MVMCP Suggestions

[CarolA]

I keep reading how crowded this is and how you can 't do any rides etc...

I was given a free ticket for last night so I changed my flight and went!

I decided just to do some surveys since I had gone before.

I did not arrive until just before 7 since I first went to the Osborne lights. I went straight to Pecos Bill for dinner. I finished eating around 7:25 and walked on Big Thunder Mt. (Splash Mt. was also a walk on, but it was too cold!) I then went to the Country Bear show which was very cute. When I left there it was 7:55 PM. There were LOTS of spots to watch the parade in Frontierland. I then wandered over to Tomorrowland. On the way I checked the wait times at several rides: Haunted Mansion 5 minutes, Peter Pan 20 min, Pooh 15 minutes, Dumbo 10 minutes. There was a short wait for Snow White, but I don't recall the exact time. The wait for the Race cars was the longest I saw at 30 minutes. Space Mt had a 20 minute wait posted, but I was on the ride in 15 minutes.

If rides are important I would recommend heading to Frontierland as soon as they re-open the park and working your way around from there while skipping the first parade.


I could see the crowds waiting for the parade on Main Street and it was packed. My suggestion would be to MOVE to Frontierland. You could have found a spot there at 7:55 instead of wasting two hours sitting on the curb on Main Street. (Yes, I did see people waiting on the curb when I arrived)

I then watched the fireworks and headed out.

My other suggestion is that this might not be worth it if you have very young kids. I saw a LOT of sleeping toddlers by the time of the fireworks. Before you purchase, think about the ability of your child to stay awake. (And to the Mom who was yelling at the little girl last night to WAKE UP !! I PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR THIS PARADE... what were you thinking???)

 

[mjmcca]

I took 4 kids to the halloween party, with 2 adults and one teen. I wanted them to have fun. If they fell alseep so what. None of them did other than my youngest and that was on the way back to the room.They all had a blast! Next year i want to try and make the christmas party.

 

[babieemelly]

I'm glad you figured out how to maneuver around the crowds and had a great time!

 

[CarolA]

MJ,
I have no problem if you want to take small kids, but.... lots of people seem very upset that they can't get thier money's worth because the kids are asleep... so it that matters to you then this might not be the best party due to the late hour.

The other thing you might want to find out is if things are closed. I met a mom last night whose young son ONLY wanted to ride the train....guess what doesn't run? He was not having fun!

 

[mjmcca]

I am lucky for the most part all the kids i took are night owls. I can understand that some people would get upset when the kids fall asleep they need to remember that kids are kids.@ of the kisd were mine 2 were freinds that live in the area. I also took them another day to MGM and Epcot. Every one of them fell asleep in the strollers except my son. If you are dealing with kids you have to have realistic expectations.

 

[Pooh's Mom]

I agree with this strategy. We went on the 9th. Not sold out, but I am sure still plenty crowded. We got there about 4:45, but had dinner PS at the Plaza Rest. As soon as we got out of there, we went to Tomorrowland (it was 5:45, I remember now). We had a very short wait for Buzz (maybe 7 minutes. Less than 10, more than 5). Exited Buzz and went into the theatre for Mickey's Night B4 Christmas. There were quite a few seats when we walked in. No seats just minutes later. When we left the show it was packed to get in. We were walking past the cars and I said, if we're ever gonna ride, let's do it now. So we had a 15 minute or so wait for that. Then I got stuck behind a kid who wasn't strong enough to push the peddle and his mom wouldn't help I guess. So DS and I were on that ride a LONG time. We got off of that and went to Splash. Did 2 rides on that (DD and I walked on, DD and DH had a very short wait), 2 rides on BTMRR (short waits both times). We were going to watch the 2nd parade, but as we were exiting BTM, the parade was still on Main St. and there were still places in Fronteirland to watch. So we watched that, moved over for Wishes. Thought we had a good spot for that, but it turned out to be only ok. Then we left. I think getting ahead of the crowd was the secret as we watched it built at Splash. When DD and I got off, DS was the only one on the playground. By the time DD and DH got off there were about 10 other kids on the playground (many way to big, but that's another issue).
I wanted to do the shows since you can ride anytime, but I was vetoed. Turned out ok because we didn't get back to the rides later in the trip.

Cindy

Oh, both of my kids (18 months and almost 5 years) are the early to bed type, but stayed up and alert the whole time. I really though DS would go to sleep.

 

[capthooksmom]

We also went on the 9th and no problem getting on rides. We wanted to skip the first parade (coming from Adventureland) and ride Splash Mtn. but the ropes were already up. We were able to have a good view so we watched the first parade then crossed over to Frontierland. The only line we encountered was at Peter Pan at about 10 minutes to midnight!
BTW, our 3 almost 4 year old closed the parks every night. He went full speed until we put him in the stroller for the walk to the bus stop where he fell fast alseep. Had he been tired we would have left, but he wanted to stay and ride.

 

[DebbieB]

I was there on the 7th. We got there about 6:00, went to Tomorrowland. Rode Buzz with no wait. Got our picture taken at Timekeeper, about 15-20 minutes total. About 6:45 headed to Fantasyland, it was open (they checked wristbands). Pooh had no wait. Rode Snow White (it had been a long time), Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, all with no wait. Walked through the Emporium and found a front row spot in Town Square where the parades starts about 15 minutes before. Walked up Main Street and found a table next to the Plaza Restaurant. Got cookies & hot chocolate at the Plaza, no wait. Watched Wishes near the Rose Garden. Others that were there that night posted how horribly crowded it was, I'm not sure where they were at.