Pre-Trip The "Yes I know we're crazy, but com'on it's a family Christmas in WDW" - updated with FP+ choices

I am not really sure where to start since this is my first ever pre-trip report for my first time back to Disney World in a looooong time.

It was back in April during the Easter weekend that my parents informed my wife and I that they thought it was about time that they took "the kids" away for a Family Christmas Vacation, and Walt Disney World was where they wanted to take us. So mouth wide open I found myself trying not to say "YES" too loudly or too quickly. It has long been talked about but seemed like it would never come to fruition. Now we were on the cusp of one awesome vacation, the only problem was that we couldn't tell the one person who would be the most excited of everybody.

That would be my DD! (who has wanted to go to WDW since she could talk)

So who is going on the little family vacation, you may ask?

Well there is myself (Jeff 39), my wife Donna (44), my DD Evelyn (11), DS Jeffrey (22) and of course the greatest parents/grandparents anyone can ask for my mom Ruth and my dad Al.

We will be staying at Disney's All-Star Music Resort and checking in on Christmas Day and staying right through the New Year and leaving on the 2nd of January. We have 7 day tickets w/park hoppers and will be using the regular dining plan.

Ohhhh yeah also forgot to mention that my parents informed me that since they are taking care of paying for everything short of spending money it was my responsibility to make all the plans and reservations.
It has been exactly 25 years since I have been to WDW and 15 for my parents, so to say that there is a little bit of a learning curve to the ins and outs of WDW is an understatement.

Luckily I quickly found this wonderful site and have found it to be a great place to ask questions, read and find a community of amazing people to help me with the planning.

So the plan is to leave the Great White North in the early hours of December 24th and to drive straight through to Orlando. Google Maps has it at around 20 hours of driving.Kind of crazy, but with 4 able drivers I think its doable.

After a couple of hiccups and a phone call with a lovely CM I succeeded in booking our ADR's

Dec 25.....Raglan Road Irish Pub (will definitely have a Christmas beer for @coachwnh, booked after following his live TR)
Dec 26.....Hoop - Dee - Doo Musical Revue
Dec 27..... Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano (Fantasmic Package)
Dec 28.....Liberty Tree Tavern followed by the Wishes Dessert Party at Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant
Dec 29.....Teppan Edo
Dec 30.....'Ohana
Dec 31.....Fantasia 2014 Buffet at EPCOT World Showplace (I am still not 100% sure what this all entails. Apparently we get access to a preferred viewing area for the New Year's Eve Illuminations show, but I have yet had a CM be able to tell me where this area is or what all is involved) guess I will leave it up to the Disney gods to having a good time

And finally Jan 1.....I am still a little undecided yet as to where we should spend our last night. I have 2 reservations booked. Chefs de France and The Wave of American Flavours.

Maybe the wise forum members can help me out here. Should we dine and stay at Epcot or visit one park during the day and then hit up the Contemporary and visit The Magic Kingdom?

December 25th will be check in and DTD.

I am planning on the 26th starting at Animal Kingdom and then taking a boat from Fort Wilderness to the MK after Hoop - dee - doo for EMH's.
The 27th will be a later start and then spend the day at HS.
The 28th will be a full day at MK.
The 29th will be spent at Epcot and then maybe moving somewhere else after dinner.
The 30th is a bit of a question mark. I am still unsure about the possibility of doing AK or HS during the day and then hopping to MK after 'Ohana to spend the evening and view the pre showing of the New Years fireworks (is this possible or will it be to busy?).
The 31st will be spent at Epcot and as I stated earlier I am still unsure of what to do on our last day.

WELL......thats all folks. Thanks for sticking through this lengthy Pre-Trip Report. I would love get some feedback on my plan so far.

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

 

[epcotisbest]

Good luck. Hope you have a wonderful trip. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess you won't be the only ones there during that time of year. Much braver than me. As for the last day, I would make it a final day at MK taking it easy and hitting things you may not have done earlier, and trying special things like Sleepy Hollow waffles, SFRTH, Dole Whips, Casey's and just enjoying things like the Flag Retreat, stuff like that. A leisurely day avoiding the masses could be fun. As for me, no way would I ever go during the holidays again. Did it once and that was one time too many.

 

[coachwnh]

Hope you enjoy Christmas in WDW as much as we have. Since we won't be there this year, I'll live vicariously through your report! Looking forward to that Christmas beer at RR. Wish I was could be there to toast with you. Have a great time!

 

[disneypearl]

You will have a great time! I've been over Christmas & New Year's before and really enjoyed it. It will be very busy, but going in and being prepared and ready for it helps. The parks will be all decorated and the atmosphere will be festive.

 

[Jae99]

Good luck. Hope you have a wonderful trip. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess you won't be the only ones there during that time of year. Much braver than me. As for the last day, I mould make it a final day at MK taking it easy and hitting things you may not have done earlier, and trying special things like Sleepy Hollow waffles, SFRTH, Dole Whips, Casey's and just enjoying things like the Flag Retreat, stuff like that. A leisurely day avoiding the masses could be fun. As for me, no way would I ever go during the holidays again. Did it once and that was one time too many.

I agree that there are MUCH better times of year to go, but my parents have wanted to do this family Christmas in WDW for over 10 yrs. We all know it will be crazy crowded and have agreed that we will not have any sort of grand expectations for going on every ride or show. Its just going to be a blast spending the time with the ones I love the most during the best time of year in the happiest place on earth.

 

[Jae99]

You will have a great time! I've been over Christmas & New Year's before and really enjoyed it. It will be very busy, but going in and being prepared and ready for it helps. The parks will be all decorated and the atmosphere will be festive.

We will definitely be prepared for the crowds. What do you think the chances of park hopping are going to be like? I am hoping to switch parks on a couple of days during the evenings to take advantage of some EMH's.

 

[disneypearl]

We will definitely be prepared for the crowds. What do you think the chances of park hopping are going to be like? I am hoping to switch parks on a couple of days during the evenings to take advantage of some EMH's.

We always can park hop if we want because the parks are usually open very late during that time. I would keep watch on park crowd levels to make sure you can easily get into the park you want. You could ask guest relations if a park is getting close to closing to capacity. I've never had a problem though and you probably wouldn't either because you are staying on property. I'd just check first with guest relations.

 

[DVCPluto]

Love your plan! I can't wait to hear all about arriving on Christmas Day (what an amazing present)!

My only concern would be going to EMH in MK on 12/26. Maybe someone who has been at this time could speak to it better than myself, but I've heard of MK reaching capacity on this day. Maybe have a back up just in case?

 

[Jae99]

Love your plan! I can't wait to hear all about arriving on Christmas Day (what an amazing present)!

My only concern would be going to EMH in MK on 12/26. Maybe someone who has been at this time could speak to it better than myself, but I've heard of MK reaching capacity on this day. Maybe have a back up just in case?

That was my concern as well. Our Hoop - dee - doo reservation is for 6:15. I was also hoping to visit WL and see the Christmas decorations while we were at in Fort Wilderness, so it would probably be after 9 pm before we even thought of going to MK. I believe the EMH hours extend to 3am (according to touringplans)

If somebody has a better idea of what the park might be at that time I would appreciate the insight

 

[Jae99]

Hope you enjoy Christmas in WDW as much as we have. Since we won't be there this year, I'll live vicariously through your report! Looking forward to that Christmas beer at RR. Wish I was could be there to toast with you. Have a great time!

Thank you! I am sure we will have a great time. Its just a matter of getting over the building anticipation as the days are counting down.

 

[Jae99]

So after a great deal of worry and confusion over some missing tickets and FP windows not opening, and much time spent on the phone with our TA and Disney Customer Support (you can read the whole escapade here -http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/what-to-do-tickets-are-lost-phew-finally-got-it-figured-out.892455/) . I can proudly announce that I crossed the last hurdle for our trip and have successfully made out FP+ choices for our upcoming trip.

