Holiday Itinerary

[Hobbes130]

:animwink: Would you all mind having a look through our itinerary and let me know if you think we have allowed enough time to see everything and if we have missed anything out. DD is 5 so we are not doing everything just the things we think will be suitable for her. Show times are approximate and are based on info that we found on Internet so they may well be wrong. We made our dinner reservations weeks ago so these can’t be changed. (Warning this may end up being a long post! )

Day 1
Arrive at CS Resort 4pm
Downtown Disney to see Santa, get photopass card, shop for autograph book, pin lanyard and a stitch rucksack for DD. We may also be grabbing a few extra presents for Christmas morning - hoping we can buy and get gift wrapped without DD noticing.
Meal either at DT or back at Resort
Decorate our little tree and bed

Day 2
Breakfast at Resort
MGM STUDIOS
9:45 VotLM 10:45 BatB 12:00 Playhouse Disney Show
Snack lunch at Pizza Planet
Muppets 3D HISTA Al’s Toy Barn
4:30pm Hollywood Holly-day Parade around 3pm
Dinner at Hollywood & Vine
6:30pm Fantasmic
Osborne Lights

Day 3
Room Service Breakfast so we can be quick
MAGIC KINGDOM
9:10 DD has makeover booked at BB Boutique
Carousel Dumbo IASW Tea Cups Poohs Honey Pots Snow white ride
12:30 Lunch at the castle
Stitch Great Escape Philharmagic Aerials Grotto Poohs Playful Spot Country Houses Barnstormer Donald’s Boat
Christmas Parade and tree lighting
Snack at Cosmic Rays if we need it and back to hotel

Day 4
8:10 CB at Chef Mickey (can you get monorail straight into MK?)
MAGIC KINGDOM
WDW Railroad to Frontierland Splash Mountain Thunder Mountain Country Bears Haunted Mansion Magic Carpet Tikki Room
Snack from Peco Bills if needed
Jungle Cruise Spaceranger spin Astro Orbiter Indy Speedway Laugh Floor
6:10pm Crystal Palace
Spectromagic parade and wishes fireworks

Day 5
Breakfast at hotel
EPCOT
Universe of Energy Test track HISTA Imagination Circle of Life
Lunch in Canada Refreshment Port
Living with the Land Nemo and Friends Turtle Talk with Crush Soarin
5pm Coral Reef for dinner
Walk up left of the world to CP visit Norway Maelstrom & Mexico Del Tiempo
8pm Candlelight Processional
Watch RoE from Japan walk around other side of the world back to
Lights of Winter and back to hotel

Day 6
ANIMAL KINGDOM
8am CB at Tusker
Safari Pangani Trail River Rapids Jungle Trek ITTBAB
Snack Kiosk lunch
Jingle Jungle parade
4.40pm Pocahontas Show
Dinner at Resort Swim and early night

Day 7
9.10am CB at Polynesian
Spend a few hours at Blizzard Beach
Back to resort to dry off etc
Evening undecided – possibly Chip and Dales campfire songs or Broadwalk

Day 8
ANIMAL KINGDOM
The Oasis
9.30 Lion King
Camp Minnie Mickey
Lunch Flame Tree BBQ
The Boneyard Fossil Fun Triceratops Spin Dino-Sue DINOSAUR! Nemo
Dinner undecided as yet

Day 9
A day for DD to decide what she wants to do again

Day 10
Check in for flight Downtown and rest of the day to do anything we want to again and make any last minute purchases

PHEW! That’s it! Hope you're not all :snore::lol:
Sorry to go on – any advice would be great and you never know perhaps this may help someone else. Thank you for reading :wave:

 

[Tweedle Adie]

It sounds great!
Just one warning, depending on when you are going it can be very chilly! We have been there at Christmas when it has been in the 40s, which may make it to cold for the pools and water parks. Hopefully with the warm weather we have been having this year that will not be a problem

 

[Hobbes130]

Hi Tweedle Thanks for reading my lengthy post and for the weather advice.

What is the weather like in December - average temps from websites that we've read claim around 22 C which is pretty warm to us as we come from the UK! Do you think we will need to pack our coats or jumpers?

 

[NewfieFan]

I think this may just be a typo but you have HISTA under MGM but then you have again under Epcot. In case you don't know, HISTA is in Epcot not MGM.

