Late December/Early January

[Isaiah4113]

I am helping get some questions answered for my in-laws. They are planning a trip to Orlando December 28 - January 4. They are both active 70 years olds. Both have been to Disney quite a few times. ( early December, early June, September and October)

Please give it to me straight so I can give them answers from experts who are generally there or who have visited during this time of year, preferably within the last three years.

Honestly, how bad are the crowds?

How long are the attraction wait times on average for the “better” attractions?

How aggressive are the other guests? I ask this because even though they are active, they are 70 and I would hate for them to get hurt?

About what time does the parks generally hit capacity? They are NOT staying on Disney property.

As they are not staying on property, can they drive to and park at the resorts to look at the Christmas decorations without paying a parking fee?

If you did this time of year before, would you ever do it again?

Are Christmas decorations still up everywhere?

Will there be any Christmas LE pins left, such as resort specific, etc?

I know the park tickets cost more for this time of year, it’s actually peak pricing, but is the food pricing also increased?

Do you know if crowds are equally as bad or the same at places like universal, sea world and other local attraction parks, etc.?

 

[glocon]

We have never been there that week, but from reading these boards for the past few years, that is the number one busiest week at wdw- the week from Christmas to NY.
I wouldn’t expect to get much done, but would love to go then for the holiday experience.

 

[ngoldy]

This is the week we typically can go - when all of our family has availability. The fact that they already know their way around will help. The crowds ARE that bad. NYE in Epcot is literally shoulder to shoulder in some spots, but cast members do an amazing job of keeping traffic lines moving. Wait times are long for attractions, food, and bathrooms. I have personally never seen aggressive guests at Christmas/NY, but have definitely seen them pretty tipsy on NYE! The only time we have heard of a capacity being reached was at MK by 10:30 AM. The park reopened later in the day.
Yes, at least at the TS buffets, have an upcharge. But scheduling TS restaurants are such a great way to leave the crowds and rest!
Epcot ends many of its holiday events Dec. 30, so visit there by then if they want to have the full Christmas-y experience. We still see most trees and decorations up for a few days after the new year.

All that said, it IS a beautiful and exciting time to visit! We travel in a group of 8 and have more difficulty navigating crowds than a party of 2. We open the parks, leave for a several hour midday break and return to close them and this works very well to see and ride most everything.
Hope this helps with some of your questions!

 

[Lothlórien]

I am helping get some questions answered for my in-laws. They are planning a trip to Orlando December 28 - January 4. They are both active 70 years olds. Both have been to Disney quite a few times. ( early December, early June, September and October)

Please give it to me straight so I can give them answers from experts who are generally there or who have visited during this time of year, preferably within the last three years.

Honestly, how bad are the crowds?
The crowds are horrible, unfortunately. Nightmarish to be honest. December 24th - January 4th is the absolute worst time to visit in terms of crowds.

How long are the attraction wait times on average for the “better” attractions?
They could vary depending on the attraction, but it all seems to level out because people will "take what they can get". The truth is, you are looking at about 2 hours and all headliners feel like opening day, 3 hours and up.
Even a counter service line could be a 1 hour wait for food. If you like table service, you will still have a wait that you would not have during other times of the year, but you will be guaranteed a seat. I cannot promise the same for counter service. CMs do their best to accomodate everybody, but there are a lot of people in the parks on the days of your family's visit.

How aggressive are the other guests? I ask this because even though they are active, they are 70 and I would hate for them to get hurt?
I would say the risk is higher during this time. People get very irritable in crowds and it is not just for rides. People get "hangry" waiting on food and even all of the shops/stores are a madhouse. Once you get your purchases, you could wait 30 - 60 minutes to pay. Again the CMs do their best, but the number of guests are high. Disney Springs is horrible, too.

About what time does the parks generally hit capacity? They are NOT staying on Disney property.
Sometimes as early as 10 AM. If they are not on property, the will not have priority, unfortunately. The lines outside the park get long early and fast. Everybody has the same idea.

As they are not staying on property, can they drive to and park at the resorts to look at the Christmas decorations without paying a parking fee?
This is everything you need to know about parking. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/parking/

If you did this time of year before, would you ever do it again?
As a park guest, I would not.

Are Christmas decorations still up everywhere?
You can still see decorations throughout the entire resort during the time of their visit. Lines to get photos taken with any of trees, backdrops, etc are very long, so plan accordingly.

