Really, how crowded is it 12/21 - 12/26?

[WishingStar2006]

We have planned and planned and planned our extra special trip to WDW to actually be there for Christmas.:tree::santa3::deer::santa2:

Now I'm reading that it will be shoulder to shoulder at all the parks every single day. Is that correct?

We are prepared for crowds and hour waits for the rides, but never thought that it would be shoulder to shoulder just to walk around. :crowd:

Please, seasoned Christmas visitors....what should we expect?

I know any day is a great day just being at WDW...just want a good idea of what to truly prepare for.

[Pirate Granny]

We've been twice...once in 2004 and last year...the crowds were a lot MORE last year...however, we arrived on Xmas Day and stayed until after NE...so in the days before you may be luckier...

I'm thinking about a quick trip the 26th-29th and told my friend...NO RIDES...just decoration viewing and bonus if we do hit a few rides...I am not and will not stand more than 30 minutes in line...and since we go alot, I can judge by lines rather than the numbers on their boards (which most the time are way too many minutes quicker than the line)...

Enjoy the special times and the special events and if you plan out your fast passes you'll be fine...

:pirate:

[Disney-lovin' Dutchman]

I have ONLY been in that period and it's very managable and fun! Everyone is happy and cheerful, the decorations are beautiful and if you make good use of Fastpass you can ride a lot of rides! Make sure you arrive early and maybe go to busy rides when the parades are on.

Trust me, you will love it! :mickey:

[castlelady36]

I have been only once and I thought it was a bit much for us. The decorations are beautiful and I would say go during that time at least once to experience the Holidays at WDW. But yes it IS crowded so much so they had actually closed MK around 4pm as they were filled to capacity when we went. I know this does not happen every year just be prepared to face long lines and feeling a little closer to your neighbor. :mickey: Have a great time!! And Happy Holidays!! :)

[Fallendroplet]

Crowded...absolutely.

Unmanageable...depends on you.

The lines for rides will be long, yes. God bless fastpass.

The decorations will be beautiful, of course.

In my opinion, it's worth it.

Enjoy your trip!

[TinaAndGlenn]

We will be arriving on Dec 27th and leaving on the 4th. We believe we are seasoned WDW veterans, but I too hope it it not shoulder to shoulder! We have been at Easter & it was very crowded & hot! Hopefully the crowds will be manageable!:mickey:

[Tigerinvestigator]

We have never been during Christmas but will be going Dec 15-21 and will hopefully miss the busiest times. We have friends who went last Christmas and said it was so crowded that their kids got tired of looking at everybody's backs instead of being able to see Mainstreet and the Castle. They had a great trip but said they would never go that week again. We have been on July 4 and Easter when it was like that and while it is hard to get around and ride everything, you are still at WDW and if you have the right attitude, you will have a great time. Understand you will not be able to walk on rides, and that you will have to plan ahead and get there early. With a little work, you can have the best Christmas ever! Good luck and enjoy your trip!:thumbsup:

[DizneyRox]

Crowds?

Imagine EVERY person you have even seen with your eyes in your lifetime all packed into the parks. And remember they all brought their families!

Hour long waits? Yeah, at the very least. I've waited longer than an hour to get into the parks during the holiday times.

That said, it's the best time to go, hands down...

[Jeff]

I agree wit Rox! It is the best time to go. The atmosphere is fantastic.

As others have said, the crowds are incredible. However, IF you get to the parks as they open and use Fast Pass wisely you can still enjoy all of the rides. If you get to the parks late and plan to ride, well, I hope you are patient folks.

We will be there again this year for Christmas. It is so much fun!

[Disney-lovin' Dutchman]

It's not that I don't agree with the others, it is extremely crowded and busy but in all sincerity, I always do all the rides, see all the shows,parades and fireworks and I am not running or going too fast so I can't enjoy it..I take my time, walk around, talk to people enjoy the sights. The longest I had to wait in 3 trips to WDW, always at Christmas was 80 minutes for Test Track..the next longest was 40 minutes for Peter Pan's Flight and for the rest the lines were shorter and we used Fastpass :mickey:

Just use Fastpass a lot and while waiting for them, go stand in line at a nearby attraction :)

[Meteora]

I have ONLY been in that period and it's very managable and fun! Everyone is happy and cheerful, the decorations are beautiful and if you make good use of Fastpass you can ride a lot of rides! Make sure you arrive early and maybe go to busy rides when the parades are on.

