Honeymoon 12-19 to 12-24 Advice

[CaptinEO]

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[Tuvalu]

Expect very heavy crowds and if the crowds are less than that you’ll be happy. Don’t be in a hurry (allow yourselves plenty of time for FPs and ADRs) which will keep you less frustrated should unexpected delays (transporation, ride breakdown, slow-moving people) occur. The parks are very busy the week before Christmas (though not quite as bad as the week after.)

Buses do not run on a set schedule. “Buses run approximately every 20 minutes” is Disney’s official policy. If you want to be there for rope drop, be at the AKL bus stop an hour prior to opening time. You will be able to see bus times from AKL to the parks on your MDE app once you have checked in. Unfortunately the app does not show times from the parks to resorts.

It’s about a ten minute walk from MK to the Contemporary. The check in desk for California Grill is on the second floor (you will be escorted to an elevator after you have checked in.) If fireworks are at 9 pm and you would like to see them from CG, you should be at the check in desk no later than 8:40 (leave MK between 8:15-8:30.) Tell the CM at check in that you are celebrating your honeymoon, and you may receive a surprise.

Congratulations and enjoy your Disney honeymoon! (We did ours many years ago!)

 

[JIMINYCR]

Congratulations and no matter what you encounter, youll have a memorable time. It is a wonderful time of year to visit and the decorations, shows, events are fabulous. The CM's add so much to the holiday atmosphere, be sure let them know you are on your honeymoon. Go into the parks with a plan and be patient and flexible. Crowds will be heavy but with your ADR's and FP+ in place you have some thing locked in that will save you time. The good thing is going as adults only you only have to focus on enjoying your time together. Transportation can be slowed down at times because of the crowds but it is efficient, you just have to have patience.

 

[DisneyOutsider]

All,

We have a Honeymoon planned from the 19th to the 24th. I have been to DW once before which was in 2011 and on the week of Thanksgiving. I remember the parks would have a lot of people lined up to get in, but once you entered it didn’t seem crowded at all due to how spacious the parks are (we are Disneyland locals).

I know the holiday season is busy, but how insane is it the week we are going? Is it worse than DL at this time? Either way we have our ADRs and FPs for what we want. Just wanted to keep expectations in check.

Also, what transportation times should we expect for using the Bus Service to go from AKL to the parks? For an 8:55pm California Grill reservation when would it be recommended to leave MK? Thanks so much!

Having done this week four or five times myself, here's my reply from another thread:

The thing I love about Christmas and New Year's at Disney World is that virtually none of the rides are down for renovation, there are no scrims covering the facades on Main Street, and the New Year's Eve fireworks at Magic Kingdom and Epcot are my favorite shows of all time (The xmas parade in Magic Kingdom is pretty cool, too). The price you pay is an ungodly amount of people all around you, but if you can manage your expectations.. it's glorious. I'm mostly talking about New Year's Eve, though (Dec 30 through Jan 1).

If you do come on the actual week of Christmas, expectations are key. Your schedule isn't going to go as planned. Some things you will just not get to ride/experience. Take more time to enjoy the atmosphere and put less emphasis on 'doing'. Put in that extra effort to get some nice dining reservations and your preferred Fastpasses, but don't expect that you'll get them. Expect that you will witness other guests having a miserable time, who might even be rude to you directly.. and just let it roll right off of you.

 

[JillC LI]

I would recommend rope drop but since you're honeymooners.....
;-)

 

[ToTBellHop]

I would recommend rope drop but since you're honeymooners.....
;-)

We were in the parks rope drop to close on our honeymoon. We just didn’t sleep but we were 25 and childless. A week without sleep was the teaser trailer to Our Life with Twins.

 

[JillC LI]

Hello everyone figured I would give everyone an update. So to my surprise the parks never felt crowded at all besides like a 15 minute portion after the Fantasy parade. We went to all 4 parks on seperate days including 2 seperate visits to Magic Kingdom. As a Disneyland frequenter I was amazed with how light the parks were. Even big rides like Space Mountain only get a 70-90 minute wait at most. At Disneyland the more crowded days see Space always with a 2 hour wait.

Besides the first day where we had a CRT reservation we did not rope drop and would show up around 930/10. Due to the travel and it being right after the wedding this was a good idea as it let us get rest in between.

We had an amazing time and between the Fast Passes we had and the Dining Reservations we were able to do everything we wanted. I think the Florida parks are just built much better for the traffic flow they can get vs Disneyland. We had an amazing time. Full trip report to follow.

We had a similar experience in the parks those days. Just posted my Crowd Level Report at:
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/crowd-trip-report-for-12-20-24-trip.952293/
Congratulations!