Christmas Day @ WDW

[Mizchief24]

We are taking our kids to WDW, our Daughters first time (she will be 2y 11m) and our Sons second time (last time he went he was 18m now he is 7.5).

We are doing Magic Kingdom on Christmas as a holiday "treat" I know it will be crazy busy.

We are staying with local family so no extra magic hours for us.
Extra magic hours are 7am to 8am.

So what time should we be there to get in? I know that the park usually closes on Christmas Day. I talked to cast members for confirmation. We have low hopes for riding things other than what we have fastpasses for.

I am just trying to plan out what time we need to wake up and get there. I don't want to have two bored kids waiting either.


Thank you!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

There are several thought processes on this one.
On any normal EMH day the park will be busy with Resort guests before the general public are allowed in, so you may want to avoid it.
This being Christmas Day, an awful lot of people will want a slow leisurely morning to open presents and have breakfast and not even leave for the parks until late morning.
Resort guests won't take a lot of presents on vacation and so will be there early.
Christmas Day will be busy early as people anticipate park closures.
As a non Resort guest, you will be one of the first to be turned away under the staged closures that WDW have in place...................

Get there no later than 10am to avoid any disappointment with closures.

 

[Tuvalu]

Since you have young children who will likely awaken early, go as early as possible. Plan to be at the parking toll booth by 7:30 ~ there will already be a line of cars paying. By the time you pay, park and ride the shuttle to the TTC, it will be about time for the ferry and monorail to start taking guests to the MK. If you are in the park shortly after 8 am, you will have a couple hours to enjoy rides before it gets crazy crowded and reaches capacity.

 

[Mizchief24]

Which would be better to ride, the monorail or the boat? I have not ridden the boat since I was a little girl. I would assume the boat can hold more people.

I like the idea of being at the toll to pay by 7:30. (I will tell the husband to be there by 7am and that way we are still there within time.)

 

[Tuvalu]

Which would be better to ride, the monorail or the boat? I have not ridden the boat since I was a little girl. I would assume the boat can hold more people.

I like the idea of being at the toll to pay by 7:30. (I will tell the husband to be there by 7am and that way we are still there within time.)

The ferry does hold more people and likely will be faster than the monorail. You can ride the monorail when you leave

 

[Gabe1]

Travelling with littler kids will be to your advantage on this day. I'd take my cue from what FPs are left by the time you can book them. IF possible I'd tour the parks picking up what I could in the initial 2.5-3 hours. Trying to get in as much of the dark rides in Fantasyland, Pooh, Small World, Under Sea, see what the wait time is for Pirates, HM. On Christmas Day without reservations I'd opt to cart it to eat. Buy some hotdogs etc from Liberty Square and smuggle them in on Liberty Boat. Go uptop and have a picnic while taking in the stuff on the shores for lunch. We have done this so many times. Good chill time and relaxing way to eat a hotdog/sandwich and some fruit.

Next,This would be a good time if at all possible to time your FPs because the park will become very crowded. Double check at the top of each hour to see if a more coveted one becomes available if you can't get it initially.

After the FP+ are over ride the People Mover, Take a train ride, see the Tiki birds, ride the CoP. Take them over to Tom Sawyer Island (note it closes at dusk) Your older one will love the fort and running around up there and the younger one will enjoy sometime to wiggle around and explore ground level, burning off some energy and enjoying some freedom.

There is lots for the little to do even on a crowded day while everyone else is obsessed with Big E attractions or spending hours waiting to meet a character. Look for the Cast Members doing special things that many just bypass. Sporadically throughout the day you will spot a CM placing tape on the ground playing games. Others off to the side will have hoolahoops and other stuff the small like to do.

 

[Gabe1]

The ferry does hold more people and likely will be faster than the monorail. You can ride the monorail when you leave

True and the Ferry is far more efficient since they added the second dock!

 

[Mizchief24]

The kids will probably be asleep by the time we leave and my girl will love the train in the sky. (wish kids could still "drive" the monorail)

We are bringing in most of our food for Christmas Day since we do not want to wait in lines for food and I have 2 extremely picky kids on my hands it will be easier for that day.

I booked most of our FP+ for the afternoon (except meeting Cinderella that's in the morning for the little one so shes less cranky) that way we can see what there is to ride in the morning with little wait and then later in the day we can either go back to them with our FP+ or get to ride it for the first time.

