Just back --12/24 thru 1/1/18

[constanze]

If anyone is planning a trip for next year during Christmas week. I'd be happy to answer any questions. We were surprised how much we could get done doing rope drop during this time of year. For a 7am MK opening, we arrived at 6:30am and were the first people in line!--Were able to pretty much walk-on everything (except 7 mines and Peter Pan) the first couple hours and then took a breakfast break and finished MK with our 3 fastpases-- then went back to our resort for an afternoon break.

Events we did that we could answer questions about: Candlelight processional dinner package, Wild Africa Trek, Star Wars dessert party, The Void (Star Wars reality experience), New Years Eve MK (30th) plaza view dessert party, Epcot La Hacienda NYE party. Restaurants we ate at: CRT for Christmas breakfast, Tusker House breakfast, Yak and Yeti dinner, Biergarten dinner, Chef de France dinner, Akershus breakfast, Ohana dinner and breakfast, Kona Cafe breakfast, Crystal Palace breakfast,50's prime time dinner,Le Cellier dinner, BOG dinner.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Did you encounter a lot of situations where there were wall-to-wall crowds of people in the parks?

 

[constanze]

I was totally expecting it to be a LOT worse! If you plan and time things well, you can seriously avoid the bad crowds. To us, crowds didn’t seem any worse then late May/early June which is when we usually go

 

[DaisyDuck001]

I've not been there in late May/early June, so I don't know how those crowds would have been, either....

 

[TeresaWen]

Epcot La Hacienda NYE party

I would love to hear more about this! We are going to be in Epcot NYE and I am considering this. I am torn though. I do not miss out on the various festivities in Epcot that night.

 

[to be tink]

How did you like The Void? I'm hoping they will extend the dates this is offered since we will be there at the end of Feb.

 

[ThePrincess&TheJohn]

Sounds like a great trip! I guess I don't have any specific questions, but I am just generally wondering about the Candlelight Processional and your thoughts on it overall. Maybe: Did you feel the dinner package was needed/awesome/etc.? Thanks!

 

[carrielouhoo]

I'm another person interested in The Void. Do you think it is something small kids could handle? We're staying in WDW for one night after our Disney cruise in April and I was thinking that would be a fun activity for my kids. They are (almost) 9, (almost) 7, and 3.5.

 

[FastPasser.]

I'm another person interested in The Void. Do you think it is something small kids could handle? We're staying in WDW for one night after our Disney cruise in April and I was thinking that would be a fun activity for my kids. They are (almost) 9, (almost) 7, and 3.5.

From The VOID website:
"All guests must be a minimum of 48 inches tall and at least 10 years of age or older to visit The VOID. You’ll need to sign a waiver before entering The VOID and any guests under 18 years of age must have a parent or guardian sign the liability waiver."

 

[carrielouhoo]

From The VOID website:
"All guests must be a minimum of 48 inches tall and at least 10 years of age or older to visit The VOID. You’ll need to sign a waiver before entering The VOID and any guests under 18 years of age must have a parent or guardian sign the liability waiver."

Thanks for this! Good to know! I didn't anticipate taking my youngest, but didn't see anything on the website about the age and height minimums for my older two, so thanks for pointing it out.

 

[jennab113]

Not the OP, but I did The Void last week and loved it. If you are a Star Wars fan, it is must do. If you aren't a SWs fan, it is still really cool.

For kids, there was a family checking in at the same time as me and their kids were under 10. The staff was willing to ignore the age limit, but not the height minimum. The pack you wear is about 15 lbs. It was heavy, but once the vest was tightened, it was fine for me as an adult.

 

[Lightsoutx12]

We are planning a trip for NYE, but I had no idea about the Epcot La Hacienda NYE party. What is all included in that??

 

[hllb]

How was the Wild Africa Trek? We are going the first week of February.

 

[floydfamily4]

How was the Star Wars dessert party?

 

[constanze]

I would love to hear more about this! We are going to be in Epcot NYE and I am considering this. I am torn though. I do not miss out on the various festivities in Epcot that night.

If you're looking to stay out of the crowds it's amazing! We arrived at Epcot around 8:45 pm, for a 4th fastpass for Frozen, then checked it an 9:15 at La Hacienda. Epcot did a fantastic job for managing foot traffic through the park. We had not issues getting from the entrance of future world to the Frozen ride. World Showcase was SO crowded when we got out, we were happy we just had a short walk to La Hacienda. They do a 5 course meal pairing it with drinks, and you can ask for more of whatever you'd like. They pass out noisemakers, hats and such, have a live mariachi band, and then do the fireworks that you watch through their HUGE windows overlooking the lake. AMAZING views of everything. It was a fun evening. It was me, my husband, DD 17 and DS 20.

 

[constanze]

How did you like The Void? I'm hoping they will extend the dates this is offered since we will be there at the end of Feb.

LOVED the Void!!! Don't miss it! Everyone in my family had a blast!

 

[constanze]

Sounds like a great trip! I guess I don't have any specific questions, but I am just generally wondering about the Candlelight Processional and your thoughts on it overall. Maybe: Did you feel the dinner package was needed/awesome/etc.? Thanks!

If it’s a busy time I definitely recommend the package. We attending in Christmas night 6:45 pm performance—-the line was very long for the reserved section, and we arrived about 30 minutes early. However, once they let folks in, the line moved miraculously quickly and everyone pretty much got to choose their seats—-however as it got a little closer, there were so many reserved folks, it didn’t look like they were able to let in many standby folks

 

[constanze]

How was the Wild Africa Trek? We are going the first week of February.

This was by far the favorite thing my family did. I highly recommend this. I don’t want to give anything away by going into too much detail, but was such a fun time. And all though it says it’s a “trek” and harness you up—-that’s really only for safety. It’s all super easy

 

[constanze]

How was the Star Wars dessert party?

Next to the wild Africa trek, this was my kids favorite event. Even for my DD who is 17 and not a Star Wars fan. They loved having desserts inside to get away from the crowd, and visit the Star Wars characters in the launch bay. They also loved the view and the gift you get. My bony butt however. Had a little difficulty sitting on the cement for so long—next time I would stand toward one of the sides at the railing

 

[BlueFairy]

Did you visit any parks on the 1st?