*~~Official December 2016 Thread~~*

[BaxterSaysMeoww]

Oh good to hear! I guess we don't know what we don't know. I had heard that since Christmas falls on Sunday that a lot of schools are getting out later and that it originally wasn't expected to get so crazy until the 22nd. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I am curious to know during your trip last year were you ever able to get any additional FP+s or should I just go ahead and be happy with the 3 that we get? Also, did you feel the need to make more ADR's to not have to wait in crazy lines for food? Any other tips for first timers, and dealing with the crowds? This is the part of the trip that is making me most nervous! But if you guys are going back at the same time it must not be that bad

You never know til you are actually there so no need to stress about it!

The first couple days we were easily able to get more then 3. Honestly, our first two days there were very easy going, the wait times weren't bad at all so we didn't even need them. As the week went on though you could tell it was getting busier because the availability started to drop. I'd say our last two days there we had issues finding good fastpass after our first 3, however, I should add that we often would make fastpass with our last one ending at sometimes 5 pm or later. Obviously the earlier you use your initial 3 then the better the availability will be for you.

We do the dining plan so we always have reservations for dinner but we never do them for lunch. We're fairly easy going people and will eat wherever for lunch, especially to avoid long lines but sometimes they can't be avoided. If your really set on a particular place though try and eat your lunch out of normal lunch times, you could probably avoid most crowds.

Lol I'm really bad to ask advice from because we don't really follow any touring plan guidelines. We follow our fastpass times and our ADR times but otherwise we just go with the flow. We park hop multiple times a day, never pay attention to crowd calendars, we just do whatever we feel like doing. The best tip I could give a first timer is don't stress!! Your likely not gonna be able to do everything you want in one trip, but it's okay! Take time to relax and not focus on crowds or long wait times or that one thing you wanted to do but missed. December is a great time to go, the weather is great! Even if it gets a little busy don't feel like the trip isnt going well, just go with the flow!

 

[wsssup]

132 days to go.
Oh the pain.... haha.

All ADR booked... keeping an eye out for Rivers of light and Star wars fireworks desert party, hopefully they are running through December January.

Annual passes finally arrived in the mail.
Now to wait for fastpass + window and figure out our plan off attack for 30+ days of Disney awesomeness.

 

[Wsmagee]

30+ days?!?! I'm jealous!!! How does one pull off such a long vacay?

 

[nicynot]

Not very pleased with the crowd calendar updates on touring plans- most days in December-up to the 17th jumped 3-4 levels each day.

Noticed this the other day too, just now sitting down to look at it.. Is this the one thread mentioning it yet?

 

[Talby]

132 days to go.
Oh the pain.... haha.

All ADR booked... keeping an eye out for Rivers of light and Star wars fireworks desert party, hopefully they are running through December January.

Annual passes finally arrived in the mail.
Now to wait for fastpass + window and figure out our plan off attack for 30+ days of Disney awesomeness.

Wow--30+ days?! There's only one word for that: Supercalifragilistic! I find myself day-dreaming about what a month-long vacation at Disney would look like. Good for you!!

 

[dnllmz]

I would love to do a dessert party like the Star Wars one but I'm not sure my dd will be able to hang that late. The reviews on the Star Wars dessert party always get me thinking though. We are doing one night of MVMCP. We aren't going to do the park that day so hopefully she can stay up late to see the fireworks.

I think I'm going to switch some plans around. For the MVMCP party day, we were originally going to do Disney Springs, then late lunch at Whispering Canyon and arrive at MK at 4. I'm not really sure how long we'll want to be at Disney Springs so I think we should move our Ohana breakfast to that day, then go to Disney Springs, and then do the Xmas party. This way we can take our time at Disney Springs and maybe grab a late lunch there before the Christmas party. Now i just need to find another Ohana breakfast reservation.

 

[Candycane83]

I would love to do a dessert party like the Star Wars one but I'm not sure my dd will be able to hang that late. The reviews on the Star Wars dessert party always get me thinking though. We are doing one night of MVMCP. We aren't going to do the park that day so hopefully she can stay up late to see the fireworks.

I think I'm going to switch some plans around. For the MVMCP party day, we were originally going to do Disney Springs, then late lunch at Whispering Canyon and arrive at MK at 4. I'm not really sure how long we'll want to be at Disney Springs so I think we should move our Ohana breakfast to that day, then go to Disney Springs, and then do the Xmas party. This way we can take our time at Disney Springs and maybe grab a late lunch there before the Christmas party. Now i just need to find another Ohana breakfast reservation.

we have a similar MVMCP plan for my DS. We're planning lunch at Disney springs and then a nap and go to MK by 4 or 5. We have bog reservations at 6:20. Really hoping he could make it until after the fireworks! I'm actually not too worried about the fireworks dessert party because it looks like it would not be too late? I'm guessing of course but if F! is at 7pm, I can't see the fireworks being way too late...? Maybe... Guessing a lot. Lol

 

[Candycane83]

Has anyone used character locator here? Any reviews? Thinking about touring plans and was wondering about character locator since a lot of the info overlap...

 

[karalecia26]

So I just jumped on the December bandwagon! Taking my son for a surprise birthday trip Dec 14-20! Found some awesome plane tickets for this time, so made sure it was ok with boss that I took the time off and booked our air travel. Now just need to figure out where we are going to stay and get that booked. I can't believe we are going to be doing this! 2 trips in one year! My son will be so excited!

