December 2015 Help Thread - What To See & Do (Crowd Calendar Added)

[PirateD]

My ADR window is open and I got dinner at 1900 park fare for arrival day, Via Napoli for Epcot day, BOG lunch on one day, and CRT breakfast on the last day. We have 5 day park hoppers with a day off to explore. We are going to skip MVMCP in order to stay another night. That could change but probably not since we did the party in 12-2011. The extra $315.24 will buy 2 more nights.

Congrats! Sounds like great ADRs! We are hoping for BOG lunch and 1900 PF too! Also adding CP and either Ohana or Garden Grill. We will see if we can get them! I'm so glad to hear of your success especially with BOG lunch!

 

[sharona]

We're going 12/10 - 12/15. Not planning to hop so our plan is

12/10 Arrive at hotel 10pm

12/11. HS Rd til close with a 415 early dinner new at 50 's PT (wanted Mama's but missed the boat), 830 F! What time do we need to line up if we don't have the package?

12/12 EP with a mid day break and dinner at hotel (Dolphin) then CP, how early do we need to be in line without the package?

12/13. AK with a pre park ADR at TH / MVMCP AFTER 5

12/14. MK at RD, FP in afternoon, 5 pm ADR at Whispering Canyon then tour WL, GF to see the decorations.

We fly out on 12/15. Are we missing anything with this plan?

 

[mlnbabies]

We plan on CP but I want to see who the narrator is. If you do the package, the line will be long. When we did the CP package in 2011, we ate at Biergarten. We finished and then walked to the line for the package deal. The line was to Morocco. It moved fast so people were allowed in. We sat about 3/4 of the way back on the left side. Good seats IMO. Not sure how long we waited in line maybe 30 mins?

I'm not sure how long the stand by line was and I think some people were allowed to get in after the package people got in.

We loved CP and hope to catch it again.

 

[sharona]

We plan on CP but I want to see who the narrator is. If you do the package, the line will be long. When we did the CP package in 2011, we ate at Biergarten. We finished and then walked to the line for the package deal. The line was to Morocco. It moved fast so people were allowed in. We sat about 3/4 of the way back on the left side. Good seats IMO. Not sure how long we waited in line maybe 30 mins?

I'm not sure how long the stand by line was and I think some people were allowed to get in after the package people got in.

We loved CP and hope to catch it again.

I'd love to see it and get the package but those prices are ridiculous.

 

[chinarider]

ramdom question.... how come my balloon hasnt moved but my countdown has????it's still way on the end...

 

[tukogirl]

When do they usually open up the Candlelight Processional Dining package for purchase?

 

[siskaren]

ramdom question.... how come my balloon hasn't moved but my countdown has????it's still way on the end...

Especially since you're six months away, movement of the slider isn't going to be obvious. When you first created your ticker, the balloon was all the way to the left, wasn't it?

 

[chinarider]

Especially since you're six months away, movement of the slider isn't going to be obvious. When you first created your ticker, the balloon was all the way to the left, wasn't it?

I would think that it would be all the way to the left at the 1 year point and middle would be six months. There are others above that are midway-

 

[siskaren]

I would think that it would be all the way to the left at the 1 year point and middle would be six months. There are others above that are midway-

It would be all the way to the left at the one year point if that was when you created the ticker. It doesn't matter how far out or how close you are to your arrival date when you create the ticker, the slider will always start all the way to the left. Also, I noticed something odd about your ticker. I tried clicking on it to go to the Dis ticker site, but it didn't do anything. I had to click on tukogirl's ticker to go to the site.

 

[Piwacket's Mom]

Things are really feeling set now! My ADR date came up while I was in the hospital so when I got home I started right away and found Raglan Road and The Boathouse were already booked but after a few tries I got everything I wanted!
We are doing Rainforest and Narcoossee's on 12/15, Beaches & Cream and Raglan Road on 12/16, T Rex and 'Ohanas on 12/17, The Plaza and Tonys (sigh, not BOG) for our Christmas party night on 12/18, Brown Derby and Sci Fi on 12/19, Tusker House, Yak & Yeti and The Yachtsman on 12/20, Kona, BOG (yeah), and The Boathouse (big Yeah!) on 12/21, and finally Le Cellier and something through the Candlelight Package on 12/22. I will then go home on the 23rd to wire my jaws shut. lol
This will be my first trip and cannot wait for Christmas in Disney

 

[PirateD]

I will be booking my ADR's tomorrow!! For some strange reason, I thought our 180 day mark was on Tuesday, but it is actually on Monday. Thank goodness, I got an alert from Touring Plans! It's already worth the money I paid to subscribe! My family says they would have fired me as the Disney planner for sure! I still can't believe I almost missed it!! Crazy!

So here's our tentative plan with still some question marks:

December 19--Travel Day (won't arrive until after 7 PM so probably a late dinner and early bedtime)
December 20--MK
December 21-23--Two more MK days and one EP day--yet TBD which days are which
December 24--AK and then park hop to DHS for Osborne Lights and a few attractions
December 25--1900 Park Fare Breakfast and then EP
December 26--DHS EMH morning and park hop to EP
December 27--MK or AK
December 28--Day of Departure (may go to a park in the AM or just hang out at the resort)

Hoping to fit in a BOG lunch, CP lunch, and Ohana dinner (fingers crossed). The rest of the time we are sticking to QS for some flexibility.

