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« on: December 03, 2012, 09:01:43 AM »
We were also there on Saturday.
While we waited in traffic to get to the park, it wasn't intolerable. From the 465 intersection, paying to park and getting to a spot took 25 minutes (The exact length of Prep and Landing).
Although we parked near stop 1, we decided that it looked easier to just walk in, and we were correct. The little gate that used to be the season pass entrance (where you enter through the Ozark Marketplace) had turnstiles open with no lines, so we buzzed right through. Electric car and stroller rental was a madhouse and thankfully we have no need for either. It was about 1:45, so we decided to take a quick restroom break and head on down to get in line for Santa. We did that, and after his arrival at 2:30, we were done and had our pictures in hand by 3:10, not too bad. Went to geyser gulch to wait for the next Frosty showing (my kids should have that thing memorized but they still love it), watched Frosty at 4 while having a snack, walked through Jingle Junction, and went to the measuring station. The youngest finally got his blue armband! (That means 42inches) so we headed to TNT. We had a moderate wait, but it was worth it. Decided to check the train line; after seeing that, we just let the kids play in HDH for a while. The train line was going down the corkscrew path. I can't imagine how long that would have made the wait time. While the kids were in HDH, I snuck up to the bakery. The line was terribly slow. I wish they had a way to have a cinnamon bread line so those not getting it aren't in line not moving because no bread is ready. So after finally getting the kids a cookie, we went to FITH. The line was quite quick and the seats were dry. Grabbed a drink and a corn dog and headed for the square. The kids ate and watched the tree. It was nearing 6 so we decided to walk around a bit more. However people were lining up for the parade and apparently felt that letting people get through to get to stores may result in losing their spot, so that was short lived. We got some taffy and decided to find a parade spot of our own. We ended up on the TNT side of the long flower bed. There I witnessed a parent let their child climb on and pretend to ride the display reindeer as they took pictures and laughed. Not surprisingly the child broke some of the antlers off and no one in their party made any attempt to correct that. I nearly bit my tongue in two. The parade was okay, I don’t know that it was worth the rude shoving behavior that over took a lot of the guests, and we probably won’t make an extra effort to watch it again. After the parade we rode TNT two more times with no wait and it was an incredible closing to the trip. We got back to the car around 8. Traffic flow leaving the city was smooth and we were on the road in no time.
Most importantly the kids had an incredible time.