Will there be any Christmas LE pins left, such as resort specific, etc?
Unfortunately, it is very doubtful. Most of the pins do not even last the Christmas season. Most resort pins are sold-out by the 2nd week of December.

I know the park tickets cost more for this time of year, it’s actually peak pricing, but is the food pricing also increased?
Everything, and I do mean everything, is more expensive. As you said, it is peak season, therefore it is peak pricing.

Do you know if crowds are equally as bad or the same at places like universal, sea world and other local attraction parks, etc.?
You will find lower crowds at places like Kennedy Space Center, Sea World and even Universal than you will find at Disney. They will still be crowded, but Disney World parks are a complete madhouse.

I know you did not ask, but I am going to add this.... if your in-laws are in wheelchairs or ECVs please know that moving around will be even more difficult. If they are slow, have anxiety in crowds like some older people have, this is not an ideal time to visit. They will find themselves waiting for literally everything. Even lines to the restroom can be a 20 minute wait or more. If they can visit earlier in the month or come in mid-January or February, I would suggest to them to wait.

 

[Shanti]

I am helping get some questions answered for my in-laws. They are planning a trip to Orlando December 28 - January 4. They are both active 70 years olds. Both have been to Disney quite a few times. ( early December, early June, September and October)

Please give it to me straight so I can give them answers from experts who are generally there or who have visited during this time of year, preferably within the last three years.

Honestly, how bad are the crowds?

How long are the attraction wait times on average for the “better” attractions?

How aggressive are the other guests? I ask this because even though they are active, they are 70 and I would hate for them to get hurt?

About what time does the parks generally hit capacity? They are NOT staying on Disney property.

As they are not staying on property, can they drive to and park at the resorts to look at the Christmas decorations without paying a parking fee?

If you did this time of year before, would you ever do it again?

Are Christmas decorations still up everywhere?

Will there be any Christmas LE pins left, such as resort specific, etc?

I know the park tickets cost more for this time of year, it’s actually peak pricing, but is the food pricing also increased?

Do you know if crowds are equally as bad or the same at places like universal, sea world and other local attraction parks, etc.?

We visited during the week between Christmas and New Year's last year.

It is extremely crowded and it's very important to have reservations for table service restaurants. Yes, everything is more expensive then. Christmas decorations will be up until New Year's, at least. All Orlando theme parks see peak crowds at this time of year. If you're at WDW and don't have an advance-booked FastPass for a top attraction, forget about riding it without a multi-hour wait.

On the upside, I never saw any rough behavior or violence. The worst that would likely happen would be getting bumped around a bit if they joined the mob trying to race to Flight of Passage or Slinky Dog at rope drop.

Bottom line: I can't recommend the trip for them, unless they'll spend most of their time at resorts, venture into the parks only to ride their 3 pre-booked FastPass rides, and always stick to pre-booked table service meals when in the parks.

 

[rdominy]

I'm going to disagree with some of the previous posts. We went December 26, 2016-January 4, 2017 and had an amazing time. We had only been during "low" crowd times before, but with a good plan we still rode everything we wanted and didn't stand in line more than 30 minutes for ANYTHING. I had a 2 1/2 year old and 9 1/2 year old so I was a little nervous, but planning makes all the difference.
We are going back this year from Dec 29-Jan 6 and I couldn't be more excited. I hate crowds, but a good plan trumps anything else.
The only park that risks meeting capacity is Magic Kingdom, but even then it's unlikely to stay closed to capacity. With the fantasyland expansion it has opened up the park to higher numbers.
We took advantage of the parks early by staying on property, but aren't staying on property this next year to save money.

 

[Shanti]

I'm going to disagree with some of the previous posts. We went December 26, 2016-January 4, 2017 and had an amazing time. We had only been during "low" crowd times before, but with a good plan we still rode everything we wanted and didn't stand in line more than 30 minutes for ANYTHING. I had a 2 1/2 year old and 9 1/2 year old so I was a little nervous, but planning makes all the difference.
We are going back this year from Dec 29-Jan 6 and I couldn't be more excited. I hate crowds, but a good plan trumps anything else.
The only park that risks meeting capacity is Magic Kingdom, but even then it's unlikely to stay closed to capacity. With the fantasyland expansion it has opened up the park to higher numbers.
We took advantage of the parks early by staying on property, but aren't staying on property this next year to save money.

The OP's relatives will not be staying on property, so will probably not be able to use EMH or get FPs for top rides like FOP, SD, or 7DMT.

