GoldeneyezCA
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2016
Hi all, my husband and 2 daughters (10,14) spent 5 days at WDW and Universal Dec 19-24 and had a fantastic time. We are DL Magic Key Holders, so our primary objective is to enjoy the things we don’t have here (namely AK and Epcot). It was our first trip since Aug 2017 (HOT!!), and I was concerned after reading about overcrowding. We actually had a lovely trip, were able to do everything we wanted, and relaxed a bit, too!
Lodging: Swan Reserve
- Caveat - we have Bonvoy Ambassador status and used Suite Night Awards, so we were able to book an Epcot view room + a standard room and were upgraded to an Epcot View Signature suite (corner king) + an Epcot View double-queen. This effectively gave us a 2-bedroom apartment for the week, in a gorgeous, new hotel, with complimentary breakfast for 2 delivered to the room each morning, for about the cost of ONE standard room at a Disney Deluxe. Win-win. Highly-recommend, and the walk to the Friendship Boats was much shorter than anticipated. We loved staying in this area - it was beautiful! And we fortunately had no issues linking tickets to our reservation.
Transportation: Friendship Boats, Uber, and for MK, we used the Minnie Vans that just started servicing the Swan Reserve the week before we arrived.
Genie+: We bought it every day since we were arriving late. I struck out on the VQ for Guardians every time we tried, so I just bought ILL’s. We used our MagicBand+ from DL and had no issues re-assigning them to our WDW tickets.
Touring Plan
- Unfortunately, my husband and 14 yo became sick with 2 separate, non-COVID viruses on our arrival day. We were also very jet-lagged, coming from CA. Since we all needed rest, my basic touring plan was to wake up at 7 am, book LL + ILL, keep booking every 2 hours, then hit the parks in the afternoon and evening. By the time we arrived, I had at least 4-5 rides stacked and a dinner reservation. I know this won’t work for everyone, but for those with teens/tweens who can handle late nights, it allowed us to rest during the day and have fun without wearing ourselves out. And we never waited in line for more than 10 min at any of the WDW parks.
- Mon 12/19 - Arrival day, Epcot. LOVED Guardians, wow! Hubby snagged a Space 220 reservation while we were in baggage claim - something I’d failed to accomplish despite dining alert services), so we were able to eat dinner. We really enjoyed Space 220, probably due in part to the fact we had an 8:15 pm reservation and the restaurant was nearly empty by the time we left. Service was wonderful, and the tempura cauliflower and salad were delicious (better than my filet, to be honest).
- Tues 12/20 - MVMCP. It rained all day…except from 5-11p, when we were at the party! We were mostly going for atmosphere and fireworks rather than trying to do a bunch of rides or meet characters. We did a few rides (booked LL’s prior to arrival), Be Our Guest dinner, and the Minnie’s Very Merry Plaza Garden Fireworks Dessert Party. The fireworks were wonderful!
- Wed 12/21 - Animal Kingdom. Highlights: FOP, Tusker House, and watching the gorillas (new baby is adorable!). Also, the park is just gorgeous.
- Thurs 12/23 - Universal: Honestly the most tiring day of our trip (full 12 hours). We knew it would be crowded, but it was like DL NYE-level insane - can’t remember the last time I’ve seen crowds like that. We purchased unlimited express passes and didn’t even use the unlimited feature, because the express pass waits were 30-45 min for most rides. Best rides for us were Hagrid’s (4 hr wait when we arrived 30 min before park opening, 2.5 hr wait when we finally rode it later that day) and Velocicoaster, and the kids loved Diagon Alley. But given the considerable upcharge for the express passes, we were not thrilled.
- Fri 12/23: AK, then Epcot, to repeat our favorites (FOP, Navi, Everest, Discovery Trails, Mission Space, GUARDIANS!!!). Also had a tasty lunch at Tiffins, and spent some time just enjoying the World Showcase on our last night. We intended to stay for Harmonious, but it was just too cold that night (around 40F).
This was the first time WDW has ever felt like a relaxing vacation to me (apart from the 7 am wake-ups), LOL! We’ll be back in a few years.
Lodging: Swan Reserve
- Caveat - we have Bonvoy Ambassador status and used Suite Night Awards, so we were able to book an Epcot view room + a standard room and were upgraded to an Epcot View Signature suite (corner king) + an Epcot View double-queen. This effectively gave us a 2-bedroom apartment for the week, in a gorgeous, new hotel, with complimentary breakfast for 2 delivered to the room each morning, for about the cost of ONE standard room at a Disney Deluxe. Win-win. Highly-recommend, and the walk to the Friendship Boats was much shorter than anticipated. We loved staying in this area - it was beautiful! And we fortunately had no issues linking tickets to our reservation.
Transportation: Friendship Boats, Uber, and for MK, we used the Minnie Vans that just started servicing the Swan Reserve the week before we arrived.
Genie+: We bought it every day since we were arriving late. I struck out on the VQ for Guardians every time we tried, so I just bought ILL’s. We used our MagicBand+ from DL and had no issues re-assigning them to our WDW tickets.
Touring Plan
- Unfortunately, my husband and 14 yo became sick with 2 separate, non-COVID viruses on our arrival day. We were also very jet-lagged, coming from CA. Since we all needed rest, my basic touring plan was to wake up at 7 am, book LL + ILL, keep booking every 2 hours, then hit the parks in the afternoon and evening. By the time we arrived, I had at least 4-5 rides stacked and a dinner reservation. I know this won’t work for everyone, but for those with teens/tweens who can handle late nights, it allowed us to rest during the day and have fun without wearing ourselves out. And we never waited in line for more than 10 min at any of the WDW parks.
- Mon 12/19 - Arrival day, Epcot. LOVED Guardians, wow! Hubby snagged a Space 220 reservation while we were in baggage claim - something I’d failed to accomplish despite dining alert services), so we were able to eat dinner. We really enjoyed Space 220, probably due in part to the fact we had an 8:15 pm reservation and the restaurant was nearly empty by the time we left. Service was wonderful, and the tempura cauliflower and salad were delicious (better than my filet, to be honest).
- Tues 12/20 - MVMCP. It rained all day…except from 5-11p, when we were at the party! We were mostly going for atmosphere and fireworks rather than trying to do a bunch of rides or meet characters. We did a few rides (booked LL’s prior to arrival), Be Our Guest dinner, and the Minnie’s Very Merry Plaza Garden Fireworks Dessert Party. The fireworks were wonderful!
- Wed 12/21 - Animal Kingdom. Highlights: FOP, Tusker House, and watching the gorillas (new baby is adorable!). Also, the park is just gorgeous.
- Thurs 12/23 - Universal: Honestly the most tiring day of our trip (full 12 hours). We knew it would be crowded, but it was like DL NYE-level insane - can’t remember the last time I’ve seen crowds like that. We purchased unlimited express passes and didn’t even use the unlimited feature, because the express pass waits were 30-45 min for most rides. Best rides for us were Hagrid’s (4 hr wait when we arrived 30 min before park opening, 2.5 hr wait when we finally rode it later that day) and Velocicoaster, and the kids loved Diagon Alley. But given the considerable upcharge for the express passes, we were not thrilled.
- Fri 12/23: AK, then Epcot, to repeat our favorites (FOP, Navi, Everest, Discovery Trails, Mission Space, GUARDIANS!!!). Also had a tasty lunch at Tiffins, and spent some time just enjoying the World Showcase on our last night. We intended to stay for Harmonious, but it was just too cold that night (around 40F).
This was the first time WDW has ever felt like a relaxing vacation to me (apart from the 7 am wake-ups), LOL! We’ll be back in a few years.