Agreed. Don't let the rumors bother you--just be smart about how you do the parks. Get there as early as possible, use fastpass and single rider lines when possible, leave during the crowded afternoon and come back at night. My best advice is to take advantage of cold or rainy days--the parks tend to be less crowded then.

We have been going during Christmas week every year for several years and as others have said, waits are longer. However, we've never missed anything we wanted to do and we've also never waited on a line longer than about 40 minutes.

As for shoulder to shoulder, the worst we ever saw was the MK one day last year. The other parks have all been fine, and the MK was fine on other days. It's not roomy, per se, but you're not packed in like sheep in a herd.

Just relax and enjoy the wonderful holiday spirit. Prioritize and don't worry about doing absolutely everything and you'll be fine.

[realtreebar]

have a great time on your trip as it is still disney no matter what they throw at you!!!!

[DizneyRox]

... The longest I had to wait in 3 trips to WDW, always at Christmas was 80 minutes for Test Track..the next longest was 40 minutes for Peter Pan's Flight and for the rest the lines were shorter and we used Fastpass :mickey: ...

Really? WOW, I've never seen Peter Pan's Flight less than 60 minutes, EVER! One of the reasons I can't stand MK. I'm usually there around the July 4th US holiday and it has always paled in comparision to the lines I've seen at XMas/NYE.

[Disney-lovin' Dutchman]

Yeah, the queue was really 40 minutes :mickey: I think it was during Spectromagic so Fantasyland had somewhat emptied..I do agree that mostly if I want to ride Peter Pan´s Flight, I have to get a FastPass because that is the worst queue in the world..Too hot, small, cramped and boring

[WishingStar2006]

Thanks for all of the responses....I feel somewhat better....my teenage boys are not typically early risers....but we'll see! As I keep telling them....at least we're at Disney World....I don't care if all I do it sit on my balcony at the Contemporary and watch.

Happy Holidays to all!

[McGoofy]

Christmas at Disney is a lot of fun. I have never been there on Christmas Day, but have stayed through 12/24 before. That week we could tell that the crowds were picking up each day that it got closer to Christmas. A good friend of mine was there on Christmas Day with park hopper tickets. She was going to park hop, but the CM told her that it would be best not to because the parks were at capacity, and she may not get into another park. Yes, it is definitely busy. Just be prepared to exhibit patience. Enjoy yourself, take advantage of fast passes, and have a great time!

[texasteacher]

We will be arriving on Dec 27th and leaving on the 4th. We believe we are seasoned WDW veterans, but I too hope it it not shoulder to shoulder! We have been at Easter & it was very crowded & hot! Hopefully the crowds will be manageable!:mickey:

My son and I will be there the same time as you. This will be my 10th trip but first during the holidays. It was the only time we could get together. I am a little nervous about the crowds (in 2004 we went Thanksgiving week and the rest of the trips have been summer or spring break). We are determined to go and have a good time. We will get to parks early, get as many FP as we can, and find places to get away from the crowds from time to time!
Hope all goes well for us (and you).

[Meteora]

We are determined to go and have a good time. We will get to parks early, get as many FP as we can, and find places to get away from the crowds from time to time!
Hope all goes well for us (and you).

No worries. You're going to have a fantastic time. Just follow your own proposed plan and remember to relax and enjoy--'tis the season!

Even in the biggest crowds, it's impossible not to feel the magic of the gorgeous lights and decorations in the World during the holidays--I don't even celebrate Christmas, and I still think it's unbelievably beautiful and magical!

