Okay, looks like I've got some posts I need to comment on/reply to!
Sherry you have made it sound so wonderful. I cant wait to see it for myself in December.
Ive done WDW and DLP during the Christmas season but this will be my first time seeing DL like that.
We had a wonderful trip there last October and DBF and I have decided we want to return this December for a few days before heading up to Vegas.
I'll be watching this thread with interest
A Small World -
I think I vaguely remember that you made a Halloween trip to DLR last year - didn't you post in the Halloween thread at least once? I thought I remembered seeing you there. Most of us cross over between that thread and this one at some point or another! We DIS'ers love our holidays!
In any case, since you've seen DLR at Halloween Time and can use that for comparison, I can tell you that the Christmas holiday season at DLR is much more detailed and extensive than Halloween. I hope that Halloween Time becomes bigger and better when all the changes at DCA are done, but DLR treats the holiday season as a much more special time, I think. Everything from the overall music in each land to the different styles/colors of Christmas decorations make it a much more thorough celebration than HalloweenTime. ToonTown & A Bug's Land have their own whimsical, playful decorations, while Frontierland's Reindeer Round-Up is full of rustic, down-home holiday touches. New Orleans Square's Mardi Gras masks are gorgeous. All the shops, restaurants, hotels & DTD get into the spirit too - there are so many more areas covered than at HalloweenTime.
Of course, you've also experienced WDW and that is done on a much larger scale, obviously, so even though I have not been to WDW I can say that DLR does not come close to the sheer volume of holiday decor that you will see at WDW - and that's simply because DLR doesn't have as much ground to cover. WDW has like 10 million hotels, restaurants and shops in each of those hotels, 4 parks, campgrounds, DTD and other areas to decorate. Where DLR has 700 Christmas trees of all sizes spread around the entire resort, WDW has something like 1500 trees, from what I recall reading.
But we do have IASW Holiday at DLR, which is a happy, joyful, lively ride - even my non-Disney fanatic friend was commenting on how everything was so detailed in the changes that were made for the holiday overlay in IASW.
I think we will eventually get a Christmas party at DLR too - it could even be in the next year or two. Now if only we could get some of those cool edible holiday displays at our 3 DLR hotels like the ones in the hotels at WDW!
What kinds of things did DLP do or have for the Christmas season? I would imagine it would be magical, though also on a much smaller scale than WDW.
In any case, how wonderful to be able to have the opportunity to experience WDW, DLP and now DLR during the Christmas season!! That's something that not everyone will have the chance to do!
We're happy to have you with us in this thread and, yes, stay tuned for breaking news on this year's season as it comes in, as well as the usual photo contributions from our great DIS'ers!
Just logged on to post my happy news........We're booked at The Villas at the Grand Californian from January 1 - January 7!!
We are waitlisted for December 31st. My back-up plan is to book a different hotel for 12/31.
Brett (and anyone else who'd like to help me plan our trip)- I stayed at Park Vue Inn which was right across the street. Do you think that's my best bet for one night or is another place just a close but perhaps nicer?
So excited to be going to Disneyland with my guys and seeing ST2, WOC, LMAUA! The new entrance for DCA should be up too shouldn't it?
I think I'm going to be able to report on the gradual un-Christmas timing of DL resort.
TK
TK - Yay!
It sounds like, if you can swing finding a place on 12/31, you will have at least 2 days of the 'official' holiday season to enjoy (meaning get those rides in on Haunted Mansion Holiday before it closes). If you can't get a place to stay on 12/31, then you will at least have 1/1/12 - one day of full holiday season activities, before the deconstruction begins! And most likely you will have IASW Holiday open during your entire stay if DLR handles things the way they did the last couple of years.
Even though I know DLR tends to want to officially end its seasons on Sundays - and whichever Sunday is immediately following New Year's Day - this time I still tend to think the season may officially extend to Monday, January 2, because the Rose Parade will be held on 1/2/12 and many people associate the Rose Parade with their New Year's Day activities. The Rose Parade basically IS New Year's Day, except for the fact that it was decided many years ago by powers-that-be that it would never be held on a Sunday, and that if New Year's Day fell on a Sunday, the Rose Parade would take place on Monday.
Since HalloweenTime is going to end on a Monday this year, I suspect the holiday season will follow suit and end on Monday, 1/2/12.
It will be really interesting to see the un-decorating of DLR in your photos, TK, to see how much they get done overnight, and which lone items are left at the end of it all - like what will be the last holiday item standing? Merchandise, maybe?
No...she actually doesn't remember asking about it. She just had her gallbladder out last week (and is doing well now), but while she was in a lot of pain and throwing up in the hospital, out of the blue she said "I was thinking...maybe we should try late November instead of early December for the next Disney trip." Now she doesn't remember why she said that (or even that she said it at all).
At any rate, the 11/28 trip is sounding better and better. I think I will call Monday and see about switching things around. We currently have a reservation for DLH...should be no problem changing the reservation.
Pjimmeyer - I am hoping the 11/28 week will be great and not hideously crowded. This will be my first attempt at that 'week right after Thanksgiving' too, but I am choosing it because of some friends who are supposed to be in town at that time, as well as the fact that people have said that is a good time to go for full holiday entertainment with light
er crowds, which makes sense because many people have to return to work and school before their Christmas breaks.
I've tried various time frames during the holiday season - I've done New Year's Eve/Day, I've done the weekend right before Christmas a few years in a row, I've done Thanksgiving weekend, I've gone right at the beginning of the season in November, I was there over the Cast Member party days last year, and this year I will be there over the Candlelight Processional weekend.
I want to try this week-after-Thanksgiving thing to compare crowd levels and eventually I would like to actually be at DLR on Christmas Eve and Day just for the fun of it, and then my holiday visit goals will be complete!!
The new DCA entrance should be ready when you get there since it is already half way done.
Bret, do you really think the DCA entrance will be totally done by the end of this year? I know that was the original plan, but for some reason I envisioned DLR as being a little behind schedule on that. They still have to remove the Golden Gate Bridge and totally relocate the entrance into the park, as well as re-theme that whole entry area.
I know that some of the CarsLand stuff will not be done by the time CarsLand opens next year - such as the table service restaurant. I think I read that on the Project Tracker on MiceChat. So I assumed that DLR was falling a little bit behind on everything else beyond the Little Mermaid ride at DCA.
I suppose this means another year of no Halloween decorations in DCA.
Sherry -- I too am planning on going to DLR from 11/28-12/3. It will be DD's first trip and we are doing it to celebrate her 6th bday (even though it's in January - b/c my sister and I LOVE DL at holidays and want to go when it hopefully won't be too busy). What kind of a rate did you get at PPH? I've been looking at packages through AAA and Costco but am hoping for a 3rd or 4th night free, which I think they had last year during that time. Do you think it is safe to wait to book until August or September or should I do it sooner? Thanks.
alphie1991 - Hi! Wow - it sounds like a few of us on this thread alone will be at DLR on 11/28 or during that overall time frame!
The rate I got for the PPH this year is one totally free night, and then $99 for each additional night. Also, I'm getting free parking (no more Resort Fee) and some VIP seating/viewing options for parades and shows. It's not a publicized offer. (I booked the room for 7 nights.) I didn't have to put down a deposit or even give them a credit card number, and I won't have to pay anything until check-in.
I know I will never, ever again get such a low rate/good offer at an onsite hotel, so I am taking advantage of it, and I even have friends coming in from Idaho to stay with me for that same reason - I told them "It ain't never gonna get any cheaper than this to stay at onsite at Disneyland so you'd better hustle out here!" So they are even choosing their travel dates around when I am making my trip so they can get in on the offer too!
How this all came about was that last year I had a nifty $163 per night rate at the PPH due to a PIN offer which was e-mailed to me by Disney. So I stayed onsite in December with that rate, had a wonderful DCA park view, and an overall fantastic time - it was probably one of my best DLR holiday visits to date. I needed more time because I had to skip some things, but in general it was a wonderful trip and I could not have been happier with my PPH room.
