10 Mths of WDW Planning leads us to~~DISNEYLAND!! Report Completed~Pic Heavy!!!

[Sherry E]

I don't think they have a clue how they're handling this.......they should have tested the waters offering this on select dates in December but not nightly. I foresee a real nightmare!! And the more popular the celebrity, the worse it will be!

I was thinking they'd go with the 30 day out policy, but we're past the 30 day mark for the 3rd & 4th and at the mark for the 5th.........so there goes that logic. I think we'll tackle DL a couple of the nights to see the fireworks, but evenings most likely will be over in DCA.

Well, at least they put this much up tonight: http://disneyland.disney.go.com/ent...passholders/?CMP=EMC-DLRUSENFY13Q1APCLEM10005

So the AP holders will get to sit down - actual seats! - but it's going to be one of those annoying sweepstakes again. So whoever happens to get picked at random for the CP seats from the AP lottery will get in. That means that very few people will be chosen unless the seating has been increased. They cannot choose hundreds of people per ceremony, from what I saw of the seating last year.

Now the AP holders have to wait another full week to find out how to enter the sweepstakes. And will they let us enter for more than one ceremony to increase our chances of being picked? In other words, could you enter for both of the Dick Van Dyke nights and I enter for all 3 of the Kurt Russell nights just to hope to be chosen for one of the nights?

I guess the only fool proof way of getting into the CP and sitting down will be through the dining packages. The other stuff is just basically 'who can win the contest and be chosen at random to attend.'

 

[yupikgal]

Hey Sherrie & Laurie! Please read my PTR titled: PTR: Disneyland holidays with Newbies! (Or something like that) sadly, we won't be able to attend the CP like we planned, thanks to no dining pkgs afterall! ;(. Since we aren't APs, I guess it's not happening, although honestly, I sort of suspected this..I think it sounds like its available on the 1st & 2nd as a "grand holiday tour" for &150, but I would be the only one interested in my party, sadly!! ;(. It is a bit pricy at that!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Well, at least they put this much up tonight: http://disneyland.disney.go.com/ent...passholders/?CMP=EMC-DLRUSENFY13Q1APCLEM10005

So the AP holders will get to sit down - actual seats! - but it's going to be one of those annoying sweepstakes again. So whoever happens to get picked at random for the CP seats from the AP lottery will get in. That means that very few people will be chosen unless the seating has been increased. They cannot choose hundreds of people per ceremony, from what I saw of the seating last year.

Now the AP holders have to wait another full week to find out how to enter the sweepstakes. And will they let us enter for more than one ceremony to increase our chances of being picked? In other words, could you enter for both of the Dick Van Dyke nights and I enter for all 3 of the Kurt Russell nights just to hope to be chosen for one of the nights?

I guess the only fool proof way of getting into the CP and sitting down will be through the dining packages. The other stuff is just basically 'who can win the contest and be chosen at random to attend.'

Ugh, lottery style seats.......pretty hard to plan and not so great for people that don't live near the park. That caters to the locals. Wouldn't do me any good if I "won" the lottery for Dec 19th........since I would have left on the 16th.

Hey Sherrie & Laurie! Please read my PTR titled: PTR: Disneyland holidays with Newbies! (Or something like that) sadly, we won't be able to attend the CP like we planned, thanks to no dining pkgs afterall! ;(. Since we aren't APs, I guess it's not happening, although honestly, I sort of suspected this..I think it sounds like its available on the 1st & 2nd as a "grand holiday tour" for &150, but I would be the only one interested in my party, sadly!! ;(. It is a bit pricy at that!!

So they announced no dining packages??

 

[Sherry E]

Laurie -

Yes, the Disney Parks Blog posted last night that there will be no dining packages. So the only options are to buy the expensive $150 Ultimate tour/CP thing for 12/1 or 12/2 only, or enter the AP lottery and hope to be chosen for one of the very few seats available each night (so there is a very slim chance of winning, as the seating is very limited). Otherwise, everyone will be standing around the perimeters (AP holders and general public) viewing from afar, which is pretty much how it is every year. They are also allowing the Club 33 people to have a crack at the seats, so that limits it for AP holders even more.

So as I was saying in the Christmas thread last night, it's like Disney made it out to be 'Hey, everyone, we're extending the CP to 20 nights so you can now see it!' But then, when we get deeper into it, we find out that it will not be that easy to see it from a seat, and that it will basically come down to what it's always been - standing around and watching from the back.

I think that no announcements about the CP should have been made back in August until Disney figured out exactly how they were going to handle the CP and unless/until they made sure that a good number of people would be able to see it through packages and through AP lottery. To cut out the dining packages and to tell the AP people "You can only see it IF you win the random contest" seems dumb after promoting the 20-night event as though everyone would be able to see it.

As Escape2Disney said, it's a "bait and switch" type of situation. Not cool.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Laurie -

Yes, the Disney Parks Blog posted last night that there will be no dining packages. So the only options are to buy the expensive $150 Ultimate tour/CP thing for 12/1 or 12/2 only, or enter the AP lottery and hope to be chosen for one of the very few seats available each night (so there is a very slim chance of winning, as the seating is very limited). Otherwise, everyone will be standing around the perimeters (AP holders and general public) viewing from afar, which is pretty much how it is every year. They are also allowing the Club 33 people to have a crack at the seats, so that limits it for AP holders even more.

So as I was saying in the Christmas thread last night, it's like Disney made it out to be 'Hey, everyone, we're extending the CP to 20 nights so you can now see it!' But then, when we get deeper into it, we find out that it will not be that easy to see it from a seat, and that it will basically come down to what it's always been - standing around and watching from the back.

I think that no announcements about the CP should have been made back in August until Disney figured out exactly how they were going to handle the CP and unless/until they made sure that a good number of people would be able to see it through packages and through AP lottery. To cut out the dining packages and to tell the AP people "You can only see it IF you win the random contest" seems dumb after promoting the 20-night event as though everyone would be able to see it.

As Escape2Disney said, it's a "bait and switch" type of situation. Not cool.

I found the Disney Blog on this.....ugh is all I can say! Bait & switch sounds about right. They shouldn't have announced anything until they knew what they were doing. I'm sorry, but this is not a "Thank you to our passholders"......this is a thank you for our LOCAL passholders. (they're also including Club 33 patrons) Winning the AP lottery for a date that doesn't fall in my trip is not a Yay for me! I'm also guessing if I were to be on the very few fortunate ones, I imagine I wouldn't be able to take my whole family with me. If I recall from the CP info from WDW, this is a great way to share the holiday season with your family while listening to the story of Christmas being retold. Not offering a dining package where all my kids could be with me sucks. (not sure we could have afforded it, but then it would have been my option to skip it). We can't do the SRO thing with the twins, so we won't be attending and it makes me really sad. This was the one BIG thing I was sorry we would miss not going to WDW and then when they announced it would run for 20 nights, I thought........good, I'll still be able to go. Oh well.........just another sign that Disney is headed down the road of catering to their wealthier visitors. Walt created Club 33 to cater to the elite few and the park was for families to share together.......the way they're going......Disneyland will soon become an elite only park. I'm sure Walt is shaking his head!

Stepping off my soapbox and done ranting about this subject!!! Time to look forward to the things we WILL get to do!!

 

[Sherry E]

I found the Disney Blog on this.....ugh is all I can say! Bait & switch sounds about right. They shouldn't have announced anything until they knew what they were doing. I'm sorry, but this is not a "Thank you to our passholders"......this is a thank you for our LOCAL passholders. (they're also including Club 33 patrons) Winning the AP lottery for a date that doesn't fall in my trip is not a Yay for me! I'm also guessing if I were to be on the very few fortunate ones, I imagine I wouldn't be able to take my whole family with me. If I recall from the CP info from WDW, this is a great way to share the holiday season with your family while listening to the story of Christmas being retold. Not offering a dining package where all my kids could be with me sucks. (not sure we could have afforded it, but then it would have been my option to skip it). We can't do the SRO thing with the twins, so we won't be attending and it makes me really sad. This was the one BIG thing I was sorry we would miss not going to WDW and then when they announced it would run for 20 nights, I thought........good, I'll still be able to go. Oh well.........just another sign that Disney is headed down the road of catering to their wealthier visitors. Walt created Club 33 to cater to the elite few and the park was for families to share together.......the way they're going......Disneyland will soon become an elite only park. I'm sure Walt is shaking his head!

