Disney world at Christmas, don't know where to start!

[ILoveaSunflower]

We are going to Disney world this Christmas and have never been before. We can't go at any other time of year and I'm starting to get nervous about how busy it will be and his much planning and pre booking will need to be done.

I'm finding it totally bewildering to know where to start in booking our itinerary. We have booked the hotel but don't know what restaurants I should be aiming to book when our booking window opens.
Are there some restaurants that I absolutely should book as they will sell out?

What are the best days to do each park and should we even attempt to get into a park on Christmas day?

What about activities, are there any that I should book early?

Can anyone help?

Christmas veteran here 2015-2022 on,y missed 2020! Not going this year as kids term dates are different so can make the most of the quieter time

What hotel are you at
what actual dates are you there
just Disney or universal as well
age of kids
likes/dislikes in terms of movies

Staying in a moderate resort for two weeks from 18th December.
Kids are 6 and 9, they like a broad range of movies but particularly star wars and frozen.
Not doing universal

Have you set up mydisneyexperience and downloaded the app

18-23 will be the quietest

look at magic hours early morning tends to be key

look at booking the star wars stuff

thedibb website is great

avoid magic kingdom on Christmas Day if you hate crowds!

Yes I've set up the app and booked our park tickets.

The booking for restaurants opens next week. Which restaurants should I aim for? How quickly do they get booked up?
I'm thinking for going for be my guest or Cinderella's table.

Is it possible to visit a park on Christmas day itself?
Does anywhere do Christmas dinner?

First thing you need to do is book your park reservations, you cant just turn up to the park on the day you have to of reserved your spots.I would do this quickly because it will be very busy.

I would do a little research on the restaurants there are so many, and you’ll know best what your family will like. I suggest looking at Disney springs too.
we find the food much better there overall, but obviously still great at the parks.

frozen is at Epcot, the lightening lanes go fast! Star Wars is Hollywood studios, olgas cantina is there too, it’s more just drinks and atmosphere, check if you can take kids in but they may really like that. You’ll need reservations for that one. Otherwise it’s a lot of quick service around those two areas.

there are tons of YouTube channels mammoth club and dfb are particularly useful, they have restaurant and park specific videos and also Christmas videos so you can see what ‘exclusive’ activities and events are on. Those channels also have guides for things like genie+ so you can figure out lightening lanes etc.
you may want to see what the holiday event is this year, (there’s normally some holiday parties) and check if it will impact your dates (you can’t go in magic kingdom when it’s on - so book a different park for that day, unless you have park hopper) or consider if you want to book tickets to that.
pick out a handful of things that are your ‘must dos’ as a family, and then try to leave some free time in there, or it can all get a bit stressful and you spend the whole holiday on the app.

Is this for this year or next? I really hope next year otherwise you've got a lot of research to get done in a short period of time! Especially dining. Have you looked at the app? Are you staying on site? Reserved the parks?

Sorry just see your update, you need to get yourself on DIBB, you've got a lot of reading to do!!

Cinderella table and be my guest - fast your best bet is to go late in your window as all the other slots could be gone. I have failed to get a space in lightening lane at 1 m8nute past it opening

yes open on Christmas and busy. Magic kingdom is a level of busy that until you experience you can’t picture and it can

you can’t park hop until 2. Do you still need to book parks - you did last year and you need to go to the first park to park hop

Be aware that Be Our Guest is not character dining - the Beast walks around but won't stop for photos or autographs.

They have two special evenings with themed parades, etc. There is Mickeys Very Merry which will be on at the Magic Kingdom (like the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween nights but Christmas themed. Hollywood Studios is running Jollywood Nights and that's a first for this year. The Star Wars land is there too.

I've not been to either but Mickey's Not So Scary is great - the park is closed to everyone except for ticket holders and there's lots of themed events, special fireworks, the characters are all dressed up in Halloween costume, etc., so I am guessing the Very Merry will be similar.

You need to book tickets for these.

The Frozen themed stuff at Epcot is amazing and there is the Coral Reef restaurant there which has the aquarium walls as part of the restaurant so you can see all the fish and the odd scuba diver. Your 6 year old in particular would probably love the Turtle Talk (I think it's called) with Crush which is a sort of interactive film.

If you want to bag the maximum number of princesses (you can get autograph books in the park stores, or take your own if you prefer, and kids love getting to meet them and get their autographs) then Cinderella's Royal Table will have loads of them going from table to table. Be My Guest will have Beauty & the Beast characters.

If you're going to Disney Springs the Boathouse is a fun themed restaurant. There's also a couple of amphibicars going around not far from it that your two may like looking at. That's where the big Disney store is but there's also a large Lego store with huge Lego sculptures that your two may like looking at.

You do need to book the parks (you can change them later if you want and there's availability) and the restaurants as they get booked up. You're best off deciding what parks you want to do on what day now and working from there. There's also a Disney app (can't remember the name of it) which tells you which park is quietest when.

There are some very good Disney forums around so it may be worth you having a look at them and getting some advice from the regulars.

Happy Holiday!