Going to MK for one day first week of Dec, help me pick a date!

[kalirob]

I am traveling to WDW and staying offsite sometime the first week of December with my two girls, ages 3 and 4 (to celebrate her birthday).

I have read that the MVMCP will be held on Sun, Tues, Thurs, and Fri with M,W,S having EMH.

We have never seen MK decorated (for any holiday), so I would like to see the lights at night (especially the castle). I have read that MK has higher crowd levels on EMH days than MVMCP days, but you have to leave the park at 7pm on MVMCP days. We will not be attending the MVMCP this time around.

I would prefer to visit the park with lower crowd levels. Will I still be able to see the lights if I go to the park on a MVMCP day or should I go on an EMH day and deal with larger crowds? Are the crowd levels really that busy right after Thanksgiving??

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

 

[sharonabe]

If you go on a party day, you will still be able to see the lights. It gets dark between 5:30 and 6:00. However, you will not get to see the night-time parade or Wishes fireworks. You could take the monorail over to The Polynesian, and watch the fireworks from the beach, but you'll need to kill some time. With a 3 and 4 yr old, maybe take the monorail over to the TTC and then the round trip to EP and back. You could also go over to Grand Floridian to see the life-size gingerbread house. Eat dinner somewhere. I'm not sure if there's time for all of that, but there may be.

Even though it is a "low crowd" time, MK on non-party days will be VERY crowded. Guests want to take advantage of the EMH and they want to see the night-time entertainment, and with only 3 days of the week available, those 3 days will feel at least double whatever the crowd level number is said to be that week.

 

[kalirob]

If you go on a party day, you will still be able to see the lights. It gets dark between 5:30 and 6:00. However, you will not get to see the night-time parade or Wishes fireworks. You could take the monorail over to The Polynesian, and watch the fireworks from the beach, but you'll need to kill some time. With a 3 and 4 yr old, maybe take the monorail over to the TTC and then the round trip to EP and back. You could also go over to Grand Floridian to see the life-size gingerbread house. Eat dinner somewhere. I'm not sure if there's time for all of that, but there may be.

Even though it is a "low crowd" time, MK on non-party days will be VERY crowded. Guests want to take advantage of the EMH and they want to see the night-time entertainment, and with only 3 days of the week available, those 3 days will feel at least double whatever the crowd level number is said to be that week.

This is all excellent information, thank you so much.

 

[sharonabe]

Just saw this in someone's quick trip report, and thought you might be interested:

On Monday 10/19 (a non party day) MK was super crowded. By 11am rides like BTMRR, Splash, POTC, 7DMT, JC, HM, etc were all 1 to 2 hour waits. It was insane. I highly recommend paying for hoppers and hopping to MK in the evening if you want to see MSEP during party weeks. Or simply go to MK on a party day and leave by 7pm.