Is Christmas "too crowded" to enjoy??

[Lindamary123]

Are the parks still really crazy late at night as well? For example, if the MK is open until 2AM would it be better to go at about 10 or 11PM? This is our first year going Christmas week too and I am thinking of not even trying to go to the parks until late at night (my family does not like to get up early to make the park openings).

Thanks!

 

[mickeysgal]

Are the parks still really crazy late at night as well? For example, if the MK is open until 2AM would it be better to go at about 10 or 11PM? This is our first year going Christmas week too and I am thinking of not even trying to go to the parks until late at night (my family does not like to get up early to make the park openings).

Thanks!

Thats what we did. Like I said in an earlier post, at one point we felt like vampires - only coming out at night.

We did get a heck of a lot more accomplished by starting at 10 or 11 pm than we did battling the masses during the day.

 

[mom2jennris]

We get to Disney this year on 12/24 (and are staying at WL) and have an ADR at Tony's at 6:10. Will we be allowed into the park or are we going to loose out on our ADR if we don't get to MK until mid to late afternoon? I'm getting very nervous about this trip and think I need to get TGM. Oh, one more question, I do have ADR's set - can TGM give me touring plans using that specific information?

Thanks!

 

[Alltiggeredout]

Thats what we did. Like I said in an earlier post, at one point we felt like vampires - only coming out at night.

We did get a heck of a lot more accomplished by starting at 10 or 11 pm than we did battling the masses during the day.

Let the vampires begin. You've made my mind up for me,parks in the morning,beer after lunch so that i can sleep then after dark fun.

 

[mcgypsy]

This thread is making me nervous. I'm going on a cruise Dec. 27-30. We are flying into MCO @ 12:30 on the 26th and spending one night at Contemporary. The earliest we'll get to WDW is around 2:30. Should we just wait til after the parade to try to get into MK, or is it a total loss for the day?
I'm surprising the kids by staying there one night before the cruise and one night after the cruise, so that would put us in the parks on the 26th, 1/2 day on the 27th, the 30th, and 1/2 day on the 31st.
Is it doable if we're there to just do one or two rides and see the decorations?

 

[micmacmissy]

Those are all really high attendance days, as another poster said, usually MK closes by noon or 1pm. But if you're staying in the resort you can get in.

That said, it will be shoulder to shoulder people. Or, go late at night when you arrive, and get there bright and early the next day--you should be able to get a couple rides in.

Epcot usually handles crowds better--that may be a better option for you than MK.

 

[Lindamary123]

We get to Disney this year on 12/24 (and are staying at WL) and have an ADR at Tony's at 6:10. Will we be allowed into the park or are we going to loose out on our ADR if we don't get to MK until mid to late afternoon? I'm getting very nervous about this trip and think I need to get TGM. Oh, one more question, I do have ADR's set - can TGM give me touring plans using that specific information?

Thanks!

I was wondering the same. We have ADR for the CP package on Christmas Day at 5:15 PM. Will it be impossible to get into Epcot? But we are staying at the Contemporary so we should be okay I think. Since you are staying onsite you should be okay too.

 

[robinb]

This thread is making me nervous. I'm going on a cruise Dec. 27-30. We are flying into MCO @ 12:30 on the 26th and spending one night at Contemporary. The earliest we'll get to WDW is around 2:30. Should we just wait til after the parade to try to get into MK, or is it a total loss for the day?
I'm surprising the kids by staying there one night before the cruise and one night after the cruise, so that would put us in the parks on the 26th, 1/2 day on the 27th, the 30th, and 1/2 day on the 31st.
Is it doable if we're there to just do one or two rides and see the decorations?

I know you don't want to hear this, but my opinion is that you are wasting your time trying to do the parks for a 1/2 day here and a 1/2 day there around Christmas/New Years. UNLESS the 1/2 is in the morning. The parks are simply too busy to do or see anything in the afternoon and early evening except for the fireworks and the parades. In addition, the MK frequently closes in the late morning and does not re-open until late afternoon. If you want to do any of the thrill rides, you might as well not even bother. The fast pases are all gone by noon and stand-by waits are in hours ... not minutes. There are lines for everything, including the Tomorrowland Transit Authority in the Magic Kingdom!

