Disney Florida, it's me again!

[shellyt]

I cannot believe that this Disney thing seems to need planning like a military operation!!
My question for you knowledgeable Disney goers is this;
We will be arriving on Christmas day to a self catering apartment in Lake Buena Vista. My daughter will be nearly 3 then. I am reading everywhere about having to book dinner reservations for peak times up to 180 days in advance. I have special dietary needs (gluten free) which makes things more complicated
I am a bit worried that we will arrive on Xmas day and not be able to feed little one.
Has anyone got any recommendations of where to book for New Years Eve and boxing day? and will there be shops open Xmas day when we arrive do you think?
Thank you all for your advice and comments so far, big help for Disney virgin here ;)

Would think that most Disney property restaurants would be able to offer you gluten free dishes but you would need to contact the individual restaurant directly beforehand. You may also want to ask on the Dibb website as they are Disney knowledgeable as well.

Can you arrange with the company to have some foodstuffs put into the apartment fridge beforehand?.

NYE in particular could be both noisy and raucous; do you think you will head to a theme park that night?. You may want to reconsider staying in a theme park on that particular night until midnight.

Department stores, supermarkets and malls are not open on Christmas Day. Boxing Day is not a holiday in the US so all the shops and stores will be open on that day (I think the 26th is when the sales start).

OK thanks, I was wondering if that was the case for boxing day. We will take supplies and cope til then. I don't think our apartments do a fridge filling service unfortunately.
Not sure what to do NYE but no way I'd keep my daughter up til midnight anyway so still open to suggestions on that one.
thank you

IT's not midnight her time though, to your dd it will feel like 6am.

I have to say that I tend to stick with bodyclock time and not force myself into the time zone i'm in. Especially with disney where your dd will get up really early coz she's excited (no amount of persuading to go back to bed), and the parks stay open so late.

So go early as you can, take a break mid afternoon and get some sleep, then go back in the evening.

They sloce sntry on NYE to the park once it gets full. So if you do plan on going go early enough to get in. I would say probably better to do something else though and go boxing day instead. Hopefully will be quieter if nothing else!

thanks Gillybean that's a good point about her (and our) body clock. We might get a night out then after all ;)