Christmas events, characters, strategy...questions for those who have been already

[Cruzinmaniac]

Hey everyone! Kinda like I did for Halloween I wanted to start a thread for Christmas discussion...

We are planning to go for the first day of French school break (Monday the 22nd Dec) because we found that worked well during the Halloween season as well. It will be another day trip so we really want to see as much Christmas stuff as possible.

1. How are character lines? I know Anna and Elsa is crazy, obviously...so even though we all love frozen it's not worth it to us. However, it would be fun to do Santa and maybe Merida...? Which ones should be prioritized and what are the best strategies?

2. How crowded is the princess promenade? I'd like to watch it from the platform across from the castle stage if possible. Would we need to go right there first thing in the morning in order to get a front row spot, or could we hit a few morning ride priorities first?

3. Which parade is the least crowded and where should we watch it from? If we watch from the beginning in front of Bella Notte, will they move the ropes at the last minute so we lose our spots? This happened to us at our spot at the end of main street for the Halloween parade---they moved the rope forward and before we even had time to realize it people who had been behind us swooped in and we couldn't keep our spots. As a result I could see basically nothing even though I was waiting there for a good half hour! It really frustrated me and maybe I'm paranoid but I just really don't want it to happen again...

4. What time do we need to snag a spot for the parade?

5. Are there any special decorations besides on main street that we shouldn't miss?

6. There's nothing in the Studios that's special for Christmas is there?

7. What are your tips for the Christmas tree lighting show?

8. How do crowds before dreams compare to crowds before regular dreams? In September on a busy Saturday, an hour and a half before, we were able to snag a spot behind the right flower bed. It was basically the last one available in that location, but it was a GREAT spot. We would love to watch Christmas dreams from the same spot. Will we need to get there earlier?

9. I know the castle will be lit up, but when? Is there a show/ceremony or is it just random?

Wow that's a lot of questions, sorry. TIA for all your help!

 

[DLRPWonders]

1) Princess Pavillion works with reservation tickets now. So it's not too crowded anymore. You do have to make sure that you queue in the EMH, because they run out by the time it's 10AM. Other characters have pretty much massive queues too. During the week it isn't that bad atm. However since you will be going during the busiest week of the year, I strongly advice to keep massive queues in the back of your mind. Rapunzel, Merida etc have at least an hour long queues way before the princesses even arrive.

2. I was at DLP last weekend (I came home this morning), and on Friday about 10 minutes before it started there was barely anyone. However on Saturday and Sunday about 1,5 hour before it started the entire area before Royal Castle Stage was completely full. Again, considering the fact that you're going during the craziest week in the year, this will probably be the same.

3. Doesn't really matter, all three parades during the day are completely packed. Even the last one which is at 17:25, so you would think it'll be less crowded due to dinner time. Yeah, no. It's just as packed. Ropes at Bella Notte are staying at the same place.

4. Sorry for repeating myself over and over, but considering the time you're going I'd strongly advice at least an hour before it starts (depending on where you're watching it from). I saw people waiting in Main Street this past weekend literally 1,5/2 hours before it started.

5. Honestly, not really. There aren't any other decs.

6. There's Mickey and Minnie in the most stunning Christmas outfits I've ever seen, they do M&G's right at the entrance of the Studios. But apart from that, no. There are some small decs in Studio 1, but that's it.

7. Watch it from around Walt's, in the middle of the street. You can see the entire tree perfectly, and also the garlands which also light up. If you go further into Main Street you might not be able to see the bottom half of the tree due to crowds.

8. It's really really crowded. I went to my usual spot (right in front of the castle) over 2 hours before it started. About 10 minutes later Central Plaza was completely packed. September is normally a fairly quite time. December, especially in the week of Christmas, is absolutely crazy busy. You can't compare that.

9. It's not a "real" ceremony like it used to be, but it is something a bit special. It's about 30-45 minutes before DDOC starts.

 

[Cruzinmaniac]

Thanks so much for all of the answers! It's super helpful to us!

 

[texasmomoftwo]

Cruzin when are you going?

 

[Cruzinmaniac]

Cruzin when are you going?

