Disneyland Holiday Events - BUSY

[Tink33]

Went to Disneyland last night to see Small World Holiday and Believe.

At 5 pm, the fastpass machine was giving out tickets for a return time of 11 pm at Small World. The standby wait was over 2 1/2 hours.

About 6:30 pm, the fastpass for Haunted Mansion Holiday was giving a return time of 10:55 pm. Standby was 90 minutes.

The Minnie Christmas show was also full each time we walked past.

Got stuck in a long line for Space Mountain (65 minutes) and missed the beginning of Believe. We ran to Main Street and found wall-to-wall people. We lucked out and the wind blew some "snow" our way. I have never seen so many people on Main Street. It took 25 minutes to travel from the hub area to the Christmas Tree near the flag pole.

Even with all the crowds, we had a great time and I am now in the Christmas mood.

 

[Disney-Kim]

why was it so busy? Veterans Day weekend? or is that normal? we will be there next weekend and I sure hope its not that bad.
that reminds me of our Thanksgiving Day trip last year.

 

[Rajah]

I know, I'm hoping the same thing, Kim. I'm sure glad we weren't able to go last week and had to go this week instead! I've heard, though, that Veteran's Day crowds are among the worst, so hopefully we'll be lucky.

Two days, I can hardly wait!!!

 

[MamaKate]

We were there most of yesterday & my son kept asking me why it was so crowded. I think it was crowded because it was the first weekend of the Christmas activities & also because of Veterans Day. Also, since it rained quite heavy the day before, maybe people who were going on Saturday went Sunday instead. We were able to see the Minnie Show, Small World and even got seats in front of the castle for Believe(only had to wait 1/2 hour). But the lines for all the attractions were unbearable. The only rides we went on were the ones we got fastpasses for. Even the lines for the restrooms & restaurants were horrible.

But, Disneyland looked beautiful decked out for the holidays (especially Small World at night!). My kids even enjoyed decorating Christmas cookies on Main Street which I thought was nice.

,
Katherine

 

[Michelle]

A lot of it no doubt was Veteran's Day weekend crowds, but overall the weekends at the parks are just plain crowded any more, no matter when you go.

 

[hookedup]

We too were there this weekend - man yesterday was BAD! I talked to quite a few CM's who said that it was more crowded then they had predicted and they were lengthening shifts and calling in more staff.

The rain Fri & Sat, the Holiday decor and theming, and certainly Veterans Day made a CROWDED combination!

On the good side there were lots of characters out and about (we even saw Goofy & Pluto in western wear on the Mark Twain with us!) It reminded me of peak season summer festivities. It was really crowded but still fun to be there. Fast pass was crucial!

DCA was also crowded too - the lines for food at Pacific Warf were really long! I had never seen that before! Boudin Bakery had a line coming out the door and wrapping down toward the tour entrance! Wow!

 

[Krisj]

Ugh. I hope it slows down when we are there mid December. I was thinking this time of year was normally slow.

 

[kilarney]

I was there this weekend, and it was PACKED on Sunday.
It rained all day on Friday and Saturday. Therefore, a lot of people waited until Sunday to go.
It was too crowded to be enjoyable. I'm going to stick to weekdays from now on.

 

[AKASnowWhite]

This is not good news guys!!! Look at my countdown....almost time to go! I certainly hope we don't have the same crowds you ran into Rain, however, doesn't bother us in the least. Some of our best Disney memories are of dashing thru WDW in downpours!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

<font color=navy>We were there on Sunday, too. My cousin flew in from Phoenix with her family, and I picked them up from LAX at 9am, and we spent the whole day @ Disneyland (the rascals were in San Diego w/their dad).

I also thought it was very crowded there. We did go on the Haunted Mansion, but didn't make it to It's a Small World. They had to be back at LAX by 9:30pm, so they didn't see the holiday version of Believe.

They had a great time, though, and it was nice visiting w/my cousin.

Tink33 - It would have been a hoot if we ran into each other ... again!!! So, were you wearing that sexy lime-green bikini of yours, I wonder?

Kilarney, I think you hit it on the head - a beautiful sunny day after a couple days of rain, and 3-day weekend was a great recipe for a LOT OF PEOPLE!

We had dinner @ Storyteller Cafe, though (made PS), and that was a nice experience. My cousin & her family were duly impressed with the resort, and are already trying to make plans to come back out during the holiday season.

 

[cinderellakh20]

Even when it's crowded, you still can have a good time - pace yourselves and watch the shows or parades while you wait for your fast pass times to arrive

 

[Horizons16]

Uh oh i hope it isnt more crowded that WDW. Im going in 31 days do you think itrs going to jammed?

~Steve