Holidays in Orlando Questions

My family and family friends are packing up the Christmas trees and heading down to Olrando for Christmas and New Years this year. We will be able to visit parks from the 25th to the 1st of '05.

I wanted to know what parks would be best to spend Christmas Day and New Years Eve at. Would the 4-day Disney park hopper and the 5 day Universal Tickets be sufficient? What would be the best way to split up our time at the parks? Do some parks need more time than others?

Lots of questions, but I really want this trip to be awesome. I think the Universal ticket is 5 days in a row, while the Disney ticket is any 4 days.

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!

I can't give much advice, but expect the parks to be packed that week.

Prepare to be *swarmed*....this is really the only BAD week from Labor Day thru Spring Break.

I would HIGHLY suggest that if you MUST come that week, that you do EVERYTHING you can to minimize waits and maximize riding....for example, an on-site hotel at Universal, using single-rider lines when possible, availing yourself of Fastpass, etc., etc.

Honestly, that's the ONLY bad week until March/April....

5 days at Universal seems extreme. Two to three is plenty for most. Also, Disney is typically closed on Xmas day, so you should research what will be open for you.

Yeah, I am expecting crowds. It wasn't my decision to go this week. With the Universal tickets-- strangely, the five day ticket is cheaper than two or three days. I checked, and Disney is open on Christmas.

Wow, back in the day WDW was always closed on Xmas. I was thinking LA next year since KBF is always open. Nice to know there are other options now.

I'm under the impression that Disney World has ALWAYS been open for holidays (even X-mas) - in fact, I was living in Florida in 1999 and remember the big stink made when Hurricane Floyd teased us. It was the first time WDW was closed since it opened in 1971.

All the Orlando parks are open X-mas day this year. I think they always have been.

I went last year at this time your best bet is to get to the park at opening do as many rides and attractions as you can when park gets too crowded Head to the hotel for a nap go back in evening when the people who have been since opening are leaving and stay till they throw you out. The parks are open long hours this time of the year.

I will not be going this year at this time almost any other time of the year will be better.

P.S. last year at this time two disney parks reached capacity and stopped letting people in.(Magic Kingdom and Epcot I think)

My advice, after going down there at about the same time is to work the fastpass systems, show up early (park open) and ride the big attractions, be ready for huge lines, and show up for shows/parades as early as possible. I also wouldn't suggest park hopping as there is a chance that you wont be able to get into the park that you want to.

Also, parks will reach capacity. On New Years Eve, MK, MGM all closed down, with EPCOT setting its single day attendance record (it also may have reached capacity, I'm not sure). The whole resort also set its attendance record for one week from Christmas to New Years.

FWIW, It's not the ONLY bad week during that period... President's Day week is usually nasty as well, since it coincides with a big bike rally in Daytona. I was there that week in 2000 and Magic Kingdom was at capacity several days.

I'd say the BEST advice here is to NOT try and do everything, but to enjoy the incredible atmosphere of being at Disney during the holidays. Tis a special time. Don't race around trying to FASTPASS everything possible, or you'll miss the magic.

^When I say work the fastpass, I should have added in that we picked a E ticket ride that we wanted to ride that day and got a FP for that. Then after we used that one, we got one more. That other one was for way later in the day. We then spent the rest of the day just enjoying the parks, and waiting in line for some of the smaller rides and seeing shows. In total, we rushed around for maybe 2 hours each day. I would not suggest trying to do one park in one day. You might be able to do that at IOA or a busch park (I rode everything and saw most of the shows at those three parks and I didn't rush around much at all), but there is no way you could come close at Disney.

I was down there for the holiday season last year and maximum waits for Mission:Space and Test Track were 230 min and 245 min respectively...

You will DEFINATELY need more days at Disney to enjoy all it has to offer, including the ornate Christmas decorations and events (Like Candlight Processional, christmas fireworks, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party - if they have it this year -, the resorts, and many others) exclusive to this time. Last New Year's Eve at Epcot, the total attendance for that date was 70,000 people (through out the day of course), so that shows you how crowded it can get. For this reason, I would recommend spending atleast 6 of the 9 days at Disney ;) I think 3 is plenty for Universal even at this time.

If I were you, I'd go to Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day (yes, parks are open). And, hit Epcot on New Year's Eve (There holiday fireworks finales are AMAZING!!! I saw the July 4th one and was blown away).

I would recommend www.wdwmagic.com or www.allearsnet.com for any further info... Enjoy your vacation!!! :-)

TD: good tip on Bike Week. Luckily, it appears to be the week *after* Presidents week this year. Based on schools in our area of the frozen north, I'm guessing that Presidents weekend (Fri->Mon the 18th->21st) will be "horribly busy" and the rest of the week afterwards to be "moderately busy". We'll see for sure when we get there.

I spent Wednesday of bike week at EPCOT in '94 and MGM in '95. Crowds weren't bad at all. Maybe that's changed (and we're were only in Orlando on that one day each year).