Thanks to touring plans (and all the info on this board) I did an amazing job planning our first trip since 2009 last October!!! It was so great that I planned a more spontaneous trip to celebrate my 40th (and my son’s 8th b/c we share a birthday) in May!
My mother was so jealous to not be included in that trip that she brought up a possible Christmas trip for this year. I went along with it thinking it wouldn’t happen and then BOOM! she reserved two packages for the Ultimate Disney Christmas 2019 for my family of 5 and her and her man-friend. So, it looks like I’m going back to Disney AND will be there for Christmas. I’m excited yet terrified. I really tried to stress to her that it will be busier than she could possibly imagine, but she is more excited than anything. I did fairly well snatching up some dining reservations for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day–not anywhere that would have been my first choice, but I’m working with 125 days notice for the “busiest” time of year.
My plans are centered around special events that come with our package, one day for SW:GE, Candlelight Processional on Christmas day, and exploring resort decorations. Who has been crazy enough to do actual Christmas at WDW? Any advice for a really good planner that still feels unprepared for the Disney holiday experience?
I haven’t been at Xmas but have been at Thanksgiving twice. The decorations are really beautiful. If it gets to be too much at the parks there are always the resorts to see. We loved the gingerbread house in the GF and their Xmas tree was one of our favorites as well.
I haven’t done Christmas as Disney yet but plan to when my kids are older. We did the Ultimate Disney Christmas package last year and loved it. I like the change they made to the Epcot dinner for this year (although my husband liked the buffet last year).
I was hoping to do that package again this year but they shifted it back a week so we’re sticking with our bounce back offer. Hope you all have a great time!
Overall it seemed like you have the right idea by getting dining res that weren’t what you would have usually gotten, but you got something. Go with the flow. I am a 100% early planner like you so I understand how you feel, but you have been to WDW before and seen a lot so if this trip is different that is not necessarily a bad thing.
Any tips for surviving Thanksgiving at WDW? We’ll be staying at WL for 5 days and planning to hit a park a day. Thanksgiving will be at MK–which I know will be madness, but we got an ADR to BOG, so that’s where we will be.
We will be there for the Christmas season for 15 nights, leaving December 24th to fly home to celebrate Christmas with the extended family. So we are there before you.
15 nights sounds like a lot of time but it will only be our second trip to WDW and the first time during the Christmas season. There is so much to do and see. And we do want to relax and enjoy the season. I’m a planner but WDW planning is wilting me. People on this forum and lines have kept me going. Because of SWGE, so much is up in the air…
How about the Christmas Tree Trail at Disney Springs? People say not to do it on the weekends because it is very crowded.
How about Chip & Dale’s Christmas Tree Spree in Epcot? People say that it can be challenging.
We are also doing the Cake Decorating Experience at Amorette’s Patisserie at Disney Springs.
Use Touring Plans reservation finder to see if you can get dining reservations for places you want to eat at. I’m not scheduling that many reservations because I don’t want to be stressed trying to get to them.
My best advice for Thanksgiving week is to bring both summer and winter clothes. No kidding: both times we were there that week we used shorts and winter coats. I haven’t actually been in a park yet on T day b/c we did other things that day. This time we will be in AK b/c it was recommended as the least bad park for that day. The only time either visit (these visits started the weekend before T and ended after Black Friday) that I really felt overwhelmed by the crowd was at MK at night on Black Friday during good weather. The time I was there during 40s temps it was reasonable crowd, but 10 degrees warmer and it was a madhouse. Overall though we got to do everything we really wanted do to through ADRs and FP. We weren’t trying to do it all however.
15 days is really not that crazy when you consider the fact that for about the last 5 days or so of your trip the parks will be super busy.
Having 10 days before that to see & do, and then just sort of float for those 5 days could mean you actually get to relax! It really is much easier to handle the lines (at least as a grownup) and crowds when you know that you’re not going to miss out on things because you spent 90% of your day standing in line.
Hey! I’ll be at the Candlelight Processional on Christmas Day too!
We’ll be there from 12/21 to 12/26; first time at Christmas, but I’ve done New Years Eve & Day and Spring Break before, so I know what I’m in for.
We’re at the Poly, which is just beautiful over the holidays. DS is 13, so he’s more than willing to stay up late.
I have bookmark reservations every night (ie; back up plans), but looking to swap them out for California Grill or Story Book at AP - and already have searches set up on the Reservation finder (that’s exciting!).
Sun, EMH into HWS, then a late lunch at Homecoming in DS to see the trees and drone light show.
Mon into AK for EMH, but then out for last lunch at Boma and see the AKL Tree. Maybe back into another park in the evening, but may do a tour of the Moderate resorts for the Holidays too.
Christmas Eve, we’re doing breakfast @ Kona, into HS, Lunch at Sci Fi Dine-in, Dinner with Minnie at Hollywood & Vine and hoping for some sort of Star Wars dessert party to get for late night to make it extra special.
Christmas Day - Breakfast w/ Stitch at Ohana, then into Epcot, Garden Grill w/ Chip & Dale for our Candlelight Processional meal, and dinner at Via Napoli (Because it’s our favorite, so it’s special to us), then Candlelight Processional.
Day after Christmas - Into MK for crazy EMH @ 7am, Plaza Lunch and then might bail. Have dinner at Jungle Navi, but I’ll be going there on another trip.
Any night that just gets too much, we can just come back to the hotel and watch fireworks from the beach.
Thank you for sharing the links! I did some dining reservations at AKL and WL because we have to eat anyway and I really want to check out as many resort decorations as possible. The WL ADR is just before our Christmas Party night so I’m thinking logistically that might be a good time to also do a monorail tour and look at decorations at Contemporary, GF, and Poly. I know that my mother and I will both like looking at decorations and hopefully the 8 year old will also get into the spirit. I literally don’t care if my teenagers/husband are bored to tears.
I do want to hit the Christmas Tree Trail, but I hadn’t heard of the Chip & Dale Christmas Tree Spree or cake decorating. Thanks for the hot tips!
Enjoy your trip! I know that Disney time flies by so 15 days really isn’t THAT long. I hope to take a trip long enough to get sick of it some day and hopefully cure myself of this Disney-itis, but I don’t know if that’s even possible!
My family will be there during Thanksgiving week too. We will actually be in HS for Thanksgiving. I told my wife we will have Thanksgiving “dinner” at Oga’s but we could go to a quick service dinner like Pizzafari.
We are doing MVMCP Friday before Thanksgiving, then 2 days in each park except AK, which we will only do one day.
We’re going at the beginning of December this year. One thing we are planning that I don’t think has been mentioned is the sleigh ride at Ft. Wilderness. We will probably also rent a golf cart so that we can see the rest of the loops that the sleigh ride misses.
My thoughts exactly. I may be doing a solo decoration tour.