Basic Itinerary: Daily Links

Itineraries for the Rest of the Year      Basic December Itinerary
Summary    To-Do List    Sat    Sun    Mon    Tues    Weds    Thurs    Fri    Sat    Sun

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Disney-World-Basic-December-Itinerary-v3-hspThis Walt Disney World itinerary is designed for three specific December weeks. (Click here for itineraries for the rest of the year.)

You can review the basic itinerary by clicking on the thumbnail; if you need to enlarge it, click it again.

There is also a page for each day of your vacation, with specific instructions for that day. See links below.

LINKS TO DAYS AND TO-DO LIST

The links below take you to pages with specific guidance on what to do every day of your first family Walt Disney World vacation, and the To-Do List for preparing for your trip.

Click here to return to the introduction to the Basic Itinerary

LINKS TO BASIC ITINERARY VARIANTS

BASIC ITINERARY LESS SECOND SUNDAY: Summary To-Do List

BASIC ITINERARY LESS FIRST SATURDAY: Summary To-Do List

BASIC ITINERARY LESS FIRST SATURDAY AND SECOND SUNDAY: Summary To-Do List

BASIC ITINERARY 5 NIGHT VERSION: Summary To-Do List

BASIC ITINERARY RELAXED VERSION: Summary To-Do List

ITINERARY LINKS


24 comments

1 totally confused { 01.24.11 at 5:12 pm }

Hi,
Need help I’m looking for a itinerary Jan30 – Feb 4. Kids ages are 5 and 8 and we are really planning not to do the water parks and Animal kingdom..
from a Stressed out Mom

2 Dave { 01.24.11 at 6:26 pm }

My itineraries are for longer periods. This page shows how to build your own itinerary: http://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/how-long-to-stay/other-trip-lengths/designing-your-own-walt-disney-world-itinerary/

An alternative is Touringplans.com (you have to pay a few bucks). They have recommended parks by day, and also itineraries for each park.

Hope this helps and have a great trip!!

3 Sue Rivers { 06.15.11 at 3:00 pm }

We will be a party of five adults travelling to Orlando 21 Dec 2011. We would like to book the Candlelight procession at Epcot on Christmas Eve but how difficult will this prove? I would imagine I will have to be very quick to book and worry if I miss the date when tickets/reservations will be online. Do you have any advice?

4 Dave { 06.15.11 at 9:12 pm }

Hi Sue!

You want to book the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package–for more, see http://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/05/09/the-candlelight-processional-and-candlelight-dinner-package-at-walt-disney-world/

The dates may first come out here: http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/epcot/special-events/candlelight-processional/ or here: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/

I’d check both every day as soon as you get up for when they are reservable…

Hope this helps!! Dave

5 mamawbud { 12.17.11 at 6:19 pm }

Our family is going to be in wdw Dec 26-Jan1. 7 adults and 5 children (ages 4-10 3boys and 2 girls) It is the first trip for the children and the 2 daughter-n-laws. I am sure we will all be overwhelmed. We have reservation ot eat at Tusker house on Friday at 11:30. But we would appreciate any suggestion on what to do to make the best of our time. Thanks

6 Dave { 12.18.11 at 9:40 am }

Hi Mamawbud–a question for you because it affects my response–where are you staying?

7 Amy { 08.07.12 at 8:16 pm }

I just saw where the grand opening of the new Fantasyland is on Dec 6. We leave to come back home on Dec 2. I am so sad. Do you know if they will have any “sneak peaks” in the days before the grand opening?

8 Dave { 08.08.12 at 4:25 am }

Hi Amy, previews being Nov 19–see this http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/08/new-fantasyland-grand-opening-set-for-december-6-at-magic-kingdom-park-at-walt-disney-world-resort/ No guarantees everything will be operating all the time during previews, but you should have a good shot at seeing New Fantasyland!

9 Amy { 08.08.12 at 9:18 pm }

Thank You!!!

