Disney the week after Christmas.

[Deleted]

My office shuts down the week after Christmas so we were thinking of using that forced week of vacation to go to Disney (all my other vacation is booked for the year so that is the only time we could go).  So my questions are -

why would that be a fantastic or awful time of year to go?
where do I even begin with planning and researching?
what is a reasonable budget?
we plan. To drive to save airfare so it would probably take two days down and two days back leaving us 3 days in the park.  Is that enough or do I need to suck it up and budget for airfare?
we want to stay at Disney.  Suggestions on where to stay for a reasonable budget?

at the moment there are 3 of us - me, husband, and 6 year old but that number could increase at some point this year (we are in process of adopting a child from foster care system so our number could increase to 4 or5 depending on if we get a solo child or siblings).

thanks ladies!

[muppetinma]

Awful time to go. The week between Christmas and New Years is the busiest week of the year to go. It won't be reasonably priced, and the lines will be out of control. Also, on some of those days, they'll reach capacity. That means that you can't leave the park and come back in. You need to be there when they open if you want to get in, and when you leave, you're not getting back in.

[Deleted]

I tried to go one day during that time of year when visiting family. It was miserable, and I didn't have a kid with me. We ended up leaving about half-way through the day. I know it's your forced vacation time, but I think it would be wasted time and money. With the crowds and lines, you wouldn't get to do much and would spend the bulk of your time waiting.

[alleinesein]

DONT DO IT!

[phillyrunner]

Absolutely would not do it. We went for new years eve a couple years ago with our friends. Got there the 30th and left the 4th. the 30th and 31st were AWFUL. It was SO crowded. So crowded that we had to wait an hour for food at a counter service place in epcot. You literally could not move in Epcot on New Years Eve. Once the crowds left on the 1st to go back to work/back to school, it was much more enjoyable.

[miss1180]

we were just there on a random week in February. the crowds at MK on a random Tuesday were annoying/almost too much for me... (30, 45, even 90 minute waits for some stuff. I can't imagine what it would be like on a week when every school and a lot of people's jobs are closed. I don't even think I would go that week if it was free!
I've heard that most of the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas aren't bad to go, and early September when schools are just starting back

[Deleted]

Any time that kids are off school and people off work is going to be bad. We went a couple years ago the last week in April. It was the perfect time between spring and summer breaks. We didn't wait more then 30 minutes for anything and most rides we just walked right in.