***Official December 2022 Thread***

[rihannalexis]

As Distubia suggested, everyone in your group needs to make park reservations for each day of your trip very soon, so you don’t get shut out of the parks you want You are going at one of the most crowded times so advanced planning will be a good idea. Hopefully someone in your group has made some dining reservations as many popular locations are already full for your dates.

Yeah, I am not sure what dining experiences, if any, they may want to do, or if it will be more about quick dining in the parks and out to orlando for dinner and such. There are a ton of the character experiences and restaurants that I would love to try out, but between the business at this time of year, the logistics of reserving for 12 people and reminding myself that I don't have unlimited money, I'm not sure which ones, if any, I will be able to do during that time.

 

[Disturbia]

Yeah, I am not sure what dining experiences, if any, they may want to do, or if it will be more about quick dining in the parks and out to orlando for dinner and such. There are a ton of the character experiences and restaurants that I would love to try out, but between the business at this time of year, the logistics of reserving for 12 people and reminding myself that I don't have unlimited money, I'm not sure which ones, if any, I will be able to do during that time.

I read QS takes 2 hours during this time. With allergies and such it will probably take us even longer (waiting for the chef at QS takes longer vs TS).

 

[Disturbia]

Yeah, I am not sure what dining experiences, if any, they may want to do, or if it will be more about quick dining in the parks and out to orlando for dinner and such. There are a ton of the character experiences and restaurants that I would love to try out, but between the business at this time of year, the logistics of reserving for 12 people and reminding myself that I don't have unlimited money, I'm not sure which ones, if any, I will be able to do during that time.

With a group that big and varied tastes I would do QS dining. Just budget extra time and patience during the holiday season and try to eat early or late (vs prime time).

Edit: Also in a few weeks all park passes will likely be sold out as people rearrange their trips and historically that week gets grayed out. The passes can be easily modified and if you don’t get what you want you can get park hoppers and hop to the desired park at 2. Your agent should have already secured them.

At least you’re informed. Make sure push notifications are enabled in the app; mine are but visa offers and changes they announce at midnight when my tickets get grayed don’t pop up (initially couldn’t mobile order either; upgraded phone and things work better).

Second edit: found an awesome review of recent dining experience with a large group (16 ppl)

https://www.disboards.com/threads/table-service-restaurant-reviews-from-our-recent-trip.3880960/

 

[rihannalexis]

With a group that big and varied tastes I would do QS dining. Just budget extra time and patience during the holiday season and try to eat early or late (vs prime time).

Edit: Also in a few weeks all park passes will likely be sold out as people rearrange their trips and historically that week gets grayed out. The passes can be easily modified and if you don’t get what you want you can get park hoppers and hop to the desired park at 2. Your agent should have already secured them.

At least you’re informed. Make sure push notifications are enabled in the app; mine are but visa offers and changes they announce at midnight when my tickets get grayed don’t pop up (initially couldn’t mobile order either; upgraded phone and things work better).

Second edit: found an awesome review of recent dining experience with a large group (16 ppl)

https://www.disboards.com/threads/table-service-restaurant-reviews-from-our-recent-trip.3880960/

Yeah, I have park hopper on my tickets. I had thought about not getting it, since we were just doing the parks in 4 days, but it wasn't much more to my overall price and I figured it might be worth it.

Thanks for the heads up on the review. I took a look and it was pretty informative, so I appreciate that.

 

[Disturbia]

Book brown derby (Hollywood Studios); lot of ADRs opened for Christmas week

 

[Disturbia]

We got more event details Dec 2-4. We have concierge services and free poolside dining so I’ll be cancelling dining ADRs. Free reserved character dining and spa on the lawn along with free poolside food at the resort (will we want to leave the resort?).

We will be given gift cards so in park QS at lunch might be impacted by people ordering at the counter.

The schedule is like a multi day party. One evening a surprise special 3 hours event (theme park or Starcruiser?); another night performance from surprise musicians until midnight; interactive installations and ‘unexpected moments’ so special character interaction.

It’s still vague but at least we don’t have to worry about booking anything.

 

[Disturbia]

Dec 2nd is the ‘Disney event’ after hours. As Mk has the Christmas party, I’m thinking it will be at HS? It’s after hours so other than Ubers to get there, shouldn’t impact too much.

Still no word on what tickets, parks, perks are booked.

 

[Disturbia]

More details: tickets will only be given at concierge when we check into our hotel. So we don’t know which park we are booked at. We should have this info so we can book lunch. I booked Skipper Canteen for lunch (could only get ADR for 4). I’ll just pay cancellation if we get a different park.

Universal express unlimited pass and park to park passes are included and WDW tickets have park hoppers and genie+ Included. We had requested Universal on checkout day. Hopefully they don’t have ridiculous park hopping rules like Disney. I booked Mythos for 12/4. We’ve never been to universal Orlando.

Friends of ours got Swan & Dolphin so it looks like most people are in deluxe resorts and character breakfasts are being provided (with the general public and exclusively). Their email said character dining details will be coming soon, so I’m not sure if it will be just for co. Employees or a permanent addition to the Swan resort dining.

So there is a lot of pressure on Disney to get things started and impress.

The email says ‘nothing like you’ve seen before’.

 

[JoJoGirl]

More details: tickets will only be given at concierge when we check into our hotel. So we don’t know which park we are booked at. We should have this info so we can book lunch. I booked Skipper Canteen for lunch (could only get ADR for 4). I’ll just pay cancellation if we get a different park.

