Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #2 (Closed)

[czmom]

Originally Posted by figment_jii

As the PPs said it does run twice, once at 1 pm and then again at 3:30 pm. Both parades seemed busy last weekend. However, if you are willing to be further back in the crowd, then there are still spaces available pretty close to the time the parade goes by. I would stake out a spot about 30-45 minutes early if you want a good view. However it's likely to be much more crowded the closer it gets to Christmas so keep that in mind.

Thanks! We are going early December and will be there during the weekdays, so hopefully not too terribly crowded. I have small children, so we would like to be up front. I can handle 30-45 minutes!

[StyledSugar]

We leave on the 24th and the forcast continues to change what seems like every hour. Does RSR's run if it's raining?

[KCmike]

Originally Posted by StyledSugar

We leave on the 24th and the forcast continues to change what seems like every hour. Does RSR's run if it's raining?

Usually not.

[kangamama]

Goodness -- I just learned that it is going to be raining for our trip between Xmas and New Years. We are only going to be in the oak for two days, and the forecast is not good. Any advice for managing dlr in the rain?

[mellers]

Originally Posted by kangamama

Goodness -- I just learned that it is going to be raining for our trip between Xmas and New Years. We are only going to be in the oak for two days, and the forecast is not good. Any advice for managing dlr in the rain?

Bring ponchos, rain pants, and boots and you'll be fine on anything (except RSR--you're probably out of luck for that)

If you don't want to do a lot of raingear, see Asimo at Innoventions, It's Tough to be a Bug, Prep & Landing 3D, The Animation area at California Adventure, the Tiki Room, the Aladdin Show, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and get FastPasses for Star Tours, Soaring Over California, Space Mountain, and go on the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. Ride the dark rides in Fantasyland (hit Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, and Alice in that order before you head over to Toontown--those fill up QUICK), and if you have little guys, hit Toontown as soon as it opens and tour the houses. Have a character breakfast and/or character dinner at the hotels. You'll have a great time, and won't get too wet.

[luulu1999]

Originally Posted by mellers

Bring ponchos, rain pants, and boots and you'll be fine on anything (except RSR--you're probably out of luck for that)

If you don't want to do a lot of raingear, see Asimo at Innoventions, It's Tough to be a Bug, Prep & Landing 3D, The Animation area at California Adventure, the Tiki Room, the Aladdin Show, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and get FastPasses for Star Tours, Soaring Over California, Space Mountain, and go on the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. Ride the dark rides in Fantasyland (hit Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, and Alice in that order before you head over to Toontown--those fill up QUICK), and if you have little guys, hit Toontown as soon as it opens and tour the houses. Have a character breakfast and/or character dinner at the hotels. You'll have a great time, and won't get too wet.

thanks for the info im gonna print all that out to take with us....as of right now it looks like Christmas Eve is going to be our rainy day so I will def keep these things in mind!!

[figment_jii]

Here are a few photos from my recent trip. These were over at Big Thunder Ranch.

The signs posted by the miniature cow and goats were pretty cute.



...But then the animals were even cuter. I was impressed how the animals didn't seem to notice/care that they had hats on. (Whenever I try to put a hat on my cat, claws and teeth become involved .)



I didn't enter the CP lottery, so I had no idea there were so many different sections to the seating:


Finally, this time Figment (and I) decided to try for the handmade candy canes. We had two chances: one in Disneyland and once at DCA. We got wristbands both mornings, so we managed to get a candy cane from each park!

We were surprised how different they looked. The one from DL (left) was much "cleaner" - the color lines were much sharper and narrower. The one from DCA (right) had much fatter color lines. Overall, the one from DL was pretty, but having one from each park is pretty neat!

[figment_jii]

Originally Posted by Sherry E

Do we know for sure that the Jungle Cruise was closed because of the CP? Was this information confirmed anywhere? To me it doesn't seem like there would be any direct connection between the two, but there may be some behind-the-scenes reason for it. I just don't want to get on a 'blame the CP for everything' bandwagon (like the 'blame the locals' and 'blame the AP holders' bandwagons) unless we know for sure.

I was trying to be careful and not be on the 'blame the CP for everything' bandwagon. I only listed the things that seemed most likely due to CP (e.g., the things on Main Street) or said CP explicitly. The picture of the Jungle Cruise sign has already been posted. The one for the railroad didn't specify that it was due to CP, but it seemed most likely because the close starts at 4 pm (which is to late to be caused the parades) and if the noise from the Jungle Cruise stops CP, I would guess that the sound of the train is just as (if not more) disruptive.

[Jperiod]

RSR ran in the drizzle rain just fine earlier this week.

We've been here a week, leaving tomorrow but not bothering to go back in the park tonight, it's soooooo busy! I'm amazed it actually gets more crowded next week! I will never come this close to Christmas again. Good luck to everyone next week!

