The other poster meant line up 30 minutes before opening so you can be one of the first people in the parks. The Park Hopper option on your ticket has nothing to do with when you get in. The Park Hopper option added to a Base Ticket will let you visit multiple parks on multiple days.
Okay, since you asked for advice, I'd add at least one more park day at Disney to your itineary - I mean that's a LONG way to drive and not do at least 1 day in each of the parks. I'd cut out a lot of the "road side attractions" and do the 4th day at Disney. I don't usually recommend the Park Hopper option to people new to touring Disney, but if you absolutely can't do more than 3 days, I get the Park Hopper and do 1 day MK, 1 day Epcot, 1/2 day AK and 1/2 day DHS.
What resort are you staying at? Do you have the
Disney Dining Plan? If not, I highly recommend the Basic
DDP - 1 Table Servcie/Character Meal, 1 Counter Service/Fast Food Meal and 1 Snack per per per night of your stay. We have been in Mid-December a few times and really, there's just no way at this point to say what the temps will be. We have been there when it's been 80 degrees the whole time and then this past December there were days when the highs were 38 or 39 degrees. We had everthing from shorts to coats and gloves packed.
Your 7 year old should not need a stroller. Do keep watching the boards for upcoming discounts - for the last 3 years Disney has offered a
free dining discount for December travel dates.
Here are some touring tips for people who are new to WDW:
1. Make sure you have Advance Dining Reservations for any Sit Down/Table Service/Character Meals. Your ADR window will open up 180 before your arrival date.
2. Get to the parks at opening. You really can get a lot done in the morning because so many other people sleep in.
3. Eat lunch around 11:00 or 11:30 a.m. before the fast food places get busy. Then when while everyone else is eating lunch, you will have lower crowds.
4. I buy a ton of the two for a dollar ponchos at the dollar store and keep them in the backpack. That way you can throw them a way after use and not worry about keeping up with a wet bulky poncho the rest of the day. Bring throw away ponchos to wear on Kali River Rapids at Animal Kingdom, if not you WILL get soaked.
5. Other things I put in the backpack each morning are Tylenol/Motrin, small first aid kit, camera with extra batteries, small hand towel, hand sanitizer, wipes and a bottle of water.
6. Most single service items under $4.00 are considered a snack credit on the Disney dining plan.
7. At Magic Kingdom always head to Fantasyland first, if you are not doing Fantasyland on a particular day then head to Splash Mountain first, then Big Thunder Mountain; at Epcot always ride Soarin' first and get a Fastpass for later after you get off of the ride; at Disney Hollywood Studios always ride Toy Story Mania first, then head over to Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror; and at Animal Kingdom ride Expedition Everest First then head to the Safari.
8. Favorite fast food restaurants at MK are Pecos Bills and Cosmic Rays; favorite fast food at Animal Kingdom is Flame Tree Grill and Pizzafari. If you are there while it very hot, go to Pizzafari.
9. If there are two lines going into an attraction, always take the line that goes to the left.
10. My best tip would have to be USE THE FASTPASS SYSTEM. Our rule of thumb is if the wait is 25 minutes or less, we wait in line. If the wait is 30 minutes or more, use a Fastpass. It is not highly publicized, but your Fastpass does not expire until the end of the day. You can never use it before the return time stamp on the pass, but you can always use it after. We try to collect Fastpasses during the early part of the day and then use them later in the afternoon when the parks become more crowded.
Click on this link from fellow Diser Doconeill and it will give you an excellent overview of Fastpass. It is from Doconeil over on the Disboards and super helpful:
If you still don't understand, just let me know your specific questions.
11. I like the Photopass. You can pre-buy it before your trip for $99.00. When you enter the parks you will see the staff photographers, they will take your pictures and give you a Photopass and you can use that for the rest of your trip. Each time you see a photographer have them take your picture and they will scan your picture. Then when you get home you can pull up the pictures, with the code they email you after purchase, and pick the photos you want on a CD. They will then mail you the CD and the copyrights to the CD and you can take them to
Walmart or Walgreens or wherever and get them developed. They also have a lot of cool software that you can use to edit your photos before you have them put on the CD.
My favorite Disney planning sites are:
WOW! thank you very much! I know that I can't extend the trip though because we have to be at my moms by Christmas Eve day and we can only leave our house earliest Friday night! So the road sides are just like statues to get out and stretch and take pictures with! then back in the car! but thank you- honestly I would love to stay there and skip the family Christmas stuff... but... well.... yeah! I am going to take your tips! We are staying at the All star movies, we have been given the deluxe dining (that was paid for by a family member as my birthday gift so that's what they chose for us), and I want to do a lot of character meals! I am going to take your advice on most of the rides, but some of them my peanut can't do... only 42" (maybe 45" by along shot in December!).
*but in all of your time have you ever done the birthday surprise? Is it worth it? Someone told me to just buy the stuff myself before hand and set it up without him knowing/seeing the first day (so he would go with his dad to the arcade and I would set up). Please let me know and about the cakes- are they worth it? And thank you very much!
