Pre-Trip First Disney Christmas

Well we are finally 30 days out from our first WDW trip at Christmas time. I have been patiently waiting for the 30 day mark to hit so I could do a pre-trip, it was hard. I am going to attempt to do a live trip report so sometimes my partner in crime Caroline may be posting.This trip is somewhat of a surprise as we had not planned to go back until 2018 when our youngest turns 3. My wife's grandparents live in the Villages and really wanted to see us so they offered up their DVC points and got the entire family time at Bay Lake. Just to warn everyone at WDW, we will be the family singing Christmas carols as we travel the parks on the monorail! If you don't like to have fun or cut loose at WDW, don't get into the same monorail car as my family.
A lot has changed in our family since my last trip report so I will get everyone caught up, if you care to follow. Kai's adoption was final on 12-31-2015, just in time for the new year and tax returns, woo hoo! We moved in June to Clermont County, Ohio so the kids started new schools. Not a distance move but, a school change for the kids. My oldest Ashley is in the 7th grade and made the school volleyball team. It was a great year for her and the transition to her new school has been a pleasant surprise. Caroline is in the 4th grade and played her first year of club soccer. It was a rough year for the team but, she became a leader on the team and made mon and dad proud. Luke is now in kindergarten and has grown to love school and getting Class Dojo points, if anyone knows what those are. He is playing soccer but, wants to play tackle football. I say yes, mom says no so we are going to compromise with flag football to see how he likes it. Kai turned 1 in April and has grown up so fast. He is a blessing to our family but, like every 18 month old he is earning his current nickname of "Bam-Bam". Those of you who have raised kids know what I mean. Like before, we will decorate our magic bands so I will post some pics when we get them. Please follow along and enjoy some pics of my awesome family. See you soon in WDW!

EMERALD ISLE, NC

KAI'S FIRST BIRTHDAY AND BIRTHDAY CAKE!

CAROLINE AND DAD SPORTING THE CINCY SC SWAG

HALLOWEEN, HAVE I BEEN SUCCESSFUL AT SHOWING HOW COOL STAR WARS IS?
ASHLEY IS ALICE, WHICH IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES SO SHE GOT A PASS.

MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO SEE THE VOLS BEAT UK. ROCKY TOP!!

 

[LeighM]

It's been a dream of mine to go to WDW in December and seeing all of the holiday offerings. Can't wait to read your report

 

[bebert]

It's been a dream of mine to go to WDW in December and seeing all of the holiday offerings. Can't wait to read your report

I am a little nervous about the crowds. I have experienced the Thanksgiving week crowd before so my expectations are for a packed WDW.

 

[lostpro9het]

Well we are finally 30 days out from our first WDW trip at Christmas time.

We will be there at the same time! I love being there during Christmas, the decorations at the resorts and the parks are just phenomenal.

 

[bebert]

Last couple of hours in the office until vacation starts!! Hitting a 4:00 showing of Rogue One with the kiddos and then rest up tonight for our 8:00 am flight to Orlando. Hoping the winter weather gets out of the area before we head out to the airport and no delayed flights. Saturday will be spent at the grandparents house in the Villages eating crepes and drinking German beer. We head to Baylake Tower for check-in on Sunday. My wife's grandparents are from Holland and Germany so they treat us to authentic food whenever we see them. It is a nice warm up for the Biergarten at World Showcase!
Cloudy, gray view of the Reds stadium from my office. Hurry up and get here 12:00.

 

[Matthew Hiester]

My extended family (11 of us) spent the Christmas week at WDW this year. I was a little apprehensive about going that time of year, but it was the only week that worked for everyone's work and school schedules. To be sure, it was busy, but with ADRs and FP+ reservations we really didn't find lines that big an issue. In fact, most mornings we were there at (or close to) rope drop and we were able to hit several popular attractions with little to no wait. The parks are beautifully decorated and Disney feels even more magical at the holidays.

My only caution would be avoiding the MK on New Years Eve, unless you are committed to staying for the long haul. My two older nieces and I went in around 10:00 because we wanted to do some last minute shopping at the Emporium before departing the next day. It was a mob scene (which we expected). What we hadn't anticipated was the challenge getting back out! We opted to ride Pirates one last time (no real line) but then had to walk the entire circuit of the park to exit through a backstage exit from Tomorrowland. Every single piece of real estate other than the one slowly moving exit line was jammed with people. I suppose we should have just plopped down and watched the fireworks, but we dreaded the thought of getting out of the park and back to our resort at the end of the show. So, we finally made our way out and onto a completely empty monorail. We got off at the Poly and, as luck would have it, the fireworks show was just starting so we were able to watch it from across Bay Lake, which was still awesome. And, I suspect we were sound asleep in our beds well before most people made it out of the park.

If you go at Christmas/New Years, go into it knowing crowds will be huge and plan accordingly.