 

[Rickat96]

Added a day to head over to Universal Studios-looking forward to seeing the new stuff, looks like US closes at 7pm (?) on the day we are going so we will head back to MK to see fireworks and EMH for the evening.

End of August- Everyone on this thread will be less than 100 days to go!

 

[dnllmz]

Has anyone used character locator here? Any reviews? Thinking about touring plans and was wondering about character locator since a lot of the info overlap...

I haven't used character locator but Kenny the Pirates free stuff is pretty good. If you want to meet a lot of characters or hard to find ones then it'd might be worth it.

I did buy a subscription to touring plans but I don't think it's worth it now that I've seen other sites free stuff like Kenny, wdwprepschool, & Easywdw.

I've read a few times that you can't do fantasmic & Star Wars fireworks on the same night. Is that true? I have fantasmic planned for our arrival night & was hoping to catch the fireworks after.

 

[Talby]

So I just jumped on the December bandwagon! Taking my son for a surprise birthday trip Dec 14-20! Found some awesome plane tickets for this time, so made sure it was ok with boss that I took the time off and booked our air travel. Now just need to figure out where we are going to stay and get that booked. I can't believe we are going to be doing this! 2 trips in one year! My son will be so excited!

Yay for December trips! What an exciting and fun surprise! Have you decided on where you'll be staying?

 

[Talby]

we have a similar MVMCP plan for my DS. We're planning lunch at Disney springs and then a nap and go to MK by 4 or 5. We have bog reservations at 6:20. Really hoping he could make it until after the fireworks! I'm actually not too worried about the fireworks dessert party because it looks like it would not be too late? I'm guessing of course but if F! is at 7pm, I can't see the fireworks being way too late...? Maybe... Guessing a lot. Lol

That's pretty much my thought process too @Candycane83. It'll be so nice when we can stop the guesswork though and have concrete times times for everything!

 

[Candycane83]

I jumped and got touring plans!

 

[Talby]

I haven't used character locator but Kenny the Pirates free stuff is pretty good. If you want to meet a lot of characters or hard to find ones then it'd might be worth it.

I did buy a subscription to touring plans but I don't think it's worth it now that I've seen other sites free stuff like Kenny, wdwprepschool, & Easywdw.

I've read a few times that you can't do fantasmic & Star Wars fireworks on the same night. Is that true? I have fantasmic planned for our arrival night & was hoping to catch the fireworks after.

I was just asking about this in another thread. I was really hoping it was possible to see both in the same night, but it looks like there is just a very small window of time in between; not enough time to find a spot for Star Wars FW. They don't want people racing over from F! to SW, and there's also the theory that Disney want guests to visit DHS at least twice (which I strongly agree with!)! lol

 

[Talby]

I jumped and got touring plans!

Me too! Shortly thereafter, I got the email from them about the increased crowd level predictions for December. They did help me with a far better ADR for Teppan Edo than we originally had. I'm really looking forward to playing around with the touring plans!

 

[Candycane83]

Me too! Shortly thereafter, I got the email from them about the increased crowd level predictions for December. They did help me with a far better ADR for Teppan Edo than we originally had. I'm really looking forward to playing around with the touring plans!

me too, I am so excited to see what it comes up with! hopefully, it'll help with the crowds!

 

[karalecia26]

Yay for December trips! What an exciting and fun surprise! Have you decided on where you'll be staying?

Since it is just me and my 9 year old we are just leaning toward one of the all stars. Pop is showing no availability at all and since it is my son he wouldn't be interested in the LM rooms at AOA. There seems to be a lot Our first trip we did a family suite at ASMu and was surprised how nice is was being a "value". Although just getting back from BWV for a week it may be hard to go back to values! But it's ok, I have booked is a trip to the Contemporary as a family the week after Thanksgiving 2017!

 

[PolyRob]

I was just asking about this in another thread. I was really hoping it was possible to see both in the same night, but it looks like there is just a very small window of time in between; not enough time to find a spot for Star Wars FW. They don't want people racing over from F! to SW, and there's also the theory that Disney want guests to visit DHS at least twice (which I strongly agree with!)! lol

In May I was able to see Fantasmic! at 9pm and the old Symphony in the Stars at 9:45pm. There seemed to have been plenty of time for us to finish Fatasmic! without leaving early, and walk to find a decent spot without any danger. Now this was the temporary, extended show that was in a different area and the park was open later so I guess factoring those other variables in, it may not work as well. I would not have been able to have seen both in May if the times overlapped.

The plus with both shows being earlier in December is that IllumiNations is also 30 minutes later than usual so after confirming with others on feasibility, I will hop from HS to Epcot and view both in one night.

me too, I am so excited to see what it comes up with! hopefully, it'll help with the crowds!

Touring plans was really the first site I utilized when planning. It provided some great insight and I especially liked reading about dining options and using the reservation finder. I did not utilize the room request, but am considering it for December!

The one thing I noticed with the crowd calendar is that it does not appear to consider EMH with higher level crowds. Some other sites seem to avoid EMH parks at all costs, but TP may say it is the least crowded park of all that day. I liked the EMH and then hopped to another and utilized FP+ so it all worked out.

 

[mommalovesglitter]

Hello! We just booked our stay 12/27-1/3! Not something we planned, rather a spontaneous decision made by my dh and I . Our kids are thrilled! We are all super excited to spend NYE in the happiest place on earth