What I've learned about Disney World especially around Christmas...

 
 
Kids and timing:
 

• The best time to go to Disney World, without a shadow of a doubt, is during Christmastime.  I am a bona fide Christmas FREAK.   Christmas lights make me happy.  However, DO NOT go the WEEK OF Christmas.  From the day they take the Halloween decorations down to around 17th of December (depends on the year and when the days fall), is the best time to go. 
• Be mindful that the week of Thanksgiving can be pretty crowded so I'd avoid this week, too. 
• I'd avoid Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day like the plague if I were you.  But hey, I'm not a big fan of giant crowds and hour-long ride waits, but that might just be me.
• If you have kids (or even if you don't), go to WDW when everyone else is in school.  If at all possible, let them miss a few days of school.  The lower crowds and shorter lines will be well worth the pile of homework when you return home.
• This is especially true at Christmastime.  DO NOT go to WDW on Christmas break (school break).  Everyone else has had the same idea, trust me.  Take your kids out a week early IF POSSIBLE.  We've done this twice and were so happy we did.
• The weekends are way more crowded than the week days because most travelling from out-of-state arrive on the weekend.  Plus, the locals arrive on the weekends.  Sunday afternoons through Friday mid-day seem to be the best times to be at WDW.  (Except on the high-crowd weeks like the week of Christmas, etc.)
• Don't over plan but don't under plan, either.  Have a happy medium. There's too much to see and do to get it all in during one trip.  BE FLEXIBLE.  Everyone will be happier because of it.

 
Dining/Reservations:

• Have dining reservations!  There's nothing like being hungry and dead on your feet and then finding out everywhere you try to eat has an hour or more wait. 
• I like to have dinner reservations instead of lunch reservations.  For my family, a nice dinner is always a good way to wind down the evening. 
• Plus, we've usually snacked most of the day and aren't that hungry at lunch, but by dinner, we're ready to eat.
• Do your dining/restaurant research!  Not all restaurants are created equally.  If you are on a dining plan, you especially want to pay attention to:
• Is this considered Quick Service?
• Does this take two Table Service credits instead of one?
• What counts as a Snack?
• There are so many great blogs out there that will help steer you in the right direction.  I try to look for consistency in the ratings as well as the latest possible ratings.  A restaurant rating from two years ago doesn't do me or you any good. 
• My favorite Disney blogs are:
• www.disneytouristblog.com
• www.dadsguidetowdw.com
• http://blog.wdwinfo.com/
• Unless you have children who want to meet characters, I'd skip the character meals all together.  I find that most of the food at these meals isn't very good, anyway.  My kids are a little older and couldn't care less about meeting the characters.  And like I said earlier, we like dinner reservations- and by that time of the night, the last thing we want is to be around a bunch of loud kids clamoring to see Mickey or Minnie.  If you must do a character meal, here are the ones I suggest:
• Tusker House breakfast with characters- Animal Kingdom
• Chef Mickey's- buffet style at Contemporary Resort
• Be Our Guest- Magic Kingdom (Food here is very good, too.)
• I'm sure there are others that are good, but these are the only ones we've done and that I recommend. 

Things to consider:

• Stay on-property!  The Disney-provided transportation alone is worth the extra cost.  Plus, staying in a Disney resort makes the whole experience that much more special. 
• Don't force your kids to ride rides they don't want to ride.  It's not worth it.  If you and your spouse have to take turns riding the ride while the other waits with the child, so be it.  Create happy memories, not ones they will throw in your face for years to come.  Trust me on this.   :)
• Take breaks when you need to; have a soda in a shaded area and just relax for a bit.  Or if staying on-property, go to your resort for an hour or two to rest and then go back to the park later in the day.
• Don't over pack for the parks.  Our first trip I tried to stuff everything I could think of in a backpack so I'd have what I needed SHOULD I need it.  I didn't need any of it and all I did was hurt my back and feel like a pack mule.  Plus, trying to carrying a fully loaded backpack onto rides is a pain.  I suggest wearing a fanny pack (yes, I said fanny pack) or a lightly packed backpack.
• If on Disney Dining Plan (DDD), don't waste your snack credits on water inside the parks.  You can get free water at most restaurants/counter service locations if you just walk up and ask.
• MAKE RESERVATIONS.  Don't leave this to chance. 

