Christmas 2010 advice please

[PrincessSuzanne]

Since you've been to Disneyland and it's rather contained within itself, I want to mention I've heard it could take up to an hour and 1/2 to get to the Magic Kingdom on a busy day and definitely that long if leaving at closing time.

If you arrive by car at the MK, you park across a lagoon from MK and have to ride a ferry or monorail to get to the entrance. It can take up to 30 minutes if you drive to get from just the parking lot to Main Street. I've heard the buses drop you off on the Main Entrance side of the lagoon but you have to wait at POR for the bus, then ride it to MK. Others who've used the buses would be better at telling you how those work and how long they take.

The MK resorts (Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Poly and Wilderness Lodge can be gotten to easily by boat from the MK or the first three by monorail (take the resort monorail). Just get back to the bus loading area for MK before they stop running (which s/b fairly late since it's Christmas and parks are open late) because I think all resort buses take a much less direct route back to POR, with a transfer somewhere. You can actually walk back and forth to Contemporary.

From either Hollywood/Disney Studios or Epcot, you can walk to Boardwalk area and hotels near Epcot. Again, get back in time for the last bus leaving either park you started from. I don't know of any way to get from AK to the Lodge resort without driving or a bus.

It doesn't take 1.5 hours to get to the MK from any resort, even AKL. It takes maybe a 15 minute bus ride to MK from POR and 15 to 20 to the other parks, even during Christmas week.

If you are suggesting they drive and park at another resort, that is not advised, as you are only allowed a minimum amount of time (3 hours) to park at the resort that you are not staying at and then your vehicle will be towed.
This is especially true during high volume times like Christmas.

Suzanne

 

[Rylee]

Glad you could add another day.

As for TS on your AK day... I would suggest dining at a Resort restaurant. (This is a great way to check out other resorts and the decorations.) Check park hours for AK on that day, (it usually closes earlier than the other parks) and try to book something later in the evening.

Transportation
There is no resort to resort transportation.

• To get from POR to other resorts -
• Ride the bus to the park nearest POR or the park nearest your destination, (don't enter the park) then board transportation to that resort.
• If you are already in a park, exit the park and use the resort transportation to where you are heading.
• You can always go to the Ticket and Transportation Center or Downtown Disney to use them as a transfer point, but this can take longer.
• From MK - use the monorail or boats to the MK area resorts.
• From Epcot - walk to the Epcot area resorts, use monorail to MK area resorts.
• From DHS - use the boat to Epcot area resorts.

Afternoon Breaks

• If we only have one day to visit a park, we don't take an afternoon break. (Too much to see and do.)
• If we have more than one day to visit the same park, we might take an afternoon break (back at the resort) on the day of our 2nd visit.
  
• When not leaving the park in the afternoon... plan to visit attractions like 3D movies or shows in the afternoons, where you can sit and relax a bit. (One time in MK, we went to the Presidents Hall of Fame, dark and air conditioned, and the only one who stayed awake to watch the whole thing was our 8y/o. We've seen it many times before.)

Plan to sit and relax while watching -
At DHS -
Beauty & the Beast - Live
Lights, Motor, Action - Extreme Stunt Show
Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
At AK -
Finding Nemo - The Musical
Festival of the Lion King
At Epcot -
Just grab a snack/treat and find a place to sit and watch the little live performances around the World Showcase...
Dragon Legend Acrobats in China
Voices of Liberty - beautiful harmonies, pre-show for American Adventure
Bands -
The British Invasion in the UK -(Beatles music)
Off Kilter in Canada - (Celtic rock)
Plus, many others.

Favorite Counter Service -
In MK-
Columbia Harbour House
Cosmic Rays
In AK -
Yak & Yeti
Flame Tree BBQ
In Epcot -
Sunshine Season's in The Land
Boulangerie Patisserie in France
Yorkshire County Fish Shop in the UK
Or try Counter Service in other countries, if something interest you.
At DHS -
Sorry, can't recommend any CS here. Seriously, I really can't. (My kids will eat the pizza.) Sometimes we take the boat from DHS to the Beach Club and pay out-of-pocket for Beaches and Cream. Or, you might find something on the Boardwalk, (again, take the boat.)

