This is my trip report that I wrote last year. I thought it might be helpful to you lucky people that are going the same time this year. I know that things might be a bit different because it wasn't too long after September 11th that we went and crowds were down but it shouldn't effect it too much. Hope it helps and have fun........it was the best vacation we ever had (and we vacation alot!)
We went December 6th-16th .7 days at the Dolphin and then we went on the cruise for the last three days. I can not tell you how perfect and smooth this trip went! It was wonderful. The weather was extremely nice. It only rained one day the whole trip and that was only briefly. This was me (26, turned 27 while there) and my husbands (32) second honeymoon. I am by far no Disney expert. I have only been there once and that was 5 years ago for our honeymoon. However, I did a lot of research & planning before leaving and I think it really paid off.
I heard a man say I would pay extra to go this time of year. I think he is right! We walked on to almost EVERYTHING. The only fast pass we got the whole trip was Test Track and Im not even sure if we needed it? Most Fast pass werent even open. Also the decorations for the parks were really pretty.
And the characters!!!! They were everywhere!! We got our picture taken with more character the first day at Animal Kingdom then we did the whole time our first trip. We made it a goal to get as many different characters as possible ..I think we ended up with around 50 different ones, 13 different Mickeys and 10 different Minnies. I also got an autograph which made it that much more fun!!! The character lines were probably the longest lines we had to stand in. We also ate at 4 different character meals .very fun!
Here is a few things/tips we did for each park:
Epcot: Ate dinner at the Garden Grill ..this is what got us hooked. We went there the first night so it was the first time I had seen Mickey .think I screamed a little and embarrassed my husband. We did not do a lot in Future World. But I did notice once I looked at the Time Guide that there were some things open later then 7:00 ..wish I would of known that at the time cause we would of went back instead of staying in WS the whole time. We did see more then half of the Storytellers. Also, seen a lot of characters on the Character on Holiday bus very cute! Illuminations is a not to miss ..we went back twice to see it! Now for the Candlelight Processional ..Im not sure how I feel about this???? Maybe I was expecting more or maybe I got one of the worse seats in the house and it just wasnt the same .I was also extremely tired at this point in the day (8:30) too. We had reserved seating and got in line about 45 minutes early and still got a bad seat??? All we could see is this huge instrument and some of the choir??? It was overall very nice, just wish the reserved seating was better. This was really disappointing! Oh and before that we ate at the Alfredo place .not worth the money. Olive Garden is much better. Tapestry of Dreams was probably my least favorite parade.
MGM: We had A LOT of things done and a lot of pictures taken with characters before our PS at the Hollywood & Vine. Again .the longest lines we stood in was for the characters .lots and lots of characters! We went to lunch about 11:00 and ended up getting both breakfast and lunch buffet ..worked out nice cause my husband wanted a big breakfast. Also, not a lot of people so the characters spent more time with us. Who wants to be a millionaire was pretty cool. We got a seat for Fantasmic about an hour & half before the show started. Long time to wait but it was worth it!!!! Dont miss this show! Then afterwards we went to Osborne lights ..this was open till 8 and the rest of park closed at 7. If you can go during Fantasmic .do it. It was so packed afterwards it was hard to enjoy it. Walking through the backlot you had to go with the flow, couldnt stop and look VERY crowded! We waited a bit and went back through .still crowded but a little better. If you do go after Fantasmic ..wait for a while ..it doesnt take very long to go through and youll enjoy it more without the thousands of people. Dont miss it either .it was really neat!!!! The parade here was probably my favorite out of all the 100 years parades!
AK: Loved this park! For the character searchers, they are out about 15 minutes before the park opens .we didnt know this and got there too late. We headed straight for the Safari. My mom went in June, she also went in the morning and her pictures are not even comparable to mine ..hers is a guessing game as to what animal it is. I have nice, up close pictures. Probably too hot for them to come out of the shade that time of year. We went on this again, same time different day and had the same great experience!! Very neat. We also went to Camp Mickey in the early morning, pretty much had the characters to ourselves. They werent even in their huts (except Mickey). They were all dressed up for Christmas very cute! Lion King is good .Tarzan Rocks is just okay. Dinosaur ride was a lot better then what I expected. Dont miss the giant Bats in Asia (jungle Trek), very gross but you cant help but sit and stare at how big they are. Its tough to be bug ..two thumbs up! Parade was also very cute!
MK: Probably my favorite park .close call with AK. We again did as much as we could before 11:00 cause it seemed the parks would get a little busier after that especially Fantasyland. We ate lunch at Crystal Palace .again loved it!!! The only thing I didnt like was the waitress told us that the characters come around every 45 minutes to an hour ..so if you missed them coming to your table you would have to wait that long for them to come around again. So, I probably didnt get my moneys worth on food cause I didnt want to go back up and miss them .but the characters were really fun and it was worth it. Tigger tried a couple times to steal me away from my hubby!!!