Just remember to have lots of flexibility with a 5 yr. old but I'm sure you know that already. Playgrounds and character interactions may take more time than you think. I took two small kids and I threw out my schedule somewhere around day 2! (The only thing we planned after that were meals and nap times.) Somedays your 5 yr. old may be up for more and some days they may want to take it easy. I followed my kids - I knew when they were getting overstimulated. I enjoyed our downtime and it was some of the most enjoyable moments we had together! Have a great trip!:wave:

 

[Hobbes130]

I think this may just be a typo but you have HISTA under MGM but then you have again under Epcot. In case you don't know, HISTA is in Epcot not MGM.

Just remember to have lots of flexibility with a 5 yr. old but I'm sure you know that already. Playgrounds and character interactions may take more time than you think. I took two small kids and I threw out my schedule somewhere around day 2! (The only thing we planned after that were meals and nap times.) Somedays your 5 yr. old may be up for more and some days they may want to take it easy. I followed my kids - I knew when they were getting overstimulated. I enjoyed our downtime and it was some of the most enjoyable moments we had together! Have a great trip!:wave:

Thanks Newfie - I am a bit worried about cramming too much in our schedule but we don't want to miss anything!! It is so expensive for us to fly to the states we have been saving for this for 2 years and I don't know when we will get over again. Hopefully DD will be able to keep up and we'll pace it slow. We went to Disneyland Paris when she was 3 for 2 days and she was like little zombie by day 3 and just sat in her stroller looked exhausted all day - we really don't want that to happen again so fingers crossed.

HISTA was a small typo - We are planning to do the HISTK playground at MGM and the HISTA at Epcot - I hope I have that right

 

[NewfieFan]

Thanks Newfie - I am a bit worried about cramming too much in our schedule but we don't want to miss anything!! It is so expensive for us to fly to the states we have been saving for this for 2 years and I don't know when we will get over again. Hopefully DD will be able to keep up and we'll pace it slow. We went to Disneyland Paris when she was 3 for 2 days and she was like little zombie by day 3 and just sat in her stroller looked exhausted all day - we really don't want that to happen again so fingers crossed.

HISTA was a small typo - We are planning to do the HISTK playground at MGM and the HISTA at Epcot - I hope I have that right

I know all about it being expensive - we come from Newfoundland, Canada! It's hard when you put so much money into it, you really want to get your "money's worth". And if you won't be returning for awhile then you're really trying to cram things in! Just don't get too disappointed if your schedule doesn't work out or you miss something. Try to remember you're in WDW with your family at Christmas to have a good time - and you'll get your "money's worth"!
Some days my kids were zombies too. Infact one day they both fell asleep in their strollers right at supper time (they missed their nap that day). My husband and I ended up eating supper at a CS restaurant in Epcot by ourselves. It was our only meal "alone" and it turned out to be quite nice! We made a joke that maybe we should let them fall asleep at supper time more often!:animwink:

 

[disney magic 06]

Hi, sounds like you've a great holiday planned and have put a great deal of effort into your schedules! I agree with the previous poster, to be on the safe side I would pack some warm clothes. We went to WDW in December 05 and although I had prepared for all eventualities, my friend had to buy a warm jacket, gloves and a sun hat! The weather really does change greatly on an hourly basis over there.

Also remember the timings may be thrown out considerably by the length of the queues. Make use of Fastpasses when you can as the children's rides tend to have very long lines at busy periods.

And don't forget Peter Pan!

Most of all, have a fantastic holiday :wave:

 

[Hobbes130]

Hi, sounds like you've a great holiday planned and have put a great deal of effort into your schedules! I agree with the previous poster, to be on the safe side I would pack some warm clothes. We went to WDW in December 05 and although I had prepared for all eventualities, my friend had to buy a warm jacket, gloves and a sun hat! The weather really does change greatly on an hourly basis over there.

Also remember the timings may be thrown out considerably by the length of the queues. Make use of Fastpasses when you can as the children's rides tend to have very long lines at busy periods.

And don't forget Peter Pan!

Most of all, have a fantastic holiday :wave:

Hi thanks for reminding me I don't know how we managed to forget Peter Pan! I'll make sure we have some warm clothes packed just in case!

 

[SweetMagic]

Day 3
Room Service Breakfast so we can be quick
MAGIC KINGDOM
9:10 DD has makeover booked at BB Boutique
Carousel Dumbo IASW Tea Cups Poohs Honey Pots Snow white ride
12:30 Lunch at the castle
Stitch Great Escape Philharmagic Aerials Grotto Poohs Playful Spot Country Houses Barnstormer Donald’s Boat
Christmas Parade and tree lighting
Snack at Cosmic Rays if we need it and back to hotel

Hello, and welcome aboard :wave:

I just wanted to offer an opinion, and I'm using the highlighted line above as an example. You may have difficulty getting all of this in during the time allotted. Whenever you have several things that you want to try to do within a given time period, be sure that you prioritize them so if you run into time trouble you have at least done the ones you most want to do. Snow White alone can sometimes have a wait in excess of 30-45 mins. I would suggest picking up park maps on your first day and looking them over that first night when you get back to your room. Make note of all the attractions that you want to see that offer Fast Pass, and make use of Fast Pass whenever possible.