Hi! We are doing a day trip on Monday the 22nd. We have Francilien APs, so kind of limited options...

Sariah x

 

[Cruzinmaniac]

Actually, DH agreed to stay in a hotel so we could have two days! We booked a night at the premier class in Torcy because it was super cheap haha

We know it won't be very nice but it's only for one night and it's really just a place to crash. But I'm hoping we can relax a bit more because we have two days. I don't know which one will be more crowded though (the 22nd or the 23rd).

 

[DLRPWonders]

Actually, DH agreed to stay in a hotel so we could have two days! We booked a night at the premier class in Torcy because it was super cheap haha

We know it won't be very nice but it's only for one night and it's really just a place to crash. But I'm hoping we can relax a bit more because we have two days. I don't know which one will be more crowded though (the 22nd or the 23rd).

It's actually a great hotel!
Nothing too fancy (it's pretty much just a bed and a shower), but the beds are incredibly comfy and it's all clean.
I've stayed here about 8 times, and many more will follow!

About the crowds: it honestly doesn't matter.
From around December 20th until January 2nd the days around the actual holidays are all the same: crazy.

 

[Cruzinmaniac]

It's actually a great hotel!
Nothing too fancy (it's pretty much just a bed and a shower), but the beds are incredibly comfy and it's all clean.
I've stayed here about 8 times, and many more will follow!

About the crowds: it honestly doesn't matter.
From around December 20th until January 2nd the days around the actual holidays are all the same: crazy.

That's great to hear. The one thing I'm pretty worried about is bedbugs or something...I really don't want to have to deal with that.

Yeah, ok. We're going to try for dreams and the parade the first day because I don't want to wait until the last minute and then have it get canceled because of rain.

 

[DLRPWonders]

That's great to hear. The one thing I'm pretty worried about is bedbugs or something...I really don't want to have to deal with that.

Yeah, ok. We're going to try for dreams and the parade the first day because I don't want to wait until the last minute and then have it get canceled because of rain.

Really, don't worry! The hotel is absolutely fantastic, especially for that price!

Well, they won't cancel all three parades.
And Dreams will never ever be canceled.
Even with a huge thunderstorm it still runs (I've experienced it).
In the nearly 3 years that it's on, it got canceled only once.
This was on April 5th of this year (I was there myself) and it only got canceled due to technical problems. One of the projectors was broken.
But it has never been canceled due to weather conditions, and it never wil.

 

[Cruzinmaniac]

That's good to hear that Dreams won't be canceled, though I can't imagine staking out a spot for 2 hours in a thunderstorm! D:

 

[Jonjo]

Dreams! has occasionally been canceled due to sever weather conditions, but it is rare. We were there once during a very bad thunderstorm and very strong winds and it was cancelled. But there was only a hand full of people left in the hub anyway - it was just to wet and windy to hang around to be honest. But I've been there before during bad weather and they adapt the show, so the water jets are not used and there are not so many fireworks fired. But if you had never seen the show before you would not have noticed the difference.

 

[DLRPWonders]

Dreams! has occasionally been canceled due to sever weather conditions, but it is rare. We were there once during a very bad thunderstorm and very strong winds and it was cancelled. But there was only a hand full of people left in the hub anyway - it was just to wet and windy to hang around to be honest. But I've been there before during bad weather and they adapt the show, so the water jets are not used and there are not so many fireworks fired. But if you had never seen the show before you would not have noticed the difference.

Dreams has only be cancelled once, and this wasn't due to weather conditions but because one of the projectors was broken.
They cancelled it 20 minutes after it was supposed to start, since they were trying really hard to fix it.
Like I said, this was on April 5th 2014, I was there myself.

It has been slightly altered in the past due to weather conditions (no fireworks, Peter Pan just on the castle instead of water projections, the second star not coming out etc), but never ever cancelled.
I exactly know which moment you mean, since I was there myself, but it wasn't cancelled. They started it later then it was supposed to. It still ran.

Even with severe weather conditions it will still run, just in an altered way.
It's actually designed to always be able to run, no matter what the weather does.