Any thoughts? I know BOG lunch will be difficult to get. CP lunch should be easy. Not sure what to expect for 1900 Park Fare on Christmas day and Ohana dinner.

 

[Lesverts]

I am going on a solo Christmas trip November 29 to December 6. I kinda forgot that November 29 is the tail-end of Thanksgiving for our American neighbors. So should be an interesting travel day on Southwest. Fly out 5:30am

Planned priorities are MVMCP, Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue, and Candlelight Processional.

Nov 29 - Hollywood Studios and have ADR at Narcoosee's at 615pm
Nov 30 - Epcot with Candlelight Processional
Dec 1 - Animal Kingdom during the morning/early afternoon and MVMCP in the evening
Dec 2 - Magic Kingdom day with Hoop-Dee-Doo resort break
Dec 3 - Universal Studios plus Islands of Adventure with California Grill 920pm dinner reservation
Dec 4 - Epcot with Jiko's at 615pm
Dec 5 - change hotels for a final night at Wilderness Lodge plus Magic Kingdom and 9:55am breakfast at The Crystal Palace
Dec 6 - early morning breakfast at 1900 Park Fare and then DHS for a couple hours before 920pm flight to Buffalo.

 

[PirateD]

Just got all of our ADR's--even BOG lunch! Yay! I think it helped that I played Be Our Guest as background music. Everything went very smoothly. I had no issues other than second guessing times. I actually was surprised at how relatively easy it was, but then we only had 4 ADR's so I'm sure that helps.

Well, for better or for worse we are locked into MK for December 21 and 23 with our ADR's now. I'm a little nervous because we are going more with the EMH days for each park which we hadn't originally intended. Usually we avoid those, but we are also usually offsite with family. It guess it will be interesting to see how that impacts our experience. We have always had good luck with crowds even during Christmas week. Hopefully, we can use those EMH's to our advantage. I guess if a park becomes unbearable, we can always take a break or park hop.

 

[sheila <3 WDW]

My ADR day is tomorrow! I'm excited and nervous because I can't confirm anything with expected recommended parks. So I am going with my original plan:

Sun 12/20 arrive around 4, dinner Ohana (if we can't get it, we will try for Grand Floridian Cafe), check out GF decorations, head to MK for a few hours.

Mon 12/21 DHS, was originally going to try to do Jedi Training, but decoded to skip it for busy Christmas week. We want to go back for Star Wars weekends in 2017, so we'll try to do it then. ADRs: SciFi for early lunch, 50s for dinner.

Tues 12/22 MK. ADRs hopefully BOG lunch, quick service, maybe Casey's, for dinner.

Wed 12/23 Epcot. Probably Sunshine Seasons for lunch, Biergarten for dinner.

Thurs 12/24 AK/DTD. ADRs: Tusker House breakfast, Raglan Road dinner, quick service for lunch.

Fri 12/25 Epcot ADRs Akershus breakfast, Via Napoli (hopefully Candlelight Processional package), quick service lunch

Sat 12/26 MK ADRs CRT breakfast, BOG dinner, dessert party

Sun 12/27 no plans as of yet. We will be leaving to drove home this day. Probably go to MK or Epcot for a few hours.

 

[sheila <3 WDW]

When do they usually open up the Candlelight Processional Dining package for purchase?

I've heard mid-July

 

[ErinCat]

Do we think they are going to change opening to 7am at MK like last year? If so, how far before Christmas would this start?

I am assuming that for my trip on December 15th-19th that there will be 8AM openings for MK. Does anyone know when the hours are typically updated? Hopefully before I do my FP+ right?

 

[Madame]

I am assuming that for my trip on December 15th-19th that there will be 8AM openings for MK. Does anyone know when the hours are typically updated? Hopefully before I do my FP+ right?

You'd think so, wouldn't you. This past March the final changes to park hours came in Feb. 30 days before our trip. A serious pain & many were scrambling to change pre-rope drop reservations (me included). I won't reserve a pre-rope drop ADR again. Too much of a pain.

 

[sheila <3 WDW]

You'd think so, wouldn't you. This past March the final changes to park hours came in Feb. 30 days before our trip. A serious pain & many were scrambling to change pre-rope drop reservations (me included). I won't reserve a pre-rope drop ADR again. Too much of a pain.

I agree. Based on what I've read on here changes usually happen 1-2 months before. I am doing my plans based on 7 am openings for Christmas week.

 

[lovndisney12]

I agree. Based on what I've read on here changes usually happen 1-2 months before. I am doing my plans based on 7 am openings for Christmas week.

Based on our past experience over that week - that is probably a very good idea. Better safe than sorry!

 

[sheila <3 WDW]

My ADRs are made. I didn't get Ohana on our arrival night and didn't get BOG lunch on the 22nd. I made a lunch ADR for our departure date instead. I hadn't decided what park we will go to for a few hours before leaving, but I think it will be perfect to end with lunch at BOG. I'm going to keep trying for Ohana.

I also was surprised I couldn't get dinner at either Scifi or 50s around 5 on the 21st. So we are skipping Scifi and doing 50s for lunch. I'll keep trying to get both where I want them.