First Time Visit

[jacs1234]

Hi, I'm visiting Walt Disney World for the first time this year. We are visiting from Australia. We will be there from November 29th - Dec 18th with 14 of those days allocated to Disney. We are staying onsite and will probably have annual passes.

I have a question or two. Do you recommend Visiting the park for the day that has the early morning or extra evening hours or do you suggest visiting another park instead. I heard the parks without the extra hours are less busy. Or do you suggest park hopping and taking advantage of those extra hours. I just don't know what to do.

The other question is - Is there a "best night" to book the Christmas party on? And would it be best to spend that day in the magic Kingdom?

Thanks in advance for any tips. All are greatly appreciated as I feel a bit lost

 

[Terra Nova guy]

My advice on extra magic hours kind of depends on your family's travel style. If you have young kids who might wake up early but be too tired for late evenings, then maybe visiting the morning EMH park early is best, get in as many attractions as you can before lunch, then leave that park for a break at midday. On the other hand, if your family likes to stay up later and sleep in the mornings, then you may want to go to the evening EMH park.

I personally have avoided EMH parks, but I do like to go to both a morning and evening EMH sometime during my stay (generally both at MK). I do find morning EMH relaxing, and the evening EMH have great low wait times, but they kind of get my family off to a slow start the next morning. I do not do EMH parks every day since I would find it too exhausting.

Regarding the Christmas party, I would expect a weekday to be less crowded than weekend day. I only have experience with the Halloween party, but my first (in 2010) was a Tuesday and not too crowded. My second was a Sunday (in 2014) and very crowded, although the parties seem to get more popular every year, so that may have something to do with it too.

 

[CAL2]

Hi, as Jeff has said a lot depends on your family's travel style and I would keep that in mind when deciding as there's nothing worst than tired grumpy children lol.

We will be using Josh's easywdw most recommended parks to make up our schedule before we book our FP+ for each day (usually not EMH parks) and then maybe park hopping in the evening to the park with late EMH if we are not ready to go back to the hotel. If when we get there the rides are busy we take this time to do other things, like shopping and shows, or maybe book a 4th or 5th FP+.

If there are rides or M&G's you want to do and can't get a FP+ for then I would do early EMH or rope drop.

cal

 

[cjparker0110]

Not much to add here. I know the last time I was onsite we did the evening EMH and loved it. The wait times were wonderfully low. I think the only morning one we did was AK because we knew that would be beneficial for seeing animals before it got too hot and they start hiding. What we did for the next morning is have room service for breakfast. That way I could eat and then start getting ready while others were eating. Otherwise, we would have had to wait for all of us to be ready to go eat. Then wait for food. That can easily set you back an hour or two.

Use your best judgment with your family. Kids tend to need a break (adults do too!) and should get one. I've seen too many overtired kids crying during what would probably be a lot of fun if the parents would just let them have down time in the middle of the day.

 

[mullysisters]

I always utilize EMH myself and I always get a Park Hopper. This has been my touring plans for 9 trips. You get so much low crowd time in the morning (2-3 hours) When it gets busy I go shopping, lunch and resort time. Evening magic hours are much busier but still great fun. My favourite time at the parks is at night, in the dark. You may not get on every ride you want, but I usually do. I guess not everyone wants to get up early on their vacation but I think it's only one week and it's Disney! Pool time is in the afternoon.
Last trip I wandered around MK in the dark and walked on every ride except Thunder Mnt and Space Mtn.
Have a great trip!!!

 

[cjparker0110]

I suppose there is a bigger crowd with the evening EMH because that is a longer period AND people like sleeping in but don't mind staying up late. I know my next trip we will probably only get to use morning EMH because our oldest will be 6 and I am seriously doubting there will be any benefit for anyone to stay late.

 

[Cyrano]

We are a rope drop family but tend to avoid parks with EMH. Never been particularly impressed with the phased opening for EMH so for us it is not worth coping with the extra park crowds.
Now if more than Fantasyland and Tomorrowland were open for Magic Kingdom EMH

 

[DizDaD7]

Hi, I'm visiting Walt Disney World for the first time this year. We are visiting from Australia. We will be there from November 29th - Dec 18th with 14 of those days allocated to Disney. We are staying onsite and will probably have annual passes.

I have a question or two. Do you recommend Visiting the park for the day that has the early morning or extra evening hours or do you suggest visiting another park instead. I heard the parks without the extra hours are less busy. Or do you suggest park hopping and taking advantage of those extra hours. I just don't know what to do.

The other question is - Is there a "best night" to book the Christmas party on? And would it be best to spend that day in the magic Kingdom?

Thanks in advance for any tips. All are greatly appreciated as I feel a bit lost

1st off) to the greatest on place Earth.
2nd). with that many nights dedicated to WDW you should have no problem doing the things you want many many times over.
3rd). We've usually mixed & matched those EMH Whether early or late..What I mean is, we've visited those parks that have had it, & also avoided those parks that have had it...I didn't really notice a difference...The good thing is you'll be going at a great time of the year..
With Thanksgiving over, and the low crowds before Xmas. Also If you play it right, you can be at MK during the taping of the XMAS DAY Parade thats on tv. Here's a link to a website that has plenty of info..http://**************.net/2013/12/05/disney-world-crowds-in-2015/
There are others like, EASYWDW.com, or Undercovertourist.com which also have crowd calendars too....

Enjoy your time here, and no need to rush as most people, need to cram everything into a weeklong trip. You'll have the luxury of going at a nice pace, so you should be able to visit & re-visit plenty of your fav's... Have a great time.

 

[bsbrady]

The crowds are bigger on days with EMH. Since you will have Annual passes, the best thing to do "usually" is goto the park on the morning after that park had EMH evening the night before. So If Magic Kingdom has EMH on Saturday night, then go Sunday morning.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

Also, if you're going to hop, I found the MK to be less busy on a party day, because non ticket holders have to leave at 7 pm. We were there 1st week of December last year and we did a Tuesday Christmas party, and it was very nice. I know the weekend ones were very busy, and I think the Thursday one was as well.
Another tip: around that time, MK will sometimes start opening an hour earlier; however, if you are an early riser, try to book a pre opening breakfast so you can stroll the grounds when it's practically deserted. Be Our Guest now offers breakfast and at this time it seems easy to book the morning reservations. Be sure to book a dining reservation you really want at 180 days out. Also, if you have a little girl and she wants the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique at the castle at MK (and not at downtown Disney) they start taking reservations for that at 180 days out. There's a separate reservation number for that and once your 180 days hits, you can book (I think) the whole length of your trip) It's hard to come by those reservations, especially at Cinderellas Castle!

 

[jacs1234]

Thank you so much for all your advise. Very helpful. Thanks Mambo Junkie for the BBB tips. She will definitely want to gt dressed up in the castle

 

[Mambo Junkie]

For your little Pirate, there's the Pirate's League at the MK (also booked 180 days out) and we went to 1900 Park Fare (Grand Floridian ) for the Wonderland Tea Party. My granddaughter had a wonderful time! You can find all these evnets and info at the Walt Disney World site under Events and Tours, (Including phone numbers).
You can go over to the Restaurant section of these forums for more information on dining and reservations, but the Candlelight Processional (which starts right after Thanksgiving) is awesome!
The Jedi Training Academy is fun for all kids and it's first come first serve.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/entertainment/hollywood-studios/star-wars-jedi-training-academy/
Have a great trip! I think an extended stay is fantastic to see everything at an easier pace, plus have time to enjoy the amenities the resorts have to offer.