Christmas time=huge lines, what kind?

[plutosnana]

Now i know that christmas lines, are huge all the time, every christmas, I looked up how lines are, and I wonder if they have overflowed with people, before..
Does anyone has an answer to this question I am very curious!

[disneydeb]

In my opinion it is SCARY CROWDED!!!

but still fun if you are not worried about losing wee ones.

[DizneyRox]

It is not uncommon for some of the parks to reach some sort of capacity. Depending on the level, guests might not be allowed into the parks. Starts with parking lot shutdowns and the final phase is no one allowed through the turnstyles.

If that's what you're asking... Wait times for rides are usually insane. 3 hours for some of the more popular attractions is not uncommon.

[FromKnoxvilleto Disney]

We were there one year the day after Christmas and the park was at full capacity less than 2 hours after it opened. There were also zero strollers left to rent for the kids and zero wheelchairs for the ones who needed them. Seems like I remember Peter Pan being over 200 minutes and most everything was very long. It also took us over 2 hours to get lunch and find a table to sit at, then we still had to eat. It was insane but still lots of fun.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Yeah, we went at Christmas time last trip in 2008...after lunch you could expect 2 1/2 hour waits at big attractions like Soarin, BTR, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Everest, RnRC etc...even rides like haunted mansion would have 60-70 minute waits

[plutosnana]

I don't know how you all can handle this? I can barely even handle going through WDW when Mickey's Very Merry christmas party starts!

[Kenny1113]

While I haven't been during Christmastime, I have been at wdw when it reached capacity and was not allowing guests in mk. I just wanted to chime in that even counter service for lunch (it was last minute trip, no ADRs) was Over an hour wait just to order!!!!!!

[Mousemates]

It is crazy crowded...but you can still get a good number of rides in if you are at the park for opening and go park commando for the first couple of hours...after that its pretty much gridlock and what you can fastpass.

[JerseyDad]

......at WDW last year "Christmas Time" (Dec 26th thru Jan 3rd)...I really didn't see "crazy" crowds. We were at MK on Dec 30th to see the "warm-up" New Years fireworks...and the only massive crowding was around the castle....the rest of the park was 15 - 20 minute waits for most rides. On New Years Eve...we were at Epcot...and got there early to avoid being shut out. The 9pm New Years Illuminations...was WAY MORE CROWDED...than the midnight fireworks....and the rest of EPCOT.

.....all the other days....I didn't see any crowds that rivaled the ones I saw at spring break time when I was there in 2004.

[DizneyRox]

As much as people would argue I'm wrong, crowds the past year or two have been way down. I was able to walk into the hub at MK for the July 4th fireworks 10 minutes before they started. In prior years, we've been able to get as close as under the train station when entering about an hour before they started.

So, crowds in general have been way down. With the economy picking up, I'd expect crowds to start building as well, although with them having to release discounts for almost all of next year, I suspect they still don't expect huge (normal compared to years past) crowds.

[11290]

I was able to walk into the hub at MK for the July 4th fireworks 10 minutes before they started.

So, crowds in general have been way down.

If you walked into the HUB just before fireworks on July 4, you had to have been already within 100' of it already. Main St to the HUB was closed about 40 minutes before fireworks and ALL guests were routed through the "bypass routes" into the lands and never even got to come up Main St. or into the HUB area. Some were routed through the buildings but were stopped at the North end and then were back routed into the lands.

In general, crowds this year have been up, not down. Summer Nightastic was very crowded, off party nights this fall have been very crowded, many day crowds since Sep. have been very full compared to last year, and parties have been very well attended compared to last year.

[DizneyRox]

As much as people would argue I'm wrong, crowds the past year or two have been way down

...

[SandmanGStefani24]

In general, crowds this year have been up, not down.

i can agree with this one...especially after my last trip was supposed to be "best time to visit" or something like that according to icot and a few other sources. Crowds and long waits for everything...well except food.

I agree with plutosnana though. i love WDW but dont think I could handle those crowds. waiting hours to eat or ride anything would kinda kill the fun..

[TexansInNY]

On the flip side we always try to go at down times - as this year we head out second week of December - still amazing how few people (in Disney terms) are in the parks. We still enjoy watching when our 12 year old was a few years younger and after a short rain shower, is running carefree in Epcot jumping around in front of Germany with his new norse axe and NOBODY is in the video.

[tcswife]

I feel for anyone that is there this week. I just checked wait times from my phone and here are some outrageous wait times I cam across now at 7:30 PM

MK
Tiki Bird Room~~15
Jungle Cruise~~40
Magic Carpets~~20
Winnie the Pooh~~50
Peter Pan~~80

EPCOT
Soarin~~120+
Test Track~~90

HS
Toy Story~~100
RRC~~40
Tower of Terror~~40

And, not the mention some of these times were double what they are now at 4 this afternoon!! No way would I go to WDW Thanksgiving Week!!!

[Aurora]

These seem like typical summer wait times to me. They'll get higher as the week goes on.

[DizneyRox]

These seem like typical summer wait times to me. They'll get higher as the week goes on.

Agree, those wait time are nothing... 80 minutes for Peter Pan? That's almost a walk on... In July, that would be a short line and one we'd consider waiting in. Haven't been on PP in years, the lines have just too too long. Two hours is typical, often even worse.

The kids haven't even gotten out of school yet, it'll get worse.

[plutosnana]

Last time we went, there were lines from 20 minute wait for Buzz lightyear to a 30-40 minute wait for Indy Speed racers. Not very big lines compared to yours. Think about going for the first 2 weeks of November. Weather , lines , and fireworks , the only thing I really consider long, is like, the charcter waits usually depending where you are.

[tcswife]

I realize those waits I posted were not too outrageous, but do notice I did say that most if not all of those times were doubled earlier in the afternoon. Can't wait to see what Thursday brings!!!! These times are exactly the reason my family goes the 2nd week in December......NO WAITS compared to this week!!! 13 more days!!!

[LandFan]

We leave on Saturday but we find that the parks empty out a lot by Sunday night as a lot of schools don't have Monday off like we do in Pennsylvania... We just plan carefully this week (no MK on a weekend or Monday, attend the Tuesday xmas party, etc) and usually have no problems.