 
 
Resorts:

• Check out other resorts if you have time, especially during the Christmas season.  Each Disney resort is spectacular in its own way.  We like to have dining reservations at a resort where we aren't lodging.  Some of my favorites:
• Animal Kingdom Lodge- All the restaurants here are fantastic, especially if you like food that's a little out of the ordinary.  My kids love the restaurants here.  I personally think AK Lodge has the most beautiful lobby of all the resorts. 
• Polynesian Resort- O'hana (restaurant); the food and ambiance here is really cool and the grounds of the Polynesian are beautiful.
• The Grand Floridian- This is a must-see at Christmas because of the life-sized gingerbread house in the lobby.  It's a gorgeous resort and a short ride on the monorail from Magic Kingdom.  We did a character meal here once at 1900 Park Fare. We did not enjoy this character meal.  It was loud and crowded and it was NOT the way we wanted to wind down our evening.  Lesson learned!  But I've heard wonderful things about the fine dining/signature dining restaurants there;  Cítricos, Narcoossee’s, and Victoria & Albert’s.  (Be sure to check out dress codes for any signature/fine dining establishment.)
• Ft. Wilderness Lodge- Artist's Point is really good.  I've seen mixed reviews about it but our experiences have always been good.  This is a signature restaurant.  We have never been to Whispering Canyon Café but I continue to hear great things about it.  If you don't mind the staff messing with you a little (in a good humored way), then I say give it a try.  The lodge at Christmas is another must-see.  There's something about a rustic Christmas that makes me nostalgic. 

 

• Epcot-  Oh, Epcot, how I love thee...  especially at Christmas!  We love Epcot so much that we try to plan two full days at this park.  I could spend a whole day in the World Showcase area alone!  Make sure you take the time to visit the World Showcase and leave yourself plenty of time to do so.  I love heading there right as the sun is setting.  I just love the ambiance there at night.  Take your time and go through every country; walk inside and browse.  Some areas have little nooks and crannies that you never would have known were there if you hadn't been curious. 

 

• Animal Kingdom- This is my least favorite of the parks but it's still a must-see.  For some people, like my daughter, it's their favorite park.  The good thing about this park is tat you can pretty much see and do everything you want to do in one day.  This park has the worst selection of table service restaurants but two really good counter service restaurants; Flame Tree BBQ and Yak & Yeti.  Yak & Yeti is my favorite.  I was stunned at how good the food was.  We scheduled a character breakfast at the Tusker House the last time we went to AK and really enjoyed it.  Plus, we scheduled it so early that once we finished eating, we headed straight to the Kilimanjaro Safari and there was no wait.  The animals are fed early in the morning so this was the perfect time to take the ride. 

 

• Magic Kingdom-   My numero uno recommendation for Christmas at Disney is to attend Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.  It's my favorite event/thing about Christmas at Disney World.  You will NOT be sorry.  I suggest that you pick a day that is on a weekday and not a weekend.  Weekends are extremely crowded especially the closer it is to Christmas day. 
•  Since this is a ticketed event, there are fewer people in the park.  The sun has gone down for the night, the Christmas lights and decorations are sparkling, the wait lines are shorter, and the feeling of Christmas is everywhere. 
• For newbies-  when the park closes at 7PM, those having MVMCP tickets get to stay inside the park.  You will have to show your MVMCP wrist bands at entrance points within MK and before getting on rides.  This is to ensure that those who do not have a ticket leave the park.  The extended hours for MVMCP are from 7p-midnight but I've ready were you can enter the park as early as 4PM on that day.  You might want to double check.
• You MUST stay to see the Celebrate the Magic projection show at Cinderella's castle.  It's a sight to behold and my favorite part of MVMCP.  I believe this occurs around 9:00-9:15PM.  (Check times on https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/)  I suggest staking out a good location to watch the projection show/fireworks.  I've found several blogs that list the best places to watch.  Just know that other people are also staking out a place so you may want to do this sooner rather than later. 
• My second favorite part of MVMCP- the parade.  I suggest seeing the second parade of the evening, usually around 10:30.  The crowd is generally smaller and it's easier to get a good viewing location. 

Hollywood Studios-  This is my husband's and my son's favorite park!  Again, this is a park you conquer in one day (if you get there when it opens and stay until it closes).  We love almost every attraction there.  If you plan to see Fantasmic, get the Fantasmic Dining Package.  We always choose The Brown Derby.  The food there is excellent.  You get priority seating at Fantasmic with the package.  We have seen the show twice and probably won't put it on our "must-see" list this year.  It's one of those shows that once you see it once or twice, you can skip it.  It is really good though and my kids always enjoy it.
 
The very BEST thing at Hollywood Studios during Christmas is the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.  Call me 'partial' for two reasons: one, I'm from Arkansas and as a kid we would drive an hour to Little Rock just so we could drive by the Osborne's house to see this true spectacle of lights.  (Apparently so did everyone else in central Arkansas because the traffic got so bad that the neighbors took them to court over it.)  So, the Osborne's packed up their display, which was ALL red lights by the way, and moved it to Hollywood Studios.  And two, have I mentioned how much I LOVE Christmas lights???

It's absolutely amazing to see in person.  It seems every square inch of  Streets of America is covered in twinkling lights.  I could live there.
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I hope you've enjoyed my blog.  It's still in its infancy so I will be adding more information each time we go to WDW.  We are going again this December and I can't wait.  Feel free to leave comments.