Have you done the Holiday Sleigh ride at FW

[thumper*]

Seriously considering doing this for our upcoming Dec trip. But the cost of $79
for 25 minutes makes me question the value. Obviously not a value but may be very happy with at least experiencing it. We originally thought that we would experience the decorated sites by driving through ourself's since we're driving down. But I thought it might be more relaxing for DH to be able to have a few cocktails at our home resort GF and the Contempo prior to doing the ride.
If we did do it my plan would be to monorail to Contempo have a cocktail or 2 at Cali Grill then boat over to FW for a ride shortly after dusk. Maybe grab a cocktail at Crockett's tavern before or after and maybe even staying to view Holiday Wishes from there vs going back to view at either GF or Poly.
Are there other options for cocktails in that general area of FW?
Tell me about your experience the good, the bad, the ugly and any other suggestions/ideas/recommendations.

 

[Nancyg56]

We took the wagon ride at $8 a person. It was fun and less expensive.

 

[Jillinwonderland]

I did this last December. We had dinner at Hoop Dee Doo then we boarded the sleigh. It was very nice. We went through different areas of the campground and saw everyone's campsites all light up and decorated for the Christmas season. Our driver was chatty and told us all kinds of neat facts about the campground. One person even saw us coming and came out with hot coco and candy canes for us! It was a really neat experience.

 

[Mal6586]

We did this last December, and I loved it so much! My tip would be to do what we sort of accidentally did. The night we did the sleigh ride, there was a MVMCP happening at Magic Kingdom. (We were going to a party a few days later.) I had originally wanted to book our sleigh ride around 8:00pm since this was our first full day on vacation, and I wanted an early evening since we were planning to go rope drop to close at Magic Kingdom the next day. Unfortunately (but actually FORTUNATELY!) that time wasn't available when I called to book, so I ended up with a 9:00pm reservation. We checked in for our reservation a few minutes early, and had about a 15 minute wait or so. I love love loved the sleigh ride. The decorations at the campsites are so fun and festive and creative, and with the open air atmosphere of your "sleigh" I think you just get a better experience than if you drove through it in a vehicle. Plus the sound of your horse's shoes on the pavement and the sleigh bells just made me think of being in an old Christmas movie. Also, the drivers are fun to talk to, and they tell you about some of the campsites/decorations/horses, etc.

Well here's where it got even better. We had taken a cab from another resort where we had dinner to get there, so we needed to use Disney transportation to get back to our resort, and we'd decided the best way to do that was to take the boat back to Magic Kingdom and hop a bus. Unbeknownst to me, we timed this just perfectly that we arrived at the boat dock right as the Electrical Water Pageant fired up at 9:45pm or so, and it finished just as our boat arrived to take us to Magic Kingdom. I was already so thrilled by our evening's luck at this point, but it got even better! On our boat ride over, we saw the beginnings of Holiday Wishes at 10:00pm! So our fun-filled festive evening ended with us outside the gates of Magic Kingdom, getting to hear and see most of Holiday Wishes as well before heading to the bus stop ahead of the exiting party crowd.

Very long story short, not only do I highly recommend the sleigh ride because it's just fun and festive and really puts you in the Christmas spirit, but if you go on a MVMCP night, try to snag a 9:00pm sleigh ride reservation so you can catch some other entertainment afterwards!

 

[DisneyMaleficent50]

we loved the sleigh ride too. It was a lot of fun to see all the different decorations. the guides were great. So much interesting information. Loved the Pin that came with the sleigh ride. The only downer for us was that is had poured shortly before our sleigh ride. It drizzled a little on us but everything was wet and they did not cancel any of the rides that night. They did their best to try off seats with towels and the blanket was totally soaked. So beware of bad weather....

 

[thumper*]

I did this last December. We had dinner at Hoop Dee Doo then we boarded the sleigh. It was very nice. We went through different areas of the campground and saw everyone's campsites all light up and decorated for the Christmas season. Our driver was chatty and told us all kinds of neat facts about the campground. One person even saw us coming and came out with hot coco and candy canes for us! It was a really neat experience.

Thank You hot coco and candy canes how lucky.

We took the wagon ride at $8 a person. It was fun and less expensive.

Thanks we might do this instead but am leaning towards the more romantic sleigh ride with just DH.

We did this last December, and I loved it so much! My tip would be to do what we sort of accidentally did. The night we did the sleigh ride, there was a MVMCP happening at Magic Kingdom. (We were going to a party a few days later.) I had originally wanted to book our sleigh ride around 8:00pm since this was our first full day on vacation, and I wanted an early evening since we were planning to go rope drop to close at Magic Kingdom the next day. Unfortunately (but actually FORTUNATELY!) that time wasn't available when I called to book, so I ended up with a 9:00pm reservation. We checked in for our reservation a few minutes early, and had about a 15 minute wait or so. I love love loved the sleigh ride. The decorations at the campsites are so fun and festive and creative, and with the open air atmosphere of your "sleigh" I think you just get a better experience than if you drove through it in a vehicle. Plus the sound of your horse's shoes on the pavement and the sleigh bells just made me think of being in an old Christmas movie. Also, the drivers are fun to talk to, and they tell you about some of the campsites/decorations/horses, etc.

