Operation Disney in December--PTR followed by TR!

[jaylensmom]

Subscribing...I believe I followed your PTR in 2010 when you went to Disneyland in October...Your posts really helped me then and since I'm planning to go in December I'm glad I found you...

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Welcome jaylensmom! I have been way out of range in Mexico for the last 11 days, so, I have some catching up to do on the boards! Can't wait to get reading about people's experiences in Carsland!!

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Okay, I really am starting to feel like I need a plan, the problem is I don't know what they are going to do about early entry after the summer is over. We haven't used early entry on the weekend before because it was too darned early, and instead we sleep in a little do a character breakfast and go to DCA... Carsland has me so screwed up!

We'll arrive early Wednesday, get checked in, probably wander over to DCA for a bite to eat-traditionally a corndog, but heck now I want to try the garden grill, or maybe go over to one of the cones, ugh. We'll need to ride little mermaid and symphony swings right off, and grab soarin fps. Little mermaid is new for us and symphony swings is dd's favorite. Then I am thinking parade and fireworks this night, because fireworks can get cancelled and then we can bump them to another night. Probably don't need to do a dinner with ressies on Wednesday... Should be the quietest nite we are there, so maybe Rancho del Zocolo or Bengal BBQ.

Thursday should be e.e. which we'll use for sure at DL... Cover the fantasyland rides and probably indy, splash, hm, pooh... Then typically we would cross to DCA... Again, hours would be helpful here. Ugh. Think I want to do Carthay circle that afternoon for lunch and get the passes for woc that night.

Friday, again... Will DCA have e.e.? Either way we will probably start at DCA and try and do the Carsland gauntlet and then cross to DL after lunch and naps and I'm hoping to do F! Dessert seating that night.

Saturday and Sunday will probably be crowd avoidance... Need a princess meal in there and a blue bayou dinner. Probably one each day... And we tend to use the weekends to see Aladdin, talk to crush, go to animation academy etc...

Then Monday we only have the morning to hit what we want to ride again... And go home.

My must eat list is growing too, right now it's:

Breakfast, hubby and dd need protein packed breakfasts, we'll probably do room service on early days:
PCH grill
Storytellers or Goofys kitchen (haven't done Goofys in awhile, may have to try it again)

Lunch:
Corndog castle (Monday)
Carnation cafe (Saturday)
Carthay circle (Thursday)
Paradise garden grill (Wednesday)
Tangaroa terrace (Sunday)
Rainforest cafe (Friday)

Dinner:
Blue bayou (Sunday?)
Big thunder ranch (Friday?)
Bengal BBQ (Wednesday)
Ariel's grotto (Saturday?)
Rancho del Zocolo (Thursday)

Yikes... Okay, enough for today... Back to work! Lol

 

[DisFan84]

Subscribing!

Hello from Portland, OR! My boyfriend and I will be in DL 12/1-12/7 celebrating my birthday (12/12/12 this year ) I too am a major planner and I look forward to any finds you come across prior to your trip!

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Hi there!! Welcome!!

Right now I am anxiously anticipating news about dining packages for the CP! We had been happy to avoid that weekend, but now that it will be twice a night every night of our stay, I'd love to see it if I can get a chance... so a dining package would be the easiest way of comfortably doing that I think... Here's to more waiting

 

[ociana]

Subscribing!

Hello from Portland, OR! My boyfriend and I will be in DL 12/1-12/7 celebrating my birthday (12/12/12 this year ) I too am a major planner and I look forward to any finds you come across prior to your trip!

I think we may need a new thread called Oregon Invades Disney in December!

Welcome to the party.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

I think we may need a new thread called Oregon Invades Disney in December!

Welcome to the party.

Obviously there are a bunch of us that need to get out of the Oregon rain come December and have a little Disney Magic!!

 

[missminnie04]

Can I join the party, I am not from Oregon but from BC so not that far away from you guys. My family decided this spring that we are going and we are invading there are 7 of us going the youngest will be 8 and the oldest 75.

