Questions about Disney at Christmas

Tink0102

Tink0102

Well-Known Member
HI! We are planning a trip at Christmas. This will not be our first Disney trip, but will be our first at Christmas time. I am looking for ideas of cool things to see Holiday related while we are there. We are not interested in spending extra money, so MVMCP is out of the question. Any ideas such as special parades, the Osborne Family lights at HS or the Gingerbread House at GF is what I am looking for. Thanks in advance!
 
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yedliW

yedliW

Well-Known Member
mergatroid said:
I'm not trying to spoil your anticipation here, but rather manage your expectations somewhat. The parks can be very, very, very busy at Christmas time, especially on and around Christmas day. It's great fun there, don't get me wrong and the fact it's Christmas multiplies the 'magic'. Just be prepared in your plans to queue a lot and the park to be very crowded! Plan your FP+'s accordingly and be prepared to queue for rides that wouldn't normally expect such waits. When you've accepted this, you can then look forward to a great time and be prepared for a busy but enjoyable day.
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We are actually going the week before Thanksgiving, so we will catch the last weekend of F&W, but still able to see much of the Christmas displays.. We were planning on staying at BWV, but when we called to book it, it wasn't available, so we got AKL.

JakeSpadaro said:
Oh and also the Jingle Cruise!
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This is another thing I am looking forward to..
 
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HouCuseChickie

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
Tink0102 said:
what is this?
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5268033579_f082572f44_z.jpg


They light them every night.

JakeSpadaro said:
Santa's also in MK on Main Street
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? on this...at what point is he consistently there? I ask b/c prior to Christmas/New Year's weeks, we've only seen him during MVMCP.
 
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piglet1

piglet1

Active Member
Goodness, can't believe no one has mentioned the Candlelight Processional followed by Christmas Illuminations! Both are a must-do for us, usually multiple times.

Depending on crowds and who is performing, you can usually get into the Processional without doing the Dining Package, or at worst you can hear the whole thing from outside. It is truly memorable, and we usually do it at least twice a night, for at least two nights.

And Christmas Illuminations is wonderful
 
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TXDisney

TXDisney

Well-Known Member
Everywhere is pretty awesome during Christmas. HS is my least favorite park, but at Christmas time it's one if my favorites in the evening. MK looks incredible must do multiple nights. Same for Epcot. Ak is just ok for Christmas.
 
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Tink0102

Tink0102

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
piglet1 said:
Goodness, can't believe no one has mentioned the Candlelight Processional followed by Christmas Illuminations! Both are a must-do for us, usually multiple times.

Depending on crowds and who is performing, you can usually get into the Processional without doing the Dining Package, or at worst you can hear the whole thing from outside. It is truly memorable, and we usually do it at least twice a night, for at least two nights.

And Christmas Illuminations is wonderful
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That sounds beautiful! Just reading the description made my eyes tear up. I will probably be a blubbering idiot, but I am going to try to do a dinner package so that we can see this. Do you have any idea of when they release the dates for this event?
 
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HouCuseChickie

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
JakeSpadaro said:
he was there on thanksgiving last year, I just figured he was always there
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Hmmmm...I wonder if they change it up. We were there in Dec 2010 and only saw him at MVMCP...didn't see him at all during Thanksgiving week of 2012...and we went early to mid Nov last year, so I think that's just too early for him in general. And it's also entirely possible that he was there at times and we were just so caught up in our little world to notice. LOL ;)
 
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brifraz

brifraz

Marching along...
Premium Member
Matt_Black said:
It's actually not that bad with a little planning. Admittedly, I've not done Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day, but rather Epcot, but still with a little patience and flexibility (and taking advantage of Extra Magic Hours as much as possible), the crowds shouldn't have too much of an impact on you.
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We've done Christmas morning at Magic Kingdom and (much to our surprise) it was great. It was a slightly misty Christmas morning, with 7am EMH. We were there at 6:30am and from 7-10am we hit pretty much everything in the park without a single line more than 5-10 minutes. At 10am, that all started to change dramatically. The weather had not improved (in fact, a little more drizzle than mist by that point), but the crowds descended and the lines grew exponentially. By 11am, lines were crazy and we were leaving the park. As we exited the parking lot, they were turning away cars (I can never remember, but I think it was just Phase 1 closing - maybe Phase 2 later in the day).

Since a large majority of people have present opening on Christmas morning, the park stays pretty empty very early. Our presents didn't arrive until later in the day (Santa snuck in while we were at MK) which was perfect.

And, we will be doing it again this year. Most likely the exact same way!
 
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harryk

harryk

Well-Known Member
90 minutes standard for Haunted Mansion, 120 minutes for Peter Pan, 45 minutes for Small World, 75 minutes for Jingle Cruise.......well I guess wait times are not too long.......fast pass+ not withstanding.
 
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piglet1

piglet1

Active Member
Tink0102 said:
That sounds beautiful! Just reading the description made my eyes tear up. I will probably be a blubbering idiot, but I am going to try to do a dinner package so that we can see this. Do you have any idea of when they release the dates for this event?
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Oh, goodness, I cry through most of the Processional. Every time. :) And Christmas Illuminations just gives you chills it's so beautiful. They usually release the dinner package dates sometime the end of August. When we have done the package, we generally do the middle show -- restaurants aren't as crowded, and when you leave you can hop on the stand-by line for the third show. :)
 
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