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Are they letting people into the park before 2:00? What time do they open the parking lots? We're going Thursday and planning to get there around 12:30 to beat the crowds getting in.
 
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DJTLG said:
Are they letting people into the park before 2:00? What time do they open the parking lots? We're going Thursday and planning to get there around 12:30 to beat the crowds getting in.

patking should open between1 and 130 not sure when they start letting you into the park its self but if its before 2 which I doubt they will do you will likely be confined to the England part.
 
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We've gone on the busiest days in the past. Arriving at the gate a half hour before opening will get you a very close spot. You will then either be let into England until 2, or be held at the entrance, depending on the day.
 
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I've had two completely different experiences on two completely different days. When I went on a Saturday, the park was advertised to open at 2 but the parking lot was open substantially before 1 and every hamlet and attraction opened at 1.

When I visited this past Monday, the parking lot did not open until 1:30 and they didn't even open the turnstiles until 2 o'clock sharp.

I can't fault the park for not opening early when they technically opened at the scheduled time, but I wish there was some consistency or method to the madness of when they open. My group, having arrived close to 2 on our first visit and being disappointed to see that an hour's worth of people had already filled the park, decided to arrive before 1 on our most recent visit, only to sit around waiting for over an hour.

My hypothesis is that possibly the park opens an hour before the advertised time on weekends and opens on time on weekdays, but I have no substance to back up this claim. It is definitely frustrating to deal with the uncertainty of the park's inconsistent opening procedures.
 
WasabiDragon said:
Has anyone taken any pictures of the menus at the different eateries? I remember in the past that has been done. I am planning on going tomorrow and I want to plan ahead. Thanks.
I haven't but the menu hasn't really changed since last year.
 
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Joe said:
My hypothesis is that possibly the park opens an hour before the advertised time on weekends and opens on time on weekdays, but I have no substance to back up this claim. It is definitely frustrating to deal with the uncertainty of the park's inconsistent opening procedures.

It's a good theory, but it doesn't align with my experience. Each time we've gone (11-26, 12-1, 12-12) the park had opened prior to 2pm. Each day was slightly different. Not all were open at 1:00, some waited until 1:30.
 
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How well does the park handle operating in rain or snow during December? I'm planning on visiting Dec. 27-29, but the 29th might be a Winter mix of rain and snow of 1-3 inches. Has the park remained open during such conditions in the past? I'll be traveling over 700 miles to visit, so I'd like to know what to expect.
 
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I visited on a fairly rainy day and the park remained open. Many of the vendors were closed and a lot of lights weren't working, but it was enjoyable nonetheless- largely thanks to the low crowds.
 
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Joe said:
I visited on a fairly rainy day and the park remained open. Many of the vendors were closed and a lot of lights weren't working, but it was enjoyable nonetheless- largely thanks to the low crowds.

Thanks, Joe!

Rain is one thing, but I'm a little concerned about a wintery mix and some snow. Snow is nothing here in New England, but eastern Virginia doesn't see much snow, right? Have they ever operated on an icy, snowy, messy day?

I'm not expecting anyone to predict the future. I'm just wondering if there's a precident for opening or closing.
 
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gardener14 said:
Is Santa's Workshop open after Christmas?
It has been every year so I would assume it is this year but they may have changed that with the new lication. I know one friend who takes their children after Christmas each year so they can that Santa for their gifts.
 
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Thanks, horsesboy. Not many places make Santa available after Christmas, so I think that's great. I'm looking forward to checking it out.
 
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Yesterday the park closed early at 8:30 instead of 10:00, I believe they said due to weather. The weather was fine besides the fact that it was extremely cold... pretty positive they did it because of how empty the park was, which sucks because we didn't get there until 6:00PM to enjoy the last 4 hours of Christmas Town

EDIT: After seeing the stuff that happened on NYE, maybe they needed to close early for damage control for the area that was ablaze the night before? Just my thoughts.
 
It was nearing single digits last night. It was definitely because of the cold.
 
jornor said:
Yesterday the park closed early at 8:30 instead of 10:00, I believe they said due to weather. The weather was fine besides the fact that it was extremely cold... pretty positive they did it because of how empty the park was, which sucks because we didn't get there until 6:00PM to enjoy the last 4 hours of Christmas Town

EDIT: After seeing the stuff that happened on NYE, maybe they needed to close early for damage control for the area that was ablaze the night before? Just my thoughts.

It probably was a mix of weather and crowd size. I was there the night before and very little was operating. All of the main rides Invad, Verboltan, Nach Tower, the sky ride were down. The train ran for a little while but went down do to temps. They were able to get one ruff show of Twas in but the dropping temps were making the ice to hard and they cancelled the second one. Even Harmony was running short shows that just lasted about 10 minutes do to the cold. As bummed as you were and as bummed as I would have been in your shoes I can't really blame them for throwing in the towel early.
 
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