Hello.. new here!

[jessiegirl84]

Hello, I am Jess and have just discovered the Aussie section of the Disboards!

My partner and I are travelling back to the USA for Christmas in 4 months! We are very very excited. We travelled last year but didn't make it to Orlando but got to spend a day at Disneyland and I have to say it was the best day of my life!

This time around we have 6 nights in total in Orlando so hopefully that will be plenty of time to see DisneyWorld plus also a side trip to Kennedy Space Centre and Universal Island of Adventure for Harry Potter world!

Is anyone else on here heading over for Christmas?

Jess

 

[Kalice]

Welcom to the forum. Such an addictive place this one!

Christmas in Disny is beautiful and the Osborne Lights in Hollywood Studios are an absolute must, so lovely.

We had 8 nights in Disneyworld and were flat out the whole time, so didn't actually get to Universal.

I guess a day in each of the Disney parks plus two left for Universal would be good, but v. busy. Given you want to head to Kennedy as well I would consider giving Animal Kingdom a miss. However, I think Magic Kingdom and Epcot are must do's.

Good luck with your planning, and you'll find you get loads of help with any questions you have.

 

[Anne_Aus]

Welcome Jess, sounds like a great trip you have planned, I am jealous that you get to go at what I consider the most magical time of year.

I can't offer any advice on the time or what parks to possibly skip since I haven't been before. But I will ask when you went to DL did you find 1 day was enough?

 

[Mum from oz]

Jess!! Sounds like an awesome trip planned, though very jammed packed!! You will it!

 

[kylieh]

Welcome ​

Christmas time at Disney, how cool is that!

 

[Sugarglider]

Hi Jess - welcome to our chat!

must admit - like some of the others - I'm too old to do a park per day! I did this back in 1993 and it killed me then!! However - at least at christmas time it is not hot and you'll be much more comfortable getting around.

very exciting to have a trip in planning!

 

[jessiegirl84]

Thankyou for the welcome I have seen alot of pics from Xmas and they are amazing I cannot wait!
We are away for only 5 weeks and have alot to see so 7 days is all we can do but yep we are going to be exhausted hehe!
We were thinking half days at both animal kingdom and Hollywood studios, so we cam spend at least full days at the other 2 parks I've been reading a few trip reports and lots of great info from them! So much info on these boards which is great!!

We going to mickeys very merry Christmas party as well which I am very excited about also. Plus breakfast at Crystal Palace and dinner at Cinderellas Table!
Any other suggestions for dinner? We are staying at the Holiday Inn near Down Town Disney, Im thinking we should have stayed on site though but our room is non-refundable ;(

Thanks again for the welcome

 

[jessiegirl84]

Welcome Jess, sounds like a great trip you have planned, I am jealous that you get to go at what I consider the most magical time of year.

I can't offer any advice on the time or what parks to possibly skip since I haven't been before. But I will ask when you went to DL did you find 1 day was enough?

We went in April and the crowds were quite low which was great and the weather was perfect. We only went to Disneyland not California adventure park. We got to see and do all the main sites explore s bit of the downtown area plus see the fireworks it was a massive day but definitely alot of fun and worth it. It could be spread over 2 days just depends if you want to see and ride everything or just soak up the Disney atsmophere!
Let me know if u want any more info. We also travelled to LA, Anaheim (knots berry farm) San Diego, San Fran, Boston, las Vegas and new York.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Welcome to the boards. Always nice to see other Anzacs discover our little corner of the Dis.

 

[Anne_Aus]

We went in April and the crowds were quite low which was great and the weather was perfect. We only went to Disneyland not California adventure park. We got to see and do all the main sites explore s bit of the downtown area plus see the fireworks it was a massive day but definitely alot of fun and worth it. It could be spread over 2 days just depends if you want to see and ride everything or just soak up the Disney atsmophere!
Let me know if u want any more info. We also travelled to LA, Anaheim (knots berry farm) San Diego, San Fran, Boston, las Vegas and new York.

Oh cool I have 2 days at DL so I think that should be enough. I would like to know your thoughts on Knots berry farm am hoping to squeeze in a visit.
I am also covering everywhere you went on your last trip so any hints or tips would be appreciated, do you have a travel report or blog?

