Christmas in WDW

[disneyland addict13]

I have a good friend who is taking a trip to WDW with her family from December 20th-26th. I just wanted to know what the park is expected to be like over those days..really really busy? Just plain busy? (lol) I know that it will definetely be busy but if anyone could give me a better idea that would be great. I've never been to WDW but have been to DL many times...

[NCDisney1]

Past experience/feedback says that if will be very busy; however, that shouldn't detract from their fun.

[Wendy3]

I believe "very busy" is an understatement. Parks could (and do) close due to capacity - picture elbow to elbow crowds. I know some people do go to WDW over Xmas, but do not go into the parks on Xmas day (rumored to be the busiest day of the year). I'm claustrophobic and could never stand to be in the parks when it's that crowded. If this is your friend's first trip to WDW, I would hate for their experience to be marred by the fact that it's going to be EXTREMELY crowded.

[disnut8]

Having been there last Christmas (my first Christmas there but we have about 40 trips under our belts), it will be busy. I'd tell them to avoid Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day. In fact, we avoided it all but one day and that was a chilly overcast day and the crowds were ziltch (on and off Splash Mountain in fifteen minutes). Epcot would be a good bet, Animal Kingdom in the afternoon (after 1:00 or so). MGM isn't that bad either.

While Christmas was crowded, it did not deter us from our fun for one second. We even had a six year old granddaughter with us and she had seven fun filled days even without Magic Kingdom. In fact, she never even noticed we didn't go there. She never missed it.

We'll be there over Christmas - have your friends stop by Off Kilter if they are playing on Sunday and say hi.

[vamassey]

We'll be there over Christmas - have your friends stop by Off Kilter if they are playing on Sunday and say hi.

Will you'll be there for New Years? We are arriving 12/30.

Vanessa

[disnut8]

Will you'll be there for New Years? We are arriving 12/30.

Vanessa

Unfortunately, no. Love to be there and thought about back to back weekends. But those pesky Falcons have a home game on New Year's Day so we had to choose. Of course, after last weekend's pitiful performance against Carolina, well, it might just be so we don't waste the tickets because we sure won't be able to sell them.

Hint - my son and daughter-in-law LOVED MGM for New Year's Eve last year. Said it was so party-like and not crowded at all.

[vamassey]

We'll miss meeting you'll.

I thought about MGM but we've already made dinner ADRs for Coral Reef.

[bassett1976]

My wife and I were in WDW last year for Christmas. We were told by a CM that we should avoid the MK during the morning but that during the afternoon the crowds would get smaller as people would go spend some private time with their families and by the night it would be really nice at the MK. Not wanting to deal with the mass crowds we decided to go to the AK and it rained a lot. We left after about 2 hours and went back to the hotel to relax. About 5 pm we headed into the MK, hoping the crowds would be light. They were not light but managable with FP. Most of the other people had the same idea that we had. So, our experience might not reflect what the CM told my wife but it may have been due to the wet weather in the morning.

Also, heavy crowds at WDW are NOTHING compaired to heavy crowds at Disneyland. We were told that the crowds were "heavy" during our trip last year but we never felt that crowded like we have at Disneyland during the Fourth of July.

[MinnieSummer]

The days prior to Christmas will not be nearly as crowded as Christmas Day through New Years Day. Use those days to go to Magic Kingdom and get in any other must sees. We go every year for Christmas and do the important things prior to Christmas Day. If we have to go to MKon the 25th we go at opening but usually we avoid it entirely and go to AK in the morning and then head back to our hotel then over to Epcot for the Candlelight Processional and dinner. If you go with the mind set that the 25th and after will be packed and you just want to stroll liesurely because you already did the important stuff you'll be OK.