How do we survive? We get in early, we use fast passes and get a new one as soon as we can, we leave around 2:00 PM to relax at our resort, we return to a park in the early evening for parades and fireworks. We rarely ride anything in the evening because the wait times are way too long!

 

[mcgypsy]

Both of our 1/2 days are in the mornings. MK opens at 7am on the 27th so that will give us 4 hours there to ride a few things. On the 31st, our 1/2 day is also in the morning so we thought we'd ride a few things then too. On the 26th and 30th, we were just hoping to see the parade and fireworks and look at the Christmas decorations. My sister and I are taking the kids, so we also thought that if it was too bad, we'd just ride the monorail around and look at the Christmas decorations at GF and Poly.
We've got ADR's at LTT on the 26th for dinner and CP on the 30th for dinner.
I think as long as the kids get to ride something and see the characters, they'll be OK. They're so excited about the cruise that this will just be icing on the cake!

 

[robinb]

If some of your half days are mornings, then you should be OK . Just get there as close to rope drop as possible. Every morning that week is an EMH morning for the MK .

 

[Alltiggeredout]

Have the hours changed?I've just looked on the parkhours section and MK has morning EMH on the 25th and 27th.Also it says MK evening EMH on the 30th but the park closes at 2am,so does this mean it closes at 5am for resort guests?

 

[DisneyFanatik]

MK has morning EMH on the 25th and 27th.

They actually have morning EMH each day from 12/23 - 12/31

Also it says MK evening EMH on the 30th but the park closes at 2am,so does this mean it closes at 5am for resort guests?

Where do you see that? Disney's site shows MK closing at 1:00am on 12/30.

 

[swilphil]

We get to Disney this year on 12/24 (and are staying at WL) and have an ADR at Tony's at 6:10. Will we be allowed into the park or are we going to loose out on our ADR if we don't get to MK until mid to late afternoon? I'm getting very nervous about this trip and think I need to get TGM. Oh, one more question, I do have ADR's set - can TGM give me touring plans using that specific information?

Thanks!

We were there Christmas '06. If you want to make sure you get your ADR's, get to the park as early as possible.

 

[Alltiggeredout]

They actually have morning EMH each day from 12/23 - 12/31



Where do you see that? Disney's site shows MK closing at 1:00am on 12/30.

I saw it in the park hours section on this site.

 

[DisneyFanatik]

I saw it in the park hours section on this site.

Hmmm..... I just checked out what you saw. I would check out Disney's site for the official hours. For some reason the hours on this site are different

 

[Alltiggeredout]

I've just looked at the official Disney site as well and the hours are different.Looks like i'll have to redo my itinerary again.

 

[ScarletFire]

I understand that parks may close because they are filled to capacity. What if you have an evening ADR at a closed park? Will you be denied entry to the park? Even if you're a Disney Resort guest? Do you forfeit your ADR?

 

[robinb]

I understand that parks may close because they are filled to capacity. What if you have an evening ADR at a closed park? Will you be denied entry to the park? Even if you're a Disney Resort guest? Do you forfeit your ADR?

Yes, you could in theory. In my experience, I have been able to re-enter both the MK and Epcot between 5-7 PM on NYE after going back to the resort for a break. I think a lot of people get fed up and leave after the 3PM parade in the MK and Epcot very rarely closes.

 

[Mr. Snail]

I've never been to Disney during Christmas week but I've gone a week or two before and it seemed fine. Then again Disney is about the only place I seem not to notice crowds; I just take it for granted they'll be there. I'd rather be cool and crowded than hot and crowded, so for me, December's great. That picture of the crowd in The Land is kind of intimidating, though it's probably important to remember that Soarin' has been a remarkably popular ride ever since it opened. My parents got fastpasses for it once and the time on them was for five or so hours later. I also tend not to spend much time at the Magic Kingdom, so that might also be why I haven't noticed the crowds as much.

 

[robinb]

I've never been to Disney during Christmas week but I've gone a week or two before and it seemed fine.

There is a world of difference between the 2nd week of December which is one of the traditionally slowest times at WDW and Christmas which is the busiest. Heck, you can tell the difference just a few days before!

So ... the Soarin' picture didn't scare you, eh? Fastpasses for 12 hours in the future were not busy enough, LOL! What about a 175 minute wait for Space Mountain? http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=490243 Bwaa, haa, haa!