Christmas 2009 planning

[Kerry39]

Hi all,
First post so please excuse me if answers are else where in the thread.

I am planning on taking my daughter (3) and my mother (47) to DLP for Christmas 2009 as my husband will be away in Afghanistan and I dont wish to have a traditional christmas here without him.

I am looking at going by Eurostar on the 23rd Dec and travelling back on the 27 Dec 09.
I dont have a massive budget but would really appreciate help with the following?

1) Need hotel with 2 double beds rather than bunk beds, doesnt matter about swimming pool, would like to have EMH in parks and park tickets included,and also have hopper bus any ideas?

2) Those people who have been at christmas before what did you do about presents for your kids, take then with you buy them there?

3) Is there anything I can do with my daughter christmas day, I am aware of the lunch (£85 is it worth it). Ideas welcomed. I was hoping for something like booking a character to see her or soemthing(not really sure, just want to make it as magical as possible for her)

4) Is it crazily busy to the point my daughter may be hurt in the crowds? Is it buggy accessible, ie train and hopper bus or would it just be better walking?

5) Are the HB vouchers worth having at Christmas time does everywhere stay open?

6) What clothing will we need, will it be so cold to warrant thermals?

7) Can I hire a buggy there or do I need to bring my own?

8) Where are the best places for character breakfasts I dont wish to do it everyday but maybe once would be nice

I think that is all for now, thank you in advance for any snippets of info you can give me.

Kerry39

Edit - Sorry one more thing when will I be able to book for Christmas 2009? Thank you

 

[mommy2ash]

hi and welcome. i havent been there over christmas but i think its a wonderful idea.

do you want to stay onsite?? if so i stay at the santa fe. it is the cheapest onsite hotel but it is fine. i will be staying there next week and i actually like this hotel, its everything i need (comfy bed, breakfast, and not too far from the park) it has two double beds but no pool. there are characters in the hotel every morning as well. in october we walked to the park every day, it was about 20 mins along the river. there is also a bus that takes like two minutes to the park. it can get crowded but as i said its only for a couple of minutes.

it will be very very cold. my aunt went at the end of november and she thought it was freezing then so definately thermals.

you can hire a buggy but bear in mind they dont recline and you have to pay a huge deposit to take it from park to park. depending on how much you think your dd will use it, but i would take my own.

i think cafe mickey is the only place that does character breakfast. they also do lunch. as i said the characters are at the hotel around breakfast time so i would just take a pic with them and have a character lunch at either cafe mickey or a buffet at the lucky nugget

take a look at the trip report section at the top of the page to get an idea of what its like around christmas time

sorry i cant be of more help but im sure someone will be along to help you out

 

[cap'njack.]

That's a lot of questions

I'll help with the ones that I can...

1) Need hotel with 2 double beds rather than bunk beds, doesnt matter about swimming pool, would like to have EMH in parks and park tickets included,and also have hopper bus any ideas?

The Santa Fe has two double beds, is the cheapest hotel and makes a very nice base. The Sequia Lodge seems to be the Hotel of choice for Christmas.

4) Is it crazily busy to the point my daughter may be hurt in the crowds? Is it buggy accessible, ie train and hopper bus or would it just be better walking?

You'd probably be better walking tbh. All the busses are buggy accesable (as far as I remember)

5) Are the HB vouchers worth having at Christmas time does everywhere stay open?

Yes, definatly.

6) What clothing will we need, will it be so cold to warrant thermals?

It will be very, very cold. As many warm layers as possible, especially for children who are going to be buggy bound for large periods of the day.

7) Can I hire a buggy there or do I need to bring my own?

You can hire one, but you'd need to pay a 150 euro deposit to be able to take it out of the park, bringing your own may be best.