Our selections are as follows:

Dec 26 : Animal Kingdom
Kilimanjaro Safaris®
10:20 AM - 11:20 AM
Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain®
12:10 PM - 1:10 PM
DINOSAUR
1:40 PM - 2:40 PM
We will tour the Wilderness Lodge after our dinner at Hoop - dee - doo and the head to MK for EMH

Dec 27 : Hollywood Studios
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Toy Story Midway Mania!
10:35 AM - 11:35 AM
Star Tours® – The Adventures Continue
12:15 PM - 1:15 PM
We have Mama Melrose booked with the Fantasmic Package at 1:30

Dec 28 : Magic Kingdom
Peter Pan's Flight®
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
10:35 AM - 11:35 AM
"it's a small world"®
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Space Mountain®
1:05 PM - 2:05 PM

Dec 29 : Epcot
Spaceship Earth
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Soarin'®
11:10 AM - 12:10 PM
The Seas with Nemo & Friends®
12:20 PM - 1:20 PM

Dec 30 : Hollywood Studios
Muppet*Vision 3D
9:25 AM - 10:25 AM
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™
11:20 AM - 12:20 PM
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster® Starring Aerosmith
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
We have dinner booked at O'hana and were hoping to hop over to MK later in the evening to catch the NYE fireworks show that is shown as a warm up to NYE.

Dec 31 : Epcot
Test Track® Presented by Chevrolet®
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Spaceship Earth
11:50 AM - 12:50 PM
Turtle Talk With Crush
2:20 PM - 3:20 PM
We will be staying in the park for the duration of the day to celebrate NYE.

Jan 1 : Magic Kingdom
Jungle Cruise®
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Pirates of the Caribbean®
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
Splash Mountain®
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

I must admit that I was very concerned how the whole selection process would go and what whether SDMT would be available or not. Now that it is all over I must commend Disney on the simplicity with the system. I had my original choices done in less than 15 minutes and then was able to go back in and fine tune every detail.

I have spent a couple of hours total but feel that we got exactly what we wanted with times that we wanted without any problems at all.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

We arrived Dec 25th on our last WDW visit (2008) and stayed until Jan 4th.

Christmas at WDW - you'll love it. Just be prepared for the HUGE crowds on NYE.

 

[Sudcaro- Sudcaro]

Dec 28 : Magic Kingdom
Peter Pan's Flight®
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
10:35 AM - 11:35 AM
"it's a small world"®
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Space Mountain®
1:05 PM - 2:05 PM
.

4 FPs?

 

[DVCPluto]

Awesome selection! So happy that you were able to figure everything out... way to keep your cool and keep at it!

4 FPs?

My question, too

 

[Jae99]

Awesome selection! So happy that you were able to figure everything out... way to keep your cool and keep at it!



My question, too

We have 4 FP's showing that day because my parents are not up to riding Space Mountain, so they are going to do IASW while we do Space Mountain. It shows up as 4 FP's in the MDE site.

I just copy and pasted the info from the site to save some time typing.

 

[DVCPluto]

We have 4 FP's showing that day because my parents are not up to riding Space Mountain, so they are going to do IASW while we do Space Mountain. It shows up as 4 FP's in the MDE site.

I just copy and pasted the info from the site to save some time typing.

Gotcha! Thought you might have figured out some awesome work around to get more FPs. Wishful thinking

 

[Jae99]

Gotcha! Thought you might have figured out some awesome work around to get more FPs. Wishful thinking

Yes wishful thinking indeed. But, I think I might have found a work around for people with multiple sets of MB's. We are receiving 2 sets of MB's for our trip since we have 2 sets of hotel ressies. One for our week package that we booked as well as one set for our added night to the beginning of the trip.

I am hoping to be able to get 6 FP's for my wife and kids by using my extra band and my parent extra bands. They can use our extras while myself and my parents are on a tour in Epcot.

 

[Kate Alan]

So glad you were able to sort everything out with the tickets and get the FP's you wanted! We just booked ours this morning and managed to snag all our times too...I didn't want to leave anything to chance with it being the week between Christmas and New Year's, so I was glued to that computer at 11:55pm, haha. You should have an awesome trip!

 

[Jae99]

So glad you were able to sort everything out with the tickets and get the FP's you wanted! We just booked ours this morning and managed to snag all our times too...I didn't want to leave anything to chance with it being the week between Christmas and New Year's, so I was glued to that computer at 11:55pm, haha. You should have an awesome trip!

I am glad everything worked out for you as well. I was very nervous that I wouldn't get any good times, but even picking the FP's 12 hours after the FP window opened I didn't have any problems.

It was a very easy system to pick the original times and then just as easy to be able to go in and pick better/more suitable times as well as customize the experiences for different people in my party.

Maybe we will bump into each other in the park.

Have a great trip!