Tips for planning during the holiday season...?

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Anyone care to share your best holiday-season planning tips?

In all of our trips to WDW, we've never done one during the holiday season and I'm feeling like a fish out of water. I don't know how much time to plan for the pool because temps will be cooler than we're used to. I'm not sure how to structure our days since we usually plan for an afternoon break to escape the afternoon heat (and I'm not sure that will even be needed this time of year). I need to plan around the early MK closures for MVMCP. And I need to make sure we also hit all of the holiday fun stuff. We're looking at 8 nights, 7-day park hoppers, and tickets for MVMCP.

I'd love to hear about how you all plan/structure your days in WDW this time of year, I can use any help and advice I can get!

 

[scrappinginontario]

First tip, especially with PH tickets is to book MK ON party days as crowds are normally much lower on party days.

 

[Her Dotness]

The weather that time of year is as capable of surprising a person as it can be any other time of year.

If coming from a cold climate, don't be tempted to leave warm hats, gloves and socks at home. If an Arctic clipper dips down into Florida, you may well want them. We were there right after New Year's once and had only one day of sunshine and normal highs--70s-80s. The remainder of our stay was brutally cold--daytime highs in the low 40s with freeze warnings nightly.

Then again, the year we went for the week with a Friday Christmas, there were record highs--low 100s nearly every day and low 80s at night. Even CMs were complaining the weather was SO not normal.

Prepare for every extreme and don't put much stock in forecasts. Both times we experienced those extremes, the weather was supposed to be blissfully sunny and normal for our entire stay.

 

[CynBeth]

At Epcot don’t miss the storytellers and Candlelight Processional. Also take time to visit some of the resorts to see their decorations - WL, GF, CR, BC, YC, BW, and AKL. They also have decorated trees at Disney Springs.

 

[clm10308]

If you aren’t taking littles, plan to stay for the late night hours if you can. MK can be open until like 2am. It is a great way to ride a bunch of rides in a short time. That is my absolute favorite time to be at MK.