updated  May 2, 2001

Our trip Dec 26 through Dec 30, 1996

Thursday Dec 26

We arrived at the hotel at 9pm on Thursday. Since the Magic Kingdom was open until midnight we decided to go to the park to check out the crowds. One of my Disney guide books shows a graph of park attendance for the whole year. The week of our trip (between Christmas and New Year's) has the highest attendance of the entire year. On top of that it is the 25th anniversary year. We figured we were doomed.

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom around 9:45pm and were amazed to see how many people were leaving! We made our way to the Haunted Mansion and there was NO line! We walked right into the library of the house.

Next we went to Pirates of the Caribbean. There was no line there either!
We waited about 20 minutes for Peter Pan, but had no line at all for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the Tea Cups and the Wedway Peoplemover.

Our favorite place for late night twist cones is Mrs. Potts Cupboard near Mr. Toad. They stayed open until midnight and had real soft-serve (not the frozen yogurt that some other stands sell).

We left the park around 1am and headed to Denny's for a 2am breakfast.

Friday Dec 27

Friday we slept until 11am. We went to the shopping village to go to the new Disney Superstore. It is huge! It was also very crowded and confusing. We like to go to the village because we get the 10% discount with the MKC card. Also we can put our purchases in the car and don't have to carry them around or remember to pick them up on the way out of the park. Of course having them sent to your Disney hotel is the best, but every room was booked even back in August! All 17,000 rooms were full!

We started Friday at MGM around 2pm. We saw Muppet 3D, Star Tours and the Great Movie Ride all with about 35 minute waits. We tried to make reservations at the Sci-Fi Drive In when we arrived but they were full. We had dinner at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. This was our first time to eat there and we had a good time. You have to set the table for "Mom" and watch your manners at the table or they make you stand with your nose against the wall while the entire restaurant shouts "Shame, Shame, Shame" at you.

Next we rode Tower Of Terror 2. The wait was about 45 minutes. They changed this ride recently. Now you drop once and then shoot back up (I actually think the trip up is faster then the trip down) and then drop again. I like the special effects on the ride better than the actual drop. The drop never really gets fast enough. I think that Big Thunder Mountain has faster drops.

From there we headed to the Magic Kingdom. We arrived around 9pm. We went to the Welcome Center to get our "Guest Of Honor" badges and the lithograph of the castle. The Welcome Center is in the old Disney Story building. They have a film that shows previews of the Animal Kingdom and the Disney Cruise line. After the film you can see the models of Animal Kingdom.

We rode the Haunted Mansion again (no wait), Big Thunder Mountain (30 minute wait), Mr.Toad's Wild Ride (twice, no wait) and Snow White (twice, no wait). We left the park around 12:30am. Going at night is great. The lines are short, you can easily find a place to watch the SpectroMagic parade and it is much cooler. I also think the Castle Cake looks better at night.

Saturday Dec 28

We slept until noon. We got to EPCOT around 3pm. We rode Spaceship Earth (15 minute line), Honey I Shrunk The Audience (30 minute line) and Journey Into Imagination (no line). We spent a lot of time in Imagination in the playroom upstairs. We had dinner and headed back to the Magic Kingdom.

We arrived at the magic Kingdom around 9pm. We rode Take Flight, Haunted Mansion (yes, again), Hall Of Presidents and Pirates Of The Caribbean all with NO LINES!

We drove to Caribbean Beach and the Yacht & Beach Club to get our 25th anniversary pressed quarters. Each resort has a special quarter press that makes a 25th coin. The machines will be destroyed when the 25th celebration ends. There is a great WWW site for details of the quarter presses and the penny presses at Click here for Quarter press link (http://www.wdn.com/dwills/penny.htm)

Sunday Dec 29

We stopped at Dixie Landings, Port Orleans, All-Star Music and All-Star Sports for 25th coins on the way to EPCOT. We parked at EPCOT and took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom (the MK lot was full). We found our Walk Around The World brick and took a picture of it. This was our first day to be in the Magic Kingdom during daylight.

We spent about an hour out on Tom Sawyer Island playing in the fort and caves. Spent some money at the Shooting Gallery and pressed some more pennies. We went through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse (no line) and drove the remote control Jungle Cruise boats. We rode the Jungle Cruise (45 minute wait).

We took the monorail back to EPCOT. We watched the Cirikli Stilt Birds show at Japan at 8:45 pm and rode the Maelstrom at Norway (25 minute line). Then Holiday Illuminations started at 10pm.

Monday Dec 30

We checked out of the hotel. We drove to EPCOT and rode Journey into Imagination (no line). We spent a lot of time in the educational store in Innoventions. We rode the boat ride in Mexico.

We took the monorail to the TTC and switched to the resorts monorail. We stopped at the Polynesian, Grand Floridian and Contemporary to get the 25th coins.

As we drove out we stopped at the Wilderness Lodge and Boardwalk for coins.

We drove around Celebration. We were just there last May. It was amazing to see the progress since then. The stores are open, the theater is open, houses line the streets.

This was then end of our week at Disney. By staying out of the Magic Kingdom during the day we were able to bypass the crowds. Next time we will go off-season!

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