Coming to the parks today? Don't expect to ride any rides.

[vicki_c]

We are at AK today and are currently in line for EE with a 90 minute wait.

This surprises me because according to the crowd calendar on touringplans.com, today is listed as a '7', as well as the rest of the week up until Christmas.

TouringPlans says a "7" is equal to a 90 minute wait at AK, so it seems perfect to me.

 

[3floridarays]

We just got off Dinosaur. We were standing in line and someone walked up and offered us their Fast Passes, so our 60 minute wait turned into 5 minutes. Sweet!!!

 

[kissthemouse]

We were there last week, and the longest we waited in any line was 45 min to see Tink...longest ride wait was 20. But it did start to get really crowded as we were leaving on Thursday. Luckily we beat the Christmas rush. Had some great experiences too...out of all the rides we rode, my girls' two fav experiences were PUSH and Dancing in the bubbles with Alice. <3

 

[justskip70003]

so let me tell yall about my expierence at disney yesterday. we were going to go spend the day at the parks and pick up some christmas presents while we were there. we drove 40 minutes to disney property, and as soon as we hit the property, not the parks... the property! we relized how packed full of traffic it was. we were like nahhhhhhh no parks today. we went to the nearest hotel (all star sports) ran in to the gift shop and got the presents and headed to universal.

universal wasnt very overcrowded at all. it was less busy than a summer day.

 

[_Athena_]

We made Epcot @ rope drop. FP Sorin' while DH got our book signed by Donald. Went to test track and someone handed us fast passes! So we knocked out Sorin, TT, land boat ride and lunch in Sunshine Seasons in about 2 hours! We went character hunting inbetween fast passes. Its crowded but you just need to be informed and smart about your choices- and remember the best battle plans rarely make it past the first engagement with the enemey.

 

[Planogirl]

so let me tell yall about my expierence at disney yesterday. we were going to go spend the day at the parks and pick up some christmas presents while we were there. we drove 40 minutes to disney property, and as soon as we hit the property, not the parks... the property! we relized how packed full of traffic it was. we were like nahhhhhhh no parks today. we went to the nearest hotel (all star sports) ran in to the gift shop and got the presents and headed to universal.

universal wasnt very overcrowded at all. it was less busy than a summer day.

I've wondered about Universal. Since Universal doesn't make such a fuss over Christmas I thought that it might be good this time of year.

 

[justskip70003]

I've wondered about Universal. Since Universal doesn't make such a fuss over Christmas I thought that it might be good this time of year.

yeah, i was pleasntly surprised. 20 minute max waits for everything. parks were busy but not near as bad as disney.

 

[dd50]

I went to MK yesterday and it wasn't to bad until about 11:00. We got there at rope drop and did every thing plus some that we wanted but it was very crowded. My kids went on Space Mountain 3 times. 2 in the morning and once around 10:00 pm. The 10:00 had a 80 minute wait so I have up freezing and went into Starlight for some coffee. It was really cold all day long.

 

[Cinderella1122]

It's a good thing i'm only planning on riding minor attractions next week. We are going to Disneyland in 5 months, so our theory is if it's at Disneyland skip it.

 

[cbsnyber1]

I've wondered about Universal. Since Universal doesn't make such a fuss over Christmas I thought that it might be good this time of year.

The Macy parade is pretty nice - a miniature version of the big one in NY on Thanksgiving. They do some stuff in front of the fake Macy's in the NY section, and of course Santa brings up the rear. Then they light their big tree. Balloons and floats and people on stilts dressed like candy canes - we really enjoyed it.

 

[treeface]

DH and DS8 were at AK today for breakfast at 8 then went to KS and ITTBAB, then tried to do Dinosaur, but said the wait was too long. They hopped over to Epcot, were there by 11, got FP for Soarin at 4:45-5:45, TT was 80 minutes and DS didn't want to wait that long, then came back to the room for lunch. We went to Winter Summerland, played mini golf, then tried to shop at DTD. Had to wait in line almost 30 minutes at Lego just to check out, that was the end of that. Returned to Epcot for dinner, then back to the resort.

As PP had said, the crowds seem much worse than this same week last year. We didn't really have a problem last year until Christmas day, but they've been bad since Saturday.

We just decided to take things in stride, have seen more characters than normal (wait times seem much better for them) and what we miss this trip, we'll get to the next.

