Christmas Day at MK

[Pally]

My dining window opens tomorrow morning. My question is, if I leave the park on Christmas day for a dinner reservation, can I get back in? I will be trying to get an ADR at Citricos for 6-6:30.

We were able to get into MK in 2006 for our ADR at Crystal Palace but that year it was rainy and stormy. (Laid up in bed all day from a torn Achilles tendon. Run over by someone pushing a wheelchair at Epcot closing. Completely knocked to the ground). Did manage to hobble that night to MK. Why did I not get a wheelchair?? Anyhoo...

What is it like if the weather is nice.

Christmas Day is also my birthday and we wanted to have a signature meal.

Should we stay put in the park or take a chance?

[faline]

I've only been to Disney World once on Christmas day and that was a number of years ago. We arrived in the Magic Kingdom early in the day and stayed until around mid day. At that time, we hopped over to Epcot which was much more manageable during the main part of the day. For some reason, we decided to return to the Magic Kingdom in the evening. We didn't have any problem getting admission to the park but, oh my!!! I sort of wish we had been turned away. We made it into Frontierland and got stuck there during a parade and, I do mean stuck!! We could not move forward, backward or to either side as we were totally surrounded by people - it was really sort of scary. People were climbing over fences and trouncing through gardens to try to move. Once the parade was over, the people slowly disentangled, and, when they did, we headed straight for the exit!!

[Pirate Granny]

Oh Linda we were stuck on the same bridge on New Years eve for the parade...over 60 minutes packed in, with my dad in a wheelchair. Our youngest threatened to jump in the water, just to escape. It was horrible. And that year they did close the park from around noon until 4 or 5 pm. I think the first to get let back in are people staying on property. The fireworks are fabulous, but we now will go on the 24th when they also have the same fireworks, and catch the NYE ones at EPCOT.

[Speedy1998]

I would recommend avoiding MK on Christmas day. Go on the 26th the crowd is much smaller, as everyone, and I do mean everyone was there on the 25th. MY one trip at Christmas, we went to DHS on Christmas day. We had the park to ourselves for most of the morning. Around noon as both MK and EPCOT reached capacity the park got crowded, but not nearly as bad as what is being described for MK on Christmas day.

I have also heard that AK has smaller crowds on Christmas day.

[joonyer]

We were at MK this past Christmas day in the morning only. It was warm and sunny, a beautiful day. By noon, the streets were literally rivers of people, there were no empty spaces. You could not move upstream. The queue for 7DMT was over 200 minutes and stretched back to Dumbo. During the parade it was impossible to move anywhere in the park, unless you were on an attraction or far away from parade route. We left in early afternoon and went to Animal Kingdom, which was our plan to begin with. If the weather is nice I would think you could not count on re-entry until very late. You might get back in before the fireworks, but you might not. If you absolutely have to be in MK on Christmas evening (I don't know why) you should plan on staying in the park once you get in.

[Cass&KenziesMom]

I would recommend avoiding MK on Christmas day. Go on the 26th the crowd is much smaller, as everyone, and I do mean everyone was there on the 25th. MY one trip at Christmas, we went to DHS on Christmas day. We had the park to ourselves for most of the morning. Around noon as both MK and EPCOT reached capacity the park got crowded, but not nearly as bad as what is being described for MK on Christmas day.

I have also heard that AK has smaller crowds on Christmas day.

Not necessarily true. We arrived the 26th about mid-day (as soon as we got to Orlando) and were not let in because the Fire Marshall shut it down because of capacity.

[Pally]

Thanks for the advice. After chewing on different options we have decided to go to Magic Kingdom but leave late in the afternoon. We have lunch at BoG on Christmas day which I would like to keep. We have dinner booked at Citricos. Instead of going back to Magic Kingdom afterwards, I have booked a Wishes Fireworks cruise. We have done this in the past and it was fabulous. Fireworks with no crowds!!

[Jeff]

As a veteran of visiting on Christmas Day, I think your plan sounds perfect!