How early to be at the gate during Christmas??

[JessetheCowgirl]

We are going to be at WDW during Christmas with the other millions of people.

I keep "hearing" that sometimes during these peak/holiday seasons, the park will open early (with no advanced notice).

So, if MK is opening at 8:00am, should we try for an hour early? And if it is an EE day, do they sometimes open even sooner than 7:00am?

Thanks!

 

[dvc guy]

last year we hit MK and AK for EE. We got to the parks after EE started , but before general opening. I think they we sticking to posted times. Both parks were pretty quite till the posted opening , then it was like a big wave of people. DD & DS rode Buzz a bunch of times before general opening, and then in a heart beat the line was out the door.

We go over Christmas most years, it will be busy , but with proper planning, Fastpass, flexiblilty, and PS you should be fine.
You will NOT be able to see everything, so slow down and enjoy all the special stuff. Have a great trip. We are back 12/28 -1/2.

 

[Grumpy92]

I totally agree with DVC Guy. That is the right approach to take. If it is an EE day then that is the time they will open. They will not do unscheduled early openings. But if they say 8am we make sure we are there at 7:30am.
Bring your Patience as it will be more crowded then usual. But take your time, spend the afternoon at the resort and make PSs for any sit down restaurants long before you arrive.

 

[diznee25]

How early to be at the gate during Christmas??

I read a thread regarding this subject about 1 week after last Christmas. Actually, it was about how early Disney opened the parks on Christmas day. Last Christmas day, (according to others from the DisBoard,) Disney opened all the parks early to everyone to help smooth out the big crowds. (They opened somewhere between 1 to 1.5 hours early.) MK has EE on Thursday which is Christmas day this year, so if everyone is allowed in the parks that early, then EE doesn't really help on Dec. 25th!

But I do agree with the other 2 posters that Disney will keep the other days on a tight schedule. This is just what I heard about Christmas day last year.

Diznee25

BTW: From what I've been told, if you go talk to a CM at the front desk of your resort the night before, you can ask them if the parks are opening early the next morning. Disney opened all the parks early last Dec. 25th without advanced notice. But that should be a given that the parks would automatically open early since Christmas day is so busy!

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

Thank you all!

I didn't realize that the early opening would only be on Christmas day. I haven't decided if we will even attempt MK on Christmas Day, but if we do, we'll be there early and leave before lunch.

 

[CamColt]

This year it will be EE day at MK, so would they open extra early or just at 8:00 like a regular EE day?
We plan to be there for opening just to be able to say we were there, then leave to do a late breakfast at Chef Mickeys.

 

[dvc guy]

CAMCOLT The Park for EE will open 1 hour before the posted time. Last year they changed the operating hours about two weeks before christmas.
This made EE at MK 7 AM. It was a real trick to get the DD11, DS 6 out and into the parks before 8 AM, but it was worth it.
AT 8:05 AM a mass of people hit the park.

 

[CamColt]

Thanks for that tip!
Would you happen to have an idea for the rest of the week? We are also planning on EE on Sun, 28th(my birthday), so do you think that would be 7:00 too ?

 

[disneydisneydoo]

We were there last Christmas - 2002 - Dec 20th thru the 26th. Each day we did the early entry park and got there between 15 to 30 minutes early. We found that we had about two hours each morning before it got crowded. In fact some mornings it felt like we had the parks to ourselves. This included Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We did almost every ride on our must do list in those two hours. We then went back to the room and relaxed and went back out in the early evening.

We did do MK on Christmas Day, we arrived at 7:30 - official opening was 8:00 - and the park was already open. This was one of the most quiet mornings of the trip - until about 9:30-10:00 when I can tell you the crowds coming through the gates were unlike anything I had ever seen before.

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

Thank you all for your replies. I'm starting to feel better about going at such a crowded time (we really have no other choice).

We will be there first thing in the mornings and leave each day for lunch and nap (my two boys are 4 and 2).

Now, just trying to figure out which park/which day and where to do PS's.

