PDA

View Full Version : Walt Disney World -- The week between Christmas and New Year's



datalore
10-28-2003, 01:41 PM
HI All:

This is my first post to the group.
Any of you experts have any suggestions for going to Walt Disney World during the week between Christmas and New Years. I know it is peak season and the most difficult time of the year to get any deals. It would be three adults and two children. We would like to stay on the site and go to the parks for the children. One more question. Any ideas on what agency to book with at this late time to get a fair deal.

Flying in from Newark NJ.

First time to Disney.

Any suggestions would be a help.

CIAO

Mark099
10-28-2003, 11:27 PM
Rates are pretty much set by Disney. Whether you book directly with Disney or through an agent, you will pay the same price. Check with AAA Travel. Usually you can save a few bucks by buying Disney passes in advance.

Our family spent 17 days in WDW over Christmas about 5 years ago. Fortunately, we were able to arrive on the last day of value season (about 8-9 days before Christmas) and use our Magic Kingdom Club card for a 20% discount. MKC then changed to Disney Club, but I don't think DC is available anymore.

As for crowds? If the weather is dry, there will be heavy crowds. Lines can be up to 2-3 hours long. Parks fill up early and may close to everybody but resort quests. When we were there, MK closed 3-4 times from Christmas to New Years Day. Closed just means that the park has reached it's capacity -- after which only resort guests are allowed in.

The best option... bring rain gear and pray for rain! Crowds will thin out when it rains. Other options? Be up at the crack of dawn and go to the early mornings. You can do a lot in the first few hours.

Restaurants are busy too. We ate a lot of dinners before 4 pm. The one time we tried to eat at a normal time the wait was 4 hours at Rain Forest Cafe.

Good Luck!

datalore
10-29-2003, 04:50 AM
Thank You Mark

The info was right on the money and will help.

CIAO

Lani
10-29-2003, 08:40 AM
Wow... you're right -- that's just about the busiest time of year.

A couple of suggestions:

1. Try to make priority seating requests for those places you really want. You might not get the most popular places (Victoria and Albert's, Cinderella's Royal Breakfast, etc.) but you will feel much better if you can just walk in to Flying Fish or Ashkersus instead of having to wait 90 minutes.

2. Try to be as flexible as you can. You might not be able to see as many attractions, for example, but there are a lot of holiday decorations and special entertainment and so on, to help you have a good time.

3. I'm with Mark099. Try to go at the crack of dawn. You'll be able to get quite a few must-see attractions out of the way before it gets too crowded. You can always go back to your hotel for an afternoon nap. That way you can be energized and go back for a long evening in the parks.

4. Try to keep your calm! If your children get tired and cranky, don't force them to continue plodding on. Instead, take a time out and go back to your hotel's pool, go for a nap, or something else. You'll have a much better experience that way.

I don't know that you'll get a better deal, but I would strongly recommend that you contact Small World Travel at http://www.wdwvacations.com/

They are a wonderful full-service travel agency specializing in Disney vacations, and if you book with them, you can ask them to keep their eyes peeled for any specials that pop up at the last minute that you can take advantage of. That's one thing the Disney travel office won't do for you.

datalore
10-29-2003, 11:14 AM
Thank you Lani for all the info if I can be of any help, I have went on 25 cruises.

CIAO

genenpet
10-29-2003, 11:57 AM
I mentioned to datalore over at FW that MK used to be relatively light on Xmas eve day and that the other parks were lighter on Xmas day.

This was years ago though, and I know crowd patterns have changed alot since I was last there during this crazy week.

Anyone with more direct knowledge have any suggestions for crowd patterns?

p.s. FW is fatwallet.com, where datalore posted this question and I suggested he come here for more advice. Glad you did!

SouthflLady
10-29-2003, 01:34 PM
It's VERY busy that week, but it's also the most magical. I don't really mind the crowds, especially since it's not hot! I wouldn't be able to deal with the heat + huge crowds though.
I second that you need to get to the parks early. Last year at the same time, we got to Epcot at 10:30 AM and fast passes were already GONE for Test Track! We made PSs for dinner every night, and as we'd check in, they'd be telling people ridiculous wait times!! I was so thankful for our priority seatings. :D

thevolcanogod
10-29-2003, 01:53 PM
We usually went during Christmas when I was growing up so I don't know the lines at other times of the year. The parks are pretty packed - wait for some of the more popular rides can be between 1-2 hours.

We did experience the "parks are at capacity" problem, however, we had PS reservations for dinner in EPCOT so they let us go over even though we weren't staying on site.

What everyone else has said is correct - if you get there early, you can do some of the popular rides then relax more during the rest of the day.

TVG

datalore
10-30-2003, 03:54 AM
Hi:

Thank you again GENEPET for directing me to this forum, you were right, this was a good place to be, all of you are very friendly and helpful. Also special thanks to thevolcanogod,
SouthflLady, Lani, and Mark099.
Hope I can contribute something myself soon.
CIAO