Category — 6. The Christmas Season at Walt Disney World

FREE CHRISTMAS AT DISNEY GUIDE FOR READERS OF YOURFIRSTVISIT.NET

My friends at Destinations in Florida are making available a free guide to Christmas at Walt Disney World to readers of yourfirstvisit.net.

To sign up for this free guide to Christmas at Disney World, click here.

Thanks to Allison and the rest of the crew at Destinations in Florida!

For more on the holiday season at Disney World, see this.

WINTER AT DISNEY WORLD

Winter at Walt Disney World—loosely defined as November through February–is the most variable of seasons.

The weather is literally variable—cooler, and with typical daily highs ranging from the low 60s to the 80s. Tornadoes can be an issue during this period. See this for more.

Crowds are both at their lowest—in January and February after the Martin Luther King Day weekend and before the President’s Day week—and at their highest, over the week that includes New Years Eve.

Prices are the lowest of the year from early January through mid-February (the value season). They also hit their highest level of the year in winter, over the weeks that include Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
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CHRISTMAS IN JULY

Magical Blogorail Teal is writing this month about Christmas at Walt Disney World.

Welcome to those of you joining me from The World of Deej and those of you who have just hopped aboard. I am the 3rd stop on our Magical Blogorail.

Since 2008, this site has been listing the weeks of the year ranked in order for first-time Walt Disney World visitors who may never return.

(For example, see this for 2011 and this for 2012.)

Every year the top 3 weeks have been the Christmas season weeks beginning right after Thanksgiving.

WHY THESE CHRISTMAS SEASON WEEKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD?

Each year I end up with about 14-18 recommended weeks.

I get to these by tossing the ride closure weeks, the horribly crowded holiday, spring break and summer weeks, the weeks that happen at the peak of the hurricane season, and some other higher-crowd weeks.

The weeks that remain are lower-crowd weeks that don’t have a weather or ride-closure reason not to go.

I generally sort these remaining weeks by crowds and prices, but the weeks that rise to the top are always the three Christmas season weeks right after Thanksgiving.

These aren’t the  lowest crowd weeks of the year (which occur in the peak hurricane and ride closure seasons) nor are they the lowest price weeks of the year (ditto).

What they are is lower crowd, lower price weeks that also have the full display of Disney World Christmas magic.

Special Christmas events and displays occur across the parks and the resort hotels beginning in early November.

They are fully in place by the Friday after Thanksgiving, and continue to New Years.

I won’t go into details here as I have done so elsewhere, plus my buds in Magical Blogorail Teal will cover them.

Any family vacation at in the Christmas season is magical.

A Christmas season family vacation at Walt Disney World would be even more magical, even if this special Disney Christmas stuff wasn’t happening (avoid the latter part of December though–the crowds and prices then are unimaginably high.)

But combine a family Christmas season vacation with all the wonder that Disney puts into celebrating Christmas, and you’ve got a family vacation you will never forget…

MORE ON A DISNEY CHRISTMAS IN JULY FROM MAGICAL BLOGORAIL TEAL

Thank you for joining me today. Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail is The DisneyFAITHful.

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 ~ Capturing Magical Memories
• 2nd Stop ~ The World of Deej
• 3rd Stop ~ yourfirstvisit.net
• 4th Stop ~ The DisneyFAITHful
• Final Stop ~ The Many Adventures of a Disney-Lovin’ Spectrum Mom

MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

In this post, I’m covering the Christmas-New Year’s season 2011-2012.

(I’ve also posted on spring break crowds at Disney World here and summer 2012 crowds at Walt Disney World here.)

DISNEY WORLD CROWDS FROM MID-DECEMBER 2011 TO EARLY JANUARY 2012: THE PRINCIPLES

Disney World usually sees its highest crowds and prices of the year in the second half of December, in the week that includes Christmas, and the next week that includes New Year’s Eve.

This is for a pretty basic reason: most kids are out of school these weeks.

However, not every school district has the same break schedule.

• Not every kid gets two consecutive weeks (or more) off
• And the days of the week that these holidays fall on matter

As a result of all this, I’m seeing the week beginning the 17th of December 2011 as an OK week, with crowds beginning to build in the middle of that week and lasting through the morning of 1/2/2012.

SCHOOL BREAKS AND DISNEY WORLD CROWDS

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DISNEY CROWD CALENDAR UPDATE

I’ve updated my Walt Disney World Crowd Calendar to reflect recently-released December 2011 Disney World operating hours.

You can find the updated crowd calendar here.

A reminder–I always recommend checking another crowd calendar–preferably that at TouringPlans.com–before committing to a specific time to go to Walt Disney World.

I’ll be publishing my 2012 Disney World crowd calendar later this month.

In the meantime, for a consensus view on lower-crowd 2012 weeks, click here.

OVERVIEW: DECEMBER 2011 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews December 2011 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours, and ends with week by week summaries.

The first half of December, with lower crowds, lower prices, and terrific Christmas programs, has some of the best weeks of the year to visit.

Crowds will rise later in the week of the 17th, and will be at unimaginable levels closer to Christmas and through New Years.

DECEMBER 2011 CROWDS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The first half of December is one of the least crowded periods at Walt Disney World.