 

[goofyernmost]

As long as no one over reacts to this news! Geez...I usually never get anymore then 3 FP's per trip and have somehow miraculously managed to see every attraction that I want to see.

FP's are nice but they aren't absolutely necessary. Get a grip! Don't expect to ride any rides? Really? How about...be prepared to wait in line a little longer, maybe chat with other Disney fans and just relax. It is possible to enjoy the place without the shortcuts. I, personally, enjoy it more without them. There are many roses to stop and smell and I intend to sniff them all.

 

[OandA]

As long as no one over reacts to this news! Geez...I usually never get anymore then 3 FP's per trip and have somehow miraculously managed to see every attraction that I want to see.

FP's are nice but they aren't absolutely necessary. Get a grip! Don't expect to ride any rides? Really? How about...be prepared to wait in line a little longer, maybe chat with other Disney fans and just relax. It is possible to enjoy the place without the shortcuts. I, personally, enjoy it more without them. There are many roses to stop and smell and I intend to sniff them all.

All depends on how long your trip is and how much you want to see. When we went for 16 days we only got fastpasses when we first arrived in the park and then one or two after that depending on the park. Plus we wanted to go on Toy Story many times.

If however you are going trying to do all 4 parks in 3 or 4 days and want to see as much as possible, then EMH, rope drop and Fast Pass are your best friends.

 

[sunburnin]

I think its the day xmas falls this year. I know its a different break for our kids. Normally they'd have school up until the 23rd and then be off through new years. This year my kids have this entire week off - and all of next week. I'm assuming lots of other schools are the same, so there's a large influx of people that are out of school starting on the 18th. Earlier than the normal????

 

[shortkathleen]

We got to Epcot this morning by 8ish and were invited in early with about 50 others to enjoy sorin for an hour before the park opened. It was magical! We rode it several times, headed over to test track and mission space and knocked out all the biggies by 10am. The crowds were heavy but very managable!

 

[jamstew]

We got to Epcot this morning by 8ish and were invited in early with about 50 others to enjoy sorin for an hour before the park opened. It was magical! We rode it several times, headed over to test track and mission space and knocked out all the biggies by 10am. The crowds were heavy but very managable!

How absolutely magical for you!

 

[lyeag]

We were at Epcot today. We arrived arouond 9:30. My family went straight to Mission Space, and I went to get fast passes for Soaring. The return time was 1:45-2:45. At noon we were able to get fast passes for Test Track at 6-7. A CM handed them out and we did not have to put them through the machine, so the kids were able to get a second set. My older two used the single rider line to ride test track several times.

We rode Mission Space (except myself), Soaring, Test Track, Figment, Spaceship Earth, and the Innovations roller coaster designing simulators. We also had time to eat at Chefs (France) and see Illuminations.

I thought the day was pretty good for Christmas. Of course, we only go near Christmas.... we don't know any better.

 

[Planogirl]

The Macy parade is pretty nice - a miniature version of the big one in NY on Thanksgiving. They do some stuff in front of the fake Macy's in the NY section, and of course Santa brings up the rear. Then they light their big tree. Balloons and floats and people on stilts dressed like candy canes - we really enjoyed it.

I hope to check it out eventually. And I might sneak over to the madhouse at WDW for a bit too.

 

[Plannin'Shannon]

I was at WDW this past summer (August 30-September 6). During the week we went to DHS and went right to TSM at rope drop. Got fastpasses and rode immediately. There were still fastpasses available at approx. 11:30 that day for 2:15 p.m. 10 rides might be pushing it a little much, but we definitely could have ridden multiple times that day, instead of just twice. I've never seen the parks that empty before especially earlier in the day. Expedition Everest and BTMRR with no waits? Unheard of but it happened.

Yep! Happened just a week ago, actually. We were in AK Dec. 14 and rode Expedition Everest 10 (yes, 10) times. Four times we had fastpasses, twice we waited for 10 minutes each, and we rode four times walk-on.

 

[JPN4265]

When I was a kid... (hitching up granny panties)... we walked to Disney World on school breaks, in the snow, both ways uphill, and then happily waited in lines that were only two hours long. Fast pass has made us soft.

You too! The snow drifts were a killer. With my shorts and flip flops, frost bite was all to normal.