The food court at POR is pretty good, especially the make your own pasta.

 

[iuelliott]

Wonderful information from everyone. Thank you so very much!!!!!!

Looking for 1 additional Christmas "magical moment"

We are considering adding on an additional day to our holiday WDW Christmas vacation in order to add on the Very Merry Christmas Party. Is it worth the extra hotel expense + the party tickets???

Or, would you add on the dessert party for the family at the end of the trip for the last night?

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Wonderful information from everyone. Thank you so very much!!!!!!

Looking for 1 additional Christmas "magical moment"

We are considering adding on an additional day to our holiday WDW Christmas vacation in order to add on the Very Merry Christmas Party. Is it worth the extra hotel expense + the party tickets???

Or, would you add on the dessert party for the family at the end of the trip for the last night?

It is worth the price for the party, but not to add on a day for the hotel, but the last one is on Dec 19. You can still enjoy the parade and fireworks for FREE beginning Dec 20th. I believe the parade is shown at 12pm and 3pm and the fireworks at 10pm. And it "snows" on Main Street after dark.

We added the dessert party on Christmas night, I would definitely do that instead of paying for the party and the extra night at the hotel. The dessert party is a wonderful experience.

Suzanne

 

[JimmyFoster]

Wonderful information from everyone. Thank you so very much!My and my family favorite place is Disney Animal Kingdom Theme Park's i will go in Christmas.

 

[iuelliott]

Hello. We will be in HS for fantasmic 6:30 performance Christmas Day. I'm guessing it ends about 7:10 ish. I would like to plan one last meal or event since we will be eating earlier at 2:10 for fantasmic.
If we go offsite to a resort dining or downtown dining,
1. how much time would I need to allow to get from studios park to a resort dining? Or, will the Christmas day crowd make it prohibitive to get anywhere in time for say an 8:00 ressie??
2. Where do you recommend a late dinner on Christmas evening for a family of 5? (youngest is 10 so they are up to staying up a while).
3. Is there a special event that I can reserve for Christmas evening at Studios similar to the MK dessert party?

I'm still trying to decide if the approx. $300 is worth the Mickey's Christmas Party. I'm thinking my $ should maybe go toward hopper passes??
Any recommendations appreciated!

Thanks for the help.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Hello. We will be in HS for fantasmic 6:30 performance Christmas Day. I'm guessing it ends about 7:10 ish. I would like to plan one last meal or event since we will be eating earlier at 2:10 for fantasmic.
If we go offsite to a resort dining or downtown dining,
1. how much time would I need to allow to get from studios park to a resort dining? Or, will the Christmas day crowd make it prohibitive to get anywhere in time for say an 8:00 ressie??
2. Where do you recommend a late dinner on Christmas evening for a family of 5? (youngest is 10 so they are up to staying up a while).
3. Is there a special event that I can reserve for Christmas evening at Studios similar to the MK dessert party?

I'm still trying to decide if the approx. $300 is worth the Mickey's Christmas Party. I'm thinking my $ should maybe go toward hopper passes??
Any recommendations appreciated!

Thanks for the help.

We always try to allow at least 1 and a half hours for travel time to a dining reservation somewhere else, especially at park closing, because you might have to wait a long time to get on a bus

There probably isn't much left, most people booked over a month ago. I was just trying to help a friend who is going over Christmas and I kept getting no availability messages.

No, there is no special event at DHS like the MK dessert party.

As I said in my previous post on the last page, Why pay for the party when you can see the events for free during Christmas week. You could use that $300 for something else.

Suzanne

 

[terrifictoys]

Go to the GF resort!! They have amazing holiday decor including a real Gingerbread house that CM stand inside to sell Gingerbread cookies. They also sometimes have a full orchestra playing holiday music in the lobby. We usually go there for breakfast at 1900 Park Fare to eat...but going just to see the gingerbread house is worth it.