I am now in a panic now as I see we can no longer get the 6 day park hopper passes and I am afraid we are not going to have enough time at Disney to see everything that we would like to see. we are flying out of Spokane on Dec 24th leaving Disney on the 29th for San Diego and then returning on the 31st for new years and heading for home on the 3rd.

Any ideas for tickets for us now with the changes on the 28th we are doing Universal and then sea world. Any advice would be wonderful my parents my brother and I have been a few times but not in the past 10 yrs so there are so many changes.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Welcome MissMinnie!! I really don't know what to tell you about the changes on the tix... we thankfully did our package before the changes and have 6 day hoppers. I thought I had understood that people from Canada and Aus were still able to get longer stays, but through another company? Sorry, I'd have to search the board to find that Canadian company that sells those passes.

I would be concerned if I were you because you are going during THE busiest week in the entire year, and New Years Eve... whoa... you need to get there before opening and not leave--not even try to hop... it will be wall to wall and is likely to shut the gates to more people at some point. The advice is going to be the same for each day... go early and collect FPs early (use them later) and make your dinner ressies right on the 60 day mark... you will have crazy waits for anything counter service for dinner and likely be told they are not accepting walk-ups for sit down places. We have that issue on slower times for Friday and Saturday nights. I would also plan my dinners in the parks, not in DTD... because you are not going to want to try to get back and forth from DTD if it is crowded everywhere. If it were me, I'd have ressies for every meal I could... reserving counter service for early (11:30 am) lunches. But my family has to eat something good (healthy--protein esp) often in order to keep going.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Just got off the phone with Disney... I was getting worried that I wouldn't be able to switch to another type room without losing my 6 day hoppers I have on my package. Got a great cm, who said I would lose them, but he would talk to a manager... he came back on the line and said they could do it for me. I had booked a standard room at the PP... but really wanted either to stay at DLH in a new room or a PP theme park room--which we had last time and loved. Well... the total for either change was $500 more--the exact amount for the two totally different rooms... and the view won out! SO, I booked the upper level theme park view room at PP tonight!!

I double checked with dd... she really wanted the light up headboard at DLH... but the view won out for her too... we loved getting back to the room and getting ready for bed and seeing the lights on the pier, and opening the window to hear WOC (usually the 2nd show.)

Getting excited here!!!

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

I feel like all I am doing is waiting and waiting...

October 5th I can start making my PSs--I'll be doing this by phone because it doesn't seem like email is working too well for people, and I like to be able to talk to the lady, let say I request 7:15 and 7:10 or 7:20 is available instead... quicker this way.

October 19th the calendar should start to show my dates

November 5th I can call about F! Dessert... but maybe I can't book it till November 7th... now I can't remember if I got someone to let me book it because it was within my visit window, or if I had to wait till the day of 30 days out--I think it was the latter though.

Probably November 9th I can book the CP dinner that I have heard nothing about--lol... I just want to go on December 9th so I figure it will be a 30 day out thing too. Hopefully they will tell us before I make my PSs where the dinner will be, so I can make my PSs accordingly, and not duplicate a dining place.

Meanwhile, our closest Disney Store closed, and they are putting a Disney Store Outlet in our really nice outlet mall... the question remains if it will be one of the "new interactive" type Disney Stores, or really just an outlet, which I haven't heard the best things about. Anyhow, I always buy a few cutesy things for Tink to leave in our room for dd while she is sleeping at night... t-shirts and the like... so I want to do that as soon as the more wintry stuff comes out.

I have a pretty decent calendar sketched out based on last year's hours. But the new early entry every day is throwing me... and I need to know what it will be for sure in December... M/W/F for DCA? Means we'll have DCA EE on Friday and Monday... and do DL EE on Thursday, and 7:15 am character breakfasts Sat and Sun because EE for DL on the weekends is too darned early

So, for Monday, the last day of our trip... depending on hours, it is highly possibly we will go into DL, spend 1 hour (8-9 am), then cross to DCA for their EE (at 9 am), stay till 10:30, and then have to head out to the airport. Alaska changed our flight times for even earlier, and we'll have to catch a cab at 10:45 am. But at least this way we can say to both the parks.

