Hello again, Glorian! Great to hear from you!
A stay at
Disney's Art of Animation Resort over Christmas sounds SPECTACULAR! Wow! What a great choice!
To better understand crowd levels on Christmas day at Walt Disney World, go to the unofficial site, touringplans.com. There, you can enter the date for this Christmas to see how crowded the parks can be on that day. All four parks are at a crowd level of 9.6-10 out of a possible 10. While it is surely possible to enjoy yourselves in the parks that day, it will be very crowded. (Just think, the magic of Christmas + the magic of Disney...you get the picture...) If crowds don't bother you, though, head on in and enjoy the special holiday vibe from all of the Guests and Cast Members who are assembled that day!
We were in Magic Kingdom on 12/26 and felt that the crowds were very difficult to navigate, especially with little ones. Because of this, we have been very selective in our visits to the parks on an actual holiday. For example, we'll dine at Cinderella's Royal Table on Thanksgiving, but may head into that park only for our dining experience, relaxing at our resort, instead, for the rest of the day. On July 4th, we'll catch a view of the spectacular "Celebrate America! A Fourth of July Concert in the Sky" from our nearby resort, rather than fight the crowds in the park itself.
I think that your idea of reserving a really nice dinner is the way to go IF crowds would unnerve you or your little princesses. After all, if you arrive prior to Christmas day, all of the holiday magic will be strewn throughout the parks, but you'll find slightly lighter crowds. Relax at your resort, enjoy the pool and other amenities available
there, then head out to a special dinner. What memories!
Send more questions as you think of them; I'd love to help spread some extra-special Christmas magic for you and your family!