Holiday crowds-December Planning

[yulilin3]

Since my thread got merged and the question disappeared:

How late do you think I can put off buying tickets for December and still have good availability for dates?

We are scheduled for 12/13 - 12/18 and want to do 3 WDW and 2 USF dates. I can buy USF tickets at any point with no issues, but I have to reserve parks for WDW. I have one iffy person for the trip, and of course, I need to be sure ds and gf are still dating (I expect they will be, he is not a date-around guy). I don't want to be out over a $800 on tickets that may have to be reassigned to another trip, but also don't want to miss out on DHS since I have two HUGE Star Wars nerds to contend with...

Thanks!

You can track availability on the site, there's no way to know, this is all unprecedented

 

[Blondie58]

Just a reminder that virus talk is not permitted in this forum, go to the community board for that. Thank you

Just wondering??? This is a "rule" of protocol outlined where?????

 

[Wreckem]

What are everyone's thoughts on the various parks on Christmas Day? I know MK would be the most popular pick but I am really interested to hear the pros (or cons) of each of the parks - what makes that particular day special in each park?

Our family of 3 has 3 different favorite parks:
me: AK
DH: Epcot
DS8: HS

Thanks!

This year and most years I would say AK. I’m not so sure about MK on Xmas eve this year as someone else suggested. Ordinarily I would agree but there’s no way they will open at 7am this year.


This will be my third year in a row at Xmas at Disney, four overall at Xmas. I’ve done MK once and AK twice. Am will always be the least busy park on Xmas day. The exception might be this year. Without fireworks or candlelight and the other holiday festivities, Epcot will be the least busy. Xmas day is my last full day. I’m probably going to do AK in the morning and Universal in the afternoon.

This past Xmas we did Xmas eve at DHS and MK and we did AK and Epcot on Xmas. We did Dec 30 at MK/Ploy Beach and NYE at Epcot as well.

So in normal years crowds are huge. This year they won’t be as huge and wait times won’t necessarily be 2+ hrs for most things at the peak of the day but don’t expect walk ons outside of the first and last hours.

 

[yulilin3]

Just wondering??? This is a "rule" of protocol outlined where?????

This is Disney planning thread, it has been explicitly said in many threads ever since all this started, you can find several open threads on the community board

 

[Blondie58]

This is Disney planning thread, it has been explicitly said in many threads ever since all this started, you can find several open threads on the community board

Thank you for sharing and enlightening. Did not know this. However, plans are certainly impacted by Co- - -.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Well it'll reach capacity, just a lower capacity. Christmas Is one of a handful days of the year where MK consistently has reached capacity.
If people right now are complaining about crowds during the weekends, mk on Christmas will be the epitome of crowds in this new normal.
It's really too early to know or even predict what sort of offering any parks will have, i would say count on decorations and specialty food and merch but not much else

Agreed. And if FP is still gone and it's all stand-by, I am not sure I would plan to ride many rides that day. We have park reservations for MK on Christmas but plan to just go in the evening for dinner and keep expectations low.

 

[dachsie]

Ok this says holiday and my trip does go into December so I need to ask some advice.

Currently I am reserved for AK the Sunday after Thanksgiving (11/29). How busy do you think that will be? I want to be able to ride FoP a few times like people are reporting. I have an open day on Thurs (12/3) - I was going to resort hop for that and take a break. Should I move the AK day to Thurs or do you think it will be ok to stay on Sunday? Part of the reason I need to decide is ADRs because I would need to adjust them to Sunday instead of Thursday. I make them in a month so have a little time to decide. TIA

 

[Alynw]

Xmas is usually the busiest time of year but obviously this year will not be as busy but u still need to consider that even though there won't be as many people as normal, there will most definitely be alot more people then there is now. Even now on weekends, even though there isn't a lot of people in general, wait times are getting up there due to social distancing practices and u can expect a whole lot more people during Xmas. So even though the crowds themselves will be a lot lower than normal, I still fully expect to endure high wait times. But this is just speculation at this point, nobody will know for sure until the time comes but ill be there myself to find out.