Oh and one other tiny thing I noticed... On your Epcot day you have Soarin' planned... you will want to get a Fast Pass for this as soon as you enter the park that day or this will have you standing in line for up to an hour or more. It is very popular. You may want to consider having lunch inside the Land Pavilion at Sunshine Seasons (it's very good) to save time and walking, as opposed to heading to Canada and then back to Future World. Just a thought :animwink:

Have a wonderful time :wave:

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Your schedule looks great - my two penneth - Don't be too rigid re show times. Plan your day and the meal times then see how the mood takes you - flexibility allowing change is the secret to our WDW successes.

Enjoy

 

[LuLaSue]

Wow, I am exhausted :lol: ! I sounds like you have a wonderful plan! Just don't get upset if you can't do everything you want in the same day you planned. Looks like you have day nine (9) to finish anything you may have missed.

Enjoy! :xmas:

 

[Arecheri]

Day 6
ANIMAL KINGDOM
8am CB at Tusker
Safari Pangani Trail River Rapids Jungle Trek ITTBAB
Snack Kiosk lunch
Jingle Jungle parade
4.40pm Pocahontas Show
Dinner at Resort Swim and early night


Swimming is ok. They heat the pools to 82 F. The only problem will be getting out, it will be cold then.

 

[gardenia]

If you get a chance, try to catch the Tree Lighting Ceremony at Epcot. I think it's around 5:30 or 6:00pm every day. We caught it by chance one December and it's pretty cool. There's a short stage show with characters; and there's an enormous tree with THOUSANDS of embedded lights that come on gradually until the whole tree is just brilliant. The tree is at the front entrace to the World Showcase (coming from Future Wolrd).

 

[KingStefan]

As a previous post said, you have to stay flexible and be willing to give stuff up if you start running late, or perhaps even change your plans (outside of TS meals) altogether.

Also, you don't say when you are going. That makes a really big difference. Crowds will be moderate to low through Friday, 21 Dec. Saturday, 22 Dec will start to get a bit worse, but people will still be travelling. Sunday, 23 Dec will be quite crowded, and Monday, 24 Dec through Monday, 31 Dec will be capacity crowds (impossibly crowded, especially mid-day). After that the crowds will taper off to moderate until Tuesday, 8 Jan.

Some sections of your itinerary are paced OK, but others are quite busy. For example, on Day 3, you have a 9:10 BBB (that should be fun!). Then you have "Carousel Dumbo IASW Tea Cups Poohs Honey Pots Snow white ride". Let's say you finish BBB at roughly 9:45, and you have head back to the castle at say 12:15, so you have about 2 1/2 hours. On a light crowd day, that is maybe possible, but rushed. I would guess more like 3 hours.

If this day is between 23-31 Dec, then I'd say you'll be lucky if you can do "Carousel Dumbo IASW".

Another thing is that there is really long park hours. Sometimes the MK will have EMH until 3AM! I know DD is only 5, but an option is to sleep during the day and go back to the park for a few hours late at night. It seems you are planning to be in the parks at the very busiest of times on some days.

And, yes, you can take the monorail directly from the Contemporary Resort to the MK. It will stop at the TTC, the Poly, and the GF first, but you won't have to disembark.

As I said, some sections are OK, but I see some similar problems in other places. So if you could tell us when you are arriving, that would be immensely helpful.

BTW, Be sure you use fast pass wisely. Get some before BBB, for example.

 

[LuLaSue]

If you get a chance, try to catch the Tree Lighting Ceremony at Epcot. I think it's around 5:30 or 6:00pm every day. We caught it by chance one December and it's pretty cool. There's a short stage show with characters; and there's an enormous tree with THOUSANDS of embedded lights that come on gradually until the whole tree is just brilliant. The tree is at the front entrace to the World Showcase (coming from Future Wolrd).

Yes, the tree lighting in Epcot is at 6pm.

 

[Hobbes130]

As a previous post said, you have to stay flexible and be willing to give stuff up if you start running late, or perhaps even change your plans (outside of TS meals) altogether.

