Christmas Magic…

Yep there was lots of Christmas Magic… lots of Christmas Decorations… lot of lights… lots of do…. lots to see… and LOTS of Guests. Tens of thousands of guests. The Christmas Disney rush is officially “on”. Don’t know how many guests were actually at Magic Kingdom, but I’d have to guess in excess of sixty or maybe even seventy thousand… yes… that’s 70 with another 3 zeros….   7 0 , 0 0 0 + !  We have been there for crowds of 60,000 so we know what that looks like… this was far greater.  In the popular areas like Main Street for the fireworks, it was wall to wall… shoulder to shoulder people from the railroad station to the castle… completely filling the crystal palace area, the walkways to Adventureland, Tommorrowland, Liberty Square, the Ice Cream Shop area, Casey’s, into and past the Noodle Station, Cosmic Rays… everywhere was filled shoulder to shoulder so that you could barely move and the the large part, could not even see the pavement…. anywhere! Never ever seen a crowd nowhere near this size or congested…. EVER! In comparison… compared to the heaviest crowd we have ever seen… this had to be twice that amount of people. Crowd control was impossible, and they even opened an backstage access from the Ice Cream Shop to the Hat Shop near the town square to help people get from one end of Main Street to another… but this actually did very little to help. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits and full of Christmas Cheer… a few more hours of this and I think I’d have to add a little Kaluha to help out the Christmas Cheer thing. It was a double hitter evening… the first part of the evening was at Hollywood Studios to the the Osborne Lights… the crowd was the same way… wall to wall… shoulder to shoulder… can’t even see the pavement. But the same Holiday Cheer prevailed and everyone shuffled along. On a normal day you could walk the main street of the Americas in maybe a leisurely 3-4 minutes… it took 30 minutes to shuffle along like weebles all touching and bumping each other… to get to the other end of the street.  So I’ve had enough of that kind of holiday cheer to last me for quite a while. Still … all in all… we had a good evening out. Just feel sorry for people on vacation… limited time… need to do and see everything… huge crowds, long lines… OMG! But than again…  they made the choice to be at Disney for some of the busiest times and had to know it was going to be crowded. We have always thought that Easter was the most crowded times over the past several years … this even surpasses the all of those Easter crowds. I used to say that it takes twice as long to see half as much when there’s a holiday… even that though right now would be beyond optimistic. It is what it is… go and enjoy the Christmas Season at Disney… it’s still a Magical Place for the Holidays… just go with guarded expectations… pick what you want to see… you won’t be able to do it all. Off season non holiday weeks you might average seeing or doing an attraction or show every hour or even less…. during peak holiday times I’d only count on one attraction or show every 1½ – 2 hours and possibly more. During busy times we’ve seen wait times of 190-270 minutes for some rides ( yes… that’s 4 hours and 30 minutes… but saying it in minutes sounds like less time), compared to 15-30 minutes off season. But than again… there’s the thrill of the crowds that add to the excitement. oh… joy.  Joy to the World, the crowds are here. As I said… we’re glad to still go into the parks… but than again, we don’t really have to do anything but sight see. Seeya in the parks… but than again… how could we find you on the crowds. One quick tip: Have a place & time to met when you get separated and lost from each other ( and you will )… it might save you the whole hopelessly searching thing ( PS – tie a rope to the kids and the old folks) … and don’t count on your cell to work with all those people there.

Happy Holidays.