Christmas veterans- advice needed

[DarciC]

Our family has been to WDW many times, but this will be our first trip at Christmas. We are only doing 2 days- MK on 12/24 and HS on 12/25. I am wondering the best plan of attack for touring the parks. There are 4 of us, 2 teenagers and 2 adults. I thought about trying to refresh and get in as many rides as possible with fast pass, but worry about wearing ourselves out trying to criss-cross the parks all day with heavy crowds. Have you done this before? What was your experience? Were you even able to get extra fast passes? Are we better off to just do a circle of each park and try to get extra fast passes when we can for the area we're in (or do less crowded rides)? Thanks for any help you can give!

 

[gatormom2tots]

We were there both of those days last year. We had fps set up and pretty much just used those so I don't recall what the fp situation was. i do remember as we drove home on December 31 Space Mountain had a 360 minute wait as we talked about it wouldn't take much longer than that to drive home.

Whatever you do, know that the park will be packed- and possibly closed due to crowds. Christmas Day MK closed in the morning and all the traffic rerouted to other parks created a nightmare on the main thoroughfare. We went to AK that day and just drove by with our jaws dropped by a mile long line of cars being told MK was closed and they had to turn around and go to another park.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Our family has been to WDW many times, but this will be our first trip at Christmas. We are only doing 2 days- MK on 12/24 and HS on 12/25. I am wondering the best plan of attack for touring the parks. There are 4 of us, 2 teenagers and 2 adults. I thought about trying to refresh and get in as many rides as possible with fast pass, but worry about wearing ourselves out trying to criss-cross the parks all day with heavy crowds. Have you done this before? What was your experience? Were you even able to get extra fast passes? Are we better off to just do a circle of each park and try to get extra fast passes when we can for the area we're in (or do less crowded rides)? Thanks for any help you can give!

IMHO, you should plan on doing RD and starting your FP+ around 10 am and doing your 3 must-do's at that time. MK will be packed by 10 am. At least that was our experience. Criss-crossing the park will not be fun As far as extra FP+ are concerned, take what you can get. Even rides that typically have short lines (like Peoplemover) will be very long. When we were there, BTMRR had wait times of 3 hours+. If you plan on eating in the park, make an ADR. The QS will be packed and it will be hard to find a place to sit. Keep expectations low and be prepared to leave if you can't take it anymore.

 

[djc9699]

We did these exact parks for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day last year. We arrived at MK on Christmas Eve around 6:30am (EMH at 7:00). Rode bus from All Star Sports. We started at Space Mountain, then Peter Pan, and worked our way throughout FL and TL. We had a FP for 7DMT at 10:15 and Space at 11:15. Did Carousel of Progress in between. We had ADR at Tony's with parade package around 12:30 so we could have parade viewing reserved. We did every attraction in FL and TL except ETWB, Stitch and the meet and greets before our lunch. KEY POINT - get there early. Crowds were massive by our lunch. We had our 3rd FP set around 2:00 for Splash and then made another for after parade and played Sorcerers for a bit while making our way to the parade. After the parade we did our 4th FP for BTTM, set another for Winnie the Pooh for later and played Sorcerers and explored until that FP time. At some point we napped in HOP - don't remember exactly when. We had dinner at LTT around 6:30 and then had the dessert party for HEA. We hung in the reserved area for about 20 minutes after the FWs and then made our way out. It was a great day.

We had great success at HS as well for Christmas. We did not get there until around 10:00 and had FPs set for RNR, Beauty and Beast, and Frozen, and late lunch at 50s PT. We wound up getting several extra FPs for RNR and TSM. HS had a lot going on for Christmas and we again had a great time. This year it will probably be more crowded because of TSL but we are going again and will just soak up what we can. We missed JBJB last year so we are doing the dessert party for it this year. The great thing about HS is the shows hold a lot of people so you can usually at least get into those without too much of a wait.

For both days, get there early, have a plan, pack your patience and maybe breakfast or at least a snack (lines will be long for QS and snacks), have table service reserved, if rides can't be done explore things you haven't seen, watch the entertainment, and have fun. We will be in these same parks again both days and can't wait.

 

[DarciC]

Thank you so much for the replies. We are prepared for it to be extremely busy, but it is good to know that you were able to get a lot done despite the crowds. My husband and I do not have the stamina that we once did, so we will definitely need a napping spot for the MK day as well For HS on Christmas Day, was it open until 10:00 last year? Were there 2 showings of Fantasmic, or only 1? Hoping for 2 so we can do that and JBJB. Was MK open 7-midnight with 7-8 being EMH? Those hours are not listed yet but I was wondering if they will change closer to the date. Thanks again!

 

[TravelE]

Last year we did AK on 12/24 and MK on 12/25. We arrived 30 min before park opening and did fine.

 

[djc9699]

Thank you so much for the replies. We are prepared for it to be extremely busy, but it is good to know that you were able to get a lot done despite the crowds. My husband and I do not have the stamina that we once did, so we will definitely need a napping spot for the MK day as well For HS on Christmas Day, was it open until 10:00 last year? Were there 2 showings of Fantasmic, or only 1? Hoping for 2 so we can do that and JBJB. Was MK open 7-midnight with 7-8 being EMH? Those hours are not listed yet but I was wondering if they will change closer to the date. Thanks again!

MK was open on Christmas Eve until midnight. 7-8am EMH. Regular park opening at 8. Christmas parade at 12 and 3:30. HEA at 9, but this year is Holiday Wishes at 10.
HS was open 9am to 10pm on Christmas Day. JBJB was at 6:30, Fantasmic was at 7. This year they are showing to be Fantasmic at 9 and JBJB at 9:30

 

[DarciC]

Thanks so much. Last question- do you think there is any chance that HS would close to capacity on Christmas Day? We are always rope drop people, but after being at the MK until possibly midnight the night before, we would like to sleep in a bit. I don't want to show up at 11:00 or noon and be turned away though. I know this can happen at MK, but wasn't sure about HS. Thanks again.

 

[Jasperann]

Thanks so much. Last question- do you think there is any chance that HS would close to capacity on Christmas Day? We are always rope drop people, but after being at the MK until possibly midnight the night before, we would like to sleep in a bit. I don't want to show up at 11:00 or noon and be turned away though. I know this can happen at MK, but wasn't sure about HS. Thanks again.

I am not sure if it is a Dis thing but I have read a lot of people are doing HS on Christmas day this year. It's crowd level is even higher than MK for Christmas on touring plans right now. Granted... to get to the closing stages (not letting anyone in) it would have to be really busy and I do not recall HS shutting down for crowds even on May the 4th when it was shoulder to shoulder people. If you are staying on property then you should be able to get into any of the parks for the majority of the day.

We are arriving around 11am as well on Christmas so I hope I'm right. LOL

 

[cruiserkaren]

Thanks so much. Last question- do you think there is any chance that HS would close to capacity on Christmas Day? We are always rope drop people, but after being at the MK until possibly midnight the night before, we would like to sleep in a bit. I don't want to show up at 11:00 or noon and be turned away though. I know this can happen at MK, but wasn't sure about HS. Thanks again.

Last year it did not close. We arrived at 1:30 and had lunch at Hollywood and Vine at 2:15. Then used our fast passes. We loved JBJB. We also rope dropped MK in Christmas Eve arriving about 6:20am for a 7am opening. It was a great day. We left midday and returned that evening. I’m hoping we’re just as lucky this year as we’re planning the same way.