Trying to decide if a family trip (11 People, 8 adult & 3 kids) from Christmas Day to New Year's Eve is worth it. We will be celebrating a milestone birthday (12/26) and some of us have been to WDW but never at Christmas. Everything I read says it is so crowded. Anyone go at Christmas and can you offer any insight? Thanks!
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I have been there around Christmas time and while it is a bit crowded, it is usually a lot of fun! Especially since you are going to have a larger group and a birthday, I would suggest doing the Candlelight Processional dinner deal.
Advance reservations will be key. Book your dining six months in advance to the day of each meal if you are not staying on-site, and six months in advance to the day of your arrival if you are. Get your Fastpass+ reservations as soon as you can for your trip, too. (60 days if staying on-site, 30 days otherwise.) With those in hand, just expect everything to be crazy crowded, then enjoy the atmosphere and the energy of the crowd and have a great time.
Christmas is amazing at WDW. However, the week of Christmas through New Year's weekend is insanely busy. As Robert mentioned, get advanced reservations for everything you wish to do, as the lines will likely be too long to do much else. Also, it's a great idea to stay at one of the Disney hotels to avoid Orlando traffic, which gets really bad between Thanksgiving and New Year's weekend.
For Christmas day, early morning is extremely slow at Magic Kingdom. Your best bet to enjoy the day is to be there when the park opens. Between 10 and 11 AM, floods of people enter the park, so you won't get much done after that time. Head to Hollywood Studios to enjoy the rest of your day, as it tends to be slower than the other parks.
Above all, come with a great attitude and the holiday spirit. That will keep you from experiencing frustration with the crowds. Finally, don't forget to budget in time to visit the Disney hotels. The decorations are incredible and will add to the magic of the season!
We've just returned from a Christmas/new year visit.
The week befor Xmas was fine but the week between Xmas and new year was very very busy.
Great to visit at Christmas as a one off but we would prefer to go during the summer.
We spent Xmas Day at Hollywood Studios which wasn't too busy until Magic Kingdom reached full capacity and everyone made there way over to Hollywood Studios.
We went to Seaworld on New Years Eve to avoid the crowds at Disney. This was fine and the fireworks at midnight were as impressive as Disney.
Definitely advisable to pre order any meals and fast passes before hand.
Watch out if you eat in Disney. They charge 18% gratuity if you are a party of over 6. The gratuity is included within the bill and has to be paid or the waitress has to pay it (so we were told)
The way to avoid this is to make separate bookings under separate names although you won't be seated together.
Hope this helps.
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More power to you. I prefer going during low crowd times. Sounds cool but enjoyment goes down in my opinion. Although I have never been during Christmas I do know that I don't like crowds.