BUT, where everything went wrong was that I handled payment of the PPH room a little differently than I normally would have. Ordinarily, in previous years, I would either already have the hotel room completely paid for before ever checking in, OR I would pay the required deposit prior to arriving and then pay the balance due in cash or on a debit card when I checked in at the front desk. I would be paid in full and the only thing that would be 'held' or 'blocked' on my card is the necessary fee for incidentals, which would normally be like $50-ish. I don't like to have to go to the front desk to check out - I like to just leave - so I like to make sure I am all paid up on or before check-in.
Last year I decided to do it differently in that I paid my required deposit - and some extra $$$ - in advance of the trip, and then I stashed the balance due for the PPH room on Disney Gift Cards.
Even though the hotel accepts gift cards as payment on hotel balances, I believe the gift cards threw everything off. I gave the CM at the front desk the gift cards to bring my balance due to $0, and all they should have held of my money was the $50-ish incidentals deposit. But the CM seemed to think that the gift cards would not be accepted by their system until check-out. Still, he applied the gift cards to my account and showed me a statement where their deductions were applied and that was the end of it....or so I thought.
When I returned home from my stay I was horrified to see that the PPH had put a hold on almost $300 of my money - even though I was paid in full when I checked in. Their system - either automatically or by CM prompting - applied the cost of one night's stay plus tax and Resort Fee, along with the incidentals, to one of my cards - without telling me! They didn't even check with me to ask if that card was okay to use!
The bottom line is that because I was paid in full for the cost of the room at check-in - incidentals not included - I should not have had the price of one room + tax + Resort Fee held on my card. And they should ask me which card is okay to use IF they are going to do such a thing. They have never done that in the past when I have been paid in full at check-in. But their system will automatically follow a certain procedure if the CM's don't hit a key or a code to reverse or stop it. And I guess the CM I dealt with was thrown off by applying the gift cards at check-in rather than check-out and, thus, didn't enter the code to stop the holding of my money.
So, basically, because I had no clue that any money other than incidentals was being held on this card, I went along on my merry way, buying meals at Storytellers Cafe and whatever else...not realizing that I had no 'available' money to spend.
Because of the issue of when certain transactions post and when PPH releases their hold on funds, by the time I got home and discovered what had transpired, I was in danger of my DLR transactions posting on my card before PPH released the hold, leaving me overdrawn. So I had to scrounge up cash and go running down the street to the bank - at night - to try to get money in my account to cover the amount before I was slapped with Non-Sufficient Funds and Overdraft fees.
I called PPH and explained and they admitted they screwed up. I also sent a letter to Guest Communications and they too acknowledged it was the PPH's fault. They were willing to pay me for whatever NSF or Overdraft fees I may have incurred if I had not run down to the bank in the dark to throw money into the ATM. They were very accommodating.
Since I managed to avoid the horrible fees in the nick of time, DLR offered me the one free night and $99 per night rate, etc., at the PPH to "welcome me back" and offer an apology. They have really gone above and beyond the call of duty and been extremely generous. I never expected to 'get' anything from it other than to have bank fees paid if it had come to that.
So I cannot use the regular Reservations number to make any adjustments to my room reservations or ask questions. I have to strictly go through a special number - the same phone number and department that celebrities, VIP's and disgruntled Resort guests with special rate offers go though to book their DLR stays. I can e-mail any requests or modifications to the nice CM I have been speaking with. Really, the people in the Special Activities department and the lady I dealt with at Guest Communications, as well as the people at the PPH who tried to rectify the situation when it looked like I was about to be thrust into a nightmare of fees, could not have been ANY nicer. They have all been delightful and, as I said, I never expected or even thought about 'getting' anything from this, so this has all been a happy surprise.
I have learned my lesson, though! When I check in on November 28, however, I will be asking the PPH CM to tell me exactly what, if anything, is being held and on which card! If I pay them the total amount of the room up front, they should only be holding the incidentals charge. We shall see!
