Disney World 12/19 - 12/20.

[Tr0y]

So during my week stay at Orlando I spent 3 days at Disney World after previously going to Seaworld the day before. Got to Disney Hollywood Studios 20 mins early to get better parking in the standard lot. First impression at the gate was how incredibly busy the park was for a weekday early in the morning. This would be the case for Magic Kingdom and Epcot in the proceeding days. The crowd would only continue to get worse from park opening as the day went on. The lightning lane was a must during my visits, as quite a few lines were over 2 hours long. 

 

During my visit, Disney was offering dining packages that included preferred / guaranteed seats at select shows. To which I took advantage of because of the crowd levels, and it was totally worth it. The prices for these buffet / family style restaurants was quite steep being roughly $65 before tipping. My best meal while visiting by far which I’ve never had a bad meal at Disney was at Topolino’s. Topolino’s is a more upscale restaurant and sits ontop of the Riviera Resort. Being that it sits ontop of the Riviera Resort, if you book your time right. You’ll get an excellent view of Epcot during the Luminous show, and to Disney’s credit they also played the show’s music through the speakers on the observation deck at the restaurant. Which was really neat.

 

In summary I had fun at the parks, however if I had to do it all over again, being a once a year visitor. I would have chosen a different time to visit Disney world. The parks were incredibly busy, and if you didn’t stay at a Disney Resort you’d run the risk of not being able to book a spot in one of Disney’s virtual queues. Being that i was not able to ride Tron because of it. Also as far as Christmas goes, the parks in the best way I can describe it as status quo Disney. Clean, themed, and very well landscaped, with a hint of Christmas. Kings Island is much more immersive with the Christmas lights and decor. You do get to see the Christmas shows and they are fantastic, but Disney puts on fantastic shows all year long, for example the Fanstasmic show at Hollywood Studios. So in my opinion unless if Christmas is a special holiday for you, or you are a passholder. I would pick a different time of year to visit.