Advice for Nov 8th - 12th

[travelgirl68]

Hi! We just booked our trip (Me, DH and DD - 8years old) for November 8th through the 12th!!! We are going with friends and that week worked best for them. Since reading through some of the threads now, I'm wondering if we don't want to try and push it out another week with the holiday season starting possibly on the 11th this year? We have been to DL many times but never during the holiday season.

My questions are:

If the holiday season does start around the 11th, will there be lots of rides that are closed that prior week when we are there? It would be a bummer to miss some of our favorites that might be closed for holiday install (Haunted Mansion, Small World, etc.) Also, wonder if the new rides we haven't seen yet like Toy Story, Little Mermaid, etc. typically close for refurbishment during that slower time?

Our last day in the park is actually the 11th as we leave the afternoon of the 12th. If the holiday season starts on the 11th, will there typically be the holiday parade and snow by then? Would the castle have the winter display or does all of that start later in the season or after Thanksgiving?

We haven't been to DL since 2006. What other changes do we need to be aware of? Is Fastpass still the way to manage the more popular rides? Any other must see or do items that might be new? We are staying at HOJO's so hope that is still a good choice.

Thanks for the advice! We are so excited...November can't come soon enough!

 

[camouseketeer]

I was at DLR for the first day of the holiday season 2010 and two days prior to it.

HM and IASW will be closed most of your trip. Assuming Nov 11 is the first day of the holiday season, they will both be open that day. IASW was open the afternoon of the previous day for soft openings. I would HIGHLY recommend you see it then, as the lines were astronomical on the official first day last year.

Yes, all special holiday events will start on the first day of the season. The park will be decorated and beautiful for the entirety of your trip, but there will not be snow, a parade, or the fancy lighting of the holiday lights on the castle until the first day of the season.

The new Star Tours, Goofy Sky School, and Little Mermaid rides will be open by then. I would read a lot on these boards for a few weeks prior to your trip to find out about touring patterns, tips, and tricks with these new rides.

Yes, definitely use FP.

I have been to DLR many times during busy periods. I have NEVER seen the park as crowded as it was the first night of the holiday season. It was Nov 12 and many schools had a 4 day weekend (with Nov 11 being Veteran's Day). A similar scenario would be true for this year.

Main street after afternoon parade was wall to wall people, and I almost lost my DD as our hands were torn apart by the crowds. Luckily, it was the end of our trip, and we saw the holiday effects we wanted to see.

I think the dates of your plans are great. You'll be able to see a decorated park and ride rides without enormous crowds early in your trip. Then, when the crowds descend, you'll get the benefits of the holiday season to cap your trip. Ride HM and IASW as soon on opening day (or earlier if they are open) as you can, and you'll bypass the long waits that others just arriving will experience.

Enjoy your visit!

 

[Sherry E]

Hi! We just booked our trip (Me, DH and DD - 8years old) for November 8th through the 12th!!! We are going with friends and that week worked best for them. Since reading through some of the threads now, I'm wondering if we don't want to try and push it out another week with the holiday season starting possibly on the 11th this year? We have been to DL many times but never during the holiday season.

My questions are:

If the holiday season does start around the 11th, will there be lots of rides that are closed that prior week when we are there? It would be a bummer to miss some of our favorites that might be closed for holiday install (Haunted Mansion, Small World, etc.) Also, wonder if the new rides we haven't seen yet like Toy Story, Little Mermaid, etc. typically close for refurbishment during that slower time?

Our last day in the park is actually the 11th as we leave the afternoon of the 12th. If the holiday season starts on the 11th, will there typically be the holiday parade and snow by then? Would the castle have the winter display or does all of that start later in the season or after Thanksgiving?

We haven't been to DL since 2006. What other changes do we need to be aware of? Is Fastpass still the way to manage the more popular rides? Any other must see or do items that might be new? We are staying at HOJO's so hope that is still a good choice.

Thanks for the advice! We are so excited...November can't come soon enough!

travelgirl68 - Hi there!

I can tell by your post that you have, indeed, been paying attention to other recent threads about the November part of the holiday season (or just November in general)! You seem to already be well-informed about certain things - I love that!! So often there are subjects that are discussed over and over again on the board, and I suppose people don't really have time to read the threads and then the same questions keep getting asked. But I can tell you've been doing some reading!

Okay...let's see...IF the holiday season begins on 11/11/11 this year, then yes, the Winter Castle will have its icicle lights at night, which will turn on and off a few times during the evening and then stay on for the rest of the night after a certain point. The holiday parade (A Christmas Fantasy Parade) will begin on that date and the snow will fall on Main Street at night, beginning that day.

The main things that don't begin or appear until after Thanksgiving are, for example, the decorations at all 3 DLR hotels (including Santa at all 3 places and Christmas carolers), some decor in Downtown Disney, a couple of seasonal food items, a couple of extra things at the Reindeer Round-Up and maybe a couple of merchandise pieces. Otherwise, the majority of the holiday season decor and entertainment will be in full swing once the season starts, unless something changes this year.

