Frequent visitors wwyd?

[eeyoresmom]

We visit a few times a year but not usually during the holiday season. DH and I just booked a last minute trip for Dec 2-5, staying offsite. We will have all day Sun and Mon and will leave the parks around 5 pm to fly home on Tues. I REALLY wanted to experience WS at Christmas, the storytellers, COP, etc so have already set aside all day Mon for Epcot. I would also really love to visit WL and GF and MK for the afternoon parade. I'm considering skipping HS and AK entirely and focusing on Epcot , MK and the resorts. DH won't do commando park touring , open to close anymore. We will probably do 11-8 ish. I'm having a hard time with this because we always do rope drop, back to the resort from 1-5 then back to the parks from 5- 9 or 10. Any advice with totally switching it up this way?

 

[sharonabe]

We visit a few times a year but not usually during the holiday season. DH and I just booked a last minute trip for Dec 2-5, staying offsite. We will have all day Sun and Mon and will leave the parks around 5 pm to fly home on Tues. I REALLY wanted to experience WS at Christmas, the storytellers, COP, etc so have already set aside all day Mon for Epcot. I would also really love to visit WL and GF and MK for the afternoon parade. I'm considering skipping HS and AK entirely and focusing on Epcot , MK and the resorts. DH won't do commando park touring , open to close anymore. We will probably do 11-8 ish. I'm having a hard time with this because we always do rope drop, back to the resort from 1-5 then back to the parks from 5- 9 or 10. Any advice with totally switching it up this way?

Just plan your FP+ accordingly and have fun!

One question: is there a particular reason you want to see the afternoon parade at MK? It's the regular afternoon parade; nothing special until after the last MVMCP. Speaking of, there is a party on both the 3rd and 5th, so you'll have to leave MK around 6:00 on those nights. You may want to switch your EP to Sunday.

 

[DisneyaHolic23]

Sharonabe makes some great points. If you want to stick with your original plan, you can leave MK at 6:00 and hit the resorts you want, straight from there. Might I suggest that you add Fort Wilderness for a carriage ride when you do the other monorail resorts? The people who spend the holidays at DW in their RVs do AMAZING plot decorations; the horse-drawn carriage is romantic and gives you a nice holiday feel. One fun way for adults to see all the resorts is a Monorail Drink-a-Thon, where you visit each resort on the monorail line and have a fun drink - this is especially fun during the holidays because you have the added bonus of the decorations. We use the personalized passports we found online to make this a fun game, and add the two resorts that are accessible by boat, per the suggestion of the FUNatics folks who sell the passports.

I absolutely agree with a full-day at Epcot - the storytellers and decorations are wonderful. Don't forget about the Candlelight Processional, if you have an interest in the Christmas story from the bible - it is a must-do for us whenever we visit Disney World during the holidays. If you drink, the Gluhwein in Germany is a warm, spiced wine that is delicious. We use passports here, too, to either Drink Around the World Showcase and/or Snack Around the World Showcase. Make sure you take photos in each country - it is fun to do a little kiss in each country and make a holiday collage that you can decorate with every year.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I was going to say the same thing (and ask the same thing) as @sharonabe.

For a three night stay, I’d definitely skip a park or two (HS and AK as you seem to be leaning) - just not enough time in the schedule. Although the Sunset Seasons holiday thing at HS looks pretty neat (I might try to squeeze that in if you have time).

 

[eeyoresmom]

Just plan your FP+ accordingly and have fun!

One question: is there a particular reason you want to see the afternoon parade at MK? It's the regular afternoon parade; nothing special until after the last MVMCP. Speaking of, there is a party on both the 3rd and 5th, so you'll have to leave MK around 6:00 on those nights. You may want to switch your EP to Sunday.

Oh, I thought there was a special Christmas parade at MK, must be the MVMCP one I got confused about. That actually makes planning a bit easier. I picked Monday for Epcot because I thought it would be significantly less crowded than on Sunday. I thought MK may be a wash between Sun and Mon. Sunday's a weekend but it closes early for MVMCP so I thought Mon might be a bit busier since there's no party that day......thanks for all the tips. Its all very helpful.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Oh, I thought there was a special Christmas parade at MK, must be the MVMCP one I got confused about. That actually makes planning a bit easier. I picked Monday for Epcot because I thought it would be significantly less crowded than on Sunday. I thought MK may be a wash between Sun and Mon. Sunday's a weekend but it closes early for MVMCP so I thought Mon might be a bit busier since there's no party that day......thanks for all the tips. Its all very helpful.

FWIW, I very much agree with your logic. I’d do MK on a Sunday party day and Epcot on Monday as well.

 

[holden]

Just take it easy and enjoy whatever you get to see on your list. I’ve found that we enjoy our trips more when we don’t kill ourselves trying to cram in everything we want to do.

 

[sharonabe]

I picked Monday for Epcot because I thought it would be significantly less crowded than on Sunday. I thought MK may be a wash between Sun and Mon. Sunday's a weekend but it closes early for MVMCP so I thought Mon might be a bit busier since there's no party that day......thanks for all the tips. Its all very helpful

Your first thinking is sound. MK will be busier on Monday since it is between two parties, but if you want to see HEA, you'll have to brave it. If HEA isn't important to you this time, then definitely keep EP on Monday and do MK on either Sunday or Tuesday, but instead of a late morning, be there at rope drop. You'll have an early evening instead of a sleep in morning.