Christmas party

[JJSinPA]

Hello everyone!
We are currently booked for a December trip, though interventional surgery may derail our plans. Never a dull moment!

I had a quick question- if we go, we are planning to do the Christmas party if she is up for it on that day. Our youngest (3 years old) has a severe heart defect and we will do nothing else this day. Do the disability cards help with lines for characters (7 dwarves are a favorite!)? Or are we able to have my husband and older five kids wait in line and then we can join them? She does not regulate body temp well so I will entertain her somewhere warm if that is the case. I am at least hoping we can have our most of our crew wait while I have her elsewhere. She will not be able to dance with the parties, but sure will get a kick out of the characters dancing!
If it ends up being too much with long lines, we will just skip the party. We would just love to take the other kids to the Christmas parade. I would hate to have her miss it so was wondering if there were any assistance items to make us help her hang in for a few hours before I take her back to the hotel while the rest party until midnight.

 

[Michigan]

Lines during the party will be short if you don't go on a Friday or Saturday. Weekend parties are usually sold out with local families.

 

[JJSinPA]

Oh really??? I had heard that at least the line for the dwarves was long!! That is great.

 

[Michigan]

Another thing we do is take gallon size ziploc baggie to put the cookies in. We usually get the hot chocolate eat one cookie and put the other in the bag. By the end of the night we have a bag full of cookies.

 

[jrmasm]

Oh really??? I had heard that at least the line for the dwarves was long!! That is great.

It is really long. I waited 1 1/2 to 2 hours on a week night.

 

[blondietink]

The 7 Dwarfs line is long, and I don't believe a DAS will get you anywhere on character lines. The only thing that works for character lines is if you are on a Make-A-Wish trip. Even then, they advise when you get your special button that it will not work for character lines, but when my son had one, everywhere he went the CM's saw it when we were in character line, announced that they had a Make-A-Wish child and we were whisked us to the front.

Good luck with your trip.

 

[JJSinPA]

Okay- this is not her wish trip. She is recommended for one but I am still wrapping my head around that......we are blessed with a community who help her have special opportunities so I think it better at this time to let others have the gift! Not that it is a gift any of us WANTS our children to have.......

I appreciate your input- I can now discuss with my husband realistic ways that the party will or will not work out. Joanna is mostly interested in the 7 dwarves and Mickey and Santa The rest will be so excited for Jack Sparrow, Country Bears, etc. We have a funny mix.
If you were there, is there a way for a parent and siblings to hold a spot? Anyone in my crew would be happy to do that if we can have her join the line at the last minute.

 

[WheeledTraveler]

I just want to point out that the DAS is not usually honored at parties. (For character meet & greets in general, it's only honored at the few permanent m&g that have FP+.)

At outdoor character meet & greets (I'm not familiar with the Christmas party/dwarves so have no idea if they're indoor or outdoor), you can usually have part of your party wait and then join them as they get closer to the front of the line. For indoor, it's always worth asking a CM about possible accommodations. Even at an outdoor m&g if there's a CM by the entrance to the line, it's better to ask than assume that you can meet towards the front. Like many things, there's no way to guarantee it would work, but it definitely isn't impossible.

There's also no way to predict now what the weather actually will be. December in Orlando can be cold, hot, or anywhere in between so it might even be an okay temperature for her to wait outside.

 

[JJSinPA]

The weather does seem so varied! Either way, her energy won't have her stay the whole time, I just want to make the time she has there super fun before I take her back to rest and the rest of the family stays.
This was very helpful- I will look into the indoor/outdoor line. I don't know why I assumed it was outside.
Thank you!!!

 

[blondietink]

The 7 Dwarfs line was outside when we were in it for the Halloween Party.