Stepping off my soapbox and done ranting about this subject!!! Time to look forward to the things we WILL get to do!!

I'm still going to enter the CP lotto. I only want one seat - one measly seat! Fifty percent of the reason I renewed my AP was for this Candlelight Processional, and now I probably won't be able to see it.

This isn't even a thank you to the local AP holders, the way they have it set up. A lot of local AP people are going to be excluded from seeing this event because only a few people can really be chosen for the seats.

They will, I'm sure, allow everyone to enter for more than one night or time slot - so you'd be able to enter for any CP that was happening during your December trip. They wouldn't pick a random night for you that wasn't during your trip - you'd pick one or two or three dates that you wanted and would then hope to win one of them. That's how they've done the previous lotteries - we pick the date/time we want for whatever the event is, and then we wait to see if we have won it. So you pick the date you want but you may not get chosen.

The thing is that Disney may put a restriction on the lottery such as you can only include up to 4 or 5 guests, and each of those guests has to have an AP too. Some such thing. So you would not be able to include your whole family.

I wouldn't mind standing for the CP - it wouldn't be any worse than standing for WoC or fireworks - and I expected that Disney would make the AP holders stand because I thought they would sell dining packages and give the seats to the package people.

My issue with standing is that it won't be 'organized standing' - in other words, there won't be a designated, reserved spot for AP people to stand in one place and watch the show. Instead it will be a free-for-all, with everyone jockeying for viewing spots, which is not what I was hoping for. The AP people and the general public would be fighting for the same viewing spots - so that's not a thank you to AP holders in any way!

What Disney should have done was clearly state, "There will be X number of dining packages, X number of Ultimate packages and X number of seats available to Club 33 members and/or AP holders. After those are sold or reserved, there will be no more available. There will also be a reserved viewing area for AP holders to stand and watch the Ceremony. The first 500 (or whatever number) AP people to sign up will get a spot in the reserved viewing area."

If they had set it up that way - and made it clear that there was a definite limit and cap on how many people could sit, stand, etc., then only the people who were really, really serious about attending the CP would have tried to get in right away, and everyone else would be out of luck. The way it is set up now, too many people who really, really want to attend will not even be able to have a chance at seats or proper viewing.


Ah well, what can we do... Some lucky people will get chosen for the coveted seats at the CP. Others will skip the event entirely. Others will crowd into Town Square and on Main Street to watch it from afar and cause a major traffic jam! Fun fun fun!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Yup, it will be a madhouse.....that's a given with the way this is being handled!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

30 DAYS!!!!!!!!

Just thought I should mention that!!! I found out about an hour ago that my bank debit/visa card had been hacked/stolen and used for over $850 in purchases (2 at Macy's.com and Gap USA.com) I'm glad I check my online banking multiple times a week. This could have been devastating to my trip plans if I hadn't caught this before my bank acct was drained and turned upside down in the hole!!! They were making one large purchase a day for the last 3 days. Makes me angry this happened!!! So my card is no longer active and I have to wait up to 10 days before I get my new one & # (I had my old # memorized.....heavy sigh). A bit of an inconvenience but at least BofA has fraud coverage and I won't be out this money. I hope they investigate it and find the person. If you order something people.....chances are you're having it sent to you at your address (or work address)......so you WILL get caught.........DUMMIES!!!!

Ok, I have to share this.........Tyler and I put up our tree on Monday. My Disney Christmas tree!! I know, it's WAAAAAAAYYYYYYY too early for this and you will find I am one that likes to celebrate each holiday before starting up the next one. But in my defense, I will say this~~~

1. I LVE Christmas time.........it warms my soul!!
2. I will be gone for 11 full days for our trip and will miss out on admiring my tree.
3. I had to go with an artificial tree (not my usual) but I can't purchase and put up a real tree before going on our trip because it would dry up with us gone and not watering it daily.
4. We get back late on the 17th and that's a week from Christmas.....I spent a good chunk of change on my Disney ornaments and I want to get good usage out of them.........
5. I needed the colorful, cheery, shiny, sparkly, character filled ornaments to lift my spirits. After the year I've had......I just needed a little extra Christmas joy to help me through the holidays. Tomorrow is Veteran's Day and Anthony and Addy both have programs......I will probably have a rough day........first Veteran's Day after losing my dad & stepdad.