Oh, I did I mention, probably no stroller... man, we are so much faster with a stroller... but dd will be 8 3/4... and while small enough to still fit in my amazing up to 60 lbs umbrella stroller... DH is telling me no way... she walks this trip. We'd probably only use it for the jaunt between PPH and the gates, and then park it where we would grab it again to cross or go back to the hotel or whatever... bummer.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Okay... so I decided to make our own autograph book this trip... I did a Disney photobook and put pictures of my daughter with characters from over the years in it... 2 to a page... kinda kitty-cornered from eachother... then I did some blank pages with just a background at the end for new characters... we've taken pictures with 47 characters over the years!! Some of them in different outfits, because of the place we were at or the time of year. So the plan is to try and find as many of these characters again and have the sign all in one book (instead of the little autograph books we already have lots of.) Here is the list... Amazing:

Mickey
Minnie
Donald
Daisy
Goofy
Max
Pluto
Chip
Dale
Ariel
Cindy
Aurora
Belle
Snow
Mulan
Pocahontas
Meeko
Jasmine
Aladdin
Pinnochio
Geppetto
Fairy GM
Wendy Darling
Brer Bear
Brer Fox
Koda
Kenai
Rafiki
Terk
Baloo
Timon
Pooh
Tigger
Eeyore
Piglet
Jack Sparrow
Jafar
Capn Hook
Mad Hatter
Jessie
Woody
Lilo
Stitch
Sully
Tink
Vidia
Fawn

 

[mommyto3boys]

Hello to all my fellow Oregonians (and others close by)!!!

My husband and I are going to DL 12/23-29 with our DS 14, DS 12, & DS 9. This will be their first trip. My husband went to DL once as a teen, and I have been to DL 3 times and DW one time.

Our kids don't know that we are going. They think we are going to SD to visit family (they are actually going to DCA with us one day). We are going to tell them the night of the 22nd when we celebrate Christmas with the grandparents

Anyways, we are going to give them a giant box with a huge balloon bouquet in it (with a Santa Mickey head balloon). Attached to the balloon bouquet will be a letter that says SURPRISE!!! Your going to DL. I am having such a hard time not telling them. I think I am more excited then they will be.

I have had some amazing DISigners make t-shirt designs, autograph book covers, pressed penny money labels, treat toppers, and other things. We are doing one character meal (kids actually chose it without knowing it), and then pretty much whatever the kids want to do.

I cant to see Mickey!!!!

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Hello to all my fellow Oregonians (and others close by)!!!

My husband and I are going to DL 12/23-29 with our DS 14, DS 12, & DS 9. This will be their first trip. My husband went to DL once as a teen, and I have been to DL 3 times and DW one time.

Our kids don't know that we are going. They think we are going to SD to visit family (they are actually going to DCA with us one day). We are going to tell them the night of the 22nd when we celebrate Christmas with the grandparents

Anyways, we are going to give them a giant box with a huge balloon bouquet in it (with a Santa Mickey head balloon). Attached to the balloon bouquet will be a letter that says SURPRISE!!! Your going to DL. I am having such a hard time not telling them. I think I am more excited then they will be.

I have had some amazing DISigners make t-shirt designs, autograph book covers, pressed penny money labels, treat toppers, and other things. We are doing one character meal (kids actually chose it without knowing it), and then pretty much whatever the kids want to do.

I cant to see Mickey!!!!

OMG, you are going to have sooo much fun!! Just make sure you go before rope drop, collect your FPs and plan to eat on off times... it will be really crowded when you are there... but if you plan accordingly you can zig when the crowds zag!!

