hiawatha

Family with teens (ages 19,16,15) will be in Orlando for 6 days over xmas. We plan to visit Universal studios 1 day, Disney 2 days (been there several times before but still love it!). Open for other suggestions --my daughter wants to go deep sea fishing but will it be "too cold"? and where to go --west coast or east?? Also we like adventure so maybe we'll take an airboat ride. Kids haven't been to the space center; not too thrilled about it but I think we should go there,too. Appreciate any ideas/advice about which days to do Disney and wondering is there a good place in Disney for xmas dinner or someplace else in Orlando, not super fancy but nice.

taitai

Christmas is one of the busiest days of the year at Disney...right up there with the 4th of July. Often, one or more of the parks close down to guests as they hit their maximum early in the day. I would strongly suggest that you avoid all Disney parks on Christmas Day unless you plan on going at Rope Drop. Also, staying on site only gives you the right to enter one of the Disney parks, it will not get you into a park that is closed. You also will not get in for a dinner reservation if the park is closed.

A couple thoughts. Make your ADRs for whatever Disney restaurants you would like to try TODAY. THIS MINUTE. RIGHT NOW. Understand that most of your top 5 choices will already be completely booked for that week. It really is just that crowded there.

Go to Tourguide Mike or DIsboards to get more information. Tourguide Mike has a great planner for helping figure out what are the least crowded parks each day. The people at Disboards know absolutely EVERYTHING there is to know.

Think about NOT visiting a park for any reason on Christmas Day. Hang at your hotel pool instead.

Good luck and have a wonderful trip.

taitai

gmoney

We went to the thanksgiving buffet at the Caribe Royale hotel a couple of years ago and it was very good. They have a Christmas buffet as well, worth a try. Check out the web site.

http://www.cariberoyale.com/

xrae

Definitely take the teens on an airboat ride. It's one of my favorite things I've done in Florida. Temperature/weather would be a consideration as you go pretty fast = windy = chilly. So bring appropriate jackets or layers. I don't have one in Orlando to recommend as we did one near West Palm years ago.

Orlando_Vic

Here is a reliable and local company I've used with guests before. It's very close to the Lake Buena Vista/I-Drive/Disney areas.

Boggy Creek Airboat Rides
www.bcairboats.com

luckytravlr

We are also going to be in Orlando for the holidays and was wondering where to eat Christmas or Christmas Eve. I know it's going to be crazy everywhere and I'm debating whether or not to hang out at the resort. We're doing a non Disney trip and I was also looking for dining ideas.

DancingBearMD

You might check out the offerings at some of the fancier hotels like the Peabody or the Ritz-Carlton, they may have holiday buffets planned.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Garden Grove in the Swan resort on Disney property, which was very nice. Don't know if they're already booked for Christmas.

travelingirl

Narcoossee's at the Grand Floridian. We had Christmas dinner the last 2 years there and loved it! It is on a Gazebo on the Lake and has a wraparound deck where you can go outside to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks and they pipe the music in from the show. All the tables get up and go out then come back in and finish. IF you can get a res. I suggest 7:30 or 8 (fireworks are at 9)