November and December are too short, and go by too quickly. Call me crazy, but I don’t believe there were 61 days in the two months combined last year. Someone ought to look into that–something’s definitely up. A few days must’ve been moved to the bad months, which felt suspiciously longer.
I’m joking, but only partially. November and December were over in the blink of the eye. It feels like it was just November 1, and we were getting excited for the start of the holiday season. Being Disney fans, Christmas comes early for us. The first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party was on November 8, with Jollywood Nights the following day. And I’ll tell you what, I wasready for both once they started. It was full-on Christmas mode.
Even after December 25, we continue to enjoy the spirit of the season. We were at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure yesterday, and the highlight was (still) the seasonal entertainment and attraction overlays, which felt wholly appropriate–not like they’d worn out their welcome. It’s a bit different today, and feels slightly like a ‘holiday hangover,’ but our Christmas tree will stay up until January 6 (I’d probably leave it up longer if the neighbors couldn’t see it). We’ll continue listening to instrumental music, and watching less overtly Christmas content. There are a couple of new Die Hard-esque movies and shows on Netflix. You get the idea.
I don’t feel the same way about Halloween. The first Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party began on August 9, which was just too early. To be sure, I’m glad Disney starts MNSSHP and now Oogie Boogie Bash when it does. The demand is clearly there and guests with August trips love having the parties as options. But between the weather and it being nearly 3 months before Halloween, it just doesn’t feel like fall or spook season.
As a result of celebrating Halloween in early August, I’m also over that holiday by late September. Just in time for everyone in the real world to start putting up their decorations and start celebrating in earnest! I don’t want to be labeled a Halloween Hater. It’s my second-favorite holiday, and I enjoy it more each year. But early August to late September is as long as the Christmas season. And I think it’s pretty inarguable that there’s more to enjoy for Christmas–music, books, movies, decorations, lore, etc. Halloween is gaining ground, but Christmas is simply the meatier and more meaningful holiday.
Where am I going with this? I guess pitching my new political platform, which is adding a month to the calendar between Halloween and Christmas for extended celebrations and merriment. I’m sure there will be no shortage of campaign contributions from the greeting card, holiday honey ham, and retailers lobbies. If Washington finally is able to end Daylight Saving Time, maybe I’m serious about this initiative.
Really, though, the Christmas season was too short. There were so many things we wanted to do, but didn’t get around to doing. Things to see, experience, watch, taste. All of that will have to wait until next Christmas, or rather, this Christmas, since it is now 2025. I guess that’s part of the magic of Christmas? It’s a satisfying holiday, but you’re left wanting more of it, not ready for it to be over.
At the same time the holiday season flew by, it also seems to have lasted a while. We did a lot. Our daughter, Megatron, started November crawling as her mode of transportation, and now she is running. I hold my breath a little every time she darts across the room, worrying that this is going to be the time she takes a disastrous fall. Society needs to normalize toddlers wearing hockey helmets and goalie pads out in public.
Seeing her walk and run has been incredibly special. The sense of awe and wonder on her face as she “discovers” something new fills our hearts far more than the stress of worrying she’ll take a spill (and there’s a lot of stress, which means there’s a ton of joy!). It’s also necessitated stepping up our vacuuming and cleaning, as anything on the floor is now fair game.
But I’m rambling. In my defense, it was a late night for Sarah and I, who continued to celebrate New Year’s Eve like normal adults. Well, mostly. We didn’t have a drop to drink, but we did make the mistake of staying up until 1 a.m. Megatron stuck to her normal schedule, and does not recognize that New Year’s Day is meant to be a lazy one for sleeping in and lounging around.
Suffice to say, it was a great holiday season–and entire year–for our family, mostly as we continue to experience things through her eyes and see her grow. But time is moving too fast. She’s not a little baby anymore. She wanted to run around with the “big kids” as we hung out in Grizzly Peak yesterday. It’s been a fantastic journey…I just wish we could slow it down a bit.
January is here now and that means many of you are starting to plan 2025 trips. We’ve already updated a lot of our best resources, and that process will continue in the next couple of weeks. Before I touch anything else crowd-related, I really want Walt Disney World to release its ticket discounts. I’m fully expecting one for Florida residents within the week, and think there’s an outside chance there’s a return of the multi-park magic tickets for the general public earlier than last year. (That’s certainly what I’d do, if I were Disney.)
