Christmas at Disneyland

[Linda88]

Does anyone know if it is as busy at DL as it is at WDW over Christmas? May only have 24th - 27th and wonder if we get to ride anything

 

[iceskatejen]

It's very busy at Christmas. Still, with proper use of FP, getting there at opening time, staying late, etc, over the course of 4 days you should be able to see/ride pretty much everything. Since it is a school break time, they will be open until at least 11 if not midnight. The only caveat I can think of is that that is the early part of the rainy season. Last Christmas day was some of the worst rain I've ever seen. Rain here often last all day or even for days at a time. I can't say that it will be raining during that time, but be aware it's a possibility. Of course, if it's raining, it'll keep the locals at home and, in DL anyway, a lot of the rides are indoors. If it has been raining for a couple of days and then it dawns sunny the next day, they'll be there in big numbers.

 

[dletz]

It's awful the week between christmas a new years. Up until DCA was built you were almost guarenteed to have a sold out park before early afternoon that week. Now that DCA is open, it takes a bit longer for DL to fill up. But in the past year, there have been days when DL and DCA have both been full to capacity

 

[Di$neyDad]

We were there last Christmas for 3 days, leaving on Christmas Eve. It was definitely crowded most of the time. But if you get in line at the gates before opening time, you'll have a decent amount of time with minimal lines. Also, one day it sprinkled lightly and we went out anyway - it was awesome. Many of the rides had no lines at all - even Soaring Over CA only had about a 15 minute wait in the middle of the day (this ride often has waits of an hour or more). So bring rain coats and pray for rain.

Also, with Fastpasses you're guaranteed to ride at least a few rides each day with minimal waits. But don't wait until the end of the day if there's some ride you just have to do. On busy days, the popular rides run out of Fastpasses early in the afternoon.

One final idea is to try the rides towards the end of the parades and fireworks. Don't wait until after the parade/fireworks, because that's when there's a mad dash to the rides. And at the start of the shows the lines are still long. But it seems that a few minutes before the end of the shows, the lines have gone down a bit.

 

[Mark099]

DLR is just as crowded as WDW and the weather is not as nice.

 

[dsnylndmom]

We were there last Dec the 26th-30th and it was PACKED! The weather was great, really beautiful but it was packed. The 26th wasn't as bad as the rest of the time. But DL sold out Saturday, sunday and monday of that week.

Plus, in this week's miceage article, www.miceage.com, it seems some of the rides will no longer have FP, so that could make it harder to manage during the busy times.

If you go during that time:
Be there before opening
Make a list of MUST DO's
Hit those(esp. w/o FP)first
Plan on doing the little, less populare things later
Eat at off times
See the later showing of Fantasmic or get the Dessert Buffet package
Make PS's for Blue Bayou, Goofy's, Ariel's or any other really popular restaurant as soon as you can
Rest at lunch time, at the hotel and stay late as you can

 

[iceskatejen]

I am not at all happy about the removal of some of those FP machines. They're taing them away from some rides that really need them. Yeah--ITTBAB, Millionaire, Muppets never needed them in the first place, but taking away the Pirates, HM, & Star Tours ones is crazy. Ok--FP isn't needed in the evening so much on those, but if you want to ride them in the middle of the day it sure helps.

 

[Firefly777]

I don't think Pirates really needs it.

 

[jin diesel]

The Fast PASS on some of those attractions like BTMRR & Haunted Mansion Holiday (MY FAVORITE!!!!!!!) will be working during the holidays.