Crowds will begin to build in the week of the 17th, and will hit almost unimaginable levels between Christmas Eve and New Years.

Park closings to additional guests are common in this period, as are 8a openings and daily morning Extra Magic Hours.

See this for more on projected crowds at Walt Disney World.

DECEMBER 2011 PRICES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Resort prices begin the month in the Fall price season, one of Disney World’s lowest price seasons.

Value resort prices begin the month 15% higher than the lowest of the year, and moderate resort prices are 7% higher. Deluxe prices begin the month 12% higher than the lowest of the year.

All resort prices then bump up on 12/23 to 95% higher than the lowest of the year for values, 55% for moderates, and 70% for deluxes.

Click the image to see a Pop Century Resort example of Disney World resort pricing.

(When open, click again to enlarge.)

See this for more on prices at Walt Disney World.

SPECIAL EVENTS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD IN DECEMBER 2011

Each of the parks has wonderful Christmas decorations, and special Christmas programs.

• At the Magic Kingdom, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party—a special event that requires its own ticket—runs on many nights through the first two-thirds of the month. Later in the month, its signature events—a special Christmas parade, and special Christmas fireworks—are available to all guests.
• At Epcot, the evening fireworks show Illuminations has special Christmas additions. In addition, most nights Christmas carols are sung by massed choirs in the Candlelight Processional. Many of the countries in Epcot’s World Showcase have special Christmas events. Finally, a Christmas tree lighting ceremony occurs each evening at 6p.
• At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Christmas celebration is the holiday lights in the Streets of America area. The evening opening ceremony is 6p.
• At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the 3.45p parade is redone to a Christmas theme.

See the Basic Itinerary, particularly Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday, for more details on these Christmas events.

New Year’s Eve festivities will happen on December 31, 2011 at Disney World’s Epcot, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios theme parks, and also at the Magic Kingdom on December 30.

The Animal Kingdom has no special events and closes at 8p.

• Epcot is open until 1a on New Year’s Eve; Disney’s Hollywood Studios until midnight for the general public, and 3a for Walt Disney World Resort hotel guests; and the Magic Kingdom is scheduled to be open until 2a
• The Magic Kingdom will have Wishes at 8.30p and special New Year’s Eve fireworks at 11.50p.
• Epcot will have its Illuminations fireworks show at 7p and 11.40p
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios will have fireworks at midnight
• Note that alcohol is not available at the Magic Kingdom, but is available at Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios

For more details on operating hours, see this.

The Magic Kingdom will have the same fireworks at the same times on 12/30. This date will likely be a little less crowded than 12/31.

DECEMBER 2011 DEALS AND DISCOUNTS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD.

Deals are available for December 2011. For the details, click here.

DECEMBER 2011 WEATHER AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

December weather can be quite variable. Days can be perfect or quite cool.Click the image, or go to Weather and When to Go to Disney World, for more on temperatures, etc.

DECEMBER 2011 OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Park operating hours vary by the day, and sometimes change without notice. It is rare for hours to be shorter than Disney has publicized, but Disney may lengthen them in response to unanticipated crowds.

The best way to keep up with operating hours is to check Disney’s official calendars, usually available six months in advance.

These calendars can be found by clicking the following links:

• Magic Kingdom Calendar
• Hollywood Studios Calendar
• Animal Kingdom Calendar
• Epcot Calendar

The calendars can be tricky to use–see this for hints on how to work with Walt Disney World’s online calendars.

WEEK BY WEEK COMMENTS FOR DECEMBER 2011 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD BY ARRIVAL DATE

The week rankings that follow below are from 2011 weeks to visit Walt Disney World, ranked in order, and are designed for first-time visitors who do not know whether or not they will return.

Click the image for a calendar view of 2011 weeks (when open, keep clicking to enlarge).

11/26 Prices 7-15% higher than the lowest of the year. Crowds will be low. Week Ranking=3. Recommended week. Use the Basic Itinerary.

12/3 Prices 7-15% higher than the lowest of the year. Crowds will be low. Week Ranking=1. Recommended week. Use the Basic Itinerary.

12/10 Prices 7-15% higher than the lowest of the year. Crowds will be low. Week Ranking=2. Recommended week. Use the Basic Itinerary.

12/17 Prices begin 7-15% higher than the lowest of the year, but on 12/23 increase to 55-95% higher.  Crowds will be moderate overall, low at the beginning and increasing to high at the end. Week Ranking=14. Recommended week. Use the Basic Itinerary, but see this for required changes

12/24 Prices 55-95% higher than lowest of the year. Crowds will be the highest of the year. Week Ranking=45. Use the Summer Itinerary (not a typo 🙂 ) but see this for required and suggested changes

MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

• For when to go to Walt Disney World, see this
• For the next best dates, see this
• For the best and worst times to visit, see this
  • For 2012 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
  • For the 2012 Week Picker, see this
  • For 2013 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
• For forecasting crowds at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For the 2012 Crowd Calendar, click here
  • For the 2013 Crowd Calendar, click here
• For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For 2012 price seasons, see this
  • For 2013 price seasons, click here
• For weather at Walt Disney World, see this