December 24th Observations and Tower of Terror x 10

[Robinjay]

I have read so many of your stories, I thought I would share mine

Last year, I purchased premium APs the day of the price increase at the local Disney store (at the old price) with the intention of using them for the upcoming holiday season. Well, due to three foot surgeries, I was unable to redeem them until now (they expire for premium value at the end of this year) and I only expected an old premium AP. What they gave us, however, is amazing! Signature Plus (with photo pass) and it is valid for 13 months! I never expected any of that. Merry Christmas Great start to our year of Disney (the AP was supposed to be an anniversary gift last year).

We were there with our new APs in hand 35 minutes before gates opened (I wanted to make sure there were no issues with the passes), and a cast member was handing out Magic morning cards (like fast pass) and said here, happy holidays! Wow! This set off our 10, yes, 10 rides on Tower of Terror. You see, we thought the lines would get insane as the day went on. We rode 4 times by 8:15 and moved on. Little did we know....

We also went on the following:
RSR x2 Single Rider, sat together once
Soaring, 10 minute wait
To DL
Small World, 7 minute wait
Haunted Mansion x2 (10 min wait each)
Buzz (had FP)
HyperSM (had FP)
Buzz (had FP)
Snack break
Buzz (had FP)
Indy (had FP, but still had to wait 20 minutes)
Lunch at 2:30 at Carthay Circle
TOT X2
Star Tours (had FP)
Jingle cruise with 5 minute wait
TOT X2 late check out
Luigi's (longest wait with no FP at 15 minutes)
RSR Single
World of Color
TOT X2 late check out
And I checked out (because the park closed)

I really liked the Carthay WOC package. The viewing area was lovely and the price was very nice. I am not a show or parade person, but I quite enjoyed the show.

Great first day of our year of Disney. We are back tomorrow and expect it to be obnoxiously crowded. Anything other than that is a bonus.

Thanks for reading. I am not usually a overly lucky person! This was our best day at Disney ever! The Castmembers at TOT could not explain the short lines today. The said lines were obnoxious on Monday, a blacked out AP day.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

Awesome day-Disney magic at its finest.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Sounds like a great way to start your trip! I guess cold/windy/rainy days are still the way to go. You didn't have extreme crowds and waits and neither did a couple other people who posted about visiting the day before. I wish I thought to get Signature Plus and visit during Christmas. Sounds like a much better experience than I've had any time during the last few years.

 

[Kender]

I did that too. Bought Premium vouchers last year I mean . I actually have two more to activate and will be doing so on December 31st. I already knew about the Sig+ conversion (that's what they gave me for the vouchers I used last year), but you've answered a question I've been wondering if we'd get the 13th month promotion.

Sounds like an all around great day was had .

 

[Robinjay]

I did that too. Bought Premium vouchers last year I mean . I actually have two more to activate and will be doing so on December 31st. I already knew about the Sig+ conversion (that's what they gave me for the vouchers I used last year), but you've answered a question I've been wondering if we'd get the 13th month promotion.

Sounds like an all around great day was had .

It took almost 30 minutes to process our old APs. We were prepared for that, but FYI. A supervisor had to come over and three CMs came over to watch. We were very grateful for the benefits given, but it was a lengthy process. We have no complaints though

 

[Kender]

It took almost 30 minutes to process our old APs. We were prepared for that, but FYI. A supervisor had to come over and three CMs came over to watch. We were very grateful for the benefits given, but it was a lengthy process. We have no complaints though

Oh I know. I've been through the process before last year (but without the extra month promotion). My mom and I got a little crazy and bought four vouchers for the two of us the moment we noticed they didn't expire until December 31, 2016. Took half an hour then too. I'm fully expecting it to take at least as long this year.

Sadly the CM I got last year wasn't terribly friendly at first and acted like we were trying to pull a fast one on him. I came armed with receipts to prove we'd fully paid for the vouchers just in case and already knew going in the policy on the vouchers (but held my tongue until a supervisor could relay the information). He lightened up by the end as we stayed friendly with him. I figured he just was having a bad day and I'd now thrown him a curve ball of a process he hadn't done before.

Thankfully the CM didn't even bother trying to figure it out himself after he confirmed the vouchers were real and called over a supervisor who immediately knew how to handle it. He called it the "$1,049 pass" that it was to be issued as. Didn't even call it by name, just cost.

It's definitely a nice benefit getting so much value out of those vouchers that wasn't originally promised. It's a pretty sweet deal.

 

[Robinjay]

Kinder, I hope it goes better for you this year on the 31st! Enjoy your 13 months

 

[Robinjay]

More details!
We ate a late lunch at Carthay Circle. We had never eaten here before. I had made reservations in advance for our Christmas Eve day of fun at Disney.

We were over at DL and we broke down on Indy and had to be escorted off of the ride. It stopped three times before the final stop too. Luckily we were close to the exit and it did not take too long for our escort. We left and hightailed it over to CA.

We were asked at check in if we wanted the World of Color Dining Package. I thought you had to select these packages at the time when you made a reservation, but I guess not. Value wise, it made sense to get the package, even if we did not see the show. We got a drink, starter, entree, and desert along with a specified viewing area for World of Color.

We both ordered the prime rib, but it was cold and one was way under cooked. We sent them back, but one was still raw. In the end, mine was delicious, and the second meal was only partially edible. They ended up comping us the undercooked meal and were extremely polite about it. That was not expected, but appreciated. The desert was a peppermint mousse thing that was good, but a bit rich. The salad that came with it was ok.

The show was great! We are not much for shows and crowds, so this was good for us. The area had a lot of space and a great unobstructed view.

We would eat here again. The dining room was beautiful and the Castmembers were attentive.