Christmas Eve/day

[Guest]

We arrive or Florida on Christmas Eve, what do you suggest from 8pm onwards?
Also Christmas Day, fancy magic kingdom, what are the chances of getting in later in the day maybe 5pm? Where to eat?

[KeepSmiling]

Hi

Wow - how wonderful for you! That will certainly be a Christmas to remember.

Christmas Eve - 8pm Orlando time will be 1am UK time. Chances are you won't be up to doing a great deal other than finding something to eat and perhaps checking out your accommodation

Christmas Day - if you are planning on an MK day my advice would be to take advantage of the fact that you will be awake at silly o'clock and head there nice and early. I believe that once the park has reached capacity (and that is usually one of the days that it does) then you might find it more difficult later in the day. Others may say differently though and it's been a very long time since I was there at Christmas.

Whatever you decide to do - have a wonderful time. I'd love to take my kids there for Christmas x

[Guest]

Originally Posted by KeepSmiling

Hi

Wow - how wonderful for you! That will certainly be a Christmas to remember.

Christmas Eve - 8pm Orlando time will be 1am UK time. Chances are you won't be up to doing a great deal other than finding something to eat and perhaps checking out your accommodation

Christmas Day - if you are planning on an MK day my advice would be to take advantage of the fact that you will be awake at silly o'clock and head there nice and early. I believe that once the park has reached capacity (and that is usually one of the days that it does) then you might find it more difficult later in the day. Others may say differently though and it's been a very long time since I was there at Christmas.

Whatever you decide to do - have a wonderful time. I'd love to take my kids there for Christmas x

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Thank you so much. I didn’t really want to go first thing because I want to see the fireworks at night but scared we don’t get in at all! Very helpful thanks x

[Button17]

How about early MK, then watch fireworks from boat, beach or hotel xx

[disneymadhouse]

We're there for Christmas again this year. We are going to be in MK on Christmas day … will get there early! We have lunch booked at BOG and dinner booked that evening for WCC. We may go back to OKW for a swim after lunch depending on how busy it is

[Lola]

We spent a Christmas Eve at the Wilderness Lodge and Santa Claus was in the lobby. We booked a meal and spent time in the lobby beforehand. Very atmospheric

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by Button17

How about early MK, then watch fireworks from boat, beach or hotel xx

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That would be my suggestion, but beaches are usually reserved for residents and pre booked table service meal diners on peak dates. Worth thinking about a meal if you want to do that.

[Brennanhough]

Don’t take this the wrong way- we did it last year and as brilliant as it was- once and never again!

We were out the villa at 7am sharp- traffic was fine until we hit the queues to pay to get in the car park- 45 minutes that took! An other 25 minutes until we were in our parking space. 3 trams came and went, we got the 4th. We then got the third ferry in to MK.

We had missed our 9am chef mickey reservation so Starbucks it was- queued here for an hour (grandparents get grumpy without a coffee!) and by the time we’d done there, it had taken us 4 hours to get from the villa to the castle, which we’d done in 30 mins previously!

Nothing was under 1.5 hours all day, 7DMT was 3 hours. The park was shut around 2pm and it was pure gridlock behind the castle. You was literally shuffling along. We had a reservation for 6pm at Crystal Palace and when we got out we sat and waited for fireworks. By the time they started- heaving isn’t the word! When the finished they opened up the back areas- around the back of Main Street- to relieve some of the traffic getting out.

Like I said we all loved it it was magical, and I’m glad we’ve done it but never again. That said we’ve all said we arent looking forward to Christmas this year as it will be rubbish compared to last!

Weather wise it was beautiful the first week- late 70s early 80s. Second week was freezing. I’m talking hoodies, woolly hats weather. We had to buy a whole new wardrobe as we’d only taken summer jackets for the nights!

We did Clearwater on new year which was brilliant! Any more questions please ask x

[Carolynmf]

We arrived last Christmas Eve late, I booked Discovery Cove for Christmas Day. It was a very chilled, relaxing Christmas.

[pad406]

Hi Joyce, welcome to the boards. Christmas in Disney is a bit like marmite, some love it (like us) some don't. I firmly believe that a successful Christmas visit is 99% down to attitude. If you visit planning to do lots of rides and show you'll likely be very disappointed, however if you plan carefully (it is one of those times that you really have to plan) you can have a wonderful time.

Generally we avoid the parks on Christmas day, we might do an EMH morning and then leave, returning to MK very late, probably 11pm or so to take advantage of the much reduced crowds at that time. However that is dependent on being on-site, not sure if you are or not.

As Brennanhough said not only are the queues long for almost everything, but the sheer volume of people make moving around difficult. if you are off-site then there is the added issue of even getting into the parks.

Some things though to be aware of. On 24th (day you arrive) and 30th they generally do practice runs of the big fireworks displays with much reduce crowds. Morning of the 26th and 1st can be really quiet in the parks early on and you can get a lot done, use/avoid EMH parks depending if you're on/off site.

Alternatives, within Disney, for Christmas day, would be touring the resorts. The Campgrounds are also worth a wander around as many of the campers decorate their sites and some are truly wonderful.