***Official Planning Thread -DECEMBER 2024 - Welcome all!***

[behappyJules]

109 days until The Happiest Place on Earth! I can't wait until that number is under 100! Since we're coming from the northeast where weather can be unpredictable, we decided to fly in a night early. We originally planned on arriving for a short trip on the 21st before our cruise, which slowly went to the 20th and then the 19th when we found out that was the last night of MVMCP. As of last night, we will be arriving the night of the 18th because we didn't want to chance a flight delay and missing some/all of the party on Friday night. Since we are surprising the kids with a bucket list item trip, this allows us to cross another item off the list: a stay in the Cars suite at AOA. I would pick any of the others myself, but my son has dreamt of staying in a Cars room since he was little and we first walked the property during our first stay at POP. Since we have no plans on Friday, other than the party, we are going to spend the entire morning there until we need to check out and take our luggage over to POP for the rest of our stay. We will head out to either Whispering Canyon or Boma (we've never been to either but want to try them) for a late breakfast reservation and then take the monorail loop to check out Christmas decorations until we can head into MK at 4.
Since we have the free counter service plan, we're not planning on doing a lot of table service meals. We talk about what our past favorites were and what we would do on future Disney trips all the time, so I know we have to visit Woody's Rodeo Roundup and Crystal Place. We did Woody's in February when we were down for my son's marching band trip and everyone enjoyed it and we haven't done Crystal Palace since 2016. We love their breakfast and used to get the first pre-park reservation of the day. I miss those days! Now, it's probably going to be a late breakfast/early lunch on Christmas day if I can nab a reservation.
All of our other meals will be counter service unless DH convinces me that we need to add Yak & Yeti or Liberty Tree Tavern. Those are also family favorites that we haven't been to in years.

 

[PrincessGidget]

Mmmmmm….Yak n Yeti

 

[japanese maple]

November 8th Christmas party is sold out according Disney website. I crossed it out on the first post - do you all think that looks good enough so people reading can see it's sold out? Other ideas?

thanks!

 

[AussieFan8]

November 8th Christmas party is sold out according Disney website. I crossed it out on the first post - do you all think that looks good enough so people reading can see it's sold out? Other ideas?

thanks!

Maybe cross it out in white? I think the strikethrough will be easier to see/understand when there is more than one.

 

[japanese maple]

Maybe cross it out in white? I think the strikethrough will be easier to see/understand when there is more than one.

I tried changing the strike-through, it won't change unless I change all the colors!
Now I greyed out the date with the strike-through. better?

 

[AussieFan8]

I tried changing the strike-through, it won't change unless I change all the colors!
Now I greyed out the date with the strike-through. better?

Yes, I think that makes it clearer!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I tried changing the strike-through, it won't change unless I change all the colors!
Now I greyed out the date with the strike-through. better?

Another option would be to add a third line called "sold out dates". You could delete the date from the available dates and add it to the sold out date line.

Thanks for taking great care of this thread.

 

[japanese maple]

Another option would be to add a third line called "sold out dates". You could delete the date from the available dates and add it to the sold out date line.

Thanks for taking great care of this thread.

I like this idea too. Updated front page. How does it look? Easy to understand?

And my pleasure to do this thread - fun way to pass time until vacation!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I like this idea too. Updated front page. How does it look? Easy to understand?

And my pleasure to do this thread - fun way to pass time until vacation!

I like your new version. It is very easy to see what is sold out now.

 

[japanese maple]

I like your new version. It is very easy to see what is sold out now.

Great!

 

[ChereeCA]

How does everyone begin planning their days and meals? My 60-day mark is approaching, yet I'm uncertain where to dine because I'm not sure which park will be open, which shows I'd like to see, or the schedule for the candlelight processional, among other things. The stress of planning for Disney is starting to set in! But really, isn't there a certain enjoyment in the stress that comes with planning a Disney vacation? LOL

 

[japanese maple]

How does everyone begin planning their days and meals? My 60-day mark is approaching, yet I'm uncertain where to dine because I'm not sure which park will be open, which shows I'd like to see, or the schedule for the candlelight processional, among other things. The stress of planning for Disney is starting to set in! But really, isn't there a certain enjoyment in the stress that comes with planning a Disney vacation? LOL

I look a the schedule for my dates last year and assume the hours will be pretty much the same, give or take an hour. We've been a few times where I know our touring style pretty well.

