For those who have traveled and planned for Dec 2014

[disprincess2213]

I had a question to those who have planned for and traveled in Dec of this past year. The question is about hours. I have been trying to plan for a December trip and plan ADRs, parks, etc. Easy WDW had a park calendar from 2014 and it was extremely different than the one currently posted for 2015..... MK open at 8 every morning, DHS having 2 fantasmics instead of 1 and at different times, MK open late on MVMCP nights, etc.
I have been to Disney many times and know the hours, EMHs, openings, etc change constantly and you can never be sure...

But the question is, when you were planning for last years trip, did the early MK opening change closer to travel date or was it always an 8am opening as soon as the calendar was presented? If not, around when did they add all the times/hours?

 

[Lucius Best]

If you look on the official Disney web site, their park hours are only released up through December 15th. Note that easywdw's Dec 2015 calendar is full of ????. I would assume that Dec 2015 hours, when officially released, will look pretty close to 2014?

 

[Stitch808]

When we went last year, the park hours changed maybe in Oct/Nov. I know it changed closer to the dates because I had to tweak a couple of our EMH plans, but since we didn't have any pre-park opening plans, it worked out. I think it was before our 60 day window, IIRC. I think park hours changed depending on the number of guests at the resorts. I know we were there for the middle two weeks of December at the end of Pop Warner and the parks were crowded. As compared to the November crowds, since we don't travel during school breaks.

 

[Figmentmommy]

Those hours will likely change. We traveled 12/13-12/20 and I remember hours being expanded closer to our trip because we had a pre-opening ADR at MK which we then decided to cancel. Disney seemed to broaden the dates for their expanded holiday hours from the way it was done in 2013. The best thing to do is work with the calendar that is released but then expect for changes. I know that doesn't seem ideal for planning but unfortunately it is what it is. The adjusted schedule did include late nights (non MVMCP) and early mornings at MK and two Fantasmic shows at DHS.

 

[Missyrose]

Disney added the daily 8am opening at MK for the whole month of December a couple of months before. That meant there were no longer any pre-park opening ADRs.

 

[disprincess2213]

That's exactly why I was asking... I got a pre park ADR and Im all excited about it...then I realized that almost every day in December opened at 8:00 in Dec 2014 (even tho its 9am now). Also, I grabbed a F! package and noticed that there were 2 F! shows in Dec 2014 (which there is only one officially now). I was just trying to see if anyone had experiences withe the changes as the time got closer....which apparently you all did! Thanks so so much for sharing

 

[RachaelA]

Is early December THAT crowded that it needs 8am every morning? I mean I understand the last two weeks is really crowded, but none of the crowd calendars show its gong to be 9s and 10s the first two weeks.

 

[RachaelA]

And I definitely dropped the ball with this December trip because I didn't even look at last year's calendar. We have an 8am BBB in early December and now I'm bummed that it could be pointless (I wanted to get in and out of BBB all before 9am).

 

[jerseygal]

That's exactly why I was asking... I got a pre park ADR and Im all excited about it...then I realized that almost every day in December opened at 8:00 in Dec 2014 (even tho its 9am now). Also, I grabbed a F! package and noticed that there were 2 F! shows in Dec 2014 (which there is only one officially now). I was just trying to see if anyone had experiences withe the changes as the time got closer....which apparently you all did! Thanks so so much for sharing

We had a Fantasmics lunch package Dec.8th(HBD, delicious by the way) and Fantasmics was at 6:30 I believe. When I booked about 5 months in advance there was 1 show available..then about 3 months prior to Dec. I think they added the 8:15 show. We were never in the parks at rope drop or early morning magic hours, so I can't speak to that. Hope that you ENJOY the beauty of WDW at the Holidays! LOVED, LOVED the Osborne lights!