A new cancellation policy will be in effect by then. You will be able to cancel an ADR up to two hours ahead and not pay the fee. So no worries!

 

[Disturbia]

A new cancellation policy will be in effect by then. You will be able to cancel an ADR up to two hours ahead and not pay the fee. So no worries!

Someone said that was a temporary thing maybe due to the upgrade/system maintenance?

People are having issues booking ADRs beyond 60+1 in January (so glad we didn’t change when the Disney Visa offer came out). A CM told someone that if you’re booked for less than 10 days then you don’t get the +10 booking. It’s a new upgrade (applicable to online and app bookings?) that was implemented but not public yet. This is obviously not the case as others have been able to book +10. They had to call to get dining. If CMs can’t keep up how are we expected to.

The +10 benefit for onsite is still listed on the website. It would be bait and switch. I believe it might be the deluxe guests where ADRs are tied to resorts.

 

[JoJoGirl]

Someone said that was a temporary thing maybe due to the upgrade/system maintenance?

Thanks, I hadn’t seen that. Well shoot, I was hoping it was true and it would be a small way to make a Disney vacation more flexible. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to decide where to eat day-off, and that would have made it easier to find a table. Unfortunately they keep making things harder and harder instead.

 

[cjlong88]

I purchased my last batch of gift cards to be used for dining. The goal is that we don't have to put anything on the credit card while vacationing. We will see how well that holds up. The only thing left on my to-do list is to create a grocery delivery order once we are closer to the date (any suggestions on where to order groceries??). Other than that, we are ready to go!!!

 

[Disturbia]

I purchased my last batch of gift cards to be used for dining. The goal is that we don't have to put anything on the credit card while vacationing. We will see how well that holds up. The only thing left on my to-do list is to create a grocery delivery order once we are closer to the date (any suggestions on where to order groceries??). Other than that, we are ready to go!!!

Garden grocers is really expensive (free delivery is now for $250+). We are going to order with Amazon prime this time.

 

[Meglen]

I purchased my last batch of gift cards to be used for dining. The goal is that we don't have to put anything on the credit card while vacationing. We will see how well that holds up. The only thing left on my to-do list is to create a grocery delivery order once we are closer to the date (any suggestions on where to order groceries??). Other than that, we are ready to go!!!

How much food are you looking to order? Depends on which place would work best.

 

[cjlong88]

How much food are you looking to order? Depends on which place would work best.

Hardly any stuff. Just a few snacks (chips, cookies, granola bars), some pop, and a case of water.

 

[magrudersmakes3]

Hardly any stuff. Just a few snacks (chips, cookies, granola bars), some pop, and a case of water.

We always used Garden Grocer in the past and they are good and efficient, but also expensive. This year I’m using Vacation Grocery Delivery. It’s run by former cast members and there is a few, but there is no markup on items like other services. They do alcohol if that is important to you.

 

[Meglen]

Hardly any stuff. Just a few snacks (chips, cookies, granola bars), some pop, and a case of water.

Do you have amazon prime? might be worth doing amazon prime now

 

[georgina]

More details: tickets will only be given at concierge when we check into our hotel. So we don’t know which park we are booked at. We should have this info so we can book lunch. I booked Skipper Canteen for lunch (could only get ADR for 4). I’ll just pay cancellation if we get a different park.

Universal express unlimited pass and park to park passes are included and WDW tickets have park hoppers and genie+ Included. We had requested Universal on checkout day. Hopefully they don’t have ridiculous park hopping rules like Disney. I booked Mythos for 12/4. We’ve never been to universal Orlando.

Friends of ours got Swan & Dolphin so it looks like most people are in deluxe resorts and character breakfasts are being provided (with the general public and exclusively). Their email said character dining details will be coming soon, so I’m not sure if it will be just for co. Employees or a permanent addition to the Swan resort dining.

Universal has no park hopping rules. If you have a park to park ticket you can go back and forth whenever and however many times you want. Can walk or take Hogwarts Express. Express pass is a great addition, will speed up the train line a lot.

Sounds like a fantastic trip!

 

[cjlong88]

Do you have amazon prime? might be worth doing amazon prime now

I do!

 

[buffalobasingal]

Good morning! Getting excited for our December trip and counting down the days. We have an annual tradition of a “Surprise Christmas Adventure” that we have been doing since 2015 and this year it is at Walt Disney World!

The Surprise Christmas Adventure is that the kids have no idea where we are going or what we are doing during our trip. I put together clues for them and give them each clue just before we head to each one. So, everything is a “surprise” to them on the entire trip. The kids love it and look forward to it every year.

It started ioriginally to entertain my mom who was coming to visit after her husband passed away. I had no idea it would become an annual tradition, but the kids loved it and asked me to do it every Christmas!

Now I’m working on putting the clues together for each of our adventures at WDW. There are so many surprises that I may have to pack an extra bag for all of the clues! Haha! I’m hoping we can get some of the cast members involved in the fun. Maybe we could leave a clue at the front desk for them to give to the kids. Or, to a server at the restaurants to hand them at the end of the meal. Or, maybe they can leave one in the room. So many possibilities!

I can hardly wait to give them the first clue and watch their faces light up when they realize we are going to Walt Disney World! It’s going to be the most “Magical” Surprise Christmas Adventure EVER!