8) Where are the best places for character breakfasts I dont wish to do it everyday but maybe once would be nice

Cafe Mickey has a lovely Character Breakfast and is certianly worth doing once (so I've been told)

 

[DLPdaft]

Hi Kerry39

Elaine, Jackie, Elaine and Reid welcome you to DLP DIS board

We are a friendly bunch here so please join in on any other thread, or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread for each

If you have not had a look yet, DLP posting rules are here
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1477038 ,
DIS posting guidelines can be found here
http://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm .

I've never been at DLRP over Christmas, but you will need thermals - at least! Going on this years trip reports over the last month, including Christmas week, its been very very very cold at DLRP.

Cafe Mickey is the only place that has character breakfast available, and you can add this to your Disney booking and pay in advance. I would advise the later sitting - 9.30am. As the earlier sitting doesn't really let you make the most of EMH (which, with a young child, is a real advantage, and worth making the most of each morning you have it available to you ).

 

[cap'njack.]

Cafe Mickey is the only place that has character breakfast available, and you can add this to your Disney booking and pay in advance. I would advise the later sitting - 9.30am. As the earlier sitting doesn't really let you make the most of EMH (which, with a young child, is a real advantage, and worth making the most of each morning you have it available to you ).

Hi Elaine,

Do you know the price to book in advance?

 

[DLPdaft]

The Winter season bookings will probably be available to book in April or early May I'd guess .

 

[Kerry39]

I know lots of questions!!!!! Very sorry, but you are really helping me out with any info you can give me.

Thank you so much to all those who have left their advice.

 

[Kerry39]

do you want to stay onsite??

Yes would prefer too with it being our first time there.

 

[DLPdaft]

Hi Elaine,

Do you know the price to book in advance?

It may have gone up slightly, but in October it was £12 per adult, £8 per child, if staying at an onsite hotel. More if not onsite.

 

[mommy2ash]

Yes would prefer too with it being our first time there.

then if you are on a budget the santa fe is your best option. the cheyenne has bunk beds. the sequioa is lovely at christmas but a bit more expensive and does have a pool

 

[DLPdaft]

then if you are on a budget the santa fe is your best option. the cheyenne has bunk beds. the sequioa is lovely at christmas but a bit more expensive and does have a pool

 

[cap'njack.]

It may have gone up slightly, but in October it was £12 per adult, £8 per child, if staying at an onsite hotel. More if not onsite.

 

[Ware Bears]

2) Those people who have been at christmas before what did you do about presents for your kids, take then with you buy them there?

We went for Christmas one year. We took a small Christmas tree which cost about £2 from Tesco and hung some chocolate decorations on it. At that price we didn't bother to bring it home. We've got three daughters and took three or four presents for each for them which we put underneath the tree. I didn't wrap them up just in case they needed to be looked at going through customs and I didn't want any attention drawn to them. The presents were things they could wear straight away ~ they each had a watch, T-shirt, socks, jewellery, nothing bulky. I had to stay up late Christmas Eve to get busy in the bathroom with sellotape and wrapping paper as although two were wise the youngest was still a believer.

I explained that Father Christmas would probably only deliver a couple of gifts at DLRP as he would understand it would be difficult for us to carry them home but that I was sure her and her sisters sacks and stockings would be waiting for them at home and lo behold they were down to them being ready and waiting hidden in my wardrobe and quickly put into position before we left whilst the family were getting in the taxi.

It was fantastic being at DLRP for Christmas Day itself, really magical, and the best bit was we arrived home so late my DDs never gave the presents a thought and went straight to bed without entering the lounge so had a lovely surprise the next morning!

 

[Boo-Boo]

Hi....

We stayed at Disney this Christmas, for exactly the same dates you are looking at....we had a lovely time....
As for taking presents we just took a stocking each and opened all other presents when we got home...
We didnt book a Christmas dinner as the prices were ridiculous, so we booked Cafe Mickey for dinner and had a fab time. We saved all the christmassy things till Christmas day, so we met father Christmas and watched Mickeys winter wonderland show...
Yes, it was cold, the kids had thermals, ski boots, ski trousers etc...yes it was busy but manageable, we made use of the EMH!

