elaine amj
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2012
- Messages
- 6,180
DD23 and I had a simply magical Christmas Eve in the Magic Kingdom beginning the day as the first passengers on the Jingle Cruise and ending the night as the last passengers on the Seven Dwarves Mine Train.
I suppose the park was crowded (this is the busiest time of the year after all), but it didn’t feel much different than normal and we had no problems doing all the big rides (except Tron) including the new Tiana ride, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Seven Dwarves. We didn’t wait longer than 20 mins for anything despite not paying extra for any Lightning Lane passes nor did we have Early Entry. We also did every attraction with a special Christmas overlay, the Christmas parade, the Christmas show, AND the Christmas fireworks.
All this and tons of stops for photos, a SIX hour afternoon break, and various fun chats with other guests. Oh and a lovely Christmas Eve dinner back at the condo (stayed offsite at Wyndham Bonnet Creek).
6:30am - We arrived in the parking lot and made our way over on the ferry
7:01am Booked Virtual Queue for Tiana a little late due to data problems on the ferry. Group 42. Made it to Main Street about 7:10am. Since we stayed offsite, we had no Early Entry and had to wait until park open at 8am. We enjoyed ourselves taking photos.
8am - By rope drop at 8am, we were positioned at the Adventureland entrance and quickly headed to Jingle Cruise, making it on as the first passengers of the day.
Early morning - Crossed the park to Space Mountain for a 14 min wait (posted 20 mins). Then a detour through the Castle to enjoy walking through it (and stopped in Sir Mickey’s to get pixie dusted) before getting to BTMR for a 15 min wait as posted. Then Pirates for a 13 min wait (posted 15 mins).
We were hungry after and went to Gaston’s Tavern for the new creme brulee croissant and ham and gruyere tart. Both were delish but tart was a small portion for the price.
We were called for our Tiana boarding group and entered the line at 11:01am, waiting maybe 18 mins. Got off at 11:37am wet but not horribly so (mostly just sprayed hard in the face the whole way down).
Still scored a front row seat for the 12pm Christmas parade where Geppetto kissed my hand.
After that we left the park and headed back to our condo for a 6hr afternoon break (incl. travel time) where we had lunch and dinner.
7pm Got back to the park and staked out spots for the 8pm Christmas fireworks. It was packed but we managed okay. Not my favourite spot, but decent and we had good views. It was super festive and fun.
8:30pm we got a closer view at the hub of the Christmas stage show and loved it.
9pm we headed for Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor and were surprised to discover a holiday overlay - so cool!
9:30pm after a long line, I had a sweet cream cheese pretzel in hand (bubble bread was sold out - boo) and we got in line for the Peoplemover that was a walk-on. After that we hopped into a posted 10 min Astro orbiter line that was more like 15 mins (if u count the post-elevator line).
Next was a 15 min Tomorrowland Speedway line for its holiday overlay. It was fun going through all those lights
Then the Mad Tea Party which was a walk-on.
We wanted the carrousel next but it was getting really late and we missed walking on. The rotation was taking forever so we bailed and instead took a photo with the Tangled lanterns (only one party in front of us).
At 10:58pm, we had timed it perfectly to enter the Seven Dwarves Mine Train ride and were the last passengers on the last train. 30 mins posted wait, 10 mins actual wait. We thought we had no chance for the front row. But they tried to put us on the train before and we had the chance to ask for front row. We rode with a great group and we all had a blast.
We spent from 11:15-11:45pm taking photos with plenty of Photopass folks around.
So impressed what we got accomplished. I expected to do half of what I did and wait in much longer lines.
I suppose the park was crowded (this is the busiest time of the year after all), but it didn’t feel much different than normal and we had no problems doing all the big rides (except Tron) including the new Tiana ride, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Seven Dwarves. We didn’t wait longer than 20 mins for anything despite not paying extra for any Lightning Lane passes nor did we have Early Entry. We also did every attraction with a special Christmas overlay, the Christmas parade, the Christmas show, AND the Christmas fireworks.
All this and tons of stops for photos, a SIX hour afternoon break, and various fun chats with other guests. Oh and a lovely Christmas Eve dinner back at the condo (stayed offsite at Wyndham Bonnet Creek).
6:30am - We arrived in the parking lot and made our way over on the ferry
7:01am Booked Virtual Queue for Tiana a little late due to data problems on the ferry. Group 42. Made it to Main Street about 7:10am. Since we stayed offsite, we had no Early Entry and had to wait until park open at 8am. We enjoyed ourselves taking photos.
8am - By rope drop at 8am, we were positioned at the Adventureland entrance and quickly headed to Jingle Cruise, making it on as the first passengers of the day.
Early morning - Crossed the park to Space Mountain for a 14 min wait (posted 20 mins). Then a detour through the Castle to enjoy walking through it (and stopped in Sir Mickey’s to get pixie dusted) before getting to BTMR for a 15 min wait as posted. Then Pirates for a 13 min wait (posted 15 mins).
We were hungry after and went to Gaston’s Tavern for the new creme brulee croissant and ham and gruyere tart. Both were delish but tart was a small portion for the price.
We were called for our Tiana boarding group and entered the line at 11:01am, waiting maybe 18 mins. Got off at 11:37am wet but not horribly so (mostly just sprayed hard in the face the whole way down).
Still scored a front row seat for the 12pm Christmas parade where Geppetto kissed my hand.
After that we left the park and headed back to our condo for a 6hr afternoon break (incl. travel time) where we had lunch and dinner.
7pm Got back to the park and staked out spots for the 8pm Christmas fireworks. It was packed but we managed okay. Not my favourite spot, but decent and we had good views. It was super festive and fun.
8:30pm we got a closer view at the hub of the Christmas stage show and loved it.
9pm we headed for Monster’s Inc Laugh Floor and were surprised to discover a holiday overlay - so cool!
9:30pm after a long line, I had a sweet cream cheese pretzel in hand (bubble bread was sold out - boo) and we got in line for the Peoplemover that was a walk-on. After that we hopped into a posted 10 min Astro orbiter line that was more like 15 mins (if u count the post-elevator line).
Next was a 15 min Tomorrowland Speedway line for its holiday overlay. It was fun going through all those lights
Then the Mad Tea Party which was a walk-on.We wanted the carrousel next but it was getting really late and we missed walking on. The rotation was taking forever so we bailed and instead took a photo with the Tangled lanterns (only one party in front of us).
At 10:58pm, we had timed it perfectly to enter the Seven Dwarves Mine Train ride and were the last passengers on the last train. 30 mins posted wait, 10 mins actual wait. We thought we had no chance for the front row. But they tried to put us on the train before and we had the chance to ask for front row. We rode with a great group and we all had a blast.
We spent from 11:15-11:45pm taking photos with plenty of Photopass folks around.
So impressed what we got accomplished. I expected to do half of what I did and wait in much longer lines.
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