Getting (or Giving) a Disney World Trip for the Holidays?

DISNEY WORLD FOR CHRISTMAS? WHAT TO DO NEXT…

Welcome to the first stop aboard Magical Blogorail Teal. Enjoy the ride as this month we discuss what to do next if you get–or are giving!–a Disney World trip for the holidays.

FIRST, FIGURE OUT WHEN YOU GO

When you go to Walt Disney World has more impact on your potential enjoyment than any other factor.

The biggest issue is avoiding crowds.  While you can have fun during high-crowd periods, you can have even more fun, and a much more relaxing visit, during lower crowd times. The highest crowd periods are during the times when it’s easy for families to visit–that is, when kids are on break. So they can be hard to avoid…

But some of the very lowest crowd periods are not that great for first time family visitors who may never return. September is a low crowd period, but also the peak of the hurricane season.  Late January/early February are also low-crowd periods, but in the heart of the traditional ride closure season.

See the 2013 Disney World Crowd Calendar for more on crowds.

After crowds, different families will weigh attach different weights to other factors, such prices, weather, and various special events, such as those during the Christmas season.

This site has tons of tools for figuring out when to go to Walt Disney World, but the two most important ones are

• For first-time visitors who may not be able to return,  2013 weeks to visit, ranked in order,
• For returning visitors, or first-timers who know they will return, the 2013 Week Picker

NEXT, FIGURE OUT WHERE YOU WANT TO STAY

Two families can have Disney World visits identical in every way except their hotels, and one may pay $3,000 more than the other.  When you go is the most important factor for an enjoyable vacation; where you stay is the most important factor for its cost.

You can slice and dice the hotel options into more than half a dozen groups, but for most first time visitors there’s just two groups that really matter:

• Value Resorts, the lowest price, lowest amenity, smallest space options, of which Art of Animation and Pop Century are the best choices, and
• Deluxe Resorts, the highest-price, highest amenity options, of which the Polynesian, Wilderness Lodge, and Animal Kingdom Lodge are the best choices.

There’s lots more on this site on where to stay at Walt Disney World. I’m one of the few people on earth lame enough to have stayed recently for multiple nights in every single Disney owned and operated hotel at Walt Disney World.  You can find the reviews from all these stays starting here.

But if you pick one of the 5 hotels listed above, you won’t go wrong!

MORE IDEAS ON A DISNEY PRESENT FROM MAGICAL BLOGORAIL TEAL

Thank you for joining me today. Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail Loop is Mary’s Capturing Magical Memories.

Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail loop should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:

• 1st Stop ~ Your First Visit
• 2nd Stop ~ Capturing Magical Memories
• 3rd Stop ~ My Dreams of Disney
• Final Stop ~ A Disney Mom’s Thoughts