If the season does not begin on 11/11 and instead begins on 11/18 (which I think is unlikely), then you will still see bits and pieces of holiday stuff going up during your trip, little by little - just not the full array of things yet.

Haunted Mansion Holiday will be up and running during your trip (it starts in September and stays open until early January).

It's a Small World will likely stay closed until the holiday season begins to receive its holiday overlay. Sometimes IASWH opens a day or 2 before the season starts, though - so you may get lucky!

The Storybook Land Canal Boats ride also gets tiny holiday decorations, but I don't know if those will be ready by the holiday season start date...or after Thanksgiving.

The Little Mermaid is a brand new ride - it's not opening until June - so unless there is some sort of problem with it after its debut, I can't imagine that DLR would shut that ride down for a refurb so soon after opening. It will be extremely popular.

Toy Story Midway Mania had a long closure last year (some sort of installation of a safety device, I think). It was closed from late August to almost mid-October. That is not typical, though. Not at all. So I would be shocked if TSMM had to close again this year - especially not for that long of a time frame.

As for anything else you should be aware of holiday-wise to ride, eat, see, buy, etc.- stay tuned to the Disneyland at Christmas Time Superthread. The first page (Posts #1 - #3) have links that will guide you to all kinds of great photos and tidbits. Plus, I am keeping that first page updated with any news we get on this year's season. When any breaking news comes in (like an announcement of when the season starts), we will be discussing it! Feel free to join us there and ask any holiday-related question you may have.

As for Fast Pass and the other questions, I'm sure you'll get great replies from our wonderful DIS'ers.

 

[camouseketeer]

Oops, Sherry is right about HM. It will be open for your trip. Wasn't thinking clearly about that one. We did the Holiday Tour and got front of the line privileges to HM and IASM, so I didn't pay attention to when it was open.

Storybook Canal (with the holiday decorations) and Reindeer Round-Up with Santa were both open Nov 12 last year, the first day of the season.

 

[Sherry E]

The Reindeer Round-Up is open on the season start date, true, but there are a couple of extra things that are added into the Round-Up as the season progresses that are not there on that first day, which is what I was trying to say in my above post. I was at DLR on from December 12 -15. I spent a good 2 hours at the Round-Up in one afternoon, doing nothing but taking photos of all the little details (and I still never went in to see Santa!). A few folks told me that some of the stuff in my December photos was not out yet when the season began in November and they went in to see it.

I suppose the Reindeer Round-Up is just like the Halloween Round-Up in that it changes a bit through the season (like the pumpkins change at the Halloween Round-Up, so there is always something different each week). They just add in little extra touches as the season goes along, and it becomes more Christmas-y. The bulk of the stuff in the Round-Up is there in November, but there are extra things that go up as it gets closer to Christmas...much like the holiday season at DLR in general - the bulk of it is there from the start, but as it gets closer to the holiday more things go up!

In addition to my December DLR trip last year, I was also at DLR on 11/13, and I will agree with camousketeer that the crowds were really big (I'm assuming it was similar to what was there on 11/10 - 11/12, when camouseketeer was there)! I was saying that it was so crowded it may as well have been a December day and not a November day.

 

[utahhammers]

The dates you have chosen are just like the ones we chose last November! We went Nov. 6-11, 2010. DH, DD 12, and me.

Like this year, Veteran's Day was Nov. 11th and was also the opening/official day of the holiday season. We new it would be crowded on the 11th and it was. But the other five days were great! We took advantage of FastPasses whenever we could and had a great time. We like to go "off-season" so we usually go in October or November. I love Nov. best because of the holiday theme.

IASW opened on the 11th and the line was soooo long. But worth it, of course!

Have a great time!

 

[Sherry E]

The dates you have chosen are just like the ones we chose last November! We went Nov. 6-11, 2010. DH, DD 12, and me.

Like this year, Veteran's Day was Nov. 11th and was also the opening/official day of the holiday season. We new it would be crowded on the 11th and it was. But the other five days were great! We took advantage of FastPasses whenever we could and had a great time. We like to go "off-season" so we usually go in October or November. I love Nov. best because of the holiday theme.

IASW opened on the 11th and the line was soooo long. But worth it, of course!

Have a great time!

I just wanted to clarify about the season date - the official opening day of the holiday season last year was actually Friday, November 12. It was not Veterans Day, though it probably seemed that way (because most of the in-park decor is up before the opening day). IASW Holiday had a "soft opening," which it sometimes will have if the overlay is ready to go ahead of schedule - so that is why it was open on 11/11 last year, one day ahead of the official start date. It is not a sure thing every year that IASW Holiday will have the soft opening. Sometimes it may actually not open until the official season start date.

It just so happens that Veterans Day is on a Friday this year, and the holiday seasons always begin on Fridays, so we think the holiday season will officially begin on 11/11/11 this year. It could also start on 11/18 this year. It will not always begin on the same date at DLR. It all depends on how many Fridays there are in the month, on which days certain dates fall, how many weeks DLR wants to have in the season and when the season before it ends, etc. This year, 11/11/11 looks likely. Next year, the season may start on either 11/9 or 11/16.