Well here's where it got even better. We had taken a cab from another resort where we had dinner to get there, so we needed to use Disney transportation to get back to our resort, and we'd decided the best way to do that was to take the boat back to Magic Kingdom and hop a bus. Unbeknownst to me, we timed this just perfectly that we arrived at the boat dock right as the Electrical Water Pageant fired up at 9:45pm or so, and it finished just as our boat arrived to take us to Magic Kingdom. I was already so thrilled by our evening's luck at this point, but it got even better! On our boat ride over, we saw the beginnings of Holiday Wishes at 10:00pm! So our fun-filled festive evening ended with us outside the gates of Magic Kingdom, getting to hear and see most of Holiday Wishes as well before heading to the bus stop ahead of the exiting party crowd.

Very long story short, not only do I highly recommend the sleigh ride because it's just fun and festive and really puts you in the Christmas spirit, but if you go on a MVMCP night, try to snag a 9:00pm sleigh ride reservation so you can catch some other entertainment afterwards!

Ding Ding Ding your the winner....you've talked me into it. Your night sounds so magical. I'm hoping to catch Wishes from a boator lakeside somewhere around the area.

we loved the sleigh ride too. It was a lot of fun to see all the different decorations. the guides were great. So much interesting information. Loved the Pin that came with the sleigh ride. The only downer for us was that is had poured shortly before our sleigh ride. It drizzled a little on us but everything was wet and they did not cancel any of the rides that night. They did their best to try off seats with towels and the blanket was totally soaked. So beware of bad weather....

I wondered if they still ran if it rained, I wonder if it's storming if they will refund your $? I get cold easily so I hope the blanket is dry. Glad you still enjoyed it.

 

[DisneyMaleficent50]

I wondered if they still ran if it rained, I wonder if it's storming if they will refund your $? I get cold easily so I hope the blanket is dry. Glad you still enjoyed it. [/QUOTE]

No they do NOT cancel for rain but they do if there is thunder and lightning AT fort wilderness AT the time of your ride. Which you have no way of knowing till you drag yourself over to FW in the rain. They don NOT cancel unless there is a safety issue for you or the horses. The blanket just sits on the seat. They have no way of getting dry towels or protect the blanket from the rain. All they had were a couple of hand towels to try to dry the seats off with. So our blanket was totally soaked thru.
We got extremely lucky as I had booked our sleigh ride after dinner so we were inside eating while it poured. the people with the ride time before us were soaked getting off. It was just sprinkling when we started the ride and I ran over to the bathrooms and got some paper towels to dry off the seats and to take with us.
If you really want to do this I suggest bringing ponchos or booking 2 different days so you can watch the weather and cancel one if it looks bad and you still have a backup.
We got very lucky with the rain and were heading back to the contemporary after for warm showers so it was all good for us.

 

[Skallywag Steph]

We took the wagon ride at $8 a person. It was fun and less expensive.

Do they still do wagon rides in December or are they replaced with the sleigh ride? Wagon rides are first come first serve, correct?

 

[Nancyg56]

Do they still do wagon rides in December or are they replaced with the sleigh ride? Wagon rides are first come first serve, correct?

THey were still doing the wagon rides. I believe we picked up the ride outside of the hall the HDDR is in, and it was indeed first come, first served.

 

[kateandy08096]

We booked the holiday sleigh ride for black Friday. We are having dinner at Mickeys back yard BBQ. Does anyone know if they still give out the collectors pin? Thanks all

 

[Raeven]

We did the sleigh ride last year and it was fun to try, but we probably won't do it again for awhile.

It was nice to look at the lights, but we also had a night that was quite chilly. And depending on the driver, I wouldn't say it was quite "romantic" our driver was a bit chatty and would join in the conversation when we pointed things out, so it didn't really feel like like it was just us. We didn't mind, but I definitely didn't feel like it was romantic.

They did give us a special pin at the end though.

 

[Disneytam]

Were do you look to book this? I keep getting the "someone ate your page" when I try to look on the website.

 

[Raeven]

Were do you look to book this? I keep getting the "someone ate your page" when I try to look on the website.

You have to call the tour line to book. You can't book it online. The website's been glitchy today though which is probably why the page doesn't come up at all.

 

[thumper*]

Were do you look to book this? I keep getting the "someone ate your page" when I try to look on the website.

I had Disney Signature services book it for me since we are staying CL level. I actually had them change the time after they booked it for me the first time....because like a dork I can't make up my mind.