Sooooooooo, this is why I have a tree up in early November. This is not a normal thing and outside decorations are just Thanksgiving and my living room is a mixture of Thanksgiving and Christmas~~~~~TURKMAS!!!!!

 

[Trentmom]

Oh man, that is awful about your bank. I am glad you caught that and got card closed


yay for 30 days

Hugs for tomorrow

 

[DizNee Luver]

Oh man, that is awful about your bank. I am glad you caught that and got card closed


yay for 30 days

Hugs for tomorrow

I've had friends and family that this has happened to, but it freaked me out when I saw those charges. I'm so glad it isn't a huge hassle to get that money credited back into my account. This really could have messed up the trip if they didn't handle things like they do.

Thank You!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Sorry to hear about the card. Yay for 30 days though!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Sorry to hear about the card. Yay for 30 days though!!

Thanks Kaitlin!! The bank thing makes me a bit angry, but the bank made the process very easy.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

That's good. When do the kids get out for winter break?

 

[DizNee Luver]

That's good. When do the kids get out for winter break?

We get home on Monday the 17th and they get out of school on Friday the 21st. The kids are missing school for this trip. They really changed the schedule from last December.....we thought they'd be missing the last week prior to the break (when they party, watch videos and do crafts most of the week) but when the calendar came out we realized they would end up going back to school after our trip......

 

[kellys520]

Lurker here, trying to post more. I've been reading your ptr and some of the older tr's. I'm so glad you guys get to go to Disney this Dec!

My husband's debit card was recently stolen as well, BofA was great about everything. We know that the stores they used our card at have footage of it, so we are just waiting for the police to get back to us. I too don't understand why you would steal a debit/card these days. With all our technology you are going to get caught. Hopefully you guys can catch the person !

 

[DizNee Luver]

Lurker here, trying to post more. I've been reading your ptr and some of the older tr's. I'm so glad you guys get to go to Disney this Dec!

My husband's debit card was recently stolen as well, BofA was great about everything. We know that the stores they used our card at have footage of it, so we are just waiting for the police to get back to us. I too don't understand why you would steal a debit/card these days. With all our technology you are going to get caught. Hopefully you guys can catch the person !

Welcome!!

With technology, purchasing stuff online, you leave behind your IP address. Purchasing merchandise, you have to ship somewhere.......so if you use your home address or work address you're busted. If you send to a PO Box, most places have info on who rents the box (and security cameras to see who comes and gets stuff out).........so I imagine this will be pretty easy to bust. Just feeling a tad "violated"!!

 

[DnA2010]

Hi there!!

Just found your new report! So glad you are planning a trip
Haven't had a chance to read it all yet, but yay!!!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Hi there!!

Just found your new report! So glad you are planning a trip
Haven't had a chance to read it all yet, but yay!!!!

HI!!

Been planning since January......it was supposed to be a trip to WDW......but finances didn't fall into place and timing wasn't right.......so it switched to DL!!!!

 

[smile4stamps]

Finally made it over here Laurie!!

I am SO HAPPY your check finally came!!

And PPH Concierge?!?! Thats a dream right there! I know a lot of people love the DLH and GCH but the PPH was awesome in my mind!!

I am looking at a quickie trip the end of this month but I'm not sure it's worth it. I would drive down after work on Tuesday November 27th, spend a few hours in the park. Wednesday in the park, and then I would have to leave Thursday around 1pm to make the drive back as I would work that night. So I would basically get 1.5 park days and they are SHORT park days at that! Only open 10am-8pm... I'm torn as it's quite the drive (about 6 hrs each way) + 2 nights at a hotel... not sure its worth it!! Ugh the decisions we make for our Disney Love!!

 

[6Smiles]

Hey Laurie -

Sorry about your bank account, but thankfully you got it taken care of right away. Looks like your trip is full speed ahead and I am excited for you and your family.

Kris