To Christmas or not to Christmas

[Picalily]

Hi, we went last year from 25th Nov till 19th Dec. The first week was busy as I had forgotten about thanksgiving but after that Universal, Seaworld and Busch were great, mainly walk ons or 20 mins wait at most. Disney we still found busy compared to other years but probably not if you compare it to the Summer. The queues in Disney were about 60-90 mins but as I say this is probably not considered too bad. The decorations everywhere are absolutely beautiful, but spoils you because when you get home and see our attempts at Christmas decorations you feel really disappointed.

[Darthmickey]

Originally Posted by MTEC

We've just booked to go 9th Dec to 23rd Dec 2021

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You can get flights already?

[Jaspercat10]

We have just been for 2 weeks over Christmas and absolutely loved it, yes it was busy in the parks but not unbearably so, just booked to go again next year, I would say you need to plan beforehand though and make reservations etc :-)

[hayles25]

I loved Xmas in Orlando, the weather was mild...quite quiet at times.

We dined at the Gaylord palms but to be honest was not impressed at the buffet and was limited for choice.

[claireyfairy8]

I go every Xmas.

Up until 21st or so, Disney is manageable.
Remember, one Disney waterpark is normally closed for refurbishment over winter. The other will be open subject to weather.

Universal isn't as bad, even Christmas to NYE week.

We avoid parks 24th and 25th.

Normally do Celebration on 24th evening, great place to see the snow etc.
Christmas day we go to a Disney resort restaurant. This past trip, we did Topolino's Terrace for breakfast & dinner. Dinner was much better.

I prefer a buffet style breakfast or brunch normally. Ohana was great a few years ago, 1900 Park also.

Use your FP well!

[Permagrip Soles]

We went 19/12/19 - 3/1/20. Very busy but generally managable would be my overall assessment, however we did not do a very park focused holiday this year.

We did the Christmas Party at MK on 20th - busy, but definitely manageable. We only went for the party, so entered at 4pm and planned only to do our 3 fastpasses (Jingle Cruise, Space Mountain and Splash Mountain), no meet and greets, then enjoy parade, castle show and fireworks. But we were able to squeeze in Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Haunted Mansion and meet Mickey at Town Square due to low queues (around 15 mins, which was a total bonus).

We were staying offsite in the Rosen Plaza and the roads, restaurants and stores all got noticably busier from 21st onwards. Disney Springs on 21st was chockablock but we were lucky to get into Wolfgang Puck Express. Raglan Road was standing room only.

We did Legoland on 22rd and it was absolutely dead. Weather was very bad that day however. Seaworld on 23rd started quite quiet but by the end of the day, when the Christmas village starts to come to life, it was really busy.

We did Celebration and the lights on Jeater Bend on Christmas Eve which was a different, great experience but the roads are really jampacked so prepare to queue in and out of the town on Christmas Eve. We were in an Uber and got him to drop us as close as possible on the way in and benefited from being outside the centre of the town at Jeater Bend on the way out. We had hoped to get into the Celebration Town Tavern for dinner but it was a 2 hour wait.

Christmas Day we were prebooked in Rosen Plaza for the (massive!) Christmas buffet which was a godsend. We went over to Millers Ale House for some drinks and appetisers in the evening and had to wait 90 mins for a table.

New Year's Eve we were fortunate enough to be the last reservation in Saltgrass SteakHouse on I-Drive which was across the road from the Icon Park Fireworks we were due to attend for midnight. This was great, - the icon park fireworks and entertainment was REALLY busy to the point where the crowd was spilling out onto the road.

Generally speaking, prepare for busy roads, busy restaurants and busy stores/outlets when you go. Our weather ranged from very chilly wind and rain on some days to 26 degree sunshine. Long shorts with a hoody with a t-shirt under it was my general attire which served me best most days.

I would really look at prebooking reservations at restuarants if you can, especially on the holiday days.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Darthmickey

As per title really - we are contemplating going to Orlando Christmas 2021 from about the 10th to Jan 3rd. Will it be crazy busy and weather unpredictable (we love the waterparks). Any advice or personal experience welcomed!

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We go almost every Christmas for the last 14 years.

Regarding weather we've had to scrape ice off the car some mornings and equally been sunburnt by 11am on other days.

The best advice on weather is expect it to be cold some of the time, and you'll be happy at how often it's actually very hot. Regardless it will be at least 20c hotter than staying at home by 10am each day...

In terms of crowds until about the 18th of December it's probably the quietest month in the calendar. After the 18th it's absolute carnage until after New Year's Day. Nowadays we do the parks and Orlando until the week before XMAS and then head down to the Keys for a chilled XMAS

That said we did do XMAS dinner in Mythos (universal) this year and it was great. Got on every ride that day in both parks (without fast passes) but required a good knowledge of which rides have big queues and which queues go quickly etc - and you need to stay all day

We wouldn't change our Christmas now

[Rescuer]

We loved it.

We went 24/12 to 4/1 and were in the Disney parks every day. My top tip would be stay onsite.

Here’s our trip report if you want a read.
https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1113744

[The Golfer]

having lived in Florida for 15 years xmas from the 22nd to 1st jan are manic around 100k people can go to MK & Epcot each day and unless you have tickets for Universal on New Year its crazy you can expect to wait upto 45mins for a drink

[MTEC]

Originally Posted by Darthmickey

You can get flights already?

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We booked through virgin holidays a couple of weeks ago