Am I nuts? MK 1st Saturday in Dec.

[Chicago526]

BF and I arrive in WDW Friday, Dec. 3 late in the day. We won't be doing a park that day. We plan on a full day in MK on Saturday. It's BF's first visit ever and I want his first impresion to be MK, plus it's my own tradition to do MK the first day of a trip.

But I heard that they usually tape the Christmas Parade that weekend, and the park is PACKED!!! No kids, so we can set our own schedule. We will be at the park before opening, in fact I'm hopeing for a pre-open PS at Crystal Palace so we'll be in the park before the rope drop. We'll also be using one of the UG touring plans so I hope between the two, our waits won't be too bad.

But are we nuts for even trying? Anyone ever go to MK on the 1st Sat. in Dec. and how was your experiance?

We're going that day no matter what, but I just want to be prepared! Thanks!

 

[tjkraz]

If they do end up taping the parade that day, yeah, I think you're nuts.

Speaking as a guy, much as I enjoy WDW, I think my impression would have actually been diminished if we had spent my first day fighting enormous crowds and camera crews.

The early PS might not be a bad idea. That will give you the chance to stroll down main street and soak up the atmosphere. But if it were me, my preference would then be to hop over to another park and have a more relaxing day. Early December is typically a very slow time, and my fear would be whether you're starting the trip off on the wrong foot by gravitating toward the largest crowd you are likely to see during the entire trip.

But, you know your BF better than I do, so adjust your plans to suit him.

 

[suerob]

We were there last December on the day they were taping the parade, and they do usually tape the first Saturday. It lasts most of the day and they also tape increments during the week at the other parks. It's not like a regular parade either, where you find a good spot on main street and enjoy the show. They tape in segments and it's not in order and sometimes they do parts over and over again. There's a lot of wait time when they have to line people up, position people, go back , reshoot, etc. It is very busy that day and it is not a good day if you just want to leisurely stroll up and down Main Street. If you don't tolerate crowds well, either try to get there early and avoid Main street or skid MK that day all together. I myself found it to be exciting but my sister that was with us couldn't wait to get out of there.

 

[Chicago526]

Well, other than taking pictures of Main Street/Castle pre-rope drop, we won't be in that part of the park at all that day until it's time for Wishes. So, other than larger than normal crowds for the rides themselves, it's sounds like any other day in the park. We'll have the touring plan so hopefully that will minimize any waits, and if it gets too bad, well, the CR is the first stop going back from MK, or we can hop to another park. We're there for 8 nights, so we'll make it back! Nothing to do but give it a try!

If anyone has any experiances with ride wait times for this day, I'd appreciate the info. Thanks!

 

[suerob]

We went on a couple of rides but I remember the lines were very long. I actually enjoyed watching the taping but we did leave and go to another park that was less crowded. I believe Space Mountain's wait time was around 70 minutes but you can use fastpass, but sometimes the fastpass isn't that great of an option either. When it's really busy your fastpass time may not be for several hours. I think Buzz Lightyear's fastpass time was around 7pm and we were there around 11am. We went back to MK on a weekday and couldn't believe the difference in the crowds. No wait times were over 20 minutes. Hope this helps.

 

[Claudia Kellenberger]

Last year at that time I was in the MK. This was a solo trip.
As I recall, Fantasyland was so crowded, it was really elbow to elbow people. I can at least tolerate this alone, when I am not trying to keep a larger party together. It was difficult doing regular walking ...... I actually had to *schuffle * through the crowds. I chose that Saturday because I did not want to miss
WISHES or SPECTRO. This year I will sacrafice those two things to go on a less crowded day, probably Friday 12/03/04.

Personally, I feel more *MAGIC* at a more relaxed pace.

 

[Chicago526]

Well, I'll talk to BF about this more, and warn him it could very well be wall to wall people at times or in certain areas of the park but I don't think he'll care. Crowds don't bother us, neither does wating in line (we wait in hour-plus lines at Six Flags all the time, and this is better cuz it's Disney!). Perhaps we'll leave MK at 12n and come back around 4 so we can ride stuff during the first Spectro and score good spots for Wishes and 2nd Spectro. We'll be back 2 more times in the week including MVMCP, so we'll have plenty of time to do re-rides. The thought of waitin 'til Monday to get my MK fix is just too much!

Thanks, everyone!

 

[wannabee princess]

We actually arrived the day after the parade filmed, so I can't speak from the experience of being in MK on the day of filming, however, after watching the parade on TV, I don't think I would be able to convince my DH to even attempt that crowd.

Also, you might want to think before leaving and trying to return--if the numbers are really overboard on attendance, they might end up at capacity and not let more guests in.