I just pick a park for each day, then decide if we will eat a sit down breakfast or dinner, or maybe just do quick service that day. Evenings we plan to be in Epcot, we don't book a dinner unless it's there. Animal Kingdom is pretty much guaranteed to close by 7 until the week before Christmas, so I booked a later dinner that evening and so on.

Good luck and happy planning!

 

[chiburple]

How does everyone begin planning their days and meals? My 60-day mark is approaching, yet I'm uncertain where to dine because I'm not sure which park will be open, which shows I'd like to see, or the schedule for the candlelight processional, among other things. The stress of planning for Disney is starting to set in! But really, isn't there a certain enjoyment in the stress that comes with planning a Disney vacation? LOL

I usually start by looking at crowd calendars to pick my park for each day. You can look at last years schedule to guess when the Candlelight Processional will be offered (can always make changes later if needed). Jollywood and MVMCP dates are already fixed.

(FYI, in my experience, mornings at Magic Kingdom on MVMCP dates are fantastic in terms of crowds so if you have park hopper tickets, I would plan on starting your day at MK on a MVMCP day and hoping before 3-4pm which is when the park starts to get crowded. Then you can plan MK on another evening for the fireworks.)

 

[Wood Nymph]

How does everyone begin planning their days and meals? My 60-day mark is approaching, yet I'm uncertain where to dine because I'm not sure which park will be open, which shows I'd like to see, or the schedule for the candlelight processional, among other things. The stress of planning for Disney is starting to set in! But really, isn't there a certain enjoyment in the stress that comes with planning a Disney vacation? LOL

We have annual passes so we plan to do a lot of park hopping. MK is empty in the morning on party days, so we will go to MK on those days. Epcot is great at night, but I tend to avoid Epcot on the weekends. The crowds are insane in Epcot on the weekends. Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios are pretty consistent when it comes to crowds so they can fill in the other days. My group doesn't do fireworks and roller coasters, which makes it easier to avoid crowds.

We will eat dinner one night in Disney Springs. It will probably one of the MK party days.

 

[SneakyTiki]

The wife and I will be there 12/7 - 12/14 at the Poly. MVMCP on the 13th!

 

[debedo]

I usually start by looking at crowd calendars to pick my park for each day. You can look at last years schedule to guess when the Candlelight Processional will be offered (can always make changes later if needed). Jollywood and MVMCP dates are already fixed.

(FYI, in my experience, mornings at Magic Kingdom on MVMCP dates are fantastic in terms of crowds so if you have park hopper tickets, I would plan on starting your day at MK on a MVMCP day and hoping before 3-4pm which is when the park starts to get crowded. Then you can plan MK on another evening for the fireworks.)

Do you think this is true for Jollywood nights as well?


Thanks for the tips!

 

[japanese maple]

UPDATE ON FRONT PAGE!!!!

Jazzy Holidays at Hollywood Brown Derby. Reservations available for this event during Jollywood Nights:

• Jazzy Holidays offers an evening of smooth holiday tunes from a live pianist and an event-exclusive menu of light bites and craft cocktails.
• The event-exclusive menu will be the only option available during Jazzy Holidays, and standard dining options at The Hollywood Brown Derby will not be offered.
• Reservations can be made starting 9/17 in MDE and are strongly recommended due to limited capacity.
• You must purchase a ticket for Jollywood Nights to be able to reserve and attend this event.

 

[japanese maple]

The wife and I will be there 12/7 - 12/14 at the Poly. MVMCP on the 13th!

Welcome! You are on the list.

I bet Polynesian Village during the holidays will be amazing1

 

[Liserson]

I'm starting to get ready for dining reservations and coordinating some things with a group of 19!
We will be there from 11/28-11/7 at Shades of Green

 

[chiburple]

Do you think this is true for Jollywood nights as well?


Thanks for the tips!

I have been very curious to know the answer to that, but I didn't go last year when Jollywood was being offered so I can't say from first-hand experience (I do have first-hand experience with MVMCP mornings). For what it's worth, I haven't heard any reports from vloggers or online about crowds being low on Jollywood days, but I would think there would be at least some small benefit... Maybe not as much since Fantasmic is still available whereas MK guests don't get nighttime fireworks on party nights. Just speculation on my end though.