Also, you don't say when you are going. That makes a really big difference. Crowds will be moderate to low through Friday, 21 Dec. Saturday, 22 Dec will start to get a bit worse, but people will still be travelling. Sunday, 23 Dec will be quite crowded, and Monday, 24 Dec through Monday, 31 Dec will be capacity crowds (impossibly crowded, especially mid-day). After that the crowds will taper off to moderate until Tuesday, 8 Jan.

Some sections of your itinerary are paced OK, but others are quite busy. For example, on Day 3, you have a 9:10 BBB (that should be fun!). Then you have "Carousel Dumbo IASW Tea Cups Poohs Honey Pots Snow white ride". Let's say you finish BBB at roughly 9:45, and you have head back to the castle at say 12:15, so you have about 2 1/2 hours. On a light crowd day, that is maybe possible, but rushed. I would guess more like 3 hours.

If this day is between 23-31 Dec, then I'd say you'll be lucky if you can do "Carousel Dumbo IASW".

Another thing is that there is really long park hours. Sometimes the MK will have EMH until 3AM! I know DD is only 5, but an option is to sleep during the day and go back to the park for a few hours late at night. It seems you are planning to be in the parks at the very busiest of times on some days.

And, yes, you can take the monorail directly from the Contemporary Resort to the MK. It will stop at the TTC, the Poly, and the GF first, but you won't have to disembark.

As I said, some sections are OK, but I see some similar problems in other places. So if you could tell us when you are arriving, that would be immensely helpful.

BTW, Be sure you use fast pass wisely. Get some before BBB, for example.

Hi KingStefan
Thanks for all the great advice we are in the parks for the busiest time, arrive day 1 22nd December and go home on the 31st. I guess we will need to slow the pace down on some days. We do have 1 and half free days to fit stuff in at the end of our stay perhaps we will need 3 days in MK this time of year.

Thanks again :animwink:

 

[smk]

I have been at MK Christams day and had my winter coat, hat and gloves on! I am from Indiana and very used to cold weather too but Florida seems to get a lot of damp coldness, not what I am used to.

Have a fun trip!!! It will all be fine becasue you'll be in WDW, nothing can wrong there! :wave:

 

[RNRguy]

if you plan on eating at DtD may i suggest. Hob its a awesome atmosphere and good food too. my dad orderd the jumblya and it was out of this world. and big helpings of it!

 

[Hobbes130]

Some sections of your itinerary are paced OK, but others are quite busy. For example, on Day 3, you have a 9:10 BBB (that should be fun!). Then you have "Carousel Dumbo IASW Tea Cups Poohs Honey Pots Snow white ride". Let's say you finish BBB at roughly 9:45, and you have head back to the castle at say 12:15, so you have about 2 1/2 hours. On a light crowd day, that is maybe possible, but rushed. I would guess more like 3 hours.

If this day is between 23-31 Dec, then I'd say you'll be lucky if you can do "Carousel Dumbo IASW".

Thanks for the advice also on the busy day, (Day 3) It's a bit misleading as we just grouped all the Fantasyland stuff together before lunch and put the Tomorrowland stuff after it, knowing full well we would not finish Fantasyland (if we manage it all) until middle of the afternoon or later....there isn't that much else planned that day so fingers crossed. I can see how it read thou!!

Day 3
Room Service Breakfast so we can be quick
MAGIC KINGDOM
9:10 DD has makeover booked at BB Boutique
Carousel Dumbo IASW Tea Cups Poohs Honey Pots Snow white ride
12:30 Lunch at the castle
Stitch Great Escape Philharmagic Aerials Grotto Poohs Playful Spot Country Houses Barnstormer Donald’s Boat
Christmas Parade and tree lighting
Snack at Cosmic Rays if we need it and back to hotel

 

[KingStefan]

Hi KingStefan
Thanks for all the great advice we are in the parks for the busiest time, arrive day 1 22nd December and go home on the 31st. I guess we will need to slow the pace down on some days. We do have 1 and half free days to fit stuff in at the end of our stay perhaps we will need 3 days in MK this time of year.

Thanks again :animwink:

OK, thanks for letting us know your arrival day. And welcome to these forums, btw; I hope you enjoy it here!

I'm sorry to say that you have chosen to come on the very busiest days of the entire WDW year! But don't worry. All it takes is some accommodation and forethought, and the right attitude, (oh, yes, and some pixie dust) and you will have a wonderful, magical trip.

Let me take a look again at your itinerary, and see if I have some specific suggestions. Meanwhile, in general, go as early as you can to the parks, and use Fast Pass wisely. Relax and be flexible. I'll post again after I've has some time to think.