10 Dave { 08.08.12 at 10:00 pm }

:)

11 Troy { 10.04.12 at 12:20 am }

Dave–

As always, thanks for what you do. Question regarding Magic Kingdom’s hours. We’re coming in 11/24-12/2 – all arranged in the last few days. So pretty last-minute, but we’re still getting reservations pretty well. However, now that we’re all set for restaurants and such, I noticed that MK’s hours on Tuesday, 11/27 are not the same as on your itinerary. The itinerary has them staying open late and we were planning to see Wishes that night, but Disney’s website shows them open 9-7 as normal.

Obviously, I don’t blame you for this (how dare they decide their own hours! :-) ), but do you know something that might be coming up that’s not reflected on their website? Will the hours be tilting to what you expected, or is Monday the day they’ll be open late and do Wishes (as their website says)? This puts a kink on eating plans and everything – if we were to pull back to Mon, then we’d need new reservations for there and AK which would be pushed to Tues – and we’d lose the extra hour at AK.

Sorry for the novel. Point is: will these times change toward what you’ve reflected, or should we just keep as-is and just miss Wishes?

Thanks!

12 Dave { 10.04.12 at 12:59 pm }

Hey Troy, the December itinerary and its to do list assume that you buy an additional set of tix for the Tuesday evening Mickey’s Very Merry Xmas Party, whihc starts at 7p (when the park closes to guests without that ticket)–see this: http://yourfirstvisit.net/2012/04/18/mickeys-very-merry-christmas-party-2012-at-walt-disney-world/

13 Troy { 10.04.12 at 11:54 pm }

Man, you keep busting me on things that I’ve missed in other places! I appreciate your hand-holding. We are going to buy tix to it, however, we were planning to come (as part of our 8-day pass) to the park anyway that day – we have already made reservations to Liberty Tree Tavern at 1:40. So are we not going to be able to come in for that? Or once we’re in, are we good, and we just show our Christmas passes at some point? Thanks!

14 Dave { 10.05.12 at 8:32 am }

Hey Troy no worries. You come in on a regular ticket. At some point in the later afternoon cast members will being giving party wristbands to people who show them party tickets.

15 Troy { 10.06.12 at 1:11 pm }

Dave–

Thanks again for your advice so far.

We’re coming in on your #2 week for 2012 – 11/24-12/2. However, I just discovered touringplans.com, and I’m panicking. Sat 11/24 is a 10 out of 10 for crowds, and Sun 11/25 is a 9 out of 10. On 3 of the days w/ your itinerary, we’re going to the “park to avoid.” 11/25-HS, 11/30-EP, 12/1-MK. And we’re taking Thursday off to go to Seaworld, so we’re having to fit HS all in on 11/25 – the day they say to avoid on a 9 out of 10 day.

Do you have any calming words of advice for me? I know you said that the weekdays will make up for it (MK on Tues and Wed is the best park to be in and that’s where we are). We’ve made restaurant reservations everyday, so if we revamp, plans are thrown into chaos 7 weeks out. We’re going w/ 2 kids and my parents, so I expect a nightmare.

Can you make me feel better? :-)
Troy

16 Dave { 10.06.12 at 1:36 pm }

Troy don’t worry you’ll be fine!

Saturdays and Sundays always have high crowd ratings because almost every trip–short or long–includes them, and locals can most easily go those days. Sat the 24th is a ten because it’s the last day of Thanksgiving crowds, but my itinerary doesn’t have you in any lines on Saturday. Sunday won’t be a 9–it’ll be closer to a 7 or 6.

Also don’t worry about the “parks to avoid” point. With one exception these are relative, not absolute, as you can tell if you dig into TP’s daily crowd calendars by park–crowds are low even at “parks to avoid”, and a good plan is, as they themselves say, 5 times more important than picking a specific park on a specific day.

The exception is Sunday the 25th at HS, which they have as a 9.9.

I understand why they would have it as a “park to avoid”–it has Extra Magic Hours, and AK and MK close early. But since Sunday won’t be a 9, HS won’t be a 9.9. However, if you are still concerned, swap Sunday and Thursday–see this (it’s about Harry Potter, but applies to all the non-Disney parks) http://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/07/31/the-best-and-worst-days-of-the-week-to-see-the-wizarding-world-of-harry-potter/

17 Troy { 10.07.12 at 11:07 pm }

Thanks Dave! Yes, we tend to agree with the reasoning of why the non-Disney parks are so low on Sunday – because people are going to Disney first! And yes, we’re probably going to do the same because we just got in.

