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Pippy

If you do go at xmas,we went so we came back 2 days after xmas day,The theme parks the first week before xmas wasnt too bad at all,you could get on most of the rides and to see it at xmas is worth seeing,but once you get into xmas week it is murder queue times can be upto 2 hrs and there are queues everywhere and in my eyes it spoils everything when you have to wait 90 mins ec for a 3min ride.It took us over an hour to leave epcot car park xmas day,it is hard to explain how many people are there,so my advice would be yes go at xmas if you wish to go,but go to the parks before xmas week and have a relaxing week the 2nd week,f you wish to go to a park on xmas day go to epcot as it is the biggest park and the crowds spread out and you will get in,the magic kingdom xmas day i think closed the car park at about 9am as full the day we was there,i cant imagine how crowded it was in there,my advice for florida is i think the best time to go is may,you can get on all the rides and the weather is not to hot just perfect have a lovely trip.

Hi Yeltzman
When you was at the Theme parks the week before Xmas where they Christmassy? E.G fake snow, Xmas parades etc?
Have been to Florida 4x but never at Xmas and have always wanted to go to see parades and experience the American Xmas etc, what would you recommend?
Cheers Liz.

Hi Liz
We've been several times in December but have always avoided the actual Christmas week for several reasons,

1. Price - Flights, Hotels, Villas/Condos etc. all go up in price around Dec 15th

2. Queues - could never justify standing in 25-30c for more than 30mins for anything
3. Christmas shopping - better bargains around the end of November with the Thanksgiving sales, also if you time it right you get the 1st week (or 2) of December when the parks are quiet and flight/accom prices are cheap.

As for being "Christmassy" the nearest we get is the "Mickeys Verry Merry Christmas Party" event at Magic Kingdom, it's at night (7-12) so dark and colder, all the lights and fireworks look great and the parades etc. are fantastic for the kids. You also get free hot chocolate & cookies and fake snow on Main Street.

Universal Studios is also great for kids at Christmas as they have Grinchmas and Macys Parade.

as jeff says liz yes the parks was all done up for xmas,the osborne lights were all up at mgm,and everything else was set up but as i say again if you can get there say 10 days before xmas day for a 2 week holiday you can get round the parks the first few days then have a special occasion on xmas day at the parks,but the amount of people there it is ard to describe...if you do go have a lovely trip plus its great to get away from it all away from xmas these days....

There are actually better bargains to be had immediately after Christmas than the Thanksgiving sales. This is true from my own experience but I remember watching a news report about it some time ago and they also said (I think) that, statistically, stores either have more items on sale or at bigger discounts the day after Christmas as opposed to the day after Thanksgiving. However, since any money you'd save would be used up on the extra expenses of flights and hotel costs, perhaps Thanksgiving week is better after all!

I went to stay with a friend in Florida last Christmas & we went to the Magic Kingdom on Boxing Day - & it was COLD! I ended up buying us extra sweatshirts.
That aside the queues were horrendous. We were travelling down from Northern Florida & decided to arrive about lunchtime, hoping that people would begin leaving after the fireworks & we would only have queues for half our time there. We were wrong! At 11.30PM there were still families with very young, very tired & fretful children everywhere.
Plus a couple of the main rides were broken, which was disappointing.
Having said that the parades were good & the fireworks absolutely fantastic. But with hindsight there must be better times to visit & I believe the Christmas parades & decorations go on for some weeks, so maybe this could be timed to coincide with cheaper flights. (I flew out once on Boxing Day & got a dirt cheap flight).

But whatever you decide - enjoy!
Vickie

Thanks everyone
I'm not really bothered about being there on Xmas day I just wanted to see the xas parades etc. We have been at different times of the year but never Nov-Jan time.
All I want is to see Micky & Minnie in their Xmas clothes ha ha!
How does it compare to other times of the year? My Husband is 40 in Feb 2009 and i was debating Florida at Xmas or waiting to be there for his birthday. He has been 2 x for his birthday before in Feb....so thinking of bringing it forward to Dec/Jan time. (What do you think)?
Whats the weather like in Dec and Jan?

Thanks again

it can vary the weather it went from mid 60s-70s when we got there to freezing point for 3 days then the weather went back up.had to buy a coat to keep warm on those 3 days it was cold.im not sure when the xmas parades start or when it is all dont out for xmas maybe a e-mail to disney to get exact dates would help you out.

We've been when it's been hot and we could sunbathe on Xmas Day and we have been when it has been so cold , we have been looking for gloves to buy. The luck of the draw I suppose. Be prepared for it to be cold and then you can cover all eventualities. We only went to a park once on Xmas Day. Never again. By 9am it was chocca and you couldn't move, just being swept along in the crowd. Horrendous queues for the rides, nowhere to sit or eat. Stay at "home "that day.It's all over and back to business on 26th.

Universal is not busy on christmas day. We were told to stay clear of the disney parks though. It started to rain in the afternoon so we went to the cinema! It was just business as usual at city walk. As we were going back to the hotel all the pretty young things were coming out to go clubbing, on christmas night

Thanks all of you but decided on Feb (13 months) instead of Dec/Jan now.
Just need to find a good deal for Villa and flights now. Any help on that would be great.

Cheers Liz.

If anyone can assist Liz, please do so HERE rather than in this thread.

Thanks
Pippy