 

[jmm476]

We were there 12/5-12/13 last year and the move to 8am opening at MK did mess with 2 of my 3 planned MK days. But, I kept my ADRs as they were and just rolled with the punches. What screwed me up more than anything was them moving the parade taping into the weekdays. I missed my shot at seeing the opening show at MK, which is one of my favorites!

 

[jerseygal]

MK was CRAZY CROWDED on Sat.Dec.6th! WOW; Hmmm...arrived about 3PM that day, but I thought that Sat.Dec.6th was the parade taping day???

 

[disprincess2213]

MK was CRAZY CROWDED on Sat.Dec.6th! WOW; Hmmm...arrived about 3PM that day, but I thought that Sat.Dec.6th was the parade taping day???

what exactly is taping day? and what goes on that day? should we avaoid the taping day if it happens to fall on a MK day?

 

[jerseygal]

what exactly is taping day? and what goes on that day? should we avaoid the taping day if it happens to fall on a MK day?

Taping the Christmas Parade which is on television on Christmas Day. In our itiniary for our stay we had no choice but to go to MK in the afternoon of Sat.Dec.6th, 14 which I believe was when the parade was taped. It was TOO CROWDED even in the mid afternoon for our tastes. I would avoid it if you can.
ENJOY!

 

[ruthies12]

The parade taping, to my understanding, traditionally happens the first Saturday of December each year. Main street will be a mess because of it because they have to start and stop the parade over and over to film from different angles and such. I don't think it affects ride lines as much, so as long as you are past the parade route before it starts and don't try to exit for a few hours after you are fine.

Last year they moved the parade taping to the following Monday. I heard somewhere online that it was due to the schedule of some celebrity that was in it but I can't verify that or say who it was, just vaguely remember reading that somewhere.

I was watching the schedule last fall very closely because I was already planning our trip for Dec 2015. I am basing all my plans on last years calendar and will adjust as needed when it gets closer. I want to say they added the 8 am hours in early November and there were a bunch of pissed off people, I remember a couple of threads about plans going out the window and pre opening ADR's getting all screwed up.

 

[rajak73]

The parade taping, to my understanding, traditionally happens the first Saturday of December each year. Main street will be a mess because of it because they have to start and stop the parade over and over to film from different angles and such. I don't think it affects ride lines as much, so as long as you are past the parade route before it starts and don't try to exit for a few hours after you are fine.

Last year they moved the parade taping to the following Monday. I heard somewhere online that it was due to the schedule of some celebrity that was in it but I can't verify that or say who it was, just vaguely remember reading that somewhere.

I was watching the schedule last fall very closely because I was already planning our trip for Dec 2015. I am basing all my plans on last years calendar and will adjust as needed when it gets closer. I want to say they added the 8 am hours in early November and there were a bunch of pissed off people, I remember a couple of threads about plans going out the window and pre opening ADR's getting all screwed up.

We were at Disney in early December last year too, avoided the parade taping day which you are right was Monday instead of Saturday. I heard the same about the celebrity having to wait until Monday. I will agree that I think the hours changed in November, already had ADR for Crystal Palace at 8:15 and couldn't believe the people that complained about Disney opening earlier than expected! I don't believe the crowd grew that much between 8 and 9 am. The bolded is what I didn't get when those threads started, so what was the major plan that had to be scraped? Your ADR was still good for 8am, you should have all the FP+ made anyway and we didn't think the crowds started to get bad until around 10-10:30 anyway. We saw the opening show at a different day. I guess we just don't plan our days like that, that a early opening would just ruin our day. Where else but Disney would people complain about having longer hours in a theme park?

 

[RachaelA]

We were at Disney in early December last year too, avoided the parade taping day which you are right was Monday instead of Saturday. I heard the same about the celebrity having to wait until Monday. I will agree that I think the hours changed in November, already had ADR for Crystal Palace at 8:15 and couldn't believe the people that complained about Disney opening earlier than expected! I don't believe the crowd grew that much between 8 and 9 am. The bolded is what I didn't get when those threads started, so what was the major plan that had to be scraped? Your ADR was still good for 8am, you should have all the FP+ made anyway and we didn't think the crowds started to get bad until around 10-10:30 anyway. We saw the opening show at a different day. I guess we just don't plan our days like that, that a early opening would just ruin our day. Where else but Disney would people complain about having longer hours in a theme park?

