horridge1966
New Member
Could anyone tell me which is the best park to visit on Christmas day as this is our first visit over Christmas.:animwink:
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Christmas day at Disney
- Thread starter horridge1966
- Start date
wdwhoneymooner
Well-Known Member
Magic Kingdom was extremely busy on Christmas day 2008. We planned on spending only a few early morning hours there and leaving before noon but decided to have lunch first before departing. Big mistake. After lunch (11:15ish), the park was insanely packed. Took us 30 minutes to navigate the crowds just to reach the front gates from Columbia Harbour House in Liberty Square. We took a breather in our room and headed out to EPCOT later in the day. Not bad at all. Foot traffic wasn't nearly the same as in MK and the lines for rides were tolerable.
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smk
Well-Known Member
We have been twice on Christmas and went to MK both times. We arrived at opening and had the place all to ourselves, it did get crowded later in the day but we just left and went back to our cabin to open presents. To me there is no place like MK in the evening on Christmas, magical fireworks, a chill in the air, great lighting and snow on main street. We did have some fun times at HS, Osborne lights area, later in the evening one Christmas Day, music, snow and the people I love the most in this whole wide world. I have very fond memeories of dancing with my DH and kids. Any place you go on Christmas will be fine because you will have your loved ones with you!
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ccarter30
Member
We have been on Christmas day several times and I would recommend either DHS or Epcot. MK is laways crazy packed and they usually have to close due to capacity around noon, but I don't know what it will be like this year due to the economy. I think that as long as you stay away from MK you should be fine. :wave:
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roadtripper
Member
How about January 1st? We are going to be there Jan 1-2-3-4 and are wondering what to expect in the crowds.
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Merebear414
New Member
It depends what you are looking for. We go every year for Christmas and new years. On Christmas day I would say epcot because it has the most space, and plenty of food choices for a nice Christmas meal. As far as new years eve goes if you want to see the magic kingdom fireworks then go the night before because it's the same show. Last year there was even a backstage viewing area with benches and hot chocolote where the parade by pass is. Then on new years if you want to see a really spectacular fireworks show go to epcot.... But beware... Last year epcot was full to capacity for the first time in Disney history... We stood in the street by the refreshmant port, not moving, for half an hour... Epcot crowd controll was not prepared and add in a multitude of angry adults... It was pretty much a disaster.... Strollers were left in the street, cast members were using souvenier light sabers to direct traffic, and several guests phoned 911. If you don't mind Not being in a park for the fireworks I would say the best place to be is the area outside of DHS.... You can see all the fireworks from there and crowds are not as much of a problem.
Hope this helps!
Hope this helps!
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Merebear414
New Member
Oh and the first is dead in the morning... My sister walked on soarin twice in a row, and then walked onto test track and mission space.. We usually leave on the second so I don't know after that.... If your looking to avoid crowds and you have a park hopper ticket stay out of the parks that have extra magic hours and the then if your staying on property only go to those parks for the extra magic hours...
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dixiepixie
Member
Any comments/help/ideas:
We will be there the entire week of Christmas and are planning the following for Christmas Eve and Day...
Christmas Eve / planning to be at MK before opening (opens 7am for EMH/AM, we are staying on site)
Plan to hit as much as we can and stay there till around 11/11:30 am
then head over to DHS
plan to stay at DHS til about 6pm
they have a 6:30 Fantasmic we may catch or do some resort hopping for dinner and to see decorations
*we have toyed with the idea of doing the Hay ride at Fort Wilderness?*
and then heading back to our resort "early" to rest up for the next day
Christmas Day / planning on being up VERY early and at MK before opening (opens at 7am for EMH/AM)
staying there ALL day (that's the plan right now) but we also are open to the option of heading over to another park in the afternoon
We have a 1:30pm lunch ADR at LTT
and plan to catch the 12:30 Christmas parade before that
** we really want to have the whole day at MK and finish with Holiday Wishes! * but * we also always spend the night of our last day at MK and can't decide if we should go ahead and see HW! on Christmas Day or wait till SAt (our last day), my worry is that MK may be too full on last day and we might miss it.
Any input is greatly appreciated!
We have always only been at WDW over the week of Thanksgiving, and it is pretty crowded then, I was wondering if anyone has been there for Thanksgiving week AND Christmas week could help me out with a compare/contrast as to how sim/diff the 2 weeks are?
We will be there the entire week of Christmas and are planning the following for Christmas Eve and Day...
Christmas Eve / planning to be at MK before opening (opens 7am for EMH/AM, we are staying on site)
Plan to hit as much as we can and stay there till around 11/11:30 am
then head over to DHS
plan to stay at DHS til about 6pm
they have a 6:30 Fantasmic we may catch or do some resort hopping for dinner and to see decorations
*we have toyed with the idea of doing the Hay ride at Fort Wilderness?*
and then heading back to our resort "early" to rest up for the next day
Christmas Day / planning on being up VERY early and at MK before opening (opens at 7am for EMH/AM)
staying there ALL day (that's the plan right now) but we also are open to the option of heading over to another park in the afternoon
We have a 1:30pm lunch ADR at LTT
and plan to catch the 12:30 Christmas parade before that
** we really want to have the whole day at MK and finish with Holiday Wishes! * but * we also always spend the night of our last day at MK and can't decide if we should go ahead and see HW! on Christmas Day or wait till SAt (our last day), my worry is that MK may be too full on last day and we might miss it.
Any input is greatly appreciated!
We have always only been at WDW over the week of Thanksgiving, and it is pretty crowded then, I was wondering if anyone has been there for Thanksgiving week AND Christmas week could help me out with a compare/contrast as to how sim/diff the 2 weeks are?
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dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
Depends on what you mean by best. MK should have the "best" Christmas theming and entertainment. But as several PP's have posted, it will also become very very crowded.
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RiversideBunny
New Member
A Park Hopper option is very handy at times like these.
:xmas::xmas:
:xmas::xmas:
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BelleWannaBe77
Member
Hey! Okay, to start off with...have you made dinner reservations yet?? If not, DO IT NOW!! There are absolutely NO walk in reservations available on christmas or around christmas, trust me.
Christmas is unfortunately a lot busier than Thanksgiving week, but if you plan correctly you'll be fine. Like others said, get to the parks EARLY because they do close because of capacity.
The best time to switch parks would be after the 3pm parades everyday. Tons of people go to a park/stay at a park for the daily parade then leave right after. Getting to a new park around 4pm would be ideal. I also wouldn't spend both mornings at MK just because it really is a nightmare and might stress you out a lot! Maybe the first morning do AK then head to DHS around 4 then MK at night again? The nice thing about Wishes is you can watch them from outside the park if that is the only option.
Christmas is unfortunately a lot busier than Thanksgiving week, but if you plan correctly you'll be fine. Like others said, get to the parks EARLY because they do close because of capacity.
The best time to switch parks would be after the 3pm parades everyday. Tons of people go to a park/stay at a park for the daily parade then leave right after. Getting to a new park around 4pm would be ideal. I also wouldn't spend both mornings at MK just because it really is a nightmare and might stress you out a lot! Maybe the first morning do AK then head to DHS around 4 then MK at night again? The nice thing about Wishes is you can watch them from outside the park if that is the only option.
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