We are planning our trip from Dec 5-10...
Did you do a map of what you wanted to see/do or just go with the flow?
Did you get the park hopper and was it worth the extra money?
What are the best places to eat at? Character dinners (we have a 4 year old DD and 2 year old DS)?
Are the fireworks at MK every night?
Where are the other firework shows/night shows?
Where are the parades...are they on different parks or just 1?
Anyone been to the Christmas Parade? How long is it?
What is the weather like in early December?
Are shows like Finding Nemo/Lion King included in tickets or do you have to pay for those separately? Do you have to make reservations?
How far is Sea World from Disney?
Is it possible to make it through in just one day or do you have to dedicate more than 1?
This is our first time going, and as you can see I am full of questions. Any other input or tips will be welcome TIA
1. You need to look up the different attractions at each park and make a list of all of the things you are interested in doing. I use
www.touringplans.com and their Best Days Crowd Calendar. It tells you which park to visit on which day for the best crowds. Once you have your park days, then you need to choose which restaurants you want to eat at so you can make your ADRs (Advance Dining Reservations). With Free Dining going on you must have ADRS, as most restaurants will not be taking walk-ups.
2. With this being your first visit, I would NOT get the park hopper. You will have enough on your plate trying to figure out your way around the park you are in, without worrying about hopping to another.
3. Our favorite character meals are 1900 Park Fare, Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's and Storybook Princess Lunch at Akershus in Epcot.
4. No, there will not be Wishes fireworks everynight in December. There are so many Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parties that the Magic Kingdom will shut down at 7:00 p.m. on a lot of nights and Wishes was not shown on those nights last year.
5. Disney Hollywood Studios has Fantasmic, which is a laser/lights/fireworks show, but to cut costs, it is only shown a couple of night per week now and those performances are very, very crowded and you need to get the Fantasmic theater at least an hour early to see the show. Epcot has Illuminations every night and it wonderful. Animal Kingdom does not have night time show and will close at about 5:00 p.m. each day.
6. Epcot does not have a parade anymore. Animal Kingdom parade will be at about 3:45 p.m. each day, DHS will have Block Party Bash each day at 3:00 p.m. and Magic Kingdom will have the Dreams Come True parade each day at about 3:00 p.m.
7. Which Christmas parade are you talking about? If you mean the pre-taping of the ABC Christmas which airs on Christmas morning, they will be filming that the first weekend in December, with December 5 being their main taping day. This is a long drawn out process and they will do mulitiple takes over and over throughout the day. The Magic Kingdom is very, very crazy on this day and Main Street is almost impassable. Also, you can not just walk up and watch parts of the taping, the areas are roped off and they only allow a certain amount of people in at certain times of the day. I, personally, would avoid MK on this day.
If you are talking about a daily MK Christmas parade, that can only be seen with tickets to the hard-ticket event Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. After the MVMCPs end, close to Christmas around the 18th or 19th of December, the Christmas Parade will be shown daily at MK at 12 noon and 3:00 p.m.
8. Weather can be a complete toss up. We been in early December and it was quite cold with low's in the 40's at night, yet we went the third week in December last year and it was 80 degrees every day. So, you will just have to watch the weather as your dates get closer.
9. All shows are included in your price of admission. Just get a Times Guide when you enter the park and it will list all of the show times for each show in each park that day.
