Required Itinerary and To-Do List Changes for December 2010

By Dave Shute

See below for suggested itineraries and To-Do Lists for December 2010, along with required changes to them, by Saturday arrival date

REQUIRED CHANGES BY ARRIVAL DATE

Itinerary changes are about what you do in the parks; To-Do List changes are about when you reserve stuff.

So if the weekly guidance says “Swap Wednesday and Friday,” that means both do Wednesday’s stuff on Friday, and vice versa, and also make the reservations indicated in the To-Do List for Friday for Wednesday instead.

• November 27 2010:  Use the Basic Itinerary and its To-Do List.  You don’t need to change anything.
• December 4 2010: Use the Basic Itinerary and its To-Do List.  You don’t need to change anything.
• December 11 2010: Use the Basic Itinerary and its To-Do List.  Make the following changes:
  • Move Friday’s itinerary and reservations to Wednesday
  • Move Thursday’s itinerary and reservations to Friday
  • Move Wednesday’s itinerary and reservations to Thursday, and also start Thursday one hour earlier.
• December 18 2010: While the Basic Itinerary and its To-Do List were not designed for this week, it works just fine with a couple of exceptions. 
  • This itinerary has you seeing Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party on Tuesday night, but it is not showing the Tuesday of this week-December 21. That night, simply stay at the Magic Kingdom for the parade and fireworks
  • Swap the itineraries and reservations for Wednesday and Thursday, and begin Thursday an hour earlier than the itinerary suggests
• December 25 2010: Use as your starting point the Easter Itinerary and its To-Do List. (Yes, the Easter itinerary–not because I am messing with the liturgical calendar, but because Disney has similar schedules during its most busy weeks of the year!).  Note the following points to keep in mind:
  • Your mornings will be earlier than indicated.  During this time of the year, Disney often both opens the parks at 8a and has additional morning Extra Magic Hours–meaning that on 8a opening days, the parks open to Walt Disney World resort hotel guests at 7a. 
  • This will likely not be set in stone until the week itself.  You can track changes from Disney’s park calendars (you can find links to Disney’s calendars in the middle of this page), but what you really need to do is check openings and extra magic hours the day before.
  • The itinerary has you at the Magic Kingdom, and then at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue at Fort Wilderness, on New Year’s Eve. If you want more of a celebration, Epcot and Hollywood Studios will both have great ones.  You can go from Fort Wilderness to either after the Revue.  The Studios will be open until 3a, and Epcot until 1a. You will need to add a  Park Hopper to your tickets to do this.

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