The Busy Holiday Week for someone who hadn't planned going that week- Help!

[nikmasteed]

Hi everyone! A really general post here but TIA for any general tips or links to other helpful posts I can refer to

We have in-place reservations and plans for a 10-night trip 12/31-1/10 that's been planned for a year, and now last minute unexpectedly and for reasons beyond our control we must change our plans pretty dramatically to a 5-night trip 12/29-1/3. With the whiplash wearing off, I now have my sights set on looking at the positives (we still get to go to Disney!! I get to uber-plan some more! )

So, to the planning-- the original trip was strategically setup to AVOID the week between Christmas and New Years. Now the bulk of our shorter trip is BEFORE New Years. We are still skipping being in a park on 12/31 (we simply don't want to be in one on that extreme busy day, there's plenty of other things to do and New Years Eve at Disney was not a "thing" we were ever focused on).

For the probably 2 days we'll go to a park before New Year's (probably Epcot and Hollywood)-- what are we getting ourselves into compared to the first week of January which is still a busy week? What are a few of the go-to park planning tips for those super super crowded days this holiday week? We're not hoppers, and the rest of my family isn't quite "fast-paced". We're 2 adults 40's and 2 teens. I am very knowledgeable about park strategy in general just have never dealt with this holiday week. I'm not necessarily focused on extracting every last bit of optimization out of things, but I do want to "go right when others go left" to the extent possible.

No tip is too big or small!

Thanks!!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Rope-drop - arrive at your resort transportation 90 mins before Early theme park opening.

Eat during off hours and use mobile ordering but know the time between saying ‘I am here’ until your order being ready, may be long.

Prepare for extremely crowded parks and enjoy the small things.

Plan for 3 things you hope to do each day, long waits in queues and purchasing LLMP and possibly LLSP.

If you’re trying to avoid crowds as much as possible, avoid MK on Dec 30th as they do their NYE fireworks that day too. Possibly watch them from TTC?

For me, visiting that week would all be about mental preparation and patience.

You can still have a lot of fun, it will just be different from the original trip you planned.

Hope you have a great trip!!

 

[nikmasteed]

Rope-drop - arrive at your resort transportation 90 mins before Early theme park opening.

Eat during off hours and use mobile ordering but know the time between saying ‘I am here’ until your order being ready, may be long.

Prepare for extremely crowded parks and enjoy the small things.

Plan for 3 things you hope to do each day, long waits in queues and purchasing LLMP and possibly LLSP.

If you’re trying to avoid crowds as much as possible, avoid MK on Dec 30th as they do their NYE fireworks that day too. Possibly watch them from TTC?

For me, visiting that week would all be about mental preparation and patience.

You can still have a lot of fun, it will just be different from the original trip you planned.

Hope you have a great trip!!

I LOVE all these @scrappinginontario and you've hit on a bunch we definitely plan to heed, particularly:

"mental preparation and patience"

"enjoy the small things"

"Plan for 3 things you hope to do each day"-- we've already started to brainstorm what things are TRULY a priority for us. I think this will be one of the most important. It's hard when we only go every 4 years or so and we want to hit everything but we know it's just not going to be possible.

It's funny that you mention watching NYE fireworks at the TTC-- this was already in our original plans! and we're going to stick with that. It's hard to imagine that there will be alot of people watching from there but I guess there will just be alot of people literally everywhere. For 12/30 we'll indeed skip MK, that will probably be a HS day for us.

THANKS!

 

[nikmasteed]

One other thought/question-- we are driving to WDW and will have our car--I'm assuming it is probably best to drive to the theme park parking lots instead of taking the bus? It'll give us more control and comfort, and less risk possibility of having to wait for another bus is one is full.

Unless the parking lot situations are horrid also that week?

 

[focusondisney]

One other thought/question-- we are driving to WDW and will have our car--I'm assuming it is probably best to drive to the theme park parking lots instead of taking the bus? It'll give us more control and comfort, and less risk possibility of having to wait for another bus is one is full.

Unless the parking lot situations are horrid also that week?

Full disclosure, we haven’t been those dates. We have been there other at busy times tho..December 22-26, Easter weeks, July 4th & marathon weekend. Personally, I would suggest the buses. Those parking lots are huge & the entrance gate lines can be very long. There are no magic lines for WDW resort guests, so you’ll be waiting in the same parking lot lines as anyone else. And then you have to get from your parking spot to the entrance. Which means walking to the entrance or parking lot trams & more lines for the monorail or ferry at MK. WDW buses do have designated lanes on the roads & the closest drop offs possible. WDW resorts are pretty full year round, so they have a good handle on what is needed to move their guests around with capacity crowds. I guess it comes down to would you rather wait for another bus or sit in your car in traffic?

 

[Marthasor]

One other thought/question-- we are driving to WDW and will have our car--I'm assuming it is probably best to drive to the theme park parking lots instead of taking the bus? It'll give us more control and comfort, and less risk possibility of having to wait for another bus is one is full.

Unless the parking lot situations are horrid also that week?

I would not drive that week. The traffic is horrible and you may be waiting in long lines just to get into the parking lots. Where are you staying? Take the bus or any other Disney transportation available to you. Even with the bus, it will take longer than usual to get to the parks - allow time for traffic.

I would go in with very low expectations. There is no going left while others are going right - everyone is going right and left. I would try to find some off-the-beaten path, non-park, non-DS things to do. Enjoy your resort, tour other resorts to see the decorations. If you like outdoor activities, consider booking a fishing excursion or taking Disney transport to a Seven Seas Lagoon resort and rent a boat, go to Ft. W and go canoeing, etc.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

If it’s in the budget, maybe get the premier pass for whatever park is most important to you. At least then you’re guaranteed to ride whatever’s most important to you. I know it’s super expensive but you’re cutting five days off your trip, in Disney math that equals more spending money lol.

I also agree with rope dropping, and if you’re staying in a deluxe hotel take advantage of the extended evening hours, mondays and Wednesday typically. We’ve never been during super busy times but the parks during EEHs are always empty.

I also agree with taking Disney transportation, parking lot lines can get long.

And have everyone make a list of the top three most important things that they want to do and just concentrate on that. Have a great trip!

 

[nikmasteed]

Thanks all for the suggestion on just sticking with the buses. We'll be staying at POR 2 nights and POFQ 3 nights. So no EEH and premier pass won't be in the budget for us, but will definitely be using LLMP and LLSP, and just being satisfied with not doing all the things. We're already mentally cutting out a few big hitters, and we cut down heavily on table service dining from the original plan.

We're only going to do 3 park days during the 5 night trip. 1 or 2 full-blown resort only days and we will probably also do Typhoon Lagoon for a bit on our POFQ check-in day if the 70s temps stick around.

Keep em coming, thanks all!

 

[scrappinginontario]

I would definitely recommend using Disney transportation. They run buses frequently and can normally move people to resorts faster than you can drive on these busy nights.

You could possibly try driving to DHS or Epcot and see how the drive home goes. NYE I would most definitely recommend Disney transportation.