Orlando - Christmas - New Years at WDW - what to avoid?

Oh well, I almost dread the answer to this one, but wondering if anyone has actual experiences at WDW during this period. Purely on impulse I booked a 1W vacation, now wondering whats the least crowded alternative between the disney resorts, the water parks, Universal, sea world, etc.

I know there is not much diff between a 4D and 7D ticket to disney, but am not sure exactly what to do.

We are a family of 4 with two kids under six.

hahahaha (sorry, I couldn't help myself) ;)

What to avoid? How about the whole place? :D :D :D

I arrived right after Christmas and stayed through New Years - it was an insane asylum. The parks will most likely fill up and go to their graduated admission policy with onsite hotel guests getting preference until they close them down to everyone.

Others have gone at that time of year and they will say it's not bad, but it depends upon your love of disney and huge crowds.

The best I can offer it to make sure you stay at a Disney hotel so you can at least enter the parks early and stay late and are unlikely to get shut out of the parks if they fill up.

A good plan would be to get there for the early morning openings for hotel guests, get on what rides you can and pick up fastpasses for the ones you can't. Leave the park and go do something else - such as the pool or perhaps a water park - if it's warm enough, though Disney heats all their pools. Take a nap with the kids and return to the park late at night, the later the better if it's a late night for hotel guests.

If you do a search on this forum, I believe you'll find lots of advice given for previous Christmas seasons.

Also, if you stay onsite, you may want to limit your driving around and leaving the property to go to Universal or Sea World, traffic, which normally can be heavy, can get almost gridlocked.

If you can get a room and want to go to Universal, I strongly suggest you stay in one of their hotels. They have a front-of-the-line program for onsite guests and it will minimize the time you have to wait. You can switch to a Disney hotel when you're done with Universal. I think this will greatly enhance your experience.

But, in the end, it's still Disney, and if you enjoy it, well, you'll enjoy it anyway. I keep a mug I bought to celebrate NYE and the year around just to remind me not to go back at that time of year. But I did it once :)

Ask away if you have more specific questions.

A good plan would be to get there for the early morning openings for hotel guests, get on what rides you can and pick up fastpasses for the ones you can't. Leave the park and go do something else - such as the pool or perhaps a water park - if it's warm enough, though Disney heats all their pools. Take a nap with the kids and return to the park late at night, the later the better if it's a late night for hotel guests.

I agree with all your advice except this piece, Mary. I have found a key to success, particularly during busy times, is to AVOID the park that has Extra Magic Hours for Disney resort guests. Whatever park that is on that particular day will be noticeably busier all day because many people do not park-hop. So if they go in early to the Magic Kingdom, for example, they'll stay there all day.

I agree with all your advice except this piece, Mary. I have found a key to success, particularly during busy times, is to AVOID the park that has Extra Magic Hours for Disney resort guests.My understanding is that you are correct that the park will probably be more crowded all day if it has the extra magic hours.

But I would still think that during the extra hours, the park would be less crowded than after normal opening hours arrive. So, when I go, I usually try to hit the park with the extra opening hours in the morning, until it gets too crowded (or lunch-time arrives). Then I will head out to one of the other parks for the rest of the day.

I've only gone once during the Christmas/New Years time and will not do it again. But if I just had to, I would forget about Disney and do what Mary suggests concerning Universal. Get an onsite hotel there and you get all day Fast Pass access to all the rides that have it (which most of them do) and you get it for both parks. Plus you get early hours to the Harry Potter area and rides. This way you will actually be able to ride virtually all the rides and not spend the majority of your time waiting in lines. ^

People often tell me they want to go to WDW between Christmas and New Year's.

1. I always advise them not to.
2. They never listen.
3. They always come home and tell me I was right and that they hate WDW and will never go back and that they don't understand its popularity.

This is what you have to look forward to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSKCvAF6TnQ

Imagine 12 hours a day of fighting that. It's a struggle to do everything: obtain food, park or get the bus/monorail, walk from spot to spot, find someone to ask a question, get through lines, buy things. etc.

Hideous. 3 hour waits for rides. You get there too late and the fire marshal has closed the place. You get jostled/pushed/bumped/stepped on/yelled at a thousand times. Strollers get banged into your ankles repeatedly. Little kids see nothing but adults' legs. It's not fun.

But if you don't listen, either go early or go late to the parks, depending on your personal inclination. If you go early, you miss the teenagers. If you go late (until 3 am sometimes) you miss the kids.

If you are easygoing, you might find it halfway OK. But please don't decide what you think of WDW based on that week.

People often tell me they want to go to WDW between Christmas and New Year's.

1. I always advise them not to.
2. They never listen.
3. They always come home and tell me I was right and that they hate WDW and will never go back and that they don't understand its popularity.


I agree with you. My kids always ask why, in our 20+ trips to DisneyWorld, we've never gone over Christmas or Easter. There's a good reason for that. But I do understand that some people have no choice.

I agree with getting to the parks early, no matter what time of year you go. And you must go with a plan. Know what you need to see and do that first. And by all means, try and make whatever dining reservations you can get NOW.

I hope the OP has a great trip.

This looks real bad. Thank you for the feedback.

Well at least you know and can manage expectations.

We'll be there from 12/19-26. Oh, oh.

We'll be there from 12/19-26. Oh, oh.
It might not be as terrible for you UNTIL the 23rd. I would imagine most people would be arriving for the holiday on or after that date.

It's the week between Christmas & New Year that is the bad one.

Don't get me wrong, it will probably still be crowded, just not as bad. I would plan to hit as many parks/rides as you could early on in the trip.