Week before Christmas crowds

[Brer Bear]

Hi everyone,
Quick question. I just booked a 5 night stay from Dec. 19th-24th at BWV and I’m wondering if the crowds are more manageable the week leading up to Christmas than after. My wife and I are teachers, so we always travel in the summer with our kids and are used to high crowds. However, we have never gone this close to Christmas. I keep hearing how bad crowds are Christmas through NYE. Will the difference of a few days make any difference at with crowd size?
Thanks in advance

 

[Tuvalu]

The difference is marginal. Consider the week before Christmas crazy crowded and the week after NUTZ!

Plan to rope drop, as you will accomplish more in the morning than later in the day. Plan your FPs for late morning/afternoon. Know that same-day additional FP availability will be very limited. Eat meals at non-peak hours and take advantage of mobile ordering. Bring your patience.

My teacher daughter and I were there Dec 21-24, 2019 (and are veterans of many December trips) and had a GREAT time!! It’s all in your attitude. Keep expectations low (so you won’t be frustrated) and then when pixie dust happens (which it usually does) it will be a wonderful surprise.

 

[bigorangeandy]

The crowds will be large, with each day increasing. The one thing you will notice versus the summer is that the weather will not be hot and humid. The Christmas decorations will help to put most everyone in a Christmas spirit and make for a great trip. Make sure to book your ADR's at the 180 day window, and your FP's at the 60 day mark as lots of people will be doing the same.

 

[Brer Bear]

The difference is marginal. Consider the week before Christmas crazy crowded and the week after NUTZ!

Plan to rope drop, as you will accomplish more in the morning than later in the day. Plan your FPs for late morning/afternoon. Know that same-day additional FP availability will be very limited. Eat meals at non-peak hours and take advantage of mobile ordering. Bring your patience.

My teacher daughter and I were there Dec 21-24, 2019 (and are veterans of many December trips) and had a GREAT time!! It’s all in your attitude. Keep expectations low (so you won’t be frustrated) and then when pixie dust happens (which it usually does) it will be a wonderful surprise.

Thanks for the great advice! My kids. (10 and 7) are really early risers so rope drop is always our thing. We usually are out by late afternoon and then back in the evening, so it sounds like it will be very similar to how we normally do it. Hopefully the weather will still be pool weather for those afternoons (crossed fingers!)

 

[Brer Bear]

The crowds will be large, with each day increasing. The one thing you will notice versus the summer is that the weather will not be hot and humid. The Christmas decorations will help to put most everyone in a Christmas spirit and make for a great trip. Make sure to book your ADR's at the 180 day window, and your FP's at the 60 day mark as lots of people will be doing the same.

Thanks for the response. My wife and I were talking that it will be nice to not have to worry about the daily torrential midday downpours!

 

[Tuvalu]

Thanks for the great advice! My kids. (10 and 7) are really early risers so rope drop is always our thing. We usually are out by late afternoon and then back in the evening, so it sounds like it will be very similar to how we normally do it. Hopefully the weather will still be pool weather for those afternoons (crossed fingers!)

Not to rain on your parade, but it did rain (hard and constant) every day of our trip. Never got above 65 degrees.
Still had a blast! 🌧 ️

 

[Brer Bear]

Not to rain on your parade, but it did rain (hard and constant) every day of our trip. Never got above 65 degrees.
Still had a blast! 🌧

Ugh!!! My friends just got back a few weeks ago and swam every day. They said it was in the 90’s! Luck of the draw!

 

[RememberWhen]

We were there Christmas week 2018 and it was cold some days and warm others. We did swim a couple times in the evenings. It was cold in the air but nice in the water. Plus we had the pool to ourselves!

 

[JIMINYCR]

It used to be a lot slower but now a lot more people are thinking that by going the week before they will escape the crowds. So attraction lines have grown and the parks are more filled. But because its the joyful season weve found it helps put guests in a better frame of mind and they tend to be more pleasant when dealing with them. The time of year with the decorations and holiday theming all over property IMHO makes it the best season to visit. If you are going primarily to experience the season and what Disney offers, you wont be disappointed. Youll probably see more of a difference in the last couple of days of your trip than the first few. Plan well and enjoy the festivities all around you.

