Christmas Day Capacity

[basketballmom]

We are planning our very first holiday trip. Is park closing for capacity on Christmas Day a common thing or an anticipated thing? We will be attending church Christmas morning. Usually after church, we have a late lunch at Storytellers. I'm wondering if we should instead head straight to the parks after church and eat lunch inside Disneyland.
Thanks for any information!

 

[SMD]

The first level of closure is new admissions, tickets first, then APs. So if you've already been in the park that day, you'll be fine. It might be worth going into the parks on your way to lunch. You could even grab an FP for something, like Soarin. That being said, you'll have to go through security twice if you do this. On really crowded days I would rather have an in park ADR because you don't have to fight for a CS table and you don't have to wait in a long security line an extra time if you leave. But the days after Christmas are historically worse, so if you'll be there on those days, it might be a better strategy to do an in park ADR on those days.

 

[Malcon10t]

We generally open gifts, have breakfast, and head to the parks. Then somewhere around 2-3p, we head to Storytellers for lunch/dinner. We've never had an issue getting "locked out". That said we frequently hit DCA after Storytellers and head back to Disneyland a little later.

 

[Darkbeer1]

Capacity is based on what attractions and areas are open. Since there is some construction, in 2016, it will be a bit lower than normal.

The park has HARD close a few times, but not often. A Hard Close is when the Fire Marshall says it is too packed, and everyone has to wait outside the turnstiles (regardless of if you have already entered) until enough people have left the park. (There is a reason why they have turnstiles when leaving the park, for crowd counts).

And when they reopen, the order is Club 33 and Silver/Gold Passes, then returning guests, than AP's that are not blocked out, and then folks with tickets or blockout passes.

Tend to be the most common time is just before the first parade of the day, when some folks will leave after and lowers the attendance to allow more in.

Capacity is counted as those inside the park at a specific time. So why Disneyland might have a daily capacity of day 60,000 (good average), actual attendance could be 80,000 due to those that only spend part of the day in the park.

New Year's Eve is known for this, as many folks get there early and won't leave until after Midnight.

 

[basketballmom]

Thanks everyone! I'm trying to make a loose daily plan for dining. We will definitely do table service on Christmas day.