Christmas 2011 Trip - Calling all Christmas Experts!!

[MommiePrincess]

Hello from an avid reader and thanks in advance for your help.

We are planning a Christmas Holiday Trip for 2011...we are recent purchasers of the DVC and need/want to book our trip 11 months out.

I know there are wonderful posts recently about the Holidays with great pictures but I am looking for some historical information on dates and Disney normal routines during the Holidays. I know they can change at any time.
I would love info or direction on where to find:

1) any past dates or "they normally do this the first week of Dec...." for the Candlelight processional, filming of Holiday parade.....anything that can draw LARGER then normal crowds.

(we will be traveling with a 5 month old, a 2 year old, a 4 year old and a 5 year old....so avoiding those crowds is top of our list).

2) when is all the Holiday decor and effects complete......"day after Thanksgiving until day after New Years example"

3) I know the crowds build up as Dec passes...any experience going the first week of December versus the crowds for the second week.

4) How is the Monday-Thursday after Thanksgiving.....crowds, is Santa there?, do they show the parade then?, is all the decor up?

5) if you could hand pick dates for the Holidays with crowd control in mind...what days would you choose???

6) Is there anything I am not thinking of?? (I'll be asking many more questions as time draws near as we have always gone in the summer).

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

1) any past dates or "they normally do this the first week of Dec...." for the Candlelight processional, filming of Holiday parade.....anything that can draw LARGER then normal crowds.
First weekend of December is CP. The Holiday parade is usually filmed early November before the holiday season is in full swing. Historically the CM Holiday parties are the Monday and Tuesday after CP, and DL closes early (6pm). That was NOT the case this year and it was a week after when it's normally held.

2) when is all the Holiday decor and effects complete......"day after Thanksgiving until day after New Years example"
Either the Friday before Thanksgiving or 2 Fridays before until the Sunday after New Years

3) I know the crowds build up as Dec passes...any experience going the first week of December versus the crowds for the second week.
The week after Thanksgiving is typically the least busy, but I believe the word has gotten out and it was busier than usual this year.

4) How is the Monday-Thursday after Thanksgiving.....crowds, is Santa there?, do they show the parade then?, is all the decor up?
See answer to #3. Yes Santa is there from day one of the holiday season (before Thanksgiving). The holiday parade and fireworks are nightly.

5) if you could hand pick dates for the Holidays with crowd control in mind...what days would you choose???
During the week either the week after Thanksgiving or the following week. I'd throw in one Friday/Saturday/Sunday to see Fantasmic!

Hope that helps!

 

[Sherry E]

3Minnies1Mickey gave some great answers!

The Christmas threads with photos are actually the main holiday information threads (which happen to have photos in them too). Most of the Christmas experts are on those threads at some point - and we run the gamut from people who have been there on opening day of the holiday season in November, to the last day of the season in January, on Thanksgiving Day, on Christmas Day and on New Year's Eve, and everywhere in between. Both threads are in the Holiday Planning category of the main Info sticky at the top of the page.

The first thread probably has more info in it off-hand (Because it's an older thread), but Part 2 is the thread in which we will be adding updates and breaking holiday news as it comes in during 2011. I'm going to add a Table of Contents/Index sort of thing to Page 1 of Part 2, which will include links to pertinent threads with 2011's dates and main info. Make sure to stay tuned! If you can't find something easily, the Search This Thread feature is really handy:

Disney at Christmas

Disneyland at Christmas Time Superthread - Part 2


Have a wonderful time planning!

 

[MommiePrincess]

How busy is it usually on Thanksgiving weekend?
Is that whole weekend really crazy? Is that Sunday really bad if we arrived on that Saturday? Also to confirm the full Christmas mode is up on thanksgiving weekend.... Including parades??

 

[Sherry E]

How busy is it usually on Thanksgiving weekend?
Is that whole weekend really crazy? Is that Sunday really bad if we arrived on that Saturday? Also to confirm the full Christmas mode is up on thanksgiving weekend.... Including parades??

This year and last year have been extremely busy holiday seasons in general. Supposedly, according to a few CM's at DLR, this year has been the busiest holiday season ever (we don't have the hard numbers on that yet, but I believe it). Last year was the busiest one in 10 years. I don't expect that the crowds will dwindle next year. It will be crowded. It's hard to say how crowded it will be for that weekend because we don't yet know what will be added or changed to the seasonal activities/highlights.

Everything Christmasy is up and running on Thanksgiving weekend. Full Christmas mode, minus maybe a few food items or merchandise items (which is what happened this year). Some of the hotel Christmas trees don't seem to go up until Thanksgiving ends. The parade is running - however, if a Very Merry Christmas Party comes to DL, the parade may suddenly become a paid party exclusive. So we won't know that for a while.

I think the holiday season is going to start and end a bit later in 2011 than it did the last 2 years. There could be a Very Merry Christmas Party coming to DL, but we don't know if it will be 2011 or 2012. The Candlelight Processional may move to DCA and out of DL. Lots of things could change between now and next November, which will definitely affect crowds.

We will post any breaking news or info that comes in for 2011 in the Christmas Superthread.

 

[PHXscuba]

We were there the first weekend in December and it was already really busy. Friends who were in the park the weekdays before that (the Tues-Thurs after Thanksgiving) said it was much better than the weekend. It remains to be seen what they do with the entertainment next year ($$ holiday party some nights?), but if I had absolute total pick of what days I went, I'd go the week after Thanksgiving. If the trip really needed to span a "long weekend", I think I'd go the weekend before Thanksgiving. From anecdotal evidence, that seemed to be the best of the busy season.

Without sparking the "taking your kids out of school for Disney" debate: What I wouldn't give to be back to the time of not fighting school schedules. Enjoy it now when you can travel when you please! Even if I wanted to, taking my high schooler out would be really difficult.

Best of luck in planning! The people here are really helpful.

PHXscuba

 

[mvf-m11c]

I thought the weekend before Thanksgiving was a great time to go down to DL since its before the start of the Holiday season weekend and before Thanksgiving weekend. I went during the 2nd weekend of the Holiday season in November and is not as bad as I have thought, but it did rain that weekend on Saturday and drove some people away from DL. It's almost that that 2nd week during the Holiday season was way more better than all the weekends of this year from what I have been reading and my experience at DL during the 2nd weekend of December.

Just like what Sherry said that the DL Holiday parades (A Christmas Fantasy) and fireworks (Believe...In Holiday Magic) can be seen as an exclusive party event just like at WDW MVMCP (Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party). We don't know if DL is going in the same direction as WDW, but after MHP in October was successful, I can see DL doing a MVMCP in Nov/Dec at DL. I'm hoping that DL would leave those shows alone and don't make them to the exclusive party.

 

[tholczer]

We have visited DLR as AP holders for the last seven or so years with ONLY crowds in mind. We've gone at all times of the year to try and find that magic combination of low crowds, long hours and good entertainment. Although the crowds have risen like crazy over the years, that week after Thanksgiving is always the best. This year, we went the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and from what I understand, we hit the calm before the storm. Another good week would be, not the week of Thanksgiving, but the week before.

Have fun!

Tracy