Tomorrow (January 2, 2025) is the big discount drop day for Walt Disney World. We already know Free Dining is coming for Summer 2025, because they’ve announced as much. We’ve been able to confirm additional details, and that promo sounds similar to last year, but for the general public and with earlier travel dates at the start of the summer season. These changes make sense–May and June are slower than July–and don’t really suggest desperation on Disney’s part.
Based on past precedent, it’s likely there will also be a range of room-only offers. Probably one for the general public, one for Annual Passholders, and another for Florida residents. My hope is that at least one of those is a “Stay Longer & Save More” deal, and that there’s also a superior Disney+ or Disney Visa offer that offers savings on par with the AP or FL savings. I’m also hopeful and optimistic that weekends won’t be excluded. I’d love to something better, with a surprising out-of-left-field promo that we’ve never seen before. I wouldn’t bet on that just yet, though.
I don’t expect outright desperation (because I don’t think there’s actual basis for it), but I have been slightly surprised that Disney doesn’t have a greater sense of urgency. Getting people locked into hotel reservations and packages before the marketing blitz for the grand opening of Epic Universe strikes me as savvy. That’ll be doubly true if word of mouth about the new park is positive once previews start. But perhaps a more restrained slate of special offers now from Walt Disney World will necessitate bigger and better ones down the road.
In any case, I want to reiterate the importance of doing the math on whichever discounts drop tomorrow. One thing that’s been a pleasant surprise is that the hype around Free Dining has dropped dramatically as compared to ~2019. There are probably a number of reasons for this, but I view it as a good thing. “Free” is a powerful marketing term, even if it’s not always an accurate one.
To be sure, Free Dining can be the best deal for some parties. But it is not for many or most others. It’s important to not get caught up in the excitement of getting (allegedly) free food, and consider whether your appetites and dining preferences are a good fit, or if it’ll be a waste. More importantly, consider what you’re forgoing by purchasing full-priced Park Hopper tickets and a rack rate room.
With this wave of 2025 deals, it isn’t necessarily just the known alternative room-only discounts that will be released tomorrow. Again, there’s the possibility (more like probability, depending upon your travel dates) of the multi-day magic ticket returning in 2025 for spring through late summer, perhaps earlier and/or later.
For those who are considering also visiting Universal Orlando, we still don’t know the full suite of multi-day ticket options for Epic Universe. Or the degree to which Universal might feel the need to discount during the summer. (Even with the new theme park opening, Universal has a ton of hotel inventory.)
Walt Disney World discounts can be modified or changed, so they’re theoretically risk-free, but availability is something to keep in mind. If you opt for Free Dining instead of a room-only discount and the rooms allocated to the latter sell out during your dates, you can’t later modify to that. Disney also has a habit of ending special offers early in the last couple of years.
The bottom line is that Free Dining is one of Walt Disney World’s most restrictive special offers. If you’re on the fence about booking it or another promo, waiting for ticket deals or Epic Universe releases, or the savings are similar to room-only rates, our tentative recommendation would be taking the other offer.
To each their own, but I think the flexibility of room-only discounts puts planners in a better position. But all of this is preliminary food for thought–I’ll have further analysis once tomorrow’s full slate of special offers is actually released, along with thoughts on the ticket deals next week or whenever they come out.
As the holiday season winds down, we also want to once again thank all of you for reading. We are so incredibly appreciative of your support. Whether you lurk silently, comment on every single post, or somewhere in between. Reading this site means the world to us–probably far more than most of you will ever know.
One of the most humbling and gratifying aspects of this blog has always been the trust you put in us. You plan multi-thousand dollar vacations based on our guidance, spending your hard-earned money and time on the advice we offer. There are few things I enjoy more than a comment sharing how a trip went based on our tips. Of course, it’s most satisfying if it went well! But even the negative feedback makes me strive to do better.
It’s this more than anything else that gives rise to a lot of the critical commentary, as we view this site first and foremost as a consumer resource. Even though we’re diehard Disney fans, who feel positively about the overwhelming majority of our experiences, that can sometimes means negativity. But that criticism and critique comes from a place of love, holding the company and the parks to their own high standards, legacy, and wanting them to be the best version of themselves.