 

[Snickals]

Hello and welcome!
I spent the first two weeks of December at Disney World last year, it's such a magical time to visit with all the decorations and christmas celebrations...you'll LOVE it!!!

 

[Busy Busy]

Anne_Aus, where did you stay when you were in Las Vegas - and did you have kids with you?!

We are there in October and I am planning to shop, shop, shop. I figure that the family will come with me for a little bit, but will probably be by the pool the rest of the time....I'm a bit hard pressed to find much else for them to do! Help!

 

[Anne_Aus]

Anne_Aus, where did you stay when you were in Las Vegas - and did you have kids with you?!

Hey Busy Busy I haven't been yet, but I am booked to stay at the Monte Carlo, and from what I have read of some trip reviews it seems to be a good choice, I am also looking forward to shopping as well as a quick trip to the grand canyon.

 

[ame]

We spent the week prior to Christmas 2009 and Disneyland and it was the most magical week ever!

We're headed over the Pacific this Christmas but going north to Seattle/Vancouver. You are going to have the best CHristmas!

 

[ame]

Anne_Aus, where did you stay when you were in Las Vegas - and did you have kids with you?!

We are there in October and I am planning to shop, shop, shop. I figure that the family will come with me for a little bit, but will probably be by the pool the rest of the time....I'm a bit hard pressed to find much else for them to do! Help!

I don't know what ages your kids are but mine found lots to do in Vegas. They loved it at night (Bellagio fountains, volcano, TI show). There's also the lions at MGM and Rainforest Cafe there. (overpriced and average IMO, but the kids still rave about it!) They loved the inside of Caesar's forum shops and the FAO Schwarz store there. There is also the inside of the Bellagio gardens or ice sculptures at CHristmas. Gondola ride at the venetian (or just a gander there is fun!). There are two lights type (fake thunderstorm) in the Planet Holywood shops the run at different times during the hour. Rollercoaster at NYNY, M & Ms store. They loved the quarter arcade (aka intro to gambling for kids) at NYNY too.

Outside the strip is Hoover Dam, the cactus garden, malls and erm that's about it Oh I forgot, just south of the strip is an awesome outdoor mall. It has a kids park in the middle with free wifi and a coffee store. I left my DH & kids there for erm.. a while. There's a whole foods here too. yum.

I've had some of the best shopping outings at the outlet malls just north and south of the strip.

 

[platypus67]

Welcome to the boards.

Christmas is a wonderful time to visit WDW or DLR.

We did six days in early Dec back in 2007. Our fav parks then were AK and Epcot. We spent a full day at AK but really only needed 1/2 day as it was very spacious and crowd levels were quite low. Epcot we had a full day and then part of another if I remember correctly.

DS was a non event for us. DD wasn't well so we spent only a few hours there. We came away feeling that it was the park we wouldn't visit if we had to leave one off on a future visit.

MK same - not a lot of time spent there, maybe a 1/2 day. We did go to the Christmas party so had more time there then. We've been to DLR several times so MK is not a priority for us.

Last year we had 12 days in early Dec visiting WDW, Universal and Sea World.

Surprisingly DS was one of our fav parks this time along with Epcot.

We spent two full days at DS. DH had had enough Disney by day 12 so he stayed back at the resort. I gave DD the option of what to do on the last day and she chose DS. We ate at Mama Melrose both days and loved it.
We went to the Osborne Lights and enjoyed it but it was shoulder to shoulder and way too crowded to want to do it again.

We still love AK but this year we didn't spend a full day there, only part and still managed to get around to everything.

MK once again we only did 1/2 day. We didn't do the xmas party this time.

Epcot we spent a full day and two part days and really could have gone back for more. The fireworks/lightshow there is fantastic

With regard to Universal we booked two days. DD was exhausted the second day so stayed at the resort. DH and I went back and visited HPW again riding The Forbidden Journey twice, and then wandered around the rest of the park for a few hours.
HPW only has about four rides so a day is definately doable. We loved HPW and really enjoyed the rest of Universal as well.

Enjoy your trip.