Only "Early Riser" in my group Going Week After Christmas

[KinderTchr]

Dh, DS 14, DD 11, and I are going to WDW Dec 27 - Jan 1. I know it will be packed and we should go to the parks early but there is no way my group will be at the parks before opening time or really before 11:00. I am insisting that we be at MGM no later than 10 am on Jan 1 as I want to do the New Years eve celebration in that park. That's probably the only day I will get my way though.

Is it completely crazy to plan to visit parks from 11:30 am until close?

Has anyone done it before?

Any suggestion on orgization for getting my "sleepy heads" on the bus?

We will be staying at Disney Music.

Any comments are suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Kaye

 

[Wendy1953]

It's a vacation, and I wouldn't get too stressed about what time you will be getting to the parks....rest and relax, or set the alarm clock, have a wake-up call established, and if that all fails....go down, get some coffee, tea, hot cocoa, breakfast foods (ones that smell great) and bring them back to the room....say okay, now it's time for breakfast in bed....then each of you has to get up and take a shower to start the day!!!!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

We are not early risers either by any means. We found that what worked best for our family was to do this:

Wake up about 930am. Let the kids swim in the hotel pool. Shower and go eat a nice lunch off-site. Hit the parks about 2pm or later. Stay until closing - we were there during Spring Break and it was midnite or later each nite! The week you are going - between Christmas and New Years - is one of the busiest weeks at Disney so the parks are open later.

I agree with the previous poster who said don't stress - it is vacation.

 

[Dorisk3]

I don't want to rain on your parade- but I just took a long at the crowd level predictor on touringplans.com for your days and they look like mostly 10's (on a scale of 1 to 10). Sleeping late just doesn't seem like a good idea, you might have to put your foot down on your late risers. Just keep in mind I've heard on these boards that the MK can shut down due to high capacity on those really crowded days and you might not be able to get in until later in the afternoon. Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[Sweedee]

Ya know....if my family plans on sleeping in on our vacation, they know my cell phone #, and they can call me while I am wandering the parks, alone without them...and having a MARVELOUS time! I am the planner for this trip since I have the dh and kiddos, but my sis and dh's sis are planning on meeting us there. All the adults have been told that sleeping in and boozing it up will only delay THEIR fun cause I am gonna have fun with or without them!!!

 

[BlindTyldak]

One big plus for you guys is that if you sleep late and stay at the parks until late, they REALLY tend to clear out a lot after Wishes, Illuminations, and Fantasmic. The people out bucking the crowds all day are usually pretty beat by that time. so that might actually work better for you!

if you're STILL an early riser, tell them you'll meet them back at the hotel for lunch and go solo, it's unbeatable touring, IMHO.

 

[Sher]

There may be some hope that while not usually early risers, the excitement of Disney will inspire them to get up earlier. My DH and two teenagers prefer to sleep until 10 on any given Saturday, but at WDW we all realize the logic of getting there early. We pack granola bars and juice boxes to eat on the bus and use that time to get fully awake before reaching the parks.

If this doesn't happen, I agree with others--go by yourself. It will drive you nuts to sit around watching them sleep when you are ready to go.

Good luck!

Sher

 

[CheshireVal]

I'll be the voice of dissent here. If you have any interest in riding any rides during your vacation, you're going to be really disappointed going that time of the year and trying to arrive late morning/early afternoon. That's the... most... crowded week of the year!

I'm not a morning person, either, and hate getting up at the crack of dawn on vacation. But at WDW, I *make* myself do it. (Just like my mom made me when I was a teen!)

 

[KinderTchr]

Thanks for the responses. I have been to WDW the week between Christmas and New Years many times and I know how busy it is going to be. DH, DS, and youngest DD who are going with me this time have only been once in early June. DH has no idea about the crowds even though I have tried to tell him, he just doesn't get it. We had originally booked for the week before Christmas which would have been great. I'm a teacher and kids are in middle school so I am pretty much tied down to busy times right now. (By the way I teach kindergarten and I always happy for families who can pull their little ones out to go in the off season. It just doesn't work for my family with middle schoolers and I don't get enough personal leave to take a whole week off.)


