Planning for 2012

How exciting. I will be attending Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party for the first time this year. There is also the Candlelight Processional at Epcot going on during that time. I've only stayed at Pop Century and love it. The new resort Art of Animation will be open when you visit next year.

Hi Kris! That's a great time to go - we went in 2010 that first weekend in December - the best of it all- lighter crowds and all the decorations! Here's my advice:

1. From what I understand, usually the taping of the Regis & Kelly Christmas parade takes place that first Saturday in December. And it's in MK. From what I hear, MK is a complete ZOO that day. We avoided it completely and went to another park that day. I'm not sure what they will do this year or next though, with Regis retiring. Will they still tape a parade? Not sure. But worth keeping an eye on when planning.

2. Must see: The Osborne Spectacle of Lights at Hollywood Studios. No additional charge over and above park admission, and it is just amazing. Happened every night.

3. We also went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and really enjoyed it., I would highly recommend it!

4. If you have time and can do it with that crowd, it's worth resort-hopping to see all the resort decorations. If you have to pick just a few, the Grand Floridian has an amazing Gingerbread House and Tree, and Animal Kingdom has an awesome tree and decorations.

Weather can be tricky that time of year. Ask the locals, like Lizzy B., but we had a few mornings where it was close to freezing, but in the mid 70's by early afternoon. Just made it tough to decide what to wear, and we had to shed clothes by afternoon. Keep that in mind, especially if you have littler ones. We usually ride Splash Mountain as our first ride at rope drop, but it was too cold for us to do that! It would have been fine in the afternoon.

Have fun planning!!!!!

Yes....the decorations at Animal Kingdom Lodge at Christmas time are amazing

How'd your trip go, Kris?? Would love to hear all about it!

That sounds like such a fun trip! I haven't been for Christmas for many years, it's totally on my "to do" list again though!

Hi There,
If you are set on a value resort my suggestion would be POP Century, mostly because you would only share the bussing system with one other value resort, Art of Animation. But rather than rent from Disney I would rent from a DVC rental place like David's (www.dvcrequest.com). I have used them several times before and had great success and a deluxe room. Here is the break down. Say that you rent 2 std value resort rooms from disney which is enough for 8 people plus disney dining plan plus 5 day tickets for everyone. The total would be approx. $4526 total (not including flight/ travel to WDW).
To compare if you rented 2 std value rooms at the deluxe villas at Animal Kingdom Lodge plus disney dining thru David's DVC rental as well as tickets for everyone from David's partner company. The total would be approx. $4441. So actually a little less expensive but you would be staying at a nicer resort. The only thing is that you'd have to contact David's now because DVC villas can be rented 11 months in advance to the day and they tend to rent out quickly.
Good luck with your WDW vacation planning!!