So I just got back....

[pumpkin5156]

...from a 1 day trip (the 3rd). Thought I would give a little report since I glean so much helpful info from here!

*More crowded than any year I can remember at this time ( first week of December). We go almost every year at this time and there were bigger crowds than I expected.

*liked the fireworks show. It was better than I had remembered in years past.

*liked the Christmas parade, and they added some new (to me at least) characters and floats that differed from last year. Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore on personal "sleds." Woody and Buzz on their own floats, which was cool.

*It "snowed" after the lighting of the castle and Main Street, not just after the fireworks.

*DCA was not nearly as crowded and waited 30 minutes for TSMM. A friend told me that TSMM didn't open until about 12:30PM that day; not sure if that is accurate.

*Haunted Mansion didn't open until about an hour after park opening.

*Parked in Downtown Disney lot and walked a long way to the gates. It was a blessing to avoid long tram lines, but I think my feet might fall off today

Ask if you have questions

 

[goofycathy]

Thanks for all the good info! sounds like you had a great time!

 

[lb2000]

I did a day trip yesterday with my 7 year old... same observations as you. More crowded than I thought, but only as it progressed to parade time and fireworks time. We had very short waits for most rides. The ones we passed up due to lines surprised me: Story Book Land Canal and Casey Junior were long early in the day, but shorter after the parade. We also went over to DCA and did all the Bug's Land rides: no lines at all. We were the ONLY ones on one ride! Enjoyed some very cool experiences over there too that we usually don't get to: Turtle Talk with Crash, Animation Academy, etc.

The parade was jam packed as were fireworks. We did not line up to get a parade viewing spot, because we were waiting in line for coffee and cocoa. That was the longest line of the day! We were still able to get an OK spot: my 7 year old could see, and that all I cared about. For the first time in my life, I did go to a spot about 30 minutes before fireworks to get a good view. Worth it because the snow fell right on my girl, and the look on her face was worth it!

 

[pumpkin5156]

I did a day trip yesterday with my 7 year old... same observations as you. More crowded than I thought, but only as it progressed to parade time and fireworks time. We had very short waits for most rides. The ones we passed up due to lines surprised me: Story Book Land Canal and Casey Junior were long early in the day, but shorter after the parade. We also went over to DCA and did all the Bug's Land rides: no lines at all. We were the ONLY ones on one ride! Enjoyed some very cool experiences over there too that we usually don't get to: Turtle Talk with Crash, Animation Academy, etc.

The parade was jam packed as were fireworks. We did not line up to get a parade viewing spot, because we were waiting in line for coffee and cocoa. That was the longest line of the day! We were still able to get an OK spot: my 7 year old could see, and that all I cared about. For the first time in my life, I did go to a spot about 30 minutes before fireworks to get a good view. Worth it because the snow fell right on my girl, and the look on her face was worth it!

Fantasy Land was horrible in the morning! MM and a late opening I think kind of negated the "go there first" rule. We waited 40 minutes for PP and got there for rope drop. The food lines were all long I noticed too. We got a fireworks spot about 45 min early and it was great!

But overall, more crowded than I expected or wanted to deal with...