 

[Eamethyst]

Hi everyone,
Quick question. I just booked a 5 night stay from Dec. 19th-24th at BWV and I’m wondering if the crowds are more manageable the week leading up to Christmas than after. My wife and I are teachers, so we always travel in the summer with our kids and are used to high crowds. However, we have never gone this close to Christmas. I keep hearing how bad crowds are Christmas through NYE. Will the difference of a few days make any difference at with crowd size?
Thanks in advance

I have been going to Disney since I was a kid and I live down in Florida. Dec 24 and 25 are the busiest days of the year at all of the Disney Parks. The same thing for Universal. The Magic Kingdom is the busiest park on Dec 24 and 25. The magic kingdom on both of those days always hits capacity. there are usually over 1 million visitors on dec 24 and another 1 million on dec 25 or more people. The magic Kingdom shuts down the entrance on both days around 11am. Sometimes it's noon. Just depend on capacity. Your best bet is to go to the Magic Kingdom from dec 19 to the 23. Save the 24 for either another park or something else do. You can go to the other parks during 19 to the 24. My suggestions are to pack snacks, sandwiches, beverages. Nothing in glass. No alcohol. Beverages can be brought in if they are in plastic bottles. Dec is a busy time in general. Christmas decorations are usually put up in late Nov. So the second week in Dec Disney is not as busy then the rest of Dec. To be honest if you hadn't booked your trip I would tell to wait until next year for a few reason. Next year Oct 1 2021 Disney World turns 50. Disney is renovating Epcot. Epcot is getting new rides, shows, restaurants. Hollywood studios is getting new rides. Magic kingdom new rides, shows. Animal kingdom is not schedule to get new rides or shows as of yet. As of right now Disney theme parks parking fee is $25 a day. It's possible it will go up. If it doesn't this year it probably will next year. Disney springs will be hectic more at night. During the day not so bad. Disney Springs has opened allot of new restaurants, retail stores. They are going to continue. Order your park tickets ahead of time. You can do it online. Disney will email you a confirmation and then you use your confirmation to pickup your tickets. If you wait prices will increase and if wait to buy them at any of the parks you will be in line for a while. Disney restaurants at the hotels and Disney springs get very busy from October until jan. If your family want s to eat at one of the restaurants at a hotel or Disney springs go online to the Disney site and make a reservation asap. Reservations fill up. I like Ohana. Really good food. Family style Polynesian food located inside the Polynesian hotel. Every Disney hotel/resort and Disney springs will be decorated with christmas. Some of the hotels in their lobbies have huge christmas trees. The grand Floridian is a beautiful hotel. The grand Floridian has christmas trees, ginger bread houses, pianos. The Gaylord Palms has a christmas event called ice. https://christmas.gaylordhotels.com/ice/. Universal has Grinchmas with the grinch, whoville and The Who's. They also have Harry Potter christmas. Decorations, lights. christmas parade. The weather in Orlando during Christmas is a hit or miss. You never know how warm or cold it will be. I've spent christmas Eve's and days at Disney and it was high 60's in the day and night 30's. Pack atleast a pair of pants, jeans, long sleeved shirt, sweatshirt, even a lightweight jacket. Check the weather the day before you leave to come down because weather always changes down here at last minute. I've never spent a rainy christmas. Rainy days were usually in the summer and fall. Some rides will be closed when you come due to refurbishments. I believe splash mountain is one of them. You can check on the Disney site for that. Space mountain is always a long wait in dec. Over 1.5 hours. go onto the Disney site and reserve fast passes. you can reserve them up to 30 days in advance of your trip. 60 days if your are staying onsite at a Disney resort or hotel. During decDisney limits how many fast passes you can get. I believe it's 3 a day per visitor. Disney makes allot of the sweets, deserts, coffee, hot chocolate. The hot chocolate is really good. There is a stand right in front of space mountain. it's reasonable. I paid last year $2.59. Disney Springs has about 4 Starbucks on site. I heard the parks were getting Starbucks but I don't know if that went through. Tower of terror is decorated. They do a light show on the tower. If you have any questions I can answer them.