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Christmas, New Year in Florida

aarce

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I am considering taking the family to Florida for the holidays this year or next year. I own a Marriott week in Hilton Head and a Vistana Villages week but can't use them again until next year. I was wondering if others booked time in Florida for the Holidays. How did you do it? Was it what you expected and if you were to do it again what would you do differently?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.
 

elaine

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It’s very crowded. Make sure to get Disney fast passes in advance. We enjoy the decorations and festive atmosphere. Universal for Harry Potter stuff is even more crowded. Weather can be very warm to quite chilly.
 

WVBaker

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Personally, I love Florida in December/January. Sunshine with highs in the 70's, lows in the 50's and water temperature in the 70's. This makes visiting Disney much more bearable given the crowds and waiting in the lines so, it's a perfect time to visit

Of course being from the Mid-Atlantic, Christmas decorations, warm weather and people in shorts is a strange mix. :ponder:
 

chalee94

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It’s very crowded. Make sure to get Disney fast passes in advance. We enjoy the decorations and festive atmosphere. Universal for Harry Potter stuff is even more crowded. Weather can be very warm to quite chilly.

Yes, for Christmas week, I would skip the parks completely (unless you are just happy to be there and don't care if you ride much of anything.) The Magic Kingdom might close early due to crowds.

My favorite time to go to WDW is the week before or after Thanksgiving in November (especially the week after when Thanksgiving falls earlier in the month.) The weather is typically mid-70s and just about perfect.

The first 2 weeks of December are nice (but more people are picking up on this time period as a favorite.) You also can definitely hit some cold nights so pack for flexibility...

I just love the music and decorations at WDW around that time of year.
 

sfwilshire

TUG Review Crew: Expert
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Book early and expect crowds. You are probably too late for a good resort this year unless you luck into a cancellation. I just booked Christmas and New Year's for next year this week.

It's a fun time to be there if your expectations are low on being able to do a lot in the parks.

Sheila
 

suzanne

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I am booked into St Pete Beach for Christmas this year. I have been to Disney and Universal several times at Christmas and New Years and loved it. I especially loved the holiday light spectacle that Disney puts on, the electric light parade and the fireworks show over the castle. As others have said. Book early, its high season in Florida for snowbirds and the holidays. We have stayed at the Hiltons and the Orange Lake resorts among others. The Orange Lake was my favorite for ease of getting to Disney World.
 

Sea Six

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Vistana Villages Key West (2) - Orlando
We used to like going to the Transportation Center and ride the monorail stopping off at the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, and Contemporary resorts to see the beautiful decorations. The Grand Floridian is absolutely beautiful, but the other two don't seem to do it up as much the past few years. We also would take the boat from EPCOT to Hollywood Studios and check out the Boardwalk lobby, also very nice.
 

this2isme

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Fort Wilderness Lodge is beautiful during Christmas season. If you drive just show the security guard your Drivers license and they will pass you in especially if you have reservation for a meal at the Roaring Fork restaurant.
 

TheHolleys87

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Fort Wilderness Lodge is beautiful during Christmas season. If you drive just show the security guard your Drivers license and they will pass you in especially if you have reservation for a meal at the Roaring Fork restaurant.

To avoid confusion, let me clarify that Fort Wilderness is the campground and Wilderness Lodge is the hotel. The Lodge is beautifully decorated for the holidays but so are many of the campsites!

And Roaring Fork is the quick service restaurant at the Lodge, no reservations taken. Whispering Canyon Cafe (which is anything but whisper quiet) and Artist Point (now a Snow White-themed character meal) are the two table service restaurants that do take reservations as early as 180 days prior to your desired dining date. Geyser Point is an open-air bar and table service restaurant on the lake, walk up only (and very small).
 

jabberwocky

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A couple of years ago we did a two week stretch covering both Christmas and New Years at Sheraton Vistana Resort (SVR) using our fixed Christmas week plus another that I rented for right around MF's. We also had family stay at the same resort from both sides of our family with a total of 21 people staying for at least part of that time.

Aside from the weather being bitterly cold for part of the trip we had a good time (it was apparently close to record low temps). Despite it being cozy, we all had a great time and were able to run around central Florida - pool time was really limited due to the cold weather. We did a traditional turkey dinner for Christmas which my wife somehow pulled off despite being largely limited to timeshare cookware. Rather than everyone trying to buy gifts for everyone else we did a white elephant gift exchange.

We also purchased a 7 day Disney pass. The parks were incredibly crowded - we spent New Year's in the Magic Kingdom and Disney ended up hitting maximum capacity at 11 am or something like that.

Good memories and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again - although I'd probably scale back on Disney. :)
 

Talent312

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