Please tell me all you know about Christmas time in Florida

[Disney Jo]

I am currently booked for May 2021 but it is looking very doubtful. Due to school terms the only other time we could go would be December for the Christmas break.

I have heard it is really busy and parks reach full capacity - is this for the whole of the Christmas break? We are looking to go 15th-30th.

Can a pool day be done on Christmas day or is it too cold usually? Do restaurants stay open, I was thinking a pool day and a restaurant for some dinner.

Any advice would be fantastic.

[nothingless]

We went over Christmas and New Years in 2018/2019 and had an absolutely lovely time - you can find my trip report here. We travelled with myself, my husband, our two-year-old, and my mom, and stayed off-site at Windsor Hills in a 3-bed apartment. We also met up on many days with my brother, his wife, and their two kids (nearly 3 and 6 months).

The parks tend to reach capacity on Christmas Day, sometimes Boxing day, and sometimes New Years day, but it's different every year and of course Christmas 2021 is likely to be VERY different from 2018!

I'd definitely suggest going in with the right expectations. Expect it to be busy, expect everything to take a little longer than usual, even walking from one side of the park to the other. If FPs are back by then, book them as soon as your window opens and don't expect to be able to do any more rides that day. Most likely there'll be something that doesn't have a long queue on the day itself, but consider that a bonus! Of course, if FPs aren't back, just be prepared to queue for everything.

I'd also strongly suggest pre-booking meals for the busiest days (25, 26, and 31 Dec for us). The queues for the quick-serves on those days were horrendous, and I was so glad we had our meals booked!

The weather can vary a lot. At the beginning of our trip, there was a cold snap and it was as cold as 7C the first morning! But a week later, the temperature had heated up and we spent several afternoons in the pool cooling off after walking around the parks in 28C heat! So pack for all eventualities, you may need a coat and scarf as much as a swimsuit and flipflops!

Your plan for Christmas day sounds great if it's warm enough. If it's too cold to swim, you could always consider going to one of the quieter parks - we did Animal Kingdom on Christmas Day and it was awesome, magical and not too bad with the crowds.

Hope that helps a little - any questions, just ask! We had a great time and I definitely wouldn't hesitate to go at Christmas again. It's just hard to predict what 2021 will be like - the past Christmas, with the 35% capacity limit, it was fairly quiet. How many of the pandemic measures and capacity limits will still be in place?

[TinkerBabe]

We have been over Christmas for 3 weeks and had a lovely time, weather was great (t shirt and shorts the whole time, hoodies in the evening) and we didnt find crowds much of a problem. We actually spent Christmas day offsite at a resort called Gaylord Palms. We had a beautiful meal in their Mediterranean restaurant, and the whole resort was decorated beautifully for the season, with carol singers and hot chocolate going on. Its a lovely resort with different huge themed atriums, one of which is everglades themed and has small alligators! Definitely worth a visit at some point over a festive season.

[Scotsmomma2]

We do 4 weeks over Christmas every year now and have done for the past 10 years or so(apart from last year)
We've been in villas and hotels, mostly hotels. It's by far our favourite time to go, of course it's mega busy, but more manageable for us than Summer when you have crowds and intense heat and humidity to contend with. The weather can at times be iffy but we've always managed plenty pool days and somedays it can be pretty hot,and the next day chilly Baltic. We've spent Christmas Days in Aquatica, at a villa pool, Magic Kingdom, going for lunch, watching the Christmas Day parade and leaving right after. Fingers crossed for this year and some glorious weather.

[Disney Jo]

Thank you all so much! Some great insight into Christmas time.
We do expect it to be mega busy, but like Scotsmomma2 said I’m hoping it might be easier without the heat of the summer.

[Merryweather17]

Been twice at xmas and the weather can be variable but generally over 2 weeks you do get at least a few sunny and warm days. It is busy and I know a lot of people avoid disney itself on xmas, boxing and NYE and NYday. We did Epcot on christmas day and it was very quiet early in the day but was very busy by the afternoon. Xmas can be a pool/resort/beach even a shopping day depending on your preference and some people say SeaWorld is lovely at Christmas but we have not been at that time of year. Go with some jumpers and expectation that it wont be perfect weather everyday and it will be a lovely surprise if it is.

[Disney Jo]

Originally Posted by Merryweather17

Been twice at xmas and the weather can be variable but generally over 2 weeks you do get at least a few sunny and warm days. It is busy and I know a lot of people avoid disney itself on xmas, boxing and NYE and NYday. We did Epcot on christmas day and it was very quiet early in the day but was very busy by the afternoon. Xmas can be a pool/resort/beach even a shopping day depending on your preference and some people say SeaWorld is lovely at Christmas but we have not been at that time of year. Go with some jumpers and expectation that it wont be perfect weather everyday and it will be a lovely surprise if it is.

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Thank you. Are the shops open Christmas Day and Boxing Day? I just thought they would be shut.

[mrs rcch]

Closed Christmas Day, 26th all back to normal

[Merryweather17]

Originally Posted by Disney Jo

Thank you. Are the shops open Christmas Day and Boxing Day? I just thought they would be shut.

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Depends which shops you mean, disney springs is open every day, the outlets opened in the afternoon on xmas day in 2019 though they were shut in the morning. Most malls are open as normal on boxing day as that doesn't exist as a holiday in the US.

[woomeister]

We went Dec 5th to 19th in 2011 - parks dead quiet and record breaking heat 85-90+
" " Dec 6th to 20th in 2013 - parks quiet weather glorious 80+
" " Dec 14th to Dec 2015 28th - Parks busy to rammed weather fair/good 75+
" " Dec 8th to Dec 22 2019 - Parks very busy(new Star wars)weather good 75+