While it would annoy me, I wouldn't freak out. But with our 8am BBB, we can easily get in and out and get in line for A&E BEFORE the park opens so an 8am opening does basically ruin that (by 8:30/8:40 when we get out the line will be crazy if the park has been open since 8). We obviously will come up with other options and cross our fingers that we get FPs for at least one day of our trip. If not, we'll do the running of the bulls in the morning when the park opens.

 

[ruthies12]

We were at Disney in early December last year too, avoided the parade taping day which you are right was Monday instead of Saturday. I heard the same about the celebrity having to wait until Monday. I will agree that I think the hours changed in November, already had ADR for Crystal Palace at 8:15 and couldn't believe the people that complained about Disney opening earlier than expected! I don't believe the crowd grew that much between 8 and 9 am. The bolded is what I didn't get when those threads started, so what was the major plan that had to be scraped? Your ADR was still good for 8am, you should have all the FP+ made anyway and we didn't think the crowds started to get bad until around 10-10:30 anyway. We saw the opening show at a different day. I guess we just don't plan our days like that, that a early opening would just ruin our day. Where else but Disney would people complain about having longer hours in a theme park?

I can totally understand why people were ticked. Some people use pre-opening ADR's as a strategy for access to high priority attractions and having plans changed on you at the last minute like that is extremely annoying, especially when Disney forces us to plan so far ahead.

I hate that they change hours last minute and here is an example of why:

On our last trip we went to HS on an evening EMH day for the sole purpose of going to the Dis Jr. Dance party. I planned our hours in the park so that we would get there early enough to do everything we wanted but late enough that our 5 year old would be able to tolerate the hours and enjoy the dance party. Well we arrived right on time for the dance party and guess what, Disney had changed the hours and I hadn't noticed. We had to stand around and wait an hour for the party to start, which by the time it did our 5 year old was too tired and just wanted to leave. Had I known the hours had changed, I would have gotten to the park an hour later and let my kid sleep in more so she'd still be awake in the evening. OR I could have planned to do HS on a non-EMH day and skip the party entirely so we could enjoy lower lines the rest of the day.

With all the planning involved in a trip to Disney, especially with young children, having to stay on top of park hour changes all the way up to the day of is just ridiculous IMO.

 

[DisneyWitch]

We were at MK on taping day and we were amazed at the crowds. HOWEVER, if you arrive at rope drop and can make it past Main Street, the rest of the park had relatively light crowds because everyone was either watching the parade or stuck in that bottleneck. We got a lot done and resigned ourselves to stay away from main street until that evening. I would suggest not booking any ADRs at Tony's Town Square or even Crystal Palace before the evening, as navigating the crowds was challenging. My heart went out to all the parents trying to keep tabs on their little ones.

 

[Quellman]

When we went last year, the park hours changed maybe in Oct/Nov. I know it changed closer to the dates because I had to tweak a couple of our EMH plans, but since we didn't have any pre-park opening plans, it worked out.

Those hours will likely change. We traveled 12/13-12/20 and I remember hours being expanded closer to our trip. The best thing to do is work with the calendar that is released but then expect for changes. I know that doesn't seem ideal for planning but unfortunately it is what it is. The adjusted schedule did include late nights (non MVMCP) and early mornings at MK and two Fantasmic shows at DHS.

We faced the same last year. They shifted hours and we got some bad draws when it came to park recommendations based on hours available. This year my only plan is EPCOT on Tuesday for the DVC member mixer. Other than that its a crap shoot, which is a shame since they open dining at 180 days and much of it is dependent. Just have to be flexible .