 

[soniam]

Ok this says holiday and my trip does go into December so I need to ask some advice.

Currently I am reserved for AK the Sunday after Thanksgiving (11/29). How busy do you think that will be? I want to be able to ride FoP a few times like people are reporting. I have an open day on Thurs (12/3) - I was going to resort hop for that and take a break. Should I move the AK day to Thurs or do you think it will be ok to stay on Sunday? Part of the reason I need to decide is ADRs because I would need to adjust them to Sunday instead of Thursday. I make them in a month so have a little time to decide. TIA

The Thursday would be better, but that Sunday after Thanksgiving gets light too. Most people have to head home on Sunday.

 

[GPC0321]

We were at WDW just prior to Christmas back in 2017 (like the 18-21st I think). It was our first time being there during the holiday season and it was spectacular! We booked to be there over actual Christmas for 2020 long before COVID came along, and while we are disappointed that we'll not get to see Candlelight, the various Christmas nighttime/fireworks shows, Joyful, the parade in MK, and possibly even the storytellers in World Showcase, we are lucky that we experienced every bit of that back in 2017. The biggest bummer is that Drawn to Life has been postponed, so we're missing that (and we had great seats, gah!), but at least we'll still be at WDW for Christmas. And I don't care how crowded it is, even if this were regular times with no COVID and no capacity limits, I'd still insist on being in Magic Kingdom for Christmas Day. It has been a dream of mine since I was a kid to wake up on Christmas morning and go to Magic Kingdom, so by golly, that's where we're going! In fact, that's our only MK day. Our others are split with 2 Epcot, 1 HS, and 1 AK. We're staying at Boardwalk, and we love just wandering around World Showcase, especially if they have Holiday Kitchens open, so that's why it gets more days. We're there on Christmas Eve, which was supposed to be for Candlelight Processional, but oh well.

 

[Vern60]

I finally made some plans for our trip this year, over Christmas, Dec 21 - 28th. Originally I thought I will do AK on Christmas day is I agree it would most likely be one of the least crowded (?). However, I ended up changing it thinking if there is ever a year to be in MK on Christmas day, this will probably be it, (or the lowest crowds). I ended up switching.
I fear if I keep switching back and forth though, one of the times I will cancel and then find the park I want is no longer available, what then? Panic of course!

 

[Mollygirl21]

We decided to book HS for Christmas Day - it's DS8's favorite park and ROTR is DH's favorite ride (FoP is a close second) so what better place to be on Christmas morning! Plus, I think 50's Prime Time Cafe would be a good spot for a "home cooked" Christmas dinner

Now, we just need some travel restrictions to be lifted and I can plan the rest!

 

[dachsie]

The Thursday would be better, but that Sunday after Thanksgiving gets light too. Most people have to head home on Sunday.

Thanks. I ended up switching AK to Mon and EP for the Sunday and can swap it to Thurs if I need to.

 

[Vern60]

Darn, now I'm having 2nd thoughts about MK for Christmas day. Woke up this morning dreaming of AK for Christmas. I do love the Safari ride, (among others of course), and I'm thinking it would most definitely be less crowded.
Also, we have the 7 day ticket. Two days in each park except for most likely AK. I had previously made MK our last park day which would more or less be a half day due to travel. With that and Christmas being the other, we might miss out a lot. Hmm, maybe MK on Christmas eve then. Wish I knew if hours are going to be extended, since we're staying at CBR I was thinking Epcot would make a good last day, having the Skyliner and all, but as it doesn't open until 11 ...
Sorry for thinking out loud.

 

[Vern60]

We decided to book HS for Christmas Day - it's DS8's favorite park and ROTR is DH's favorite ride (FoP is a close second) so what better place to be on Christmas morning! Plus, I think 50's Prime Time Cafe would be a good spot for a "home cooked" Christmas dinner

Now, we just need some travel restrictions to be lifted and I can plan the rest!

I love your idea for the "home cooked" Christmas dinner! My thinking is similar to yours, except I really like AK. The problem with that though is I can't think of a similar restaurant. I do love Flame Tree Barbeque, but that might be better for lunch.

