Essential Holiday Tips for Walt Disney World
Your 2020 Walt Disney World holiday visit will differ from any you’ve ever had before. What else is new about this madcap year?
MickeyBlog knows that you’ve got questions about how this trip will work compared to normal years.
Here are ten pro tips for your Walt Disney World holiday visit.
Don’t Forget Park Passes!
During 2020, Disney has altered the rules for park admission. Even when you own an annual pass or other admission tickets, you need a Park Pass.
These passes entitle you to enter a specific theme park on a given day.
For instance, you’d need a December 25th Park Pass to spend Christmas at Magic Kingdom. You’re out of luck without one.
Disney has taken this approach to regulate capacity at its four theme parks in Orlando.
Recently, Disney increased maximum capacity from 25 to 35 percent, giving you a better chance at booking a Park Pass.
The holidays will come with a bit more competition, though. Disney has reported 77 percent hotel occupancy for the end of 2020.
So, you must remember to book your Park Passes before your trip. Otherwise, you’re likely to get shut out and thereby waste a vacation day.
My Disney Experience Is Your Best Friend
You’ve likely heard by now that Disney has shut down the FastPass system.
The company intends to replace it with a more extensive system, Disney Genie. That will probably happen at some point in 2021.
Until then, a park visit feels retro. You’re reduced to waiting in lines the old-fashioned way.
As such, you’ll need to monitor wait-times to know where to go and which attractions to skip for the time being.
Some attractions come with dramatic variances. You could wait 15 minutes or 50 minutes for Soarin’, depending on the crowds and time of day.
Obviously, you don’t want to spend an extra half-hour in line if you can avoid it.
So, keep checking My Disney Experience to know where the shortest lines are.
Base Your Day on Your Chosen Park
Each Disney park comes with its own behavior and quirks.
For instance, your primary goal at Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be exploring Pandora – The World of Avatar.
Similarly, you’ll prioritize Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
You should set goals for each park visit. Which rides and shows do you need to experience to have the best possible time?
Your answers will vary based on the park, and that’s okay! Just make sure that you set achievable goals and plan your day around meeting them.
Realistically, Magic Kingdom will be your ride day, as this park offers the most attractions.
EPCOT will be your most casual day, as its ride wait-times are mostly reasonable. Plus, you’ll have other holiday stuff to do, as we’ll discuss.
At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you’ll split your visit between playing with the animals and experiencing the rides. As for Hollywood Studios, well…
Wake Up Early on Hollywood Studios Days
Disney has changed the rules several times for its most popular attraction.
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance requires guests to book a Boarding Group to experience its greatness.
Getting a Boarding Group has proven quite challenging at times and less stressful at others.
Currently, you enjoy solid odds of booking a Boarding Group. Still, the holidays will ramp up the difficulty due to increased crowds.
To book a Boarding Group, you must access My Disney Experience at 7 a.m.
Well, if you wait until 7 on the dot, you’re screwed. So, you need to be in the system a few minutes early.
I put together a detailed guide here. The gist is that you need your phone in hand by 6:55 a.m. on any day when you’re visiting Hollywood Studios.
Otherwise, you’re ceding the opportunity to ride Rise of the Resistance. Yes, there’s still a second chance at 2 p.m., but those odds are long.
Arrive as Early as Possible
Without FastPasses, Disney parks work in phases. You’ll find smaller crowds early and late in the day.
The average guest shows up an hour or two after the park opens and then leaves well before closing.
Savvy park visitors take advantage of these trends, especially the early morning one.
Since Disney reopened in July, the parks have sometimes admitted guests well ahead of the official opening.
People have reported getting into the parks as much as 90 minutes ahead of time. However, those were special circumstances involving Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
All the parks have allowed guests to enter at least half an hour early on specific dates, though.
You should always show up as early as possible for your park visit.
In doing so, you give yourself a chance to knock out one or two of the most popular rides before the park is even officially open!
During the holidays, this tactic could go a long way in assuring you have the best possible park visit.
Use Mobile Ordering and Contactless Payment
Look, I don’t want to dwell on the negative here, but there’s a pandemic going on.
You want to be safe and smart, and if you get to maximize your park time, it’s so much the better, right?
For that reason, you should use Mobile Ordering as much as possible. You’ll eat quicker and avoid lines/crowds.
Frankly, Mobile Ordering should become your default method for grabbing food at Disney.
Your My Disney Experience app will require credit card info. So, you’ll set up contactless payment for it.
However, you’ll want to use Google Pay or Apple Pay for your other vacation purchases.
That way, you’re not having to insert a credit card and perform button presses when you buy stuff during your trip.
Pay Attention to Park Hours
Disney has modified holiday park hours approximately 7,000 times over the past two months. I’m joking, but tracking hours has proven challenging.
Park officials must estimate holiday crowd traffic and demand. There’s a lot of guesswork involved, a rarity for Disney planners.
So, you keep an eye on park hours during your intended visitation dates.
Some parks like Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom could open as early as 8 a.m. Of course, Animal Kingdom also closes as soon as 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, EPCOT runs later, generally opening at 11 a.m., at least that’s what the park calendar shows as I type this.
Since you cannot Park Hop right now (this amenity returns in January), you need to know how much time you’ll get to spend in your park of choice.
The other thing you should keep in mind is that all four parks feature holiday decorations that look better at night. So, you should stay until closing, too.
Sample the Holiday Cuisine
Speaking of the holidays, Disney serves special treats at this time of the year. EPCOT, in particular, offers international holiday cuisine.
You’ll want to spend some time at the Taste of the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays.
This festival has modified some of its offerings as a concession to the pandemic. The Holiday Kitchens remain ridiculous, though.
You’ll find enough foods here to eat every meal at EPCOT. Alas, the Park Pass rule makes that impossible.
Thankfully, the other parks sell holiday fare as well. No, it’s not as good as the Holiday Kitchens…but what is?
Explore the Resorts and Look at the Decorations
I cannot stress this one enough. You should find the time to visit some official Disney resorts.
These places haven’t done as much for the holidays as usual, but they’ve done more than enough to justify a visit.
At a minimum, ride the monorail to the three Monorail Resorts and explore each one.
You’ll discover spectacular yuletide decorations and even some snacks.
The hotel managers distinguish each property, and you never know what you’ll find.
For example, Disney’s Contemporary Resort features a giant Christmas tree outside the building.
Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa couldn’t operate its usual gingerbread house. So, the chefs built a scale one instead.
All Disney resorts are worth your time during the holidays, and they’ll be much less crowded than the parks, too!
Don’t Miss the Holiday Shows
Park officials have overcompensated in 2020.
They’re almost apologetic about the pandemic and have added plenty of shows to provide entertainment.
You’ll find a slew of holiday Cavalcades that are unique this year. In other words, if you don’t watch them now, you may never get another chance.
Similarly, some old standards have relocated as a concession to the pandemic.
Joyful! A Gospel Celebration of the Season holds down the fort at the Fountain of Nations Stage.
Meanwhile, the Jammitors have moved to the Canada pavilion for some reason.
At Hollywood Studios, the best presentation isn’t a show per se. The Sunset Season’s Greetings projects digital images on the Hollywood Tower Hotel.
Similarly, Cinderella Castle will light up with its own digital projections…and even some fireworks! You heard me!
Disney just brought back a very low-key fireworks offering to enhance Cinderella Castle.
Don’t expect a lot, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by it!
In fact, that’s true of a lot of stuff at Walt Disney World this holiday season.
Sure, your visit will be unlike any other, but it’s still Disney! So, you’ll love it!