We loved the new changes at DCA and Buena vista St. So cool.

Another fun thing in the rain, especially if you have kids, is the Disney dance party over near monsters, Inc. They have chairs around the edge of the room while the kiddos just dance their hearts out.

Forgot to add, I hope they move CP to Hyperion next year. It was a huge bummer being so hung up around main street each night and stuff closing early because of it.

[kangamama]

Originally Posted by mellers

Bring ponchos, rain pants, and boots and you'll be fine on anything (except RSR--you're probably out of luck for that)

If you don't want to do a lot of raingear, see Asimo at Innoventions, It's Tough to be a Bug, Prep & Landing 3D, The Animation area at California Adventure, the Tiki Room, the Aladdin Show, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and get FastPasses for Star Tours, Soaring Over California, Space Mountain, and go on the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. Ride the dark rides in Fantasyland (hit Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, and Alice in that order before you head over to Toontown--those fill up QUICK), and if you have little guys, hit Toontown as soon as it opens and tour the houses. Have a character breakfast and/or character dinner at the hotels. You'll have a great time, and won't get too wet.

Thank you for this!

[Sherry E]

Originally Posted by figment_jii

I was trying to be careful and not be on the 'blame the CP for everything' bandwagon. I only listed the things that seemed most likely due to CP (e.g., the things on Main Street) or said CP explicitly. The picture of the Jungle Cruise sign has already been posted. The one for the railroad didn't specify that it was due to CP, but it seemed most likely because the close starts at 4 pm (which is to late to be caused the parades) and if the noise from the Jungle Cruise stops CP, I would guess that the sound of the train is just as (if not more) disruptive.

Yes, I saw the Jungle Cruise sign photo and replied to it. The Jungle Cruise was the only thing I had questioned because it wouldn't seem to have much to do with Main Street at a glance (they seem far enough away from each other to me that I wouldn't have expected one to affect the other), but apparently it does.

The train was an obvious CP-related closure. The CP is held - literally - right on, around and in front of the train station in Town Square. If the train were still running during the ceremony, it would go barreling through the middle of the CP and kind of ruin the whole show! There are choir members on risers, forming a tree, right in front of that spot, and trumpeters on top of that building.

SUPERTHREAD ANNOUNCEMENT!!

We're about to hit the 250-page point in this thread! Generally, when a thread hits 250 pages we close it and start a new one (just for purely technical reasons - from what I've been told, threads start to act up and become a bit glitchy once they reach a certain point).

I had been hoping (crossing my fingers) that this thread would be able to stretch to the end of this current DLR holiday season (January 6), just so that there wouldn't be any major disruption in the middle of planning efforts and discussion.

But it appears that Page 250 is fast approaching. Now, don't get the wrong idea - it's not that this thread will suddenly crash the entire site or explode once it hits that 250 mark. Realistically, we probably could/can let it go for another 2 weeks without any trouble, just to make it until the season ends, and then move into our new 'home.'

However, I'm already getting started on the new Superthread. Again, just to avoid any major disruption while the season is still happening and to keep the transition painless, I am merely beginning by copying and pasting the info that is currently on Page 1 of this existing thread to the new thread.

BUT...little by little, over time, I am going to deconstruct the info I have already assembled, and then reorganize it/re-categorize it for the new thread so that it will be ready for 2013. I'll remove some of the older information (especially if it is no longer valid or relevant), add in some new stuff and separate posts by topics (i.e., a post just for Food/Dining/Treats-related information/blogs/articles, etc.). I have it all mapped out and planned! It won't be totally ready for a while - it will take some time to assemble everything - but I think it will be great when it's complete!

So, if you all want to begin moving over to the new Superthread, you're more than welcome. I will post the link here shortly. If you want to hang out here for another few days or so, that should be fine too - but I will have to close up the thread very soon.

[mellers]

Originally Posted by kangamama

Thank you for this!

You're very welcome.

[Sherry E]

Here is the link to the new thread (see explanation in above post #3731, in red) - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3035529.

As mentioned earlier, feel free to join me over there now, or stick around here in this thread for another couple of days until I close it - whichever is less disruptive! Either way, I will be assembling and organizing the new thread in the coming days/weeks and this one will have to be closed very soon.

[madbaby]

Hi! I had to write to say thank you to all of you for such helpful information! Our family of 6 went to DLR for the day on December 26. DH, DD and I are WDW vets, but the rest of our family did not understand the need to get there early and manage FPs. We went early in the day, the stragglers met us later and enjoyed the FPs we accumulated. Great seats for the parade (1 hr of waiting in advance) and although it was really crowded, it didn't end up being a problem at all. We all had a fantastic time, and I am now a DLR fan. Yay! Happy new year!

[BELLEDOZER]

PAGE 13???? Time to give this thread a bump to avoid it going to obscurity on the board!!