citygirl27712
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2009
Just a quick trip report about our most recent trip.
We flew into MCO and off the plane to pulling out on Magical Express was 45min.
We stayed at Pop Century in a standard room. We were not lucky enough to get a renovated room
but had a 1st floor room in the 50's and were given a $70 gift card for foregoing mousekeeping.
We had 7 full park days, spent 12-14 hrs a day in the parks,except for the 1st day when the MK closed at 6p for MVMCP, and walked 7-9 miles a day in the parks.
12/21: Magic Kingdom and Disney Springs
12/22: EPCOT
12/23: Magic Kingdom
12/24: Hollywood Studios
12/25: Animal Kingdom
12/26: EPCOT, monorail crawl, Disney Springs, Hollywood Studios
12/27: Magic Kingdom
We were able to get multiple fastpasses each day after our initial 3 were done. It might not have been the fastpass we were looking for but we took what we could get.
FOP was AMAZING... we had a fp for that. At 8:30am on Christmas Day the wait was already 4 hrs in the standby line. We did not get to do Navi.
We loved Jingle Bang Jingle Bam at Hollywood along with Seasons Greetings on Sunset.
I noticed on the app ressies were available at many table service restaurants that included characters.
We got a last minute lunch ressie at the Crystal Palace on 12/23 and a breakfast one at Be Our Guest on 12/27.
We went Christmas 2016 as well and the crowds were definitely worse this trip.
Most of the rides we rode we did with fp and only stood in 1 line for 45 min without a fp. If it was longer than that and we didn't have a fp, we did not ride.
We did the fireworks dessert party with terrace seating. It was the best decision! Perfect view and unobstructed.... would totally pay for it again.
Downside to the trip....
- disappointing that Moana was no where to be found and Aurora along with Snow White were difficult to find.
- I am seasoned Disney traveler and I have never ran into so many rude people at the parks. The shoving and pushing to get somewhere, groups of people rudely stopping in the flow of traffic to have a conversation and the parents who were not watching their children, letting them wander behind them in the cues and not keeping up in line. I get it is a crazy, busy time with long lines but when my daughter was young.... in a cue, she was in front of me so I could 1) see her but more importantly 2) keep her in our space not bothering and interfering with the people in front of us.
Let's not forget trying to watch a show outside and someone elbows their way in after it starts, with their child on the their shoulders and stands in front of you. They didn't care if they were blocking your view or blocking the view of a child standing with their parents. I saw several parents say something to the multiple offenders who did this and like I said, they didn't care whose view they blocked.
I love Christmas at Disney and would do it again. But I don't recommend it if you have never been before as I believe you need a plan to make it worthwhile and also to have a feel for the parks. That is just my opinion.
I'm hoping to go back Jan 2019 for my big birthday, 50th, but if not I'm waiting til May 2021 for my daughter's college grad trip and the start of the 50th anniversary celebration.
We flew into MCO and off the plane to pulling out on Magical Express was 45min.
We stayed at Pop Century in a standard room. We were not lucky enough to get a renovated room
but had a 1st floor room in the 50's and were given a $70 gift card for foregoing mousekeeping.
We had 7 full park days, spent 12-14 hrs a day in the parks,except for the 1st day when the MK closed at 6p for MVMCP, and walked 7-9 miles a day in the parks.
12/21: Magic Kingdom and Disney Springs
12/22: EPCOT
12/23: Magic Kingdom
12/24: Hollywood Studios
12/25: Animal Kingdom
12/26: EPCOT, monorail crawl, Disney Springs, Hollywood Studios
12/27: Magic Kingdom
We were able to get multiple fastpasses each day after our initial 3 were done. It might not have been the fastpass we were looking for but we took what we could get.
FOP was AMAZING... we had a fp for that. At 8:30am on Christmas Day the wait was already 4 hrs in the standby line. We did not get to do Navi.
We loved Jingle Bang Jingle Bam at Hollywood along with Seasons Greetings on Sunset.
I noticed on the app ressies were available at many table service restaurants that included characters.
We got a last minute lunch ressie at the Crystal Palace on 12/23 and a breakfast one at Be Our Guest on 12/27.
We went Christmas 2016 as well and the crowds were definitely worse this trip.
Most of the rides we rode we did with fp and only stood in 1 line for 45 min without a fp. If it was longer than that and we didn't have a fp, we did not ride.
We did the fireworks dessert party with terrace seating. It was the best decision! Perfect view and unobstructed.... would totally pay for it again.
Downside to the trip....
- disappointing that Moana was no where to be found and Aurora along with Snow White were difficult to find.
- I am seasoned Disney traveler and I have never ran into so many rude people at the parks. The shoving and pushing to get somewhere, groups of people rudely stopping in the flow of traffic to have a conversation and the parents who were not watching their children, letting them wander behind them in the cues and not keeping up in line. I get it is a crazy, busy time with long lines but when my daughter was young.... in a cue, she was in front of me so I could 1) see her but more importantly 2) keep her in our space not bothering and interfering with the people in front of us.
Let's not forget trying to watch a show outside and someone elbows their way in after it starts, with their child on the their shoulders and stands in front of you. They didn't care if they were blocking your view or blocking the view of a child standing with their parents. I saw several parents say something to the multiple offenders who did this and like I said, they didn't care whose view they blocked.
I love Christmas at Disney and would do it again. But I don't recommend it if you have never been before as I believe you need a plan to make it worthwhile and also to have a feel for the parks. That is just my opinion.
I'm hoping to go back Jan 2019 for my big birthday, 50th, but if not I'm waiting til May 2021 for my daughter's college grad trip and the start of the 50th anniversary celebration.