Keep us posted on what you decide

 

[Kerry39]

Thanks again guys I just want to get it booked now. I think if I can afford it I will try Sequoia Lodge. I m not sure whether to book the xmas lunch now it is so expensive I may have a look when booking and see what other bits there is to do.
Do you have any preferences of who to book through? I can get a little bit of a discount with some firms with hubby being military. Thank you so much I really appreciate all your comments, even the cheeky ones!!

 

[cap'njack.]

Thanks again guys I just want to get it booked now. I think if I can afford it I will try Sequoia Lodge. I m not sure whether to book the xmas lunch now it is so expensive I may have a look when booking and see what other bits there is to do.
Do you have any preferences of who to book through? I can get a little bit of a discount with some firms with hubby being military. Thank you so much I really appreciate all your comments, even the cheeky ones!!

Most people find they get the best price by booking Hotel and Park Tickets direct with Disney and then travel seperatly with airlines, ferries, eurostar etc.

 

[id@53]

I m not sure whether to book the xmas lunch now it is so expensive I may have a look when booking and see what other bits there is to do.

Don't be panicking about booking a xmas lunch at this stage, you can always add one on to your package after you've got your accommodation and transport sorted. That's what we did when we went for New Years just past. We booked our hotel at the end of May when they brought out their Winter Prices and only booked our New Years Eve dinner in September.

PS. It was very cold when we were there - on a couple of days the temperature didn't get above freezing

 

[ilovethesun]

We just went as a family this past Christmas. We were there the 23,24, and 25th. It was really a wonderful time. We lucked out and got amazing weather. It was still quite cold but it was sunny and beautiful each day. It was probably close to 40 though so not bad!

We did not stay on site - we stayed at the Marriot Il-de-France villas. This was a great choice because we had basically our own little house. I HIGHLY recommend it. In fact, we are heading back tomorrow and staying another 2 nights we loved it so much!

We have a 2 year old and 4 year old and took advantage of the buy one get one annual passes and now have Dream passes and can go all year long (we live in Nord-Pas-de-Calais) so we're only a 2 hour drive away!

I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.

We did bring all of our kids' presents. They were basically presents from extended family because our "gift" to them was the trip to Disney! But, we still had PLENTY of gifts. With the age of your daughter, I would really recommend not bringing gifts. We wish we hadn't. At this age, they don't quite understand that Disneyland is more special than the gifts they're receiving and so our kids wanted to go back to the hotel and play with their new toys rather than be at Disneyland! I would encourage you to just do it separately so there aren't any other distractions!

There were lots of fabulous shows going on because of the Christmas holidays - definitely check them out - our kids loved it.

Prepare yourself for indoor options since you'll need to go warm up. The huge "restaurant" in Disney studios is a great place to go warm up for a while. And planning a character meal is also a good one to do. We did the Auberge de Cendrillon and it was AMAZING! Little girls and princesses - not a better combination. It's VERY $$ but SO worth it! Our girls loved it.

It is VERY busy! But, if you have EMH, take advantage of that because it's WONDERFUL! Fantasyland rides are wide open and you can just walk right on and ride over and over again. It's VERY cold though and still dark so plan a warm up right after that! Also, I wouldn't worry about your daughter being hurt but you want to stay close.

Have not used HB but would if I was staying onsite! With the villas though, we eat breakfast and dinner at "home." Saves lots of money!

You can hire a buggy (this means rent a stroller, right? I'm not totally up on the UK lingo! ) but as others have mentioned, it requires a decent deposit and the line (at least first thing in the morning) is ridiculous! Bring your own!

Have a fabulous time! It's a magical place to be at Christmas!!!

angie

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

Just to add if you hire a buggy and want to leave the park you can leave the orginal buggy at one park and then show your receipt in the 2nd park and not pay anymore for a buggy.

A deposit is required if you want to take it to hotel etc, i think its along the lines of 150Euros.