From: Rich_Koster@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US (Rich Koster)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Re: Xmas in WDW
Distribution: world
Date: 19 Aug 92 20:29:48 CST
Organization: The Amiga GateWay BBS * New Orleans, La.

On 17 Aug 92 21:18:22 GMT, tgrant@ctcvax.ccf.swri.edu (T. S. Grant) wrote
to All concerning X-mas in WDW:
 
TG>     This is my first post so bear with me.  There has been a lot of
TG> discussion on trips to WDW, many of the comments I have found useful.
TG> I have read most of Birmbaum's Official WDW Guide book and looked into
TG> a couple of other sources and none of them are very definitive on when
TG> the X-Mas rush starts.  I am planning on going to WDW for my honeymoon
TG> and so the dates are relatively fixed, my question is How crowded are
TG> the parks the week before X-Mas and X-mas itself?  I am going for
TG> seven days and tend to be patient so I should see most things anyway
TG> right?  Thanks for your help and advice
 
     Much happiness to you and your fiancee!
 
     My wife and I love to go to WDW in December!  Our wedding anniversary
falls December 6th, the weather isn't hot/not too cold, the parks aren't
crowded, reservations are easy to get (rooms, restaurants), rates are
cheaper, but first and foremost the place looks gorgeous decorated for the
holidays, very easy to get into the holiday spirit, and the pace is laid
back enough that you can spend a very relaxed (romantic!) time enjoying
everything.  Earlier this summer there was a thread about romantic places
to go around WDW.  Some of the locales enjoyed by people who post here
were the Empress Room on the Empress Lilly at WDW Village/Pleasure Island;
the waterfall, beach and luau atmosphere at Polynesian Resort (though the
meal is so-so); Victoria & Albert's restaurant at the Grand Floridian
Resort (meals $75/ea, set menu, limited seating, coat and tie dress code,
but fine dining and very personal service, reservations a must); the
observation deck adjacent to the Top of the World Lounge, 15th floor,
Contemporary Resort, especially for viewing the MK fireworks; the All
American Rose Garden at the Hub of MK; the Portico behind the Adventurer's
Club at Pleasure Island; and the satellite bar area inside XZFR's for its
intimacy and small dance floor away from the crowd.  There's a year-'round
Christmas Shop at WDW Village Marketplace with Disney-themed Christmas
decorations, strolling there during the holidays is very pleasant, and the
Marketplace usually stages live Christmas shows and concerts in the
evenings.  You'll have a great time!
 
     Try "1992 Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World" by Bob Sehlinger,
Prentice Hall Press, $11.00 paperback.  He really analyzes the Florida
tourism seasons in various parts of the state and how that affects WDW
tourism and crowds.  The author advises that Christmas/New Year's
(Christmas Week-January 3) is *the* most crowded time to go to WDW during
the entire year.  The least crowded is the period after Thanksgiving Day
until the week before Christmas.  When we've gone to coincide with our
December 6th anniversary, we've found all the attractions and restaurants
very easy to patronize, no lines, and the place is far from deserted.  The
parks have an earlier closing time than in the summer.  The touring plans
in the book during this period will serve mainly to describe what to see
and to orient you.  If you go Christmas Week, then the touring plans will
tell you how to avoid lines and crowds and maximize your sightseeing time.
I've seen on TV the annual Christmas Day Parade telecast live from there,
and judging from Main Street, the joint is packed!  Pleasure Island
promotes itself as having New Year's Eve every night, probably on the real
night it's packed too ;-).  There's a chart on page 32 of the book which
compares the visitors per day per park in the thousands based on average
weekly attendance during various parts of the year:  It appears that
between Thanksgiving and Christmas it's about 15,000 vs about 70,000
between Christmas and New Years, and the author says up to 92,000 have
toured just the Magic Kingdom on a single day (didn't say *which* day)!
 
     Probably count the heavy tourist time as between the Friday of the
weekend before Christmas through the Sunday of the weekend after New Years,
because of year-end vacations and kids being out of school, peaking around
Christmas and New Years.
 
     A clue towards the answer to your question might come within an ad in
the Summer 1992 edition of Disney News magazine on page 23 (came in the
mail around the first of June).  It's about Disney's Jolly Holidays
(Fabulous Way To Spend Your Holidays).  The promotion and package rates go
from *November 29-December 18, 1992*.  There are receptions at select
Disney resort hotels (New England Yule, Christmas Cajun-style, etc.).
There's a special "Jolly Holidays Dinner Show", an all-you-can-eat holiday
feast with all the trimmings and a cast of over 100 singers and dancers
along with Disney characters in a musical dinner show.  Two, three and four
night packages start at $139 per night/per person and include 1) "festive
accomodations" (?!), 2) admission to the Jolly Holidays Dinner Show,
3) holiday receptions at each resort w/live entertainment and refreshments,
4) free transportation throughout WDW Resort, 5) unlimited admission to
Magic Kingdom, EPCOT Center, Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park, and Pleasure
Island.  The price includes tax, based on double-occupancy, advance
reservations required; based on availability.  For information and
reservations, call the Magic Kingdom Club Travel Center: (407) 824-2600,
EXT. 72.  There's no mention in the ad that you have to be a member of the
MKC to buy this package, but the fine print says the prices/package is not
valid with any other special program.  WDW Travel Co. also has a honeymoon
package good any time of year, and some of the other hotels off-site may
offer something like that too.
 
     Best wishes on your upcoming wedding; hope this info helps!
 
Rich Koster, Mandeville LA (outside New Orleans)
 

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