Outside of Extra Magic Hours, were you able to ride top rides without a FastPass with only a 30-minute wait? I find that hard to believe as we were there at the same time last year and doing so was absolutely impossible when we were there.

Also, was walking up to table service restaurants doable without a very long wait?

 

[KyleAfterAWhile]

I'm going to disagree with some of the previous posts. We went December 26, 2016-January 4, 2017 and had an amazing time. We had only been during "low" crowd times before, but with a good plan we still rode everything we wanted and didn't stand in line more than 30 minutes for ANYTHING. I had a 2 1/2 year old and 9 1/2 year old so I was a little nervous, but planning makes all the difference.
We are going back this year from Dec 29-Jan 6 and I couldn't be more excited. I hate crowds, but a good plan trumps anything else.
The only park that risks meeting capacity is Magic Kingdom, but even then it's unlikely to stay closed to capacity. With the fantasyland expansion it has opened up the park to higher numbers.
We took advantage of the parks early by staying on property, but aren't staying on property this next year to save money.

The difference is you were on property and they are not. During this time of year that is huge. This have also changed alot in the last 2 years. Disney is packing them in deeper and deeper in December.

 

[KyleAfterAWhile]

I am helping get some questions answered for my in-laws. They are planning a trip to Orlando December 28 - January 4. They are both active 70 years olds. Both have been to Disney quite a few times. ( early December, early June, September and October)

Please give it to me straight so I can give them answers from experts who are generally there or who have visited during this time of year, preferably within the last three years.

Honestly, how bad are the crowds?

How long are the attraction wait times on average for the “better” attractions?

How aggressive are the other guests? I ask this because even though they are active, they are 70 and I would hate for them to get hurt?

About what time does the parks generally hit capacity? They are NOT staying on Disney property.

As they are not staying on property, can they drive to and park at the resorts to look at the Christmas decorations without paying a parking fee?

If you did this time of year before, would you ever do it again?

Are Christmas decorations still up everywhere?

Will there be any Christmas LE pins left, such as resort specific, etc?

I know the park tickets cost more for this time of year, it’s actually peak pricing, but is the food pricing also increased?

Do you know if crowds are equally as bad or the same at places like universal, sea world and other local attraction parks, etc.?

The crowds are bad, horrible if you are used to going during slower times. Attraction wait times will be based upon each park. Magic Kingdom will bad every day. Hollywood Studios will be bad because of Toy Story Land. Because your in-laws are staying off property, they can only get FPs 30 days out instead of 60. During this peak time, this is a huge deal. It means that "good" FPs are going to be very scarce. I would never go this time of year if I were staying off Disney property. Food and park tickets are more expensive this time than at other times. Decorations will be up but hard to enjoy with the crowds.

This is what you have to look forward to with crowds....

 

[rdominy]

Wait times were high in general. They were over two hours the entire time but with fast passes and a plan it worked.
There’s only been one Christmas between when we went and this year so I don’t think it’s that different.
I saw crowds like that. It was fine. Go in with the right mindset though. We avoided resort early entry parks except for magic kingdom which had them every day.
Everyone’s perception will be different though.

 

[xlsm]

We went last NYE and are going back again this year. With them planning on being offsite, the thing to be most aware of is traffic. I post this on every NYE thread I see...last year it took us two hours to get from Kidani to Epcot on a Disney bus in the early afternoon. It normally takes roughly 20 minutes on a regular day. Traffic was bumper to bumper and at a standstill.

Parks are crowded, but manageable with a good plan and reasonable expectations. Last year MK was closed at capacity around noon on NYE. Preference is given to onsite guests and guests with ADRs. People DO leave both Epcot and MK after the early 6:30pm versions of the fireworks shows.

We did MK on 12/30, and had a great day. You just have to be patient and have a plan.

After last year (it was just me and my husband) we vowed never again...fast forward a few months and we ended up booking for THIS new year's eve, and with our kids this time. We're just using what we learned last year and planning our days differently.

New Year's Eve itself was the only day that felt overwhelming, so we will not be on any transportation that isn't a monorail or boat any time after noon that day!!

There is a trip report in my signature if you're interested, it's the one labeled NYE 2017/2018.

I am a seasoned WDW visitor and am one who will go to WDW no matter what it takes, but I would not personally go over NYE if I wasn't staying onsite. Not saying it can't/shouldn't be done, just that I don't have the energy to try it that way myself.