Quick weekend December trip with wife worth it?

[PepperjackDragon]

So, we are planning to go with the kids for New Years but I was thinking about surprising my wife with the idea (will either book a refundable room or offer some dvc rental ideas) for a weekend in December-looking like 17-19 has availability prices worth considering. It’s about. 6.5 hr drove for us and we will be headed back on the 28th for New Years with the kids, so am wondering if you guys think a two man trip would actually be a good experience, don’t know what it is like down there at Christmas, won’t want to spend a lot of extra money-maybe one good dinner if I can book one. Any thoughts on what it would be like that time of year and what stuff it would be worth going around to see?

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

That seems a long time travelling for a weekend. Weekends away are a lovely present, but is there anything nearer to home that your wife would enjoy?

 

[PepperjackDragon]

That seems a long time travelling for a weekend. Weekends away are a lovely present, but is there anything nearer to home that your wife would enjoy?

Well taking your comments seriously I decided to just ask her, and….you were right! At least this close to the other trip. Glad I didn’t make any 2am booking mistakes when planning it last night!

just another husband not knowing what he is doing, nothing to see here folks.

 

[Disney.Dreamin.Dee]

Since my sister is a teacher the "quick and dirty" weekend trip is generally what we do when going during a non school break time.
In fact its what we are doing this weekend. She did take a couple of personal days mostly for travel days. We'll be going to the Christmas after hours and then have 2 day park hopper tickets.
We love these types of trips. Dare I say I like them better than the longer trips because you get that burst of Disney magic but it doesn't break the bank and you don't get "Disney overload".

 

[Karin1984]

I would do it. I do weekend getaways at Disneyand Paris, which can be 6 hours door to door for me.
I do it even when I only have 1 night stay, this is 2 nights!

 

[dez1978]

Well taking your comments seriously I decided to just ask her, and….you were right! At least this close to the other trip. Glad I didn’t make any 2am booking mistakes when planning it last night!

just another husband not knowing what he is doing, nothing to see here folks.

awwww, I woud be thrilled if my husband thought to plan a trip for just the 2 of us. regardless of how short or how far it was.

 

[CBMom01]

Since my sister is a teacher the "quick and dirty" weekend trip is generally what we do when going during a non school break time.
In fact its what we are doing this weekend. She did take a couple of personal days mostly for travel days. We'll be going to the Christmas after hours and then have 2 day park hopper tickets.
We love these types of trips. Dare I say I like them better than the longer trips because you get that burst of Disney magic but it doesn't break the bank and you don't get "Disney overload".

Totally agree with you about quicker trips. 4 days is the perfect length of time for: Disney World, New York City, and Las Vegas

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

"quick and dirty"

Applied to a weekend, this expression has a different meaning in the U.K. methinks. It’s a little risqué!

 

[PepperjackDragon]

So, an update our (hopefully) quick and dirty weekend trip is back on track. Looking at December 9-12th. We are planning on a cirque but good seats are gone, mostly just a few upper tier last of the 149 rows or way off the the side available. I am trying to decide between Cirque on Thursday night or Friday night but wasn't sure if there was anything in particular happening that we wouldn't want to miss on Disney due to being overlooked.

question number one is about AP passes. If I arrive after 2pm on day 1 do we need to have a park reservation pass or have to go to that park first?

Now the general outline with some vague questions:

1. Hit some rides the kids can't do (mostly due to being chickens) TOT, Arrowsmith, Space Mountain (oldest one did that 2 trips ago but this last one post covid she is apparently more chicken than ever...) etc.

2. Maybe due a few trips to some resorts to check out a few decorations, thinking GF. Have a citricos reservation for Friday night and Saturday evening so have to decide if we cant to make that the culmination of a round about hotel gingerbread viewing or not. Any that are particularly critical to hit?

3. I am sure my wife will want to see the cavalcades and other special events happening. Only ones I can really find out about so far are the cavalcades and some projections on the castle. If there are any special events other than just moseying around and seeing some general decorations don't hesitate to share.

4. I thought I read that some special things started Dec 10th but that might be my imagination or a mix of something I read from a previous year.

5. and of course cirque with presumably a christmas tree walk.

 

[MamaMermaid]

just another husband not knowing what he is doing, nothing to see here folks.

You're sweet to try to plan the trip. Keep on being a good guy!

 

[kwdw]

You have to have a park reservation to get into a park and I’m pretty sure you have to enter the park you have the reservation for before you hop to another one. Don’t plan on buying a ticket or pass day of. Do that is advance. If you are activating APs, you can do that at the gate of whatever park you are entering first….which should be the park you have the reservation for.

For me, GF is by far the best Gingerbread house and I am a fan of Citricos, so one evening there seems like a good plan. I like the holiday decorations at WL, so maybe try to hit that resort at some point. Otherwise, if your plan makes it easy to see another resort, great. But if it doesnt, I don’t think any others are critical to see.

I think getting some of the limited edition holiday treats in the park is fun, so maybe do a bit of research on that in advance.

If you haven’t used Genie yet, decide about that.

I’ve made a bunch of 4 day trips… you can get a ton done. But also remember it’s a couples trips and you are headed back soon. Spend time together as a couple in ways YOU like.

 

[PepperjackDragon]

My apologies for revitalizing this thread. We are looking at MK on the 9th, and Epcot on Saturday the 11th. However, I am a bit nervous if there are any special christmas things happening on Saturday at MK in the evening we might miss by going on Thursday when they close early (8pm for the Party, which we are not planning to do). I messed up with AK last time by going on an evening they didn't do the tree of life, so am worried I might be missing something similar that is fairly small, but still worth being present for on Sat vs Thursday.

 

[com_op_2000]

Any day at WDW is better than a day at work or doing yard work.

 

[jtopp]

for the past 3 years, DW and I have come down for a quick hit for the holiday party. This year, we flew down, attended the party, and flew home the next day. This is in addition to our usual trip, and it's a great little treat to get us in the holiday spirit. Yes, it is totally worth it.

 

[whittx]

So, we are planning to go with the kids for New Years but I was thinking about surprising my wife with the idea (will either book a refundable room or offer some dvc rental ideas) for a weekend in December-looking like 17-19 has availability prices worth considering. It’s about. 6.5 hr drove for us and we will be headed back on the 28th for New Years with the kids, so am wondering if you guys think a two man trip would actually be a good experience, don’t know what it is like down there at Christmas, won’t want to spend a lot of extra money-maybe one good dinner if I can book one. Any thoughts on what it would be like that time of year and what stuff it would be worth going around to see?

I have done weekend trips twice and plan on continuing them! I drive from AL, so around 7 hrs and 15 minutes. I don't think it's an awful drive and have a great time when I go. I just go with the knowledge that I won't be able to do everything, so I pick a few must-do's and then go with the flow other than that.

I will say that I lived in Texas my entire life until recently, so driving that far for a weekend isn't unheard of for me. We had to drive forever for everything, lol!