The holiday season can be the busiest time of year for the parks that remain open, especially the larger ones in Florida and Southern California. I recently talked to About.com Theme Parks expert Arthur Levine who shared some insightful tips about how you can make the most of your trip.
C101: What are some of your favorite tips when visiting a park during the holiday season?
The rules that apply during the year whenever you visit a park also apply when you visit during the holiday season…like getting to the park as early as possible.
It seems counter-intuitive to get up even earlier than you do for work while you’re on vacation, but if you want to get the most value out of your vacation dollar and enjoy as many attractions as possible, it would make sense to get up early, grab a really quick breakfast or have breakfast inside the park.
C101: When during the day are the parks typically busiest?
The parks will be the most busy in the middle of the day when all those people who don’t take the advice of arriving early eventually make it to the park. That’s when it’s going to reach capacity and lines will be the longest. That’s why I advise people to consider leaving the park, and maybe go back to their hotel and enjoy some of the amenities there, whether it’s the pool or other attractions. Disney and Universal both have shopping , retail and entertainment districts like Downtown Disney and CityWalk. Or even go off property altogether. If you have a rental car, explore downtown Orlando or take a ride to Hollywood.
The idea is that you want to zag when everyone else is zigging. You want to try to not follow the patterns of what everybody else is doing.
C101: How can park goers avoid those long lines?
Disney of course has the FastPass program. It would make sense for people who aren’t familiar with the parks to familiarize themselves with how FastPass works and to take advantage of it. That can certainly make the experience a lot better.
At Universal, they have an up-ticket program where people can pay an additional amount of money, and they’re able to show their pass and get right onto the rides and attractions. It probably makes sense, certainly during the busy holiday season, for people to consider paying that extra amount of money.
© Universal Studios
If people are considering spending an appreciable amount of time at Universal, they might want to think about staying on property at one of its three hotels. While the rates are a bit higher than a hotel outside of the property, one of the benefits is that guests are able to get a pass that allows them to get on the ride without paying an additional amount of money.
Other parks in Florida or California such as SeaWorld or Busch Gardens also have front-of-the-line passes. And SeaWorld has some wonderful new attractions… Turtle Trek and Antarctica. They have some great coasters too. I imagine that, during the holidays, the lines there would be astronomical. The last thing people want to do is wait two to three hours to get on an attraction. To spend an additional $20-$25 per person makes sense, especially considering that people who plan vacations during the holidays are already paying a premium for airfare, hotel and other things.
The laws of supply and demand make the prices for things like airfare and hotel so much higher during that time of year. So, for a family of four, what’s another $80 so that you can have a pressure-free day at the park?
C101: When’s the least busiest time for theme parks during the holiday season?
As soon as Thanksgiving hits, the lines get pretty intense straight through to New Year’s. The earlier people can go, the better the chances are that they aren’t going to encounter really long lines.
Early December will be better than later in the month, but anytime after Thanksgiving—the parks are pretty jammed.
I think we’ve already missed the window for this year, but if people want to enjoy the holidays next year, they may want to consider going in early November when the parks are decorated for the season, but the crowds aren’t nearly as crazy.
C101: What are some benefits of visiting parks during the holiday season?
When people typically go to the theme park at any other time of year, there are obviously all kinds of wonderful things to experience. But one of the great things about the holidays, despite the crowds, are the extras that the parks offer. There are extra parades and extra shows.
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Disney has its Osborne spectacular lights presentations. Epcot has its special celebration. All of these things you can only get during the holidays. Universal has its Macy’s Parade and Grinchmas show as well. They’re all things that people who are there to celebrate the holidays away from home are going to enjoy.
C101: Worse-case scenario: You arrive at a park only to find that it has reached capacity. What is the best course of action to take?
Disney has a tiered approach when they shut the park down because of capacity. The first group of people who won’t be allowed to enter the park when it reaches capacity are the people who drive in and are staying off property. The last group of people who Disney won’t allow entry into the park are the people who are staying on property.
© Disney Parks
If you really want to visit the Magic Kingdom and want to get in every day during your vacation, book a hotel on property at Disney World. If you’re saying at some place off property on International Drive, there’s a chance that you won’t be able to get in when it reaches capacity.
If people can’t get into the Magic Kingdom, but the other parks are open, obviously my suggestion would be to go check out the other parks.
C101: Can you recommend any parks outside of California and Florida that have had great holiday season events?
© Hersheypark
More and more parks that are way outside of Florida and California and pretty far north where it gets mighty chilly—they almost all have Halloween events now. And many of them are also extending all the way through to the end of the year with holiday events…places like Hersheypark and Kennywood.
There’s a wonderful park called Santa’s Village in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, which, ironically, for many years wasn’t open for Christmas, even though it’s a Christmas-themed park. But starting 10-12 years ago, they did start opening for Christmas. And it gets unbelievably cold, as you can imagine, but they build a big bonfire, and the ferris wheel and bumper cars are going. It’s great for people who maybe don’t have the money to travel down to Florida but still want to enjoy a theme park experience during the holidays.
