and then move to the BC from December 23-27 and only do EP and HS those days. We are also staying CL and plan to buy the extra CL FP+ (provided the trial program remains in place) to help us to maximize our time and enjoyment.