So do you happen to have an itinerary somewhere doing an all-day of HS on a Sunday? Or a way to fit as much in as possible in one long day? Just when I think I’ve seen everything on site, you point me to something I haven’t seen. :-) If not, no problem.

Thanks for all you do!
Troy

18 Dave { 10.08.12 at 6:30 am }

Hi Troy, not exactly, but you can use the Monday HS itinerary here for Sunday http://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/basic-itinerary/alternative-itineraries/itineraries-for-the-rest-of-the-year/v2-of-2009-autumn-winter-spring-itinerary/

Add Fantasmic (currently scheduled for 6.30p, but likely to have an 8p show added) and (if you can) the opening of the Osborne Lights (6p) to it. If there’s not a later Fantasmic added, then skip the opening of the Osborne lights, and just visit them later in the evening…

19 Troy { 11.15.12 at 1:10 am }

Continuing on the theme above, we’ve switched around a little bit, and we’ll be going to HS on Mon, Nov. 26. Shorter hours, but better crowds. We have to do HS in one day, and the group I’m with probably won’t be able to handle a marathon long day where we could use EMH.

I’ve gotten 4:15 reservations for 50s, and then we were going to have to do the hour long wait for Fantasmic at 6:30. (How soon would they be determining if they would have an 8:00 show which you allude to above?) So essentially our day at the park would be ending at 4, as it’s dinner then wait then Fantasmic. I’ve been concerned that we wouldn’t have time to fit everything in by 4.

Well, a 1:10 reservation at Mama as part of the Fantasmic Dining package just opened up, so I took it as well while I figure out which reservation to keep. I’d rather eat in 50s, but I like the idea of not having to wait as long with the package, plus not feeling like our day has ended at the early hour of 4 pm.

What are your thoughts? Which path would you recommend? And the dining package with reserved seating: is that reserved seating in a good spot? (Or at least in the top half which I hear is the best place to be?)

Thanks!

20 Dave { 11.15.12 at 7:27 am }

Hi Troy, on balance I’d go with the 1.10 at Mama Melrose. The reserved seating is actually so-so–you are off to the side of the viewing area–but the added flexibility you gain at the end of the day–and the saved half hour of waiting–probably make sit worth it…

21 Jo-Ann { 02.12.13 at 9:10 pm }

Hi Dave, Thank you again, so very much for all the help. My hubbie and I are going on our first trip (since the 80′s) Jan 2/14 – Jan 9/14. We are staying at the polynesian at your recomendation. We are getting organized with our ‘desired meal events’. We will be travelling witha 7 year old (the trip’s for her)……a 2 year old, and all the grandparents. We were just looking on advise for itenerary on these dates…………since we’ll be arriving on a Thursday. We would like to do a Mickey’s breakfast character meal, a Aloha Dinner show, and maybe the Hoop-De-Doo review. Also, we would like to see the Illuminations at Epcot, Wishes at MK, and Fantasmic at HS. We’re trying to figure out how to build our itenerary around this? As you can tell from the age of our little ones, missing a few rides, won’t be the end of the earth….if that helps in the suggestions……… Thanks

22 Dave { 02.13.13 at 6:53 am }

Hi Jo-Ann! The first part of your visit–Jan 2 through Jan 4–will be wildly crowded…are you sure you want to arrive then?

Regarding an itinerary I won’t have anything tight to offer until Disney releases its January calendar, whihc it won’t do until mid-late June. I expect to see very different operating calendars over the two weeks that your trip partly covers, so it’ll be tricky.

If you simply want a starting point to plan (and daydream) with, take a look at this http://yourfirstvisit.net/planning-your-first-family-trip/basic-itinerary/alternative-itineraries/itineraries-for-the-rest-of-the-year/v2-of-2009-autumn-winter-spring-itinerary/

Then get back to me in later June so we can nail this down!

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23 Mike { 04.17.13 at 10:00 pm }

Thanks for all your hard work. Cant wait till may to find out what the announcement is. You and josh do a helluva good job with peoples disney planning

24 Dave { 04.18.13 at 7:42 am }

Thanks Mike!

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