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How busy is Orlando at Christmas time?
Would love to go for Christmas this year but would hate it, if it was too busy. We have done DLP so wouldn't be interested in Disney Park itself, but would be heading to the other big attractions.
Which time of year would be best to beat the crowd?

TIA

Very very busy. Think it was this year that I read they had to close one of the Disney parks due to overcrowding.

Have been there in October/November time and it's really enjoyable crowd wise

I was there 3 years ago for 5 weeks over Christmas and the New Year.
I didn't find it uncomfortably busy. On New Years Eve they told people in the morning that Magic Kingdom would be closed that night in the hope to keep the crowds down. It didn't work though and that night was crazy. Other than that it was the best Christmas and New Year we've ever had.
Was also there for Halloween and in August. The summer was the busiest.

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We were there this year for Christmas and New year for 17 nights, while it was busy we didn't find it uncomfortably so. It's just fab at Christmas, so much to do and just not enough time to get to it all. Magic Kingdom was closed at 10.30 on Christmas morning due to full capacity, we had no intention of going there that day anyway, had decided on Epcott which is huge and much better able for large crowds...we had a fab Christmas day there.

I wouldn't rule out Magic Kingdom entirely though, it so just so amazing at Christmas, the parades, decorations, shows, fireworks... we went just for these, didn't do any rides that we had done in Paris and still managed to go twice to MK in Orlando.

At times the traffic was bad between Christmas and New Year, and it was almost impossible to get a table at a restaurant some nights but proper planning would sort that. There are the only downsides I can think of but no way would I let these stop me, it was by far the best Christmas we have ever had, highly recommend it

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Thanks girls
Don't know what to do, don't want to take dd1 out of school as its her JC year, but if we leave it until next year dd2 will only have started secondary school, so wouldn't want to take her out either.
If dh had his way we wouldn't go at all, he's not into this kind of holiday. So I have to make a decision soon so he doesn't change his mind....

I think you have to work out what is the best time of year for you as a family and then just go with that accepting the drawbacks that may be at that time of year.

For example, we wouldn't go in summer, it's too hot /humid, and the rain thunderstorms are more frequent and would completely freak my ds (ASD) out. So we will put up with crowds at Easter and Christmas, also there is two weeks off school and they only miss a few days, this is a good compromise for us.

Some people prefer Oct/nov/march etc. Less crowds better weather, I would love this time of year. But I like at least 2 or 3 weeks and am not willing to take kids out of school for that long.

Orlando is huge and the parks there reflect that, DLP in March was every bit as busy as anywhere we were in Orlando at Christmas.

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X

It is really Magical at Christmas , I think you will love it . Anytime the kids are out of school its busy in the parks but at Christmas just walking around especially in the evenings is fantastic .

We were there this Christmas and loved it - everything from Celebration Christmas decor to the decor in Disney. The Wed/Thurs after Christmas was really busy but the rest of the time was not too bad.

The fact that it was not too hot was a huge advantage to us.

All in all, I would recommend Christmas time.

We went to Orlando the 28th dec 2011 for 14 days and it was BRILLIANT.
Yes it can be busy but we found it very managable.......oh and DLP is nothing compared to Disney in Orlando, its a whole other game

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DS 14/05/94 18
DD1 08/01/98 14
DD2 12/07/07 5