Category — n. Approaching Dates at Disney World

2016 NEW YEAR’S EVE AT DISNEY WORLD

New Years Eve 2016 is on a Saturday. This makes me suspect we will see a slightly different set of Disney World New Year’s Eve celebrations in 2016 than we’ve seen for New Year’s Eve at Disney World in recent years.

What’s known so far is that New Year’s Eve festivities and fireworks will happen on December 31, 2016 at Disney World’s Epcot and Magic Kingdom theme parks, and also at the Magic Kingdom on December 30.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will show its Star Wars fireworks the 31st at midnight.

Until 2015 the Animal Kingdom park had no special New Year’s Eve show, but in 2015–for the first time–it offered a “New Year’s Eve Street Party” in Africa’s Harambe Market from 3:30p to 8:30p. I expect to see this happen again in 2016.

The schedule looks like this:

• Epcot will be open until 1a on New Year’s Eve; Disney’s Hollywood Studios until midnight, the Magic Kingdom until 1a, and the Animal Kingdom until 8.30p
• The Magic Kingdom will have Wishes at 7.30p and special New Year’s Eve fireworks at 11.50p
• Epcot likely will have its Illuminations fireworks show at 6p and 11.40p, plus DJs in various pavilions
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios will have fireworks at midnight
• There may be a special New Years Eve show at 8.30p at the Animal Kingdom
• Note that alcohol is not available at the Magic Kingdom, but is available at the other three parks

The Magic Kingdom will have the same fireworks at the same times on 12/30/16. This date will likely be a little less crowded than 12/31.

DISNEY WORLD PARK CLOSURES ON NEW YEAR’S EVE

Disney closes parks due to crowding often on New Year’s Eve. “Closes” means closed to additional guests–those in the parks do not have to leave.

See this for more on how Disney World park closings work.

The Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are the most likely parks to close, and Animal Kingdom the least likely.

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OVERVIEW: CHRISTMAS 2016 AT DISNEY WORLD

The Christmas season at Walt Disney World includes both the best and the worst times to visit, with both prices and crowds at both lower and very high levels over the period.

Decorations, special Christmas shows, programs, and events, and Christmas trees are everywhere, making Disney World as special a place to celebrate the holidays as you can find.

THE CHRISTMAS SEASON AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

December crowds at Walt Disney World begin at lower levels. They will begin to build on 12/17, and by 12/25 will hit their highest levels of the year, where they will stay until about January 6, 2017.

Walt Disney World resort hotel December prices at the beginning of the month are at one of the lower levels of the year.

On 12/11 they go up a lot to 25-45% higher than the lowest of the year, and on December 22, 2016, they increase to 50-65% higher than the lowest levels of the year.

December weather is cooler and variable. While the average daily high is 73, this masks tremendous variability.

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Each of the parks has wonderful Christmas decorations, and the Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot have special Christmas events, which begin in early November at Magic Kingdom, mid-November at the Studios, and right after Thanksgiving at Epcot.

• At the Magic Kingdom, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party—a special event that requires its own ticket—runs on many nights from November 7th through December 22nd. Later in December, its signature events—a special Christmas parade, and special Christmas fireworks—are available to all guests. Christmas decor is in place by the night of the first party–in 2016, November 7
• At the Studios, the new Christmas projection show Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! kicked off on November 14.
• At Epcot, the evening fireworks show Illuminations has special Christmas additions. In addition, most nights Christmas carols are sung by massed choirs in the Candlelight Processional. Many of the countries in Epcot’s World Showcase have special Christmas events as part of Epcot’s Holidays Around the World program. Epcot’s special events are fully in place the Friday after Thanksgiving–November 25 in 2016

NEW YEAR’S EVE 2016/2017 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

New Year’s Eve festivities will occur December 31, 2016 at Disney World’s Epcot, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios theme parks, and also at the Magic Kingdom on December 30. The Animal Kingdom in the past has had no special New Years events, but may well in 2016.

The complete schedule is not out yet, but based on what is out and on the past, the schedule will look like this:

• Epcot will be open until 1a on New Year’s Eve; Disney’s Hollywood Studios until at least midnight, and the Magic Kingdom until 1a or later
• The Magic Kingdom likely will have Wishes at 7.30p and special New Year’s Eve fireworks at 11.48p
• Epcot likely will have its Illuminations fireworks show at 6p and 11.40p, plus DJs in various pavilions.
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios likely may have fireworks at midnight
• There may be a New Years Eve show at the Animal Kingdom–the first ever
• Note that alcohol is not available at the Magic Kingdom, but is available at the other three parks

The Magic Kingdom likely will have the same fireworks at the same times on 12/30/16. This date will likely be a little less crowded than 12/31. Hollywood Studios may also have fireworks on 12/30–either in addition to, or instead of, 12/31 fireworks.

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This Walt Disney World itinerary is designed for the three weeks following Thanksgiving 2016. A revised version for 2017 will be out by mid-May.

(For a PDF version, click here.)

If you aren’t going one of those weeks, see Other Itineraries for alternatives the rest of the year, which are published about six months ahead.