When writing reviews and assessing value, we always have families front of mind, especially those who have to save and sacrifice just to make the trips happen in the first place. Thank you so much for putting your trust in us.
Aside from the helpful (hopefully!) planning resources, we’ve been grateful for the joy and happiness you’ve shared for and with us over the last year-plus. We’ve really appreciated that you actually care to read and comment on personal stories and not just big Disney news or consequential changes. The comments section of this site has always been fantastic, like a close-knit community. But in the last year-plus, you all have been better than ever.
I also appreciate the patience you’ve shown. The last year has been really busy and tiring, and I’ve slacked a bit in responding to comments, proofreading, and keeply posts tightly edited. Not that this blog has ever been a bastion of typo-free or concise writing, but I know things have gotten more lax. Hopefully it’s been made up for in the volume of coverage. I still try to reply to comments as often as possible, but sometimes a new post is better than a dozen replies.
One of the things I previously mentioned was my plan for shorter articles in 2025. Some of you suggested you do not want that, which is great. To be clear, I don’t plan on posts being only a few paragraphs long. I couldn’t be that concise even if I tried (see the rambling introduction above about, I guess, Halloween vs. Christmas). Nor do I intend upon eliminating the long reads.
What I do think is that some posts have a bit too much fat or retreaded background, and there are times when links to past topics would be better. There are other instances when a piece of news or rumor goes unreported here because I don’t think I can give it the proper depth of treatment–but perhaps a shorter article would suffice and be better than nothing at all.
We appreciate the value of the time you take to read these articles; it is not taken for granted and we don’t want to waste it. So thanks for tolerating the tangents, granting some grace, and especially humoring my pop culture references and bad dad jokes.
Speaking of tangents, I hope you’ll indulge me a quick one if you’ve made it this far into the post, as January also brings with it playoff football. I’m not so sure about whether the Detroit Lions can win it all this year. They won again on Monday Night Football, but only thanks to a few unforced errors by the 49ers. The last few weeks haven’t been great. Beating the Vikings is going to be tough, but it’s absolutely essential. They need that bye so they can get rested, healthy, and (hopefully) a few key players back.
To say the Lions have been decimated by injuries is an understatement. It’s a tough road to the Super Bowl, regardless, especially with Minnesota and Philadelphia looking incredibly formidable. Here’s hoping it happens, though, and that the Lions get a rematch with the Bills. That’s the Super Bowl matchup that America needs and deserves. (Although Bengals-Lions would probably be the first Super Bowl with a combined 100 points!) But I digress.
Ultimately, this first full year with Megatron was the best year of our lives, as was this holiday season. Seeing more of her personality, preferences, as well as her unexpected likes…and even dislikes! Part of that has been the excitement of the Disney visits, and continuing to experience everything anew. Part of it has been forming the fun new traditions and revisiting familiar favorites.
Part of it has been the simple and day-to-day life with a now very mobile toddler, and trying to savor every fleeting moment–even the mundane ones–as this holiday season has flown by. Part of it is being able to share some of those moments with you all. This website has a fantastic community, and oftentimes you help us as much or more than we help you.
So thank you again, Happy New Year from the Brickers, and here’s looking forward to a fantastic 2025. A year filled with a brand-new Universal theme park in Central Florida; construction, changes & growing pains…and a new night parade at Walt Disney World; here’s hoping there are also some fun surprises and positive news that makes 2025 another great year. We hope you likewise have had a happy holiday season with family and friends, and made magical memories that will last a lifetime!
Need Disney trip planning tips and comprehensive advice? Make sure to read Disney Parks Vacation Planning Guides, where you can find comprehensive guides to Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and beyond! For Disney updates, discount information, free downloads of our eBooks and wallpapers, and much more, sign up for our FREE email newsletter!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about adding a month between October and November, the Detroit Lions’ playoff prospects, or any of the other random tangents tackled here? Any amusing anecdotes to share from this holiday season, Disney or otherwise? Parental wisdom or recommendations to share? Anything else you’re interested in reading about with regard to Megatron, babies in the parks, etc? Agree or disagree with our takes on Free Dining or anything else here? Hearing your feedback is always appreciated, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
