Elsaspiritanimal
I am Groot.
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2017
- Messages
- 469
My SIL and I attended MK DAH on 12/10. It was pretty chilly - very glad I had a hat, gloves and a windproof lined shell on over my sweater. The bus going home read a temp of 41! Here's what we were able to accomplish.
Started the day with Boma breakfast buffet (highly recommend to anyone) before heading to AK. Stayed there until about 6:30 then took the bust over to MK. Had to wait about 25 minutes for a bus FYI.
Arrived at MK at 7:30 and used the special event entrance with about 2 groups in front of us and got the wristbands quickly. No lanyards this time. We had to actively seek out the event brochure they were not handing them out by default at that time.
We scored a same day FP for Jingle cruise at 7:40, then grabbed a pretzel and brought it to eat inside Columbia Harbor House for a break from the cold.
Grabbed a IASW FP at 8:10, then headed over to storybook circus for some shopping before our 8:50 Dumbo FP. Timed it so we watched the fireworks for 3 dumbo rides in a row (this was so awesome!!!) then finished watching the fireworks by Ariel's. This was a great spot if you don't need to see the projections it felt like you were right under the fireworks. We then walked onto Little Mermaid at 9:20 then headed for Pirates FP at 9:30. Our goal was to get as many of the longer rides out of the way before DAH so we could re-ride some of our faves later in the event. By that time we were about 10 minutes to the start of DAH, so we made our way over to Frontierland.
We waved at all (2) of the brave people riding Splash and went on big Thunder. It was a walk-on and both sides were still open. When we got off it was the start of DAH!!
10:01 - 10:10 - BTM
10:13 - 10:25 - HM
10:27 - walked by Tangled photo op and looked to be about 7 or 8 groups in line.
10:31 - 10:37 - PP. Was total walk on when we went, line looked to build a little to maybe 5 minute wait by the time we got off.
10:39 - 10:47 - 7DMT (only about 5 minutes to wait for next train to load slowly)
Here's where the magic happens.
10:54 - 11:42 - Space x8. We were able to use the back shortcut which helped us ride the 8 times in that 45 minute span. My brother and I set our family record of 7x in a row in September so of course my SIL and I needed to beat that. I did overhear another gentleman asking if he had to exit each time he rode and a cast member told him yes, so I'm guessing it is better to just use the shortcut and don't ask because your answer may vary by cast member. We also got to know a few awesome cast members pretty well by the end of the 8th ride and they were wondering if we knew other rides were open....LOL
10:45 - 11:55 - stop for water, ice cream and popcorn at Tomorrowland cart. Had to wait behind about 5 groups but it moved pretty fast. Longest wait of the night.
11:59 - 12:05 - Buzz
12:07 - 12:11 - Popcorn stop in front of castle and pictures
12:13 - 1:01 - 7DMT x7. Each time was a walk on, just took as long as you had to walk through the whole standby queue except for the very last ride at 12:57 where they let us walk the FP line.
We took our time on the way out taking picture of the castle and watching the kiss goodnight (1:15 and as we were walking out at 1:30). There were still plenty of photopass photographers out on main street, and it looked like the Emporium was still open for shopping. By this time buses were not crowded at all and only had to wait about 5 minutes before a bus showed up to POP with about 10 other people.
Great night all in all with 19 rides during the actual event, plus a few beforehand. We definitely didn't rush either and stopped for pictures and snacks and the whole event just felt relaxed and fun, despite the cold. Will definitely do this event again!
Started the day with Boma breakfast buffet (highly recommend to anyone) before heading to AK. Stayed there until about 6:30 then took the bust over to MK. Had to wait about 25 minutes for a bus FYI.
Arrived at MK at 7:30 and used the special event entrance with about 2 groups in front of us and got the wristbands quickly. No lanyards this time. We had to actively seek out the event brochure they were not handing them out by default at that time.
We scored a same day FP for Jingle cruise at 7:40, then grabbed a pretzel and brought it to eat inside Columbia Harbor House for a break from the cold.
Grabbed a IASW FP at 8:10, then headed over to storybook circus for some shopping before our 8:50 Dumbo FP. Timed it so we watched the fireworks for 3 dumbo rides in a row (this was so awesome!!!) then finished watching the fireworks by Ariel's. This was a great spot if you don't need to see the projections it felt like you were right under the fireworks. We then walked onto Little Mermaid at 9:20 then headed for Pirates FP at 9:30. Our goal was to get as many of the longer rides out of the way before DAH so we could re-ride some of our faves later in the event. By that time we were about 10 minutes to the start of DAH, so we made our way over to Frontierland.
We waved at all (2) of the brave people riding Splash and went on big Thunder. It was a walk-on and both sides were still open. When we got off it was the start of DAH!!
10:01 - 10:10 - BTM
10:13 - 10:25 - HM
10:27 - walked by Tangled photo op and looked to be about 7 or 8 groups in line.
10:31 - 10:37 - PP. Was total walk on when we went, line looked to build a little to maybe 5 minute wait by the time we got off.
10:39 - 10:47 - 7DMT (only about 5 minutes to wait for next train to load slowly)
Here's where the magic happens.

10:54 - 11:42 - Space x8. We were able to use the back shortcut which helped us ride the 8 times in that 45 minute span. My brother and I set our family record of 7x in a row in September so of course my SIL and I needed to beat that. I did overhear another gentleman asking if he had to exit each time he rode and a cast member told him yes, so I'm guessing it is better to just use the shortcut and don't ask because your answer may vary by cast member. We also got to know a few awesome cast members pretty well by the end of the 8th ride and they were wondering if we knew other rides were open....LOL
10:45 - 11:55 - stop for water, ice cream and popcorn at Tomorrowland cart. Had to wait behind about 5 groups but it moved pretty fast. Longest wait of the night.
11:59 - 12:05 - Buzz
12:07 - 12:11 - Popcorn stop in front of castle and pictures
12:13 - 1:01 - 7DMT x7. Each time was a walk on, just took as long as you had to walk through the whole standby queue except for the very last ride at 12:57 where they let us walk the FP line.
We took our time on the way out taking picture of the castle and watching the kiss goodnight (1:15 and as we were walking out at 1:30). There were still plenty of photopass photographers out on main street, and it looked like the Emporium was still open for shopping. By this time buses were not crowded at all and only had to wait about 5 minutes before a bus showed up to POP with about 10 other people.
Great night all in all with 19 rides during the actual event, plus a few beforehand. We definitely didn't rush either and stopped for pictures and snacks and the whole event just felt relaxed and fun, despite the cold. Will definitely do this event again!
Last edited: