Originally Posted By thalor Just how busy does it get? What parks are the most full? Anyone have any experiences to share about being there at that time? Things that you feel you MUST see or MUST do during the holiday week? We will be there from the 21st to the 29th. Any suggestions or hints of what it's like will be appreciated!
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Just how busy does it get? What parks are the most full? It's basically the busiest time of year, and and all the parks are full. People who abhor crowds stay away; people who don't mind go and enjoy.
Originally Posted By MinnieSummer Get everything you really want to see out of the way BEFORE the 24th. Don't even think about going to MK on the 25th which usually reaches capacity anyway. We go every year around the 22nd and stay until the 26th. The first couple of days are usually OK and we get to ride what we want but by the 24th things are getting crazy. It's really a great place to be for the holidays though -- we wouldn't go back every year if it wasn't. If you don't already have dining reservations get working on it. There are very few places left. Don't miss the Osborne lights Harlem Gospel Choir at MGM, the CP, LOW, and each country at Epcot, the Jingle Jungle parade at AK, and MK in general.
Originally Posted By thalor Ok so which park would anyone recommend visiting on the 25th? I was going to try to get into MK but if it is going to be at capacity, I'm not sure I want to try I've seen on the Travel Channel about a Gingerbread house as well, at what resort would that be located?
Originally Posted By cmash95 they also have a gingerbread house at american adventure in epcot. or they used to at least. I am looking forward to the lights and harlem choir at hollywood studios. but I don' t think they can top the castle. It's absolutely gorgeous.
Originally Posted By mousermerf A note on crowds... This get progressively worse from the 25th to the 31st, with some minor plateau in the middle. The 24th is lovely, tends to be very manageable and fun. People tend to award Disney trips Christmas morning as surprises and then drag the family there. Get out of dodge (the MK) before the 25th. Are you staying at a WDW resort? If so, use the early morning EMH and then hop to a non-EMH park, or for evening EMH only go if it starts at like midnight - for example the 30th (when i'll be thee) MK has evening EMH until 4am - meaning it'll be dead.
Originally Posted By Liberty Belle We went to MK on the 25th back in 2000 and had a nice sit-down lunch inside the castle (I have no idea how we managed to actually get in at that time of year since nowadays I can't seem to get in at ANY time of year!) It was extremely crowded, but we were happy to be at MK and since we'd been there for about a week beforehand we were taking it pretty easy, not rushing to get on everything. We had a reasonably relaxed day and the crowds died off big-time after the parade and fireworks leaving us with more time to do rides. If I did it again and really wanted to escape the crowds I would probably lean towards going to the Studios or something instead, since it would be less crowded and has some good dining options as well as the Spectacle of Lights (a nice Christmas Day experience - we saw it on New Year's Eve last time and it made it quite special). It's a great time of year to be there though, crowds or not. Have a great time!
Originally Posted By MinnieSummer Our touring plan is: MK the day we get there(22nd)and we usually stay until closing, The Studios the next day (23rd) and AK in the evening if it's open late. Christmas Eve is catching anything at any park and cramming our bodies into DTD for some last minute shopping (absolutely the stupidest thing we do as it can take longer to check out than it does to do the actual shopping)and dinner at AKL. On Chrismtas Day we do AK in the morning and head to Epcot around lunch. We always get CP Dinner packages which makes for a really fitting end to Christmas day.
Originally Posted By thalor We have a place that we stay not too far from the parks, so the EMH for Disney resort members is out for us. I think we will spend the 24th at MK and the 25th at MGM...we plan to have 2 days for Epcot and another for AK, probably the 22nd 27th and 28th.