I have a few friends that are cast members and HOPEFULLY they are in MK that day so we can see them and play some games with them. I always forget about the Tiki room I am sure a lot of people do. I know that breaks will be taken in the Hall of Presidents, People mover, Carousel of Progress, and the train.

I have never been to Tom Sawyer Island that I can remember, I would have to ask my mom.

I have never been to Disney with kids so this will be a whole new thing for me. My husband and his exwife took the 7yr old when he was 18m.

 

[Minnie1976]

I would get there at 8 when it would open for everyone. By 11 it is really getting crowded. When the Magic Kingdom gets too crowded, try one of the other parks.

 

[Mizchief24]

we do not have park hopper. it was not an option we felt we could afford.

 

[brifraz]

When we went for Christmas a few years ago, we got to MK about 45 minutes before opening. We were onsite, so that was 45 minutes before the 7am opening. The park was almost totally empty for the EMH hour, then started to fill up pretty quickly after regular openings. We left around 11:30am and they were at Phase 1 (at least) when we left. We were watching the cars being made to turn around.

Since you don't have the EMH option, I would recommend getting there just a little after 7am. We have seen times in the past where they start letting in the public pretty soon after EMH starts - definitely by 15 or 20 minutes before official regular opening.

Good luck!

 

[Mizchief24]

From our family's house it is about 13 mins to the toll to pay to get into Magic Kingdom. So if we leave at like 6:50am we should be to the toll to wait in line at 7:05am. Then wait in the long line to get in and that will be like 7:20am. Park get on the boat and cross the lake and its 7:30am when we finally get to the front gate. Hmm does that sound to late?

Once we get in to park the car are we garenteed to get in the park or no?

 

[brifraz]

From our family's house it is about 13 mins to the toll to pay to get into Magic Kingdom. So if we leave at like 6:50am we should be to the toll to wait in line at 7:05am. Then wait in the long line to get in and that will be like 7:20am. Park get on the boat and cross the lake and its 7:30am when we finally get to the front gate. Hmm does that sound to late?

Once we get in to park the car are we garenteed to get in the park or no?

Looking back over the past couple years Christmas Day news items, Magic Kingdom has reached some level of closure pretty close to 11am. If you are in before 11am, you are in. You just may not be able to move around!

 

[Mizchief24]

yea I foresee trying to find a quiet corner to be in the fetal position in. But will they turn you away from parking if they are full?

 

[brifraz]

yea I foresee trying to find a quiet corner to be in the fetal position in. But will they turn you away from parking if they are full?

Once you hit phase 1 closing, they will turn you away at the parking gate (I assume based on earlier comments that you have a base Magic Your Way ticket). I think phase 1 and phase 2 tend to hit pretty quickly on each other's heels. Here's the great descriptions of the closings that Steve @wdwmagic has put up http://www.wdwmagic.com/park-closing-phases.htm

 

[Mizchief24]

yea we have 7 day Magic your way tickets. I will just have to be sure to get there early. We had dining reservations but we gave them up or we could have at least been in phase 2 closing.

Now that I have 8 days I have to figure out what to pack for the kids to wear!

 

[R W B]

From our family's house it is about 13 mins to the toll to pay to get into Magic Kingdom. So if we leave at like 6:50am we should be to the toll to wait in line at 7:05am. Then wait in the long line to get in and that will be like 7:20am. Park get on the boat and cross the lake and its 7:30am when we finally get to the front gate. Hmm does that sound to late?

Once we get in to park the car are we garenteed to get in the park or no?

I would allow a lot more time between paying the parking fee and getting to the gate. Once parked you will have to catch a parking lot tram to the TTC (unless you are close enough and can walk it), then once you're actually standing at the TTC you have to wait for a monorail/Ferry (guess it is possible you could be lucky and catch it at the right time and just walk right one one) then you will have to actually make the trip to the park which the ferry IMO is a shorter ride. I just don't see all of this happening in 10min. I know one time it took us 25-30min to do this for a mickeys Xmas party. That was also the last time I drove to the parks because I thought that was crazy.

 

[Mizchief24]

hmmm okay so get there at 7 to pay to pakr and wait in line and then move everything around accordingly.


The kids bag is packed now for packing my own....