[Mickey 101]

We were at WDW last year 12/20-30. I was very concerned about getting an early start each day to be able to tackle the crowds. I actually overcompensated and we waited at the front of the line to enter MK for an hour the first day. I was picturing having to wait forever to park, get on the monorail, go through security, through the turnstiles.......it just wasn't bad at all. We got on all the rides. Our longest wait was Soarin' for 90 minutes, but it was the latter part of the week for us. Your busiest day will probably be 12/26. Up to and including the 25th wasn't bad at all. They open every ride and even backstage areas for crowd-flow to manage all the guests. Don't worry and have a great trip!! :mickey:

[Main Street Jim]

The two weeks surrounding Christmas and New Year's are the busiest of the year - even busier than the entire three months of summer vacation. The parks may close due to reaching capacity levels auite early in the day, but as the morning-noon crowds clear out, they open back up. Keep in mind, if visiting MK, that the train is a good way to get around the park, and some attractions open an hour after official park opening. We'll probably open up an hour early as well (7am for EMH mornings, 8am for regular opening). Just *PLAN* on there being heavy crowds at the parks. For parades and fireworks, you may want to get your spot a lot earlier than normal due to the crowds.

[CandleontheWater]

If you have teenage boys who like to sleep in, then you might want to take advantage of the EMH evenings. Some nights the MK is open to 3 or 4 am, so even if you showed up at 3:00 pm, you'd still have 12 hours of touring. I know that EHM evenings can get crowded, but I can't imagine the parks would still be "shoulder to shoulder" around 4 am! Your teenage boys would probably love staying up that late, and personally I think it would be really fun to be at MK that late at night.

[Lynn J Mc]

I see you are staying at the Contemporary. That is good. Use Disney transportation, the roads for regular folks will be swamped. On the days you plan to watch Wishes I highly advise that you do it from the hotel and not fight the mob at the MK. Or at least walk back to the hotel instead of trying to take the monorail. We stayed there Christmas 03. The parks were shoulder to shoulder at times. Sometimes I don't think my feet were even touching the ground. I think I was swept along in the rush. Take lots of patience and have fun. It is worth it to be at DW at Christmas.

[MOJoe]

It's been 10 years, but we were at MK between Christmas & New Year's. It was by far the most crowded i've ever seen. We arrived around 10 A.M. and left 12 hours later. We visited all of Fantasyland, and got to the Haunted Mansion. That's it. It is a beautiful and exciting time to visit. But elbow to elbow describes the crowd level we experienced.
You have a real advantage staying at the Contemporary. Use it!

[Meteora]

I see you are staying at the Contemporary. That is good. Use Disney transportation, the roads for regular folks will be swamped. On the days you plan to watch Wishes I highly advise that you do it from the hotel and not fight the mob at the MK.

We have been using the roads for the past five or six Christmas vacations, and in those five or six years, we have encountered maybe two traffic jams.

What is annoying, though, are the lines for the trams leaving the MK, so I'd advise anyone to skip those if possible.

[Tick-Tock]

It also depends on the weather. Last Christmas was rainy in the Orlando area. We were at MK on Dec. 26 and a CM told me they had lowered their crowd forecast because it was overcast with occasional showers. Most of the day crowds weren't bad at all, but once it cleared up a bit late afternoon, it became way more crowded. The next day was sunny, and I read on posts here that MK and AK were both filled to capacity.

[Disney-lovin' Dutchman]

As I have experienced on many days in MK, it's easiest to arrive early, get a FastPass for Peter Pan, than do the rest of Fantasyland when it's early and when you have done the rides and Peter Pan's Flight, get a Fastpass for either Splash Mountain/Big Thunder Mountain..

I do it this way everytime I go to MK and always do a lot of rides each day :mickey:

[WVParkfan]

It was obscenely crowded last year. Our goal was to see all four parks decorated in their Christmas decorations.

We did it, and we had a marvelous time.

We'll never go back during Christmas again, though, because it was unbelievable how crowded it was. It took a great deal of the fun out of a trip to Disney World for us.

Good luck, and enjoy your visit.

[Main Street Jim]

Keep in mind that at least MK will open one hour earlier than normal for day guests, and up to two hours early for resort guests on EMH mornings. I think there's at least one day that week with an EMH morning *and* an EMH evening, so if you're a resort guest, you could be in the park from 7am until 4am...LOLOLOL