 

[mommyto3boys]

I have been doing tons of planning, but I still need to do more....the last 6mo has been planning the drive and how we are going to keep 3 boys and 1 dad from killing each other during the 15-16hrs we are on the road...lol

Now I am into park planning mode. We are staying off site & will grab a bite to eat early there. I made sure to book a place with a huge free breakfast. I have also thought about bringing small snacks to save money, but not sure if carrying a small bag will be a hassle. We will get small backpacks with our package we bought. I also bought the app from www.touringplans.com (after much praise by friends of mine) so I can try and be more prepared. We will have 3 days in DL & one in DCA, I am thinking that should be enough. I know in 06 I did both in 2 days and saw a ton (I know bad mom...went without the kids )

I hope everyone has an amazing magical trip to the happiest place on earth!!!

 

[ociana]

Hello to all my fellow Oregonians (and others close by)!!!

My husband and I are going to DL 12/23-29 with our DS 14, DS 12, & DS 9. This will be their first trip. My husband went to DL once as a teen, and I have been to DL 3 times and DW one time.

Our kids don't know that we are going. They think we are going to SD to visit family (they are actually going to DCA with us one day). We are going to tell them the night of the 22nd when we celebrate Christmas with the grandparents

Anyways, we are going to give them a giant box with a huge balloon bouquet in it (with a Santa Mickey head balloon). Attached to the balloon bouquet will be a letter that says SURPRISE!!! Your going to DL. I am having such a hard time not telling them. I think I am more excited then they will be.

I have had some amazing DISigners make t-shirt designs, autograph book covers, pressed penny money labels, treat toppers, and other things. We are doing one character meal (kids actually chose it without knowing it), and then pretty much whatever the kids want to do.

I cant to see Mickey!!!!

That sounds like a great trip! We will be there the same time as you and are VERY excited. Our kids are about the same age! I have been doing tons of planning and getting settled with which days we are in which park, etc. Hopefully the crowds are just filled with Oregonians

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

We will have 3 days in DL & one in DCA, I am thinking that should be enough.

Why aren't you park hopping?? It would be a bad move to stick to one park all day... you will get much more done by crossing back and forth believe it or not... especially since the two parks have different hours. Typically, we start our day at DL, especially on a MM day, spend a couple hours there doing the FL rides, then Matterhorn, Space, Star Tours, Buzz... and maybe wander over and do Indy, Splash, HM (grabbing FPs along the way for that night)... then depending on time, cross and do DCA for a couple hours until lunch... nap in the afternoon (your kids are big, and you probably won't need naps)... and then hit DL again after dinner. We get so much more done this way because traffic flow is different. You are going during a super busy time... if you have park hoppers, I would plan on using them. Now that DCA has its own MM... there will be mornings we start there and then leave for DL I am sure. I'm trying not to put much thought into it until I know for sure the MM days will be alternating for on-site guests still.

 

[mommyto3boys]

Can you still park hop if both parks are closed to capacity??? That was my main reason for not not doing it. I have never been on busy days like Christmas. I guess thats something I should have asked. I definitely want to make the most of our 4 days.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Can you still park hop if both parks are closed to capacity??? That was my main reason for not not doing it. I have never been on busy days like Christmas. I guess thats something I should have asked. I definitely want to make the most of our 4 days.

I don't know that both parks have ever closed to capacity at the same time except for New Years Eve (and the all night Leap Day event this last year)... which you are avoiding... I would think actually, in terms of busy slammed days... your dates may not be all that bad... I know they will be much worse than we've ever seen (see my signature... we go on off times)... but not closed due to capacity bad. Plus it is tiered... somewhere there is an explanation of it... people can get in if they've already been in, or people staying on-site can get in... I dunno, they have levels of closed.

 

[mommyto3boys]

cool...I will defiantly look into it more. Somewhere idk if it was on another blog or on one of Disney's forums, but I read somewhere that even if staying on site you are not guaranteed entry to the parks. When they close due to capacity they are closed. About 4 years ago a friend and her family where there for Christmas and DL was closed by 11 due to being at capacity.

Anyways, it looks like I have a lot more research to do. I want to make sure I know all the in's and out's of DL on Christmas.