The Santas in Epcot

[ccgegg]

I'm planning our first Dec trip and just heard someone mention there are various Santas in WS at Epcot. My DD4 would love this. Even though the early part of Dec is a slow time, is there still a mob around the Santas? Trying to gauge how much time we should plan for WS. And does every country have a Santa?

 

[WDSearcher]

Every country has a Santa or some sort of holiday "character." At Mexico, it's usually the Three Kings; at China it's the Monkey King. They are out at specific times, and usually do a little storytelling thing to explain who they are and the holiday customs of that country. Generally, the only Santa who is "mobbed" is the "real Santa" at American Adventure. He has a formal queue line like you'd find at your local department store for Santa. The others just have short meet & greets after their shows, and you can meet them then.

 

[ophie]

Others: Julienssen the Gnome in Norway, Nutcracker in Germany last year (though sometimes they've had a Santa before), Christmas Witch in Italy, Daruma Doll Seller in Japan, Morocco has a holiday storyteller (not Christmas), France is Pere Noel, UK is Father Christmas, & Canada is Papa Noel.

People tend to gather around & watch but the storytellers and their escorts are good about staying out for the whole crowd.

 

[Spartan]

We did this with my son and he really enjoyed it. Most of them invite the kids up front to sit and interact with them while they tell the story of their country. It did bring some confused questions from my son about the "real" Santa, but it was fun. After they're done they stay for a few minutes for pictures, which is usually the only sort of line that forms. We have a neat collage at home of him posing with each of the Santa's that we put out at Christmas. Check the schedules for them - we were able to go from country to country and see several in a night. I think they come out once an hour, but the countries are staggered about 30 minutes apart (I think)

 

[goofy4tink]

We love the various storytellers in each country. Have to say that Norway is dd's favorite. Mine used to be Germany. But, they did away with their 'santa' and replaced him with the Nutcracker. Not a good substitution in my opinion.
You can get a schedule with the various storyteller times on it. then you can plan your 'attack' so to speak, so as to get to see as many as possible.

 

[Princess Michelle]

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[triplefigs]

Princess Michelle,

Thanks for the photos! BTW, love the one of you at O'hanas with the statue...

 

[Kaycee]

I love the holiday storytellers in Epcot! Even when the park is crowded, it doesn't get so crowded around the storytellers that you can't enjoy them.

 

[Princess Michelle]

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[TinkerbellMama]

I'm planning our first Dec trip and just heard someone mention there are various Santas in WS at Epcot. My DD4 would love this. Even though the early part of Dec is a slow time, is there still a mob around the Santas? Trying to gauge how much time we should plan for WS. And does every country have a Santa?

How cool! Will they be out just after Thanksgiving?

 

[ophie]

Holidays around the World in Epcot this year is November 25 - December 30, 2005.

 

[MinnieM3]

We did this last year for the first time. DS5 loved it! This was one "event" I really did *plan*. Had one of those sheets for the week with the times on it and had things down to the minute! We saw all of them in one day. They were grreat! If we'd had more time, I think I would have stretched it out over a couple of days instead of the Commando Santa plan!

 

[paigevz]

We did this with my son and he really enjoyed it. Most of them invite the kids up front to sit and interact with them while they tell the story of their country. It did bring some confused questions from my son about the "real" Santa, but it was fun. After they're done they stay for a few minutes for pictures, which is usually the only sort of line that forms. We have a neat collage at home of him posing with each of the Santa's that we put out at Christmas. Check the schedules for them - we were able to go from country to country and see several in a night. I think they come out once an hour, but the countries are staggered about 30 minutes apart (I think)

I planned this precisely so we could talk about the "real" Santa. Of course, my son was 9 when we went! I really liked it too, however, if the weather is iffy, they won't do their stories in the rain.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

We did a commando Santa day too. If you really want to hit every Santa, you have to pay attention to the schedule. If you are just interested in some highlights, you may just decide to pick a few and enjoy other parts of WS also.

Julienssen the Gnome in Norway is one of my favorites. I like the story. The Christmas Witch in Italy also had a good story.

 

[ccgegg]

Thanks for all the tips. So I'm thinking with a DD5 and DS2 (almost 2), we should plan on two days at Epcot. And that way if it rains one day, we still have a day to do the "commando Santa" plan.

So much for a "quick trip" to WDW! We're up to 6 park days and maybe 1 day at Universal.

 

[Blueberry]

Thanksgiving weekend we did all the Santas and characters in one day, never did that before (it was just DH and I) and we loved it. What a neat way to spend an afternoon in WS. However, we were disappointed that Germany no longer has Kris Kringle but a Nutcracker, very sad we had seen him before and liked him. My favorite was Father Christmas, I have my picture with him right here...

 

[dizneycc]

Deb's website has info and pictures too.

http://allearsnet.com/tp/hol_epcstory.htm

I am so excited that we are talking about Christmas already!!!