For the parade we sat infront of the Hall of Presidents. It was a good spot cause they would stop there, sing and pull some kids out to dance but I thought it was very crowded. We didnt sit on Main Street because of that reason so Im not sure where the uncrowded seats are for this parade??? After the parade we went to ToonTown ..it was dead!! Think all the kiddys were in Fantasyland .seemed to be a lot more busier and the waits for Pooh and Peter Pan were about 30 minutes. We had the characters again to ourselves. The CM let us see Cinderella without having to get back into line again. There were LOTS of characters out after the show that was in front of the Castle .different ones like Launch Pad and Max (goofys son). Mickey and Minnie also but I couldnt understand why people would stand in the long lines for them when they could of went back to ToonTown and had no wait and more time with them?????
We then went back to the hotel and got ready for the Christmas Party!!!
MVMCP: Loved it!!! Wasnt as crowded as I thought it would be? We werent there to ride rides though either. We did ride buzz and walked right on to it! Got our picture taken in Tomorrowland first thing we did .lines were really long later. Did some sight seeing, got our picture taken with Christmas characters, got our hot chocolate and cookie and watched Mickeys Twas the Night Before Christmas ..very cute!!! Then watch Fantasy in the Sky .get a spot infront of the castle. We had a bad spot and had to move to see them. We then got our picture taken with Mickey and Minnie (which would later be my xmas card) and walking down Main Street we seen Christmas Belle .she was so pretty! Watched the 2nd parade on Main street (didnt want to miss the snow). This was probably my favorite parade out of all of them!! We then watch the Wild West (this was okay) and Celebrate the Season (very cute!). We stayed till the very end.
The next day we went back and did the things we missed. We also ate at the Liberty Tree Tavern. The food was okay but again the characters were great. It was my birthday so I got a pin from City Hall so they new it was my birthday and when we got seated there was pixie dust on the table. Later I was given a cake and they sang happy birthday to me while Chip danced! Very fun and I couldnt think of a better way to spend my 27th birthday!!!
I think that is all the parks?? We went to Islands of Adventure one day and Downtown before going back to MK. I highly recommend .if possible .going seven days before a 3 night cruise. My mom did the 4 land/3 sea and she did not see nearly as much as we did. We went to AK and MK twice and Epcot three times (our hotel was in walking distance so that helped), a half day in Downtown and a full day at IoA and City Walk. We were extremely exhausted when we got back but it was all worth it!!! We have decided if/when we go back next time it will be the same time of year for the same amount of time!!!!! The only complaint I would have about this time of year is that it gets dark much earlier then the summer and it makes it very hard to sight see something I can definitely live with!!!
Last we then went on the cruise for three nights....which was just as wonderful but I won't go into that.
Sorry so long I tried hard to keep it short?!?!
Anyone have any questions I would be happy to answer them!!!!
We went December 6th-16th .7 days at the Dolphin and then we went on the cruise for the last three days. I can not tell you how perfect and smooth this trip went! It was wonderful. The weather was extremely nice. It only rained one day the whole trip and that was only briefly. This was me (26, turned 27 while there) and my husbands (32) second honeymoon. I am by far no Disney expert. I have only been there once and that was 5 years ago for our honeymoon. However, I did a lot of research & planning before leaving and I think it really paid off.
I heard a man say I would pay extra to go this time of year. I think he is right! We walked on to almost EVERYTHING. The only fast pass we got the whole trip was Test Track and Im not even sure if we needed it? Most Fast pass werent even open. Also the decorations for the parks were really pretty.
And the characters!!!! They were everywhere!! We got our picture taken with more character the first day at Animal Kingdom then we did the whole time our first trip. We made it a goal to get as many different characters as possible ..I think we ended up with around 50 different ones, 13 different Mickeys and 10 different Minnies. I also got an autograph which made it that much more fun!!! The character lines were probably the longest lines we had to stand in. We also ate at 4 different character meals .very fun!
Here is a few things/tips we did for each park:
Epcot: Ate dinner at the Garden Grill ..this is what got us hooked. We went there the first night so it was the first time I had seen Mickey .think I screamed a little and embarrassed my husband. We did not do a lot in Future World. But I did notice once I looked at the Time Guide that there were some things open later then 7:00 ..wish I would of known that at the time cause we would of went back instead of staying in WS the whole time. We did see more then half of the Storytellers. Also, seen a lot of characters on the Character on Holiday bus very cute! Illuminations is a not to miss ..we went back twice to see it! Now for the Candlelight Processional ..Im not sure how I feel about this???? Maybe I was expecting more or maybe I got one of the worse seats in the house and it just wasnt the same .I was also extremely tired at this point in the day (8:30) too. We had reserved seating and got in line about 45 minutes early and still got a bad seat??? All we could see is this huge instrument and some of the choir??? It was overall very nice, just wish the reserved seating was better. This was really disappointing! Oh and before that we ate at the Alfredo place .not worth the money. Olive Garden is much better. Tapestry of Dreams was probably my least favorite parade.