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

In the week between New Year's and Christmas this year, they opened two parks each day for ee. It really helped manage and even out the crowds.

HBC

 

[dvc guy]

Happy Birthday Cat I was on site last Christmas at OKW, and never saw or heard anything about 2 parks each day. Where you at WDW last year??
Any helpfull hints for NYE. We have always left before NYE. It will be DW, DD11, DS 7 . I was hoping for MK, but my guess is to pass. Would love to get to MK late morning and stay till after midnight. Do you think we will get inor should we just head for EPCOT?

 

[travelbug]

I was down there this past Christmas, staying at BWV. The resort had a newsletter type thing that we got that announced TWO early entry parks for several of the days we were there. Seemed to be a last minute announcement. So we took advantage and went to whichever park had been ADDED as an early entry park for the day, figuring that maybe not a lot of people realized there'd been a change in schedule. Seemed to work great, as the parks were practically deserted that first hour.

The toughest day for us was when Extra Magic Hour for MK meant that they'd open the park by 7:00 AM (published time was 8:00). That meant that buses started running at 6:30 AM, so we were out at the bus stop by 6:20. YAWN! But it was definitely worth it when we got to MK. We felt like we had the run of the place for the first couple of hours.

 

[Plan Man]

What happens when the parks are so full they close??

We have a PAP and will staying at the Swan from 12/27 to 1/4?

Thanks

 

[diznee25]

What happens when the parks are so full they close??

I started a thread with this question months ago and from what I recall the answer I got was there are 3 levels of closing depending on how full the parks gets.

First level: I forgot, someone help me out here!

Second level: If a park is at this level, it means the park is closed to off-site guests. Only Disney Resort guests can enter.(The CMs do ask for your Resort key card for identification at the gate during this level.) I was in this positon 5 years ago on Christmas day because I was an off-site guest. My family and I were trying to get into the MK around 9am, Christmas day, and we were told by a CM at the gate that MK was so full that only Disney Resort guests were allowed to enter. So we went to Downtown Disney.

Third level: (Parks are full to the max!) No one can enter the park, that includes Disney Resort guests and off site guests.

Level three is something to remember especially if you have PS (Priority Seating) arrangements in the parks. If you have a PS in one of the parks on a holiday, you're better off arriving early and staying in that park all day. Having a PS doesn't guarantee re-entry into a closed park. (There's actually a thread about this (PS/closed Parks) very subject on the restuarant board if anyone is interested!)


Diznee25

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

We did do MK on Christmas Day, we arrived at 7:30 - official opening was 8:00 - and the park was already open. This was one of the most quiet mornings of the trip - until about 9:30-10:00 when I can tell you the crowds coming through the gates were unlike anything I had ever seen before.

Amazing, I could have said the exact same thing. LOL Except we weren't staying onsite on that trip and didn't know about EE at all at the time! We just wanted to get there when they opened- and low and behold they were opened already when we got there at 7:30.
Same as you said- first few hours were great! I really had NO CLUE at that time that Christmas day was the busiest day there... I naively thought others would be celebrating Christmas with family, opening gifts, etc. HAHAHAHA So naive... it was mega packed the rest of the day until very much later that night when I returned alone (open very late and the rest of the family was already in bed asleep -crashed by 9pm LOL) and I found out from others waiting on the curb for the parade that they'd actually closed it to all people coming in around midday for about 4hrs!

We still had fun even though it was our first time EVER at WDW and it was Christmas day- the busiest day. We just took the kids straight to the right areas and used fastpass just right- and by the time it was really getting packed we were ready to slow down on doing things anyway.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

OH and btw- not sure if it would be this way all the time but Epcot was DEAD (as in we were almost alone- or atleast it felt like it LOL) for a really good part of the day on the day after Christmas. Atleast it was less busy than it was when I went in mid to late Jan! That's for sure. We even got in on the princess breakfast at Norway WITHOUT a PS (at that time I didn't even know about PS's- man we went without sooooo much knowledge on that trip. Totally clueless. LOL) It was great- lots of characters without lines, no crowds, right on the rides- wonderful!