DHS in the Morning or Evening?

[DisneyStarWisher]

My DH and I have a December trip planned. It is for a total of 5 days. We plan on doing only two park days (only one a park hopper) plus the Christmas party. I am debating our evening plans and need some advice. Of course, one of our evenings will be at MK due to the party. We have a CP dining package for another evening, so Epcot for that one. My issue is with the third evening we will be in the parks. It's a toss-up between AK and DHS. Right now, we will be rope-dropping DHS in order to do TSL. My thinking is that we will be able to RD either SDD or TSM and do the other with a FP. Then we will hop to AK where we won't need FPs (we aren't doing Pandora this time). But if we do this, we will miss Jingle Bell Jingle Bam. This is something we have never done, and I'm interested. But we are not interested in a dessert party at all. My concern is that since we can only have one FP for either SDD or TSM, we will either have to skip something or will have to wait in one long stand-by line. Is JBJB worth that? Please advise. TIA!

 

[Delirium]

It's unlikely that you will be able to get a FP for SDD on such a short trip. So, from my viewpoint, it comes down to whether the holiday season activities at HS outweigh your desire to not wait in a line to ride Slinky.

Since you are skipping Pandora, I personally think you can have more overall success rope dropping AK, hitting the attractions you want to do there in standby, and then hopping to HS for your FPs and nighttime entertainment. Now, since you will likely not get a FP for Slinky, that will mean waiting in line. But, the advantages are that AK is easier to rope drop (especially since you are skipping Pandora) and HS has a lot more 'Holiday' stuff that is available at night.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

It's unlikely that you will be able to get a FP for SDD on such a short trip. So, from my viewpoint, it comes down to whether the holiday season activities at HS outweigh your desire to not wait in a line to ride Slinky.

Since you are skipping Pandora, I personally think you can have more overall success rope dropping AK, hitting the attractions you want to do there in standby, and then hopping to HS for your FPs and nighttime entertainment. Now, since you will likely not get a FP for Slinky, that will mean waiting in line. But, the advantages are that AK is easier to rope drop (especially since you are skipping Pandora) and HS has a lot more 'Holiday' stuff that is available at night.

I figured if I couldn't FP SDD, we would get one for TSM and then RD SDD. This would be a fairly reasonable way to ride both. Is that not the case?

ETA: DHS is Day 4 of our trip. So when I do FPs, it will be 60+4.

 

[Delirium]

I figured if I couldn't FP SDD, we would get one for TSM and then RD SDD. This would be a fairly reasonable way to ride both. Is that not the case?

ETA: DHS is Day 4 of our trip. So when I do FPs, it will be 60+4.

Yes, that is very reasonable if riding Slinky without a wait is your goal. However, if you do that, and hop to AK in the Evening, you will not get to see Jingle Bell / Jingle Jam, Sunset Blvd at night, etc. If I had your choice, and was skipping Pandora, I would choose HS at night because the Holiday offerings are not something you would get to experience at other times of the year. And, taking Pandora out of the equation, rope dropping AK allows me to do more total attractions before the crowds build for the day than rope dropping HS.

However, if your main concern is the line at Slinky, then rope dropping it is a reasonable approach.

 

[Delirium]

And, honestly, if you are one of the first 50 people in line for Slinky, you likely would not even need a FP for TSM.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Would it be reasonable to FP SDD for the early evening, do JBJB at 8:30, and then get in line for TSM at park closing? That’s how we did FoP with a much shorter wait on our last trip. I want to avoid lines if at all possible. But we missed DHS on that trip and I love TSM! Would like to do it and SDD this time.

ETA: I just noticed this will not work. DHS closes at 8 that night, and JBJB is at 8:30. So much for that plan.

 

[DisneyMommy77]

I would choose DHS for the evening if it were me. We really enjoyed the holiday festivities at night last year. Jingle Bell Jingle Bam and Sunset Blvd. really had me in the holiday spirit!

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

You guys almost have me talked into doing DHS for the evening. If I FP SDD for early evening, how long do you think a standby line for TSM will be? I will be going December 18, and the crowd calendars show it as heavy crowds but DHS is the recommended park that day. Also, I was thinking about trying to get an ADR somewhere. What is the latest time I should pick in order to get a spot for JBJB (which I think is at 8:30)?

 

[Delirium]

I have not been during that time around a week before Christmas, so I cannot talk to the crowds. I think the problem will be is if the park will even be open after Jingle Bell Jingle Jam for you to get in line for TSM. If you did TSM before Jingle Bell, I would expect a 45 minute wait or so. And, I still think you will have a problem getting a Slinky Dog FP.

You can try, obviously. But, I think you should plan on getting a TSM FP and allowing enough time to wait in line for Slinky Dog (probably 60-75 minutes)

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

The line for TSM can get very short in the evening. Even at the height of its popularity, we were often able to ride 4 times during the last hour of operation. Just keep in mind that the posted times at night are intentionally exaggerated to discourage late riders.

 

[TJA]

Personally, I would do AK in the morning and head to DHS around 4pm. I'd have a FP for Slinky for 7:30-ish so hopefully it will be dark enough by then to enjoy the ride with all the pretty lights. In between 4:00 and 7:30, I'd grab a bite to eat and also go on TSM. I haven't been following wait times for SB of TSM and can only speak from my experience a couple weeks ago, but TSM was never over a 10 minute wait SB. I will say crowds were low, so that probably played a factor.

 

[DisneyMommy77]

You guys almost have me talked into doing DHS for the evening. If I FP SDD for early evening, how long do you think a standby line for TSM will be? I will be going December 18, and the crowd calendars show it as heavy crowds but DHS is the recommended park that day. Also, I was thinking about trying to get an ADR somewhere. What is the latest time I should pick in order to get a spot for JBJB (which I think is at 8:30)?

We were there last December 19th and just walked up to Jingle Bell Jingle Bam just as it was starting and joined the crowd to watch. We could see just fine where we were without having to arrive early. I don’t recall the crowds being super bad that day, but of course that was before TSL opened. We will be arriving in Florida 12/19 this year.

 

[DisneyStarWisher]

Well, after watching JBJB on youtube with my DH, we both decided to skip it. It looked ok, but nothing that wowed us and we doubted it would really wow us in person. Now, Osborne Lights wowed us. Maybe that's why we weren't very impressed. We kept longing for Osborne Lights. We decided to keep our original plans. Rope drop DHS since we want to do both TSM and SDD and don't want to wait in long lines. We will RD one and FP one. Then we will head to AK for lunch and safari and meandering down the trails. Then back to Wilderness Lodge for dinner at WCC and a relaxing evening in the lobby around the Christmas tree and by the fireplace. We really want this trip to be relaxing, and we want to enjoy the WL since we are contemplating adding on DVC points at BRV. This will be our last night there, so we really want a low-key evening. We will have already done the Christmas party and the CP, and we think that will be enough Christmas entertainment for us. Thanks though for all who gave suggestions.

BTW, once we buy BRV points, we will be visiting WDW every other year at Christmas time for extended trips and will get to see JBJB then, if we get the inkling.