question about little one from a newbie

[jeeperwy]

I am planning a trip to WDW for the first week in December. I will be taking DS9 and DS3 and hopefully my mom if I can talk her into it. DH doesn't want to go, says he doesn't like FL ( I know, how can someone NOT want to go to WDW????). We have been to DL many times as we are from Wyoming and it is closer and we can usually get better airfare to CA than to FL. This brings me to my first question:

1. I know that everyone says to be at the parks at opening to avoid most of the crowds, etc.. but since we are coming from WY our internal clocks will be 2 hours behind FL time. If coming from the west, do you keep your little ones on their regular schedule (DS3 usually gets up at 6:30, which would be 8:30 in FL) or do you wake them up extra early to get started?

2. What time do the parks in WDW usually close in Dec? Last year when we were at DL they closed at 8 and sometimes as early as 6.

3. Do they have the parades and firworks every night or just on the weekends in Dec? Again last year at DL they were only on Fri, Sat, Sun. I would like to avoid MK on Sat or Sun, but don't want to miss these things.

I am planning on staying at WL. I would LOVE to stay at the Poly, but don't think that I can afford it unless I see some good deals between now and then. Any suggestions?

Thank you so much for your help. I have been reading for months and you seem like such a helpful group!!

Kari

 

[Fla Gator]

We've been the first and second weeks in December and I wouldn't worry about hitting the parks early as the crowds are very manageable then. I would at least sleep in a little the first day to help your body clocks adjust. Then if you get to the parks and find the crowds heavy try to get up early the next day. The parks will close earlier (sorry I can't remember exactly what times for each) but with the lower crowds we didn't have any problems seeing lots of attractions in the shorter time. As far as I can remember they have the daytime parades and then the fireworks at night every day year-round, it's just the Spectromagic night-time parade at MK that isn't held every night when attendance is lower. One thing to watch out for is the playgrounds at MGM and AK closing early this time of year, because they close at dusk. I think they started closing them down around 5 pm when we were there. If your DH doesn't like Florida because of the weather, tell him this is a great time of year to visit and have cooler temperatures and low humidity!