And Busch Gardens in Virginia, like its sister park in Florida, has been having a wonderful holiday event the past few years.
C101: Has there been a hesitation from parks in colder weather climates to open for the holidays?
Traditionally, amusement parks were warm-weather experiences. It wasn’t all that long ago—I guess the late 70s or early 80s—that most parks outside of Florida or California would pretty much close up after Labor Day. Memorial Day to Labor Day—that was the season. That’s the way it was done. It wasn’t until Knott’s Berry Farm had its first Halloween event that other parks started looking at their success and saying, “Hey, we’ve already got the infrastructure, we’ve got the park—maybe we can extend the season.”
Virtually every single park has jumped on the bandwagon since then. And in addition to having the haunted mazes and the special activities that they have for Halloween, they’ve been operating the roller coasters and most of the major and minor rides at the park as well, even though it gets pretty cold in the weeks leading up to Halloween. It was a bit of a leap of faith and defying the conventional wisdom to extend it all the way to the end of the year and celebrate the holidays.
© Hersheypark
It’s not without its challenges, though. Obviously, places like Santa’s Village in New Hampshire and Hersheypark in Pennsylvania run the risk of being snowed out or having conditions that are so inhospitable that either people won’t come or the rides simply can’t operate. But I guess they’re willing to take that risk, and people are willing to come and enjoy the parks. There are some inherent risks involved. But if parks can be successful and if park fans can have a good time, then it’s a win-win situation.
C101: Do you have a favorite park that you like to visit during the holiday season?
I’m in New England, so I get a kick out of [Santa’s Village], and it’s way under the radar. I don’t think anyone’s ever heard of it, so I’m always singing its praises. Does it compare in any way to Disney or Universal parks? No. But the fact that this little wonderful park that’s been around since the early 1950s is not only open, but open during the Christmas season…I think that’s absolutely amazing.
© Disney Parks
But I love all the parks. I did get to go last year to Disney California Adventure, and, for the first time, they decorated Cars Land and Buena Vista Street, which is the land that you come into as you enter the park. Disneyland itself is wonderful. And because they’re in California, and because most of their visitors are local residents, they do a lot more than Magic Kingdom does in Florida with special holiday makeovers. They have It’s a Small World Holiday and Haunted Mansion Holiday. I get a huge kick out of what they do at the park. The parades are spectacular.
I would probably say Santa’s Village and Disneyland are my two favorite places, although Epcot is fabulous as well. What they do by showing how different countries have different traditions for the holidays with little presentations in each of the countries…I think it’s great.
C101: Would you rather visit your favorite parks during the summer or during the holiday season?
I’m not crazy about big crowds, and I generally advise other people to consider going to the major destination parks and really all of the parks during the least-busy times. I’m more about getting a high quantity of rides in as opposed to having to deal with big crowds. Though, you do get the special holiday overlay during the holidays.
© Disney Parks
I would rather go during other times of the year, but I completely understand how people could fall in love with what the parks do during the holidays and the special atmosphere that they provide. I guess I can see both sides of this, but I would rather avoid the crazy crowds during the holidays.
C101: Do you have any other suggestions or tips for holiday-season theme park visits?
People need to adjust their expectations. When people think of the ideal Disney World or Universal experience of going on a bunch of rides and seeing a bunch of shows and parades, maybe you’re just going to have to rethink that if you’re planning to go during the holidays. Realize that you’re going to get some benefits. Parks will be open longer and have some added bonus features, but you’re not going to get on as many attractions as you normally would, especially at the Disney parks where you can’t buy your way onto the rides as you can at Universal and some of the other parks.
© Hersheypark
I’d also recommend that people really think through their dining plans and make reservations as early as possible, because those will be busy as well. You don’t want to get shut out or have to wait in long lines at the restaurants, either.
Try to control the things that you can control if you’re going to take advantage of any other features that Disney or Universal offer, whether its Blue Man Group or Cirque du Soleil. Make your reservations early, well before you’re going to get to the parks. Do your pre-planning as much as possible.
If money is no object, you might want to consider getting a guided tour, which Universal offers, the SeaWorld parks offer and even Disney offers—although they don’t tout it much. It costs an incredible amount of money, but it would be a wonderful benefit and a great luxury to have during the busy holiday season, because not only will you be able to avoid the lines, but you’ll have a knowledgeable guide to take you around the park, give you information and get you seating at the shows and other amenities that you wouldn’t otherwise have. The trade-off is that you’ll pay a whole lot of money.
We’d like to thank Arthur for taking the time to talk with us. Before your next trip to a theme park, visit About.com Theme Parks for helpful tips and more from Arthur. You can follow him on Twitter, as well.
Also, check out Arthur’s list of parks with holiday festivities underway for the 2013 season.
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