Doing the Magic Kingdom on December the 25th
by Tiffany J. L. Alfonso
(Florida)
Remember the song called "December the 25th" when it used to play in various Disney stage shows? I do, and having watched those that feature the song from the musical Scrooge to Jolly Holidays dinner show, to Sparkling Christmas Spectacular, I can relate to that very day when I made the mistake of doing the Magic Kingdom on December the 25th in 1996.
On that time when the 25th (inside joke) anniversary revels were all over (pre-Disney's Animal Kingdom) Walt Disney World Resort and when Cinderella Castle became a huge cake decorated with icing pink as Pepto-Bismol and candy, I, Muetti, Vatti, and my now-ex cousin headed out to the Magic Kingdom. It was supposed to be a treat for me, providing that after my hospitalization at Arnold Palmer Hospital due to food poisoning, I was well enough to do a theme park. Also, celebrating Christmas Day seemed to be a good idea, until I got inside the actual park via ferry.
The park was filled to the brim with swells of crowds and not just any crowds. There were out of state families like mine (before moving here in Florida from New Jersey) and international tourists all over the place. Because it's December and it's summer in South America, we saw loads upon loads of Brazilian tour groups as well. The lines were as hectic as heck. We tried checking out Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (before first riding it in 1997) but it's about a two-hour wait there. Ditto with the newest Character greeting area, Ariel's Grotto.
The longer-than usual queues forced us to ride just two rides that day. The first ride was It's a Small World where we didn't mind the gnashing of teeth of some other guests. The singing dolls sing the titular song in their native tongue (and all in English in the finale room) over and over again.
The other ride was Snow White's Scary Adventures, in which I don't really mind riding since Snow White was (and still is) my favorite Disney Princess. It was not as fun as I would have expected, though.
We passed the day with entertainment around the park. A lot of it Christmassy, which is suitable since it was Christmas Day. We watched Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parade (replaced by the slightly inferior Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade in 2007) and it was just brilliant. Mickey and Minnie wore sweatshirts, sweatpants, and leggings, Santa Goofy rode on the toy float, Chip and Dale baked cookies, and Roger Rabbit (I miss him as Fur Character) rode the train. But the part that stuck with me was the SS Disney float, with the Dixieland band aboard it. The Song of the South trio with Brer Rabbit and Brer Bear on the forward and Brer Fox on the aft. He was wearing teal just like the showboat dancers.
Also, we watched Mickey's Twas The Night Before Christmas (before reformat with the articulated heads in 2007), which was a live show with semi-live music (there was a pit where the live band complete with horns played) at the now-razed Tomorrowland Galaxy Theater. After some more shows, photo ops, and a meeting with the Princesses at Mickey's Toontown Fair. We ended the day with Spectromagic, where Roger Rabbit conducted the Silly Symphonies float before 1999.
Despite all the entertainment, it was a bad experience doing the Magic Kingdom on December 25th. Of course, this day on my winter break became a teaching experience and a precaution for those who are thinking about heading there on that day. If one of the described people does it between Monday after Thanksgiving and the week before December the 25th, they will still feel the electric Christmas spirit in the air, but will not face what I have faced on that fateful day in terms of crowds.
From that time of large-as-heck crowds, I do Disney for Christmas early to mid-December.
