How To Get The Most From an Orlando Christmas

It’s stating the obvious to say that Christmas is a wonderful time to be in Orlando. Few places turn on the festive style quite like the Theme Park Capital of the World.

But it’s also that reputation for providing a themed winter wonderland that attracts multiple million visitors during the month of December, ensuring things can get pretty hectic and crowded, especially the week from Christmas to New Year.

The Yuletide throng definitely helps to add to the overall vibe and atmosphere everywhere you go, but it does also mean you need to have a proper plan of campaign to make sure it’s a December to remember.

What should we plan for in Orlando at Christmastime?

When you are considering your Orlando holiday at this time of year, the first thing to know is the fact that the destination as a whole is slightly schizophrenic.

In early December, things can be distinctly laid back as people take a deep breath after the big Thanksgiving holiday towards the end of November (actually November 24-27 this year) and before the Christmas period really kicks in.

As a general rule, Americans don’t get as much holiday time as we do in the UK, hence they tend to look towards the big occasions to use it.

As a result, starting the week before Christmas Day itself, usually around December 17, things really heat up in terms of the crowd levels in and around Orlando, reaching a peak on Christmas Eve and from the 26th to January 2.

How do we prepare for the crowds in Orlando Theme Parks at Christmas?

The obvious things to bear in mind as the attendance levels creep towards “Full” are patience and planning. While it’s an essential truth about Orlando generally that you simply can’t “Do it all” in one visit, that is especially the case at Christmas.

So you should limit the amount of things you aim to do over the festive period. Trying to do more than one theme park per day is especially hard work with all the extra traffic around, unless you stick to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, and use the Disney monorail to get from one to the other.

Going from Disney to Universal, or Universal to SeaWorld is also highly inadvisable in this instance, as you will end up spending much more time than usual navigating the car parks and walkways, as well as just the extra parking costs involved.

Park hours are also at their longest at this time of year, hence you can maximise your time if you have the stamina for long days. The Magic Kingdom is typically open until 11pm, while Universal’s two parks don’t pull the shutters down until 10pm.

What are the Best Theme Park Tactics When it’s Busy?

The best advice in this instance is to be among the early birds for every park visit, for two reasons.

First, you will be guaranteed park entry as it’s not unknown for the likes of the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios to hit capacity by mid-day, and not allow any further entry until things quieten down a little, even if you have a park reservation.

And second, with the parks likely to be bulging in the afternoon, you can get MUCH more done in the first couple of hours, and then not stress too much about the l-o-n-g queues.

The Magic Kingdom will open at 8am on some days, so it’s important to be there by 7.15 if you want to take advantage of that lower-crowd level early on. Equally, if park opening is at 9am, make sure you’re at the turnstiles by 8.15 at least.

Knowing how many British visitors are wide awake at 4am for their first few days because of the time difference, this early-riser tip can be most useful!

Book what you can well in advance

If things are really humming in all the theme parks, it stands to reason you should try to book as much as possible in advance, especially mealtimes.

Knowing you have a guaranteed reservation at a good sit-down restaurant is an ideal way to ease the stress of being in those lengthy queues for much of the day, and your whole family will benefit from being out of the crowds for a while.

If you can’t manage a booking, or don’t want to go to that level of expense, take full advantage of the Mobile Ordering feature of the My Disney Experience app for most of the counter-service restaurants, which allows you to order and pay in advance on your mobile device.

Most people still haven’t discovered it, and it can save you quite a bit of time. Plus, you can also feel quite smug at everyone standing in those long lines to pay and then pick up their food! Look up more at https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/mobile-food-orders/.

You can also be ahead of the masses for both the fab Fantasmic show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Epcot’s beautiful Candlelight Processional performance if you book a dining package that includes reserved seating. See the details on these links for Fantasmic and the Candlelight Processional separately.

And finally…

Take the message about patience to heart. You probably won’t be able to do all the rides and attractions you want to do at this time of year, so be content with the ones you are able to do and don’t stress if you see queues everywhere (after that first hour or so).

The general atmosphere and decoration of the parks is superb during Christmas, hence it can be enjoyable just to take a slow wander and admire the creativity of the festive period.

And this is also the ideal time of year to schedule a visit to one of the more laid-back and less crowded attractions in town, especially several that we’ve highlighted this year. In particular you should look out for any of this little selection:

Cranes Roost Park

Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive

Orlando’s best free attractions

A Visit to Clermont

Crystal River

Sunset Walk

Wekiva Island

Revolution Adventures

And that should all stand you in very good stead for Christmas in Orlando. It IS a truly wonderful time to be here – if you’re prepared and ready for it!

Have you been to Orlando at Christmas before? What are your top tips? Tell us about them on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages… and don’t forget to interact with us on Pinterest, too!.