Okies...went ahead and made the change. We are now going to be at the DLH from Nov 28 - Dec 4. Thanks for the help!
Pjimmeyer - So you are checking out one day before I do! Let's hope we both chose a good week to be at DLR and the crowds are not too awful! I think that weekend of 12/3 and 12/4 will be busy because that's the Candlelight Processional (which I fully intend to attempt to get tickets for if I can finagle it), but all the days leading up to that should be okay, I think.
Do people swim in the resort pools in December, or are they closed?
NewbiwMouse - I've seen people splashing around in all of the hotels' pools in December. I guess they must keep them really warm!
Does anyone know when the candlelight professional and cast parties were last year? I am planning to book Dec 6-10 going to the parks Wed-Fri and am hoping to miss both of these.
summer0407 - You will miss the CP. Not sure about the CM parties.
This year the CP will be on 12/3 and 12/4, barring any sudden, unforeseen changes in schedule. (This was confirmed by the people in Special Activities I have been dealing with for my PPH reservation.) I planned my trip specifically so that I can be there over that weekend to try to catch the CP. Even though the crowds will be heavier, just once in my life I would like to see it- I think it will be a beautful ceremony - and I am going to try to nab tickets when they hand them out randomly to people. There are always no-shows, and CM's will begin to hand out CP tickets so it's a matter of getting there at the right time.
The Cast Member parties
used to always be held n the Monday and Tuesday immediately following the Candlelight Processional. However, for some reason, last year DLR decided to have the CM parties exacty one week later than they normally would have had them. I thought I was cleverly avoiding the CM party nights when I picked my trip dates, but when their schedule changed I was out of luck.
It was much more crowded than I expected it to be on the days of the CM parties, but I think if they had stuck to their usual schedule of being in early December, the crowds would have been lighter because reports have been that CM party days are often lighter in crowds. Delaying the parties by a week may have made all the difference in bigger crowds.
This year, there is no word yet - even the CM's don't know - on whether the CM parties will return to their post-CP schedule or if they will once again be held one week later than normal.
The processional was December 4th & 5th. Last year the cast parties were on Monday, December 13 and Tuesday December 14. From Mouse Planet's December 13th weekly update last year:
"Cast party time at Disneyland
Disneyland closes at 6:00 p.m. both Monday and Tuesday this week for its annual cast member parties. Due to the early closure, Fantasmic will not be presented either night, and the holiday fireworks are moved up to 6:00. There is just one performance of A Christmas Fantasy Parade each day at 4:00. Disneyland's park hours and entertainment schedule return to normal on Wednesday."
I am watching this too as I also don't want our trip to get overlapped with the early closures. I wonder if anyone has any knowledge that they are always at this time?
NewbieMouse - The CM parties have always been right after the CP. Last year, DLR was sneaky and switched the dates to one week later than usual for some unknown reason. There is no telling what they are doing this year. The CM's don't have their party dates yet.
I thought I was avoiding the CM party nights when I booked my room last year. Then they changed the dates so that they fell right during my trip. And you know what? It wasn't a big deal at all. I think it
seemed to me like it was going to be a big deal in advance, but when I thought about the other things I could be doing on those 2 nights I realized it was really just a minor thing.
If you only have 1 day to spend at DLR during the holidays, then, yes, you don't want to get there on a CM party night because being in Disneyland at night is magical. But if you have multiple nights - like at least 2 nights - then use those nights when Disneyland closes early to go over into DCA, see World of Color (if that's what interests you), stroll through DTD and visit the GCH to soak in their wonderful holiday atmosphere and see the carolers, pose with Santa, listen to the guitarist, have a nice dinner, etc.
The snow will still fall on Main Street and the fireworks will still run, and the Winter Castle will light up in icicles and IASW Holiday will be aglow on CM party nights - it's just that this all happens at around 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. and it seems like it's a bit too early, even though it is getting dark by that time.