You can enlarge the basic itinerary by clicking it. 

A detailed To-Do List covers all the planning steps you need to undertake.
And detailed daily guidance is in the links:

• Saturday
• Sunday
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Friday
• Saturday
• Sunday

ITINERARY DESIGN GOALS

The basic December itinerary was designed to meet several goals: to ensure that you

1. See the best that Walt Disney World has to offer, including all of its special Christmas season offerings
2. See the parks in the order that works best for kids (essentially Epcot first, as it is potentially the most disappointing, and the Magic Kingdom last, as it is likely to be the best loved)
3. Avoid unnecessary waiting, by using FastPass+ and other tactics…
4. Have as much time off, and as few early mornings, as practical
5. Avoid unnecessary spending–for example, the basic itinerary does not require you to buy the “Park Hopper” option, saving you more than $200

If you can’t do the dates required for the Basic Itinerary, see Other Itineraries for alternatives for both the December week and the rest of the year.

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The prices for the 2016 Mickey’s Not-So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party came out last week, and these parties are now available for booking.

While new 2016 complexity makes price comparisons to 2015 a little complicated (the link also includes exact prices by date), especially for the Halloween Party, by comparing like months (e.g all parties in September 2016 vs. all parties in September 2015), I get the following:

• September MNSSHP: up around 10%
• October MNSSHP except Halloween night: up around 10%
• Halloween night MNSSHP: up around 20%
• November MVMCP: up around 20%
• December MVMCP: up around 25%

(All these are calculated by comparing the weighted average prices for all parties during the period in 2016 vs all parties in the same period in 2015. I did the math for both adult and child tickets, and for each of advance purchase and day of event tickets.  The price increases by month across all four of these categories were about the same.)

These Halloween and Christmas party price increases continue the trend of very aggressive price increases that  began with the release of 2016 resort prices last summer.

In my itineraries, I’ve viewed the Halloween party as optional and the Christmas party as essential.

The price increase reinforces my Halloween take, and makes me a little skeptical about the Christmas party.  I’ll be rebuilding my basic December itineraries in the next few weeks (after Disney publishes its operating schedule for then).

I will be testing the practicality of sending people to the cheapest dates, and also have an idea or two about reducing other costs (no lighty hats for you!) to help with affordability.  I’ll go through all that and will make the final call in a couple of weeks. …

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DISNEY WORLD’S SPECIAL CHRISTMAS PARTY IN 2016

While Christmas itself is December 25 of course, Walt Disney World provides a special Christmas celebration at the Magic Kingdom many nights in November and December.

This celebration is called “Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, or “MVMCP” for short.

At the party, many of the Magic Kingdom’s rides are open, and cookies and hot chocolate, special events, and different Christmas parades and fireworks, and even snow (!) are offered.

The official Disney World page for this event (where you can also buy tickets) can be found here. For a review of the 2016 version of MVMCP, see this.

MORE ON MICKEY’S VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS PARTY

This party occurs from 7p-12MN on certain evenings at the Magic Kingdom in November and December.

The 2016 dates for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party are as follows:

• November 2016:  7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 18, 27 and 29
• December 2016: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18 and 22

You need to buy a special ticket for this party. This ticket is different from regular Walt Disney World park admission tickets.

• The special party ticket does not allow you to enjoy the rides and attractions of the Magic Kingdom before the the Party starts–you need a regular ticket for that (note that you can usually enter and enjoy the rides as early as 4p–although your ticket will say 7p)
• Regular tickets used to enter the park earlier the day of a Party do not give you access to the Party–you need to have the special Party ticket

The party tickets are expensive, so why would first-time visitors be interested? A couple of potential reasons

• Evening fireworks shows are rare this time of year, so going to one of the parties is a way to guarantee you can see them
• Operating hours at the Magic Kingdom are shorter this time of year, so the Party allows you more time there within the same visit
• Walt Disney World sells only a limited number of tickets to each party, so the evening can be less crowded, particularly compared to whenever the Magic Kingdom is doing evening Extra Magic Hours that week

Many families go the first time for one of these reasons…and then going becomes a tradition!

On the other hand, families following one of the standard 8-night itineraries on this site will see the fireworks and evening parade, and have plenty of time at the Magic Kingdom. For that reason, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is not designed into this site’s pre-Thanksgiving itineraries.

It is, however, built in to this site’s Christmas-oriented Basic Itinerary, which works for the three weeks beginning the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

For details on what the party offers, suggested approaches, etc., see this!

Here’s the 2016 brochure–as always on this site, click to enlarge:

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OVERVIEW: OCTOBER 2016 AT DISNEY WORLD

This page reviews October 2016 Walt Disney World crowds, prices, deals and discounts, weather, and operating hours; adds a few other notes; and ends with week by week summaries.

Later October has some of the best times of the year to visit Disney World, with nice weather, low crowds, low prices, and fun special events.

The first half of the month is OK, but not so good, as the first week is still in the peak of the hurricane season, and the second week sees extra crowds and higher prices from Columbus Day.

[Read more →]