MGM: We had A LOT of things done and a lot of pictures taken with characters before our PS at the Hollywood & Vine. Again .the longest lines we stood in was for the characters .lots and lots of characters! We went to lunch about 11:00 and ended up getting both breakfast and lunch buffet ..worked out nice cause my husband wanted a big breakfast. Also, not a lot of people so the characters spent more time with us. Who wants to be a millionaire was pretty cool. We got a seat for Fantasmic about an hour & half before the show started. Long time to wait but it was worth it!!!! Dont miss this show! Then afterwards we went to Osborne lights ..this was open till 8 and the rest of park closed at 7. If you can go during Fantasmic .do it. It was so packed afterwards it was hard to enjoy it. Walking through the backlot you had to go with the flow, couldnt stop and look VERY crowded! We waited a bit and went back through .still crowded but a little better. If you do go after Fantasmic ..wait for a while ..it doesnt take very long to go through and youll enjoy it more without the thousands of people. Dont miss it either .it was really neat!!!! The parade here was probably my favorite out of all the 100 years parades!
AK: Loved this park! For the character searchers, they are out about 15 minutes before the park opens .we didnt know this and got there too late. We headed straight for the Safari. My mom went in June, she also went in the morning and her pictures are not even comparable to mine ..hers is a guessing game as to what animal it is. I have nice, up close pictures. Probably too hot for them to come out of the shade that time of year. We went on this again, same time different day and had the same great experience!! Very neat. We also went to Camp Mickey in the early morning, pretty much had the characters to ourselves. They werent even in their huts (except Mickey). They were all dressed up for Christmas very cute! Lion King is good .Tarzan Rocks is just okay. Dinosaur ride was a lot better then what I expected. Dont miss the giant Bats in Asia (jungle Trek), very gross but you cant help but sit and stare at how big they are. Its tough to be bug ..two thumbs up! Parade was also very cute!
MK: Probably my favorite park .close call with AK. We again did as much as we could before 11:00 cause it seemed the parks would get a little busier after that especially Fantasyland. We ate lunch at Crystal Palace .again loved it!!! The only thing I didnt like was the waitress told us that the characters come around every 45 minutes to an hour ..so if you missed them coming to your table you would have to wait that long for them to come around again. So, I probably didnt get my moneys worth on food cause I didnt want to go back up and miss them .but the characters were really fun and it was worth it. Tigger tried a couple times to steal me away from my hubby!!!
For the parade we sat infront of the Hall of Presidents. It was a good spot cause they would stop there, sing and pull some kids out to dance but I thought it was very crowded. We didnt sit on Main Street because of that reason so Im not sure where the uncrowded seats are for this parade??? After the parade we went to ToonTown ..it was dead!! Think all the kiddys were in Fantasyland .seemed to be a lot more busier and the waits for Pooh and Peter Pan were about 30 minutes. We had the characters again to ourselves. The CM let us see Cinderella without having to get back into line again. There were LOTS of characters out after the show that was in front of the Castle .different ones like Launch Pad and Max (goofys son). Mickey and Minnie also but I couldnt understand why people would stand in the long lines for them when they could of went back to ToonTown and had no wait and more time with them?????
We then went back to the hotel and got ready for the Christmas Party!!!
MVMCP: Loved it!!! Wasnt as crowded as I thought it would be? We werent there to ride rides though either. We did ride buzz and walked right on to it! Got our picture taken in Tomorrowland first thing we did .lines were really long later. Did some sight seeing, got our picture taken with Christmas characters, got our hot chocolate and cookie and watched Mickeys Twas the Night Before Christmas ..very cute!!! Then watch Fantasy in the Sky .get a spot infront of the castle. We had a bad spot and had to move to see them. We then got our picture taken with Mickey and Minnie (which would later be my xmas card) and walking down Main Street we seen Christmas Belle .she was so pretty! Watched the 2nd parade on Main street (didnt want to miss the snow). This was probably my favorite parade out of all of them!! We then watch the Wild West (this was okay) and Celebrate the Season (very cute!). We stayed till the very end.
The next day we went back and did the things we missed. We also ate at the Liberty Tree Tavern. The food was okay but again the characters were great. It was my birthday so I got a pin from City Hall so they new it was my birthday and when we got seated there was pixie dust on the table. Later I was given a cake and they sang happy birthday to me while Chip danced! Very fun and I couldnt think of a better way to spend my 27th birthday!!!
I think that is all the parks?? We went to Islands of Adventure one day and Downtown before going back to MK. I highly recommend .if possible .going seven days before a 3 night cruise. My mom did the 4 land/3 sea and she did not see nearly as much as we did. We went to AK and MK twice and Epcot three times (our hotel was in walking distance so that helped), a half day in Downtown and a full day at IoA and City Walk. We were extremely exhausted when we got back but it was all worth it!!! We have decided if/when we go back next time it will be the same time of year for the same amount of time!!!!! The only complaint I would have about this time of year is that it gets dark much earlier then the summer and it makes it very hard to sight see something I can definitely live with!!!
Last we then went on the cruise for three nights....which was just as wonderful but I won't go into that.
Sorry so long I tried hard to keep it short?!?!
Anyone have any questions I would be happy to answer them!!!!