 

[Mollygirl21]

Darn, now I'm having 2nd thoughts about MK for Christmas day. Woke up this morning dreaming of AK for Christmas. I do love the Safari ride, (among others of course), and I'm thinking it would most definitely be less crowded.
Also, we have the 7 day ticket. Two days in each park except for most likely AK. I had previously made MK our last park day which would more or less be a half day due to travel. With that and Christmas being the other, we might miss out a lot. Hmm, maybe MK on Christmas eve then. Wish I knew if hours are going to be extended, since we're staying at CBR I was thinking Epcot would make a good last day, having the Skyliner and all, but as it doesn't open until 11 ...
Sorry for thinking out loud.

If you are torn between MK and AK, maybe book MK since it is likely to sell out first. Then if you want to move to AK, there is probably going to be availability

 

[soniam]

Darn, now I'm having 2nd thoughts about MK for Christmas day. Woke up this morning dreaming of AK for Christmas. I do love the Safari ride, (among others of course), and I'm thinking it would most definitely be less crowded.
Also, we have the 7 day ticket. Two days in each park except for most likely AK. I had previously made MK our last park day which would more or less be a half day due to travel. With that and Christmas being the other, we might miss out a lot. Hmm, maybe MK on Christmas eve then. Wish I knew if hours are going to be extended, since we're staying at CBR I was thinking Epcot would make a good last day, having the Skyliner and all, but as it doesn't open until 11 ...
Sorry for thinking out loud.

I would definitely do MK or AK for your last/travel day to get the most out of it. That's what we did in July and plan to do Thanksgiving. As for AK or MK for xmas, that's harder. MK would be nice, as long as you go in knowing that it could be very crowded and more of a stop and smell the roses kind of day.

 

[dachsie]

Darn, now I'm having 2nd thoughts about MK for Christmas day. Woke up this morning dreaming of AK for Christmas. I do love the Safari ride, (among others of course), and I'm thinking it would most definitely be less crowded.
Also, we have the 7 day ticket. Two days in each park except for most likely AK. I had previously made MK our last park day which would more or less be a half day due to travel. With that and Christmas being the other, we might miss out a lot. Hmm, maybe MK on Christmas eve then. Wish I knew if hours are going to be extended, since we're staying at CBR I was thinking Epcot would make a good last day, having the Skyliner and all, but as it doesn't open until 11 ...
Sorry for thinking out loud.

One thing mentioned earlier to consider. This may be the least crowded MK year to go with park limits. So if your ever wanted to do MK on Christmas Day, this would be the year

 

[Alynw]

This Christmas will definitely be different than the usual. Less visitors, less entertainment, maybe less time in the parks. More flexibility to go on rides, more space to walk around, more chances to relax and experience Christmas.

Definitely be less people which will make navigating the park much more easier and relaxed but im expecting extremely high wait times on rides. I really hope im wrong but im expecting wait times to be just as high as previous years and possibly even higher. I say this because of the social distancing practices for the rides. As yulilin3 said, whatever capacity they allow, they will reach it on xmas and even though the numbers will be lower i still expect very high wait times. Some of the wait times got really crazy this holiday weekend of which won't be anything compared to Xmas. For those who just enjoy being there at Xmas, taking ur time to just look at decorations and enjoy the atmosphere, don't really care about riding all the rides, i think this will be good time to visit but for those who have to ride all the rides, luv being able to use the fp and snagging fp on the go, ur going to be very frustrated with how long the wait times are and not having fp.

 

[kikismom]

We are trying to decide which week works best for us, it would be our first trip to DW, we normally go to DLR. It's between December 5 - 13, December 12 - 20, or December 26 - January 3. We think that the week after Christmas would be awesome but worry because flight prices go up so huge. December 12 - 20 has two people in our groups birthday's so that would be very fun. December 5 - 13 would also be great because it gets us back home in time to make our house prepped more for Christmas. We are really having trouble deciding. We have a Disneyland trip booked for December 12 - 18 but if they don't announce opening dates soon we will switch to Disney World.

Any thoughts on these dates for first timers to DW?