(TGA) - Myself, my husband, and our 12 year old son will be visiting Disneyworld the week between Cmas and New Years.
We'll be staying in a timeshare off-site.
We've been to WDW one other time about 4 yrs. ago.
We live in Colorado Springs, CO and so far I'm not finding any great airfare...the ones I found have been about $630 rt. Should I keep looking closer to the date or just book something?
I made a dinner reservation for us one night at Crystal Palace. Any "must do's"? What about NYE? What park or activity do you recommend?
I'm bummed we can't add the dining plan to our tickets since we're off-site, I was looking forward to trying that!
Basically, I'm just looking for any and all hints, tips, and advice :)
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You'll be there during Disney's busiest week of the year. Since you'll be off-site I highly recommend avoiding each park on it's Extra Magic Hours day. EMH is a program of extended park hours and is only available to Disney resort guests. EMH will usually result in a more crowded park for that day. Here's the EMH and park hours schedule:
December
www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dec09.cfm…
.
January
www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/jan10.cfm…
I'd highly recommend also that you get to the parks 30 minutes before opening. For the Magic Kingdom you'll need to add an extra 20-30 minutes to your commute time since you'll have to take a ferry or monorail from the parking area to the park. Parking for the other Disney parks is relatively close in.
It sounds kind of extreme but you won't believe how much more you'll be able to see and ride in those first couple of hours.
The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World by Bob Sehlinger is a great resource for anyone planning a trip during the busy season. The same company also offers a web site that can be helpful:
If you'd like to be in a Disney park for NYE Epcot usually handles crowds a little better than some of the others. It's also quite festive! If you want to have NYE dinner there I recommend making reservations ASAP!
Happy Planning!
Jennifer
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Christmas Week is the BUSIEST Week of the Year at Disney. It's Fun and Festive but be prepared. Have a Basic Plan of a 'Few Must Do and See' things and then just pace yourselves. It's great you were able to get a Dining Reservation, I would make a few more if you can, there wil not be any walk ups to Table Service Restaurants in any of the Disney Parks that week. Have a look at some of the Resort Restaurants, they may not be as booked up as the ones in the Parks ( you can eat anywhere in the World even if you aren't staying at a Disney Resort )
Now, for your Next Disney Holiday, you might think about staying at a Disney Resort so you can try out the Dining Plan and also so you can take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours ( they come in Handy at crowded times of the year ) You also get all the Free Transportaion, including to and from the Airport ( MCO )
Get to the Parks early, use the Fast Pass for the Popular Rides, those are the two most important Tips I can give. I would go to Epcot for New Years Eve, it is quite Large and Spread out and will "Feel" less crowded. It's fun to walk around the World Showcase as they ring in the New Year. The Fireworks and Illuminations are well worth waiting for. Have a look at the Park Hours so you can plan when to get there and which Park would be Best on what day www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/hours.htm
It is also the highest flight price time of the year. I am not sure I would wait too much longer, you run the risk of not getting seats or getting a flight that isn't at a reasonable hour of the day
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We'll be there 12/21-12/27 staying at the Contemporary on property. Can't wait!! As for airfare, I can tell you that we got tickets from Chicago O'Hare to Orlando on Oct 2nd. ($369 per ticket). I checked just for the heck of it a couple weeks later and they went up $200 EACH for the same exact flights. A friend told me that sometimes there are better times during the month to buy airfare or certain times of the week that are better, but I've only seen them go up. I wouldn't really wait because I don't see them getting any better unless there's some huge airfare war between the airlines. Good luck!
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I'll be there with you :) Say HI!
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