I don't really mind the crowds too badly because I just like being in the Disney atmosphere. DH REALLY wanted to be at Disney on New Years EVE. I told him it was body to body. I called to add the DDP to our reservation so I asked the CM about parks reaching capacity early. She said to definitly be in the park by 10:00 on NYE. She didn't think the other days would be a problem.

When I was planning dining ressies yesterday I decided that we would do all our evening extra magic hours earlier in the week. On the 30th we are going th AK which closes at 8:00pm. We will then go back to the hotel early, do laundry if necessary, and go to bed so we can be their early and enjoy NYE.

I'll definitely take the cell phone charger and go ahead early if I am antsy on the days others want to sleep in. If they miss a meal reservation, oh well we'll just have to use those credits later.

Any more suggestions or comments are welcome!

Kaye

 

[MinnieFan]

I agree with ChesireVal - we were there the same week in 2005, and on all the days we went to Magic Kingdom it was closed for capacity no later than 10:00 a.m. (You may have better luck with Epcot). We are early risers and got to the parks early, but I can tell you it was nearly impossible to ride anything after noon. We did all of our must-dos first thing in the morning.

You may be very disappointed and frustrated if you are planning on sleeping in.

 

[CheshireVal]

Thanks for the responses. I have been to WDW the week between Christmas and New Years many times and I know how busy it is going to be. DH, DS, and youngest DD who are going with me this time have only been once in early June. DH has no idea about the crowds even though I have tried to tell him, he just doesn't get it. We had originally booked for the week before Christmas which would have been great. I'm a teacher and kids are in middle school so I am pretty much tied down to busy times right now. (By the way I teach kindergarten and I always happy for families who can pull their little ones out to go in the off season. It just doesn't work for my family with middle schoolers and I don't get enough personal leave to take a whole week off.)

I'm a teacher, too, so I know about being tied to busy times. However, I always go the week *before* Christmas (we are going the 16th - 26th again this year). Crowds are really light right up until Christmas Eve!

 

[KinderTchr]

I know. I had originally booked for Dec 17 - 23. However my youngest two are technically my stepkids. They live with us and will be visiting bio mom the week before so we have to go the week after.

Our plane is landing at 12:00 in Orlando on the first day. We are doing Magical Express so we will check in and go straight to the park. Maybe after experiencing the crowd that first day they will be more willing to get up early the next day, take a nap in the afternoon, and go back at night. I'm booking the meal reservations as late breakfasts (11:30) and dinners at about 7:00.

Kaye

 

[disnut8]

We've been there the past two Christmases. Two years ago, we had a big group and we didn't get going until at least 10:00, more likely 11:00. We never had any problem at the parks we visited. We did NOT do Magic Kingdom at all and we had a 6-1/2 year old. We were there the entire week between Christmas and New Year's. We did all of the other three parks. And saw mostly everything we wanted to see. On New Year's Eve itself, I know we didn't get going until late. I went to Epcot and the bigger attractions were a bit crowded but the park was not closed down. I didn't get there until noon. Four of my party went to MGM and they didn't have crowded conditions at all. They saw a ton of things there.

I did check any shutdowns of parks and Magic Kingdom was the only one. That's why we didn't go there. I thought the trip would be a nightmare with the crowds but it was an extremely nice time for our entire family.

Oh - and January 1 will probably be deserted at the parks. We cruised onto everything in Future World that day.

 

[Boardwalk Tigger]

Sorry ,but you will not have a good week if you don't get up early in the morning if you want to ride any rides. My family HATES to get up but I make them when we go the the MK, AK and MGM. We sleep later on Epcot days. A word to the wise though the fast passes for popular rides sell out even in Epcot for the entire day very early. We are also going the same week and have for the past three years. I personally can't imagine staying in a park all day to see New Years fireworks. We see the fireworks each year but don't stay there all day. We go back to the hotel and relax in the afternoon. Have fun....maybe we will bunk into you