December 2023 Planning Thread

[DizMe]

Yay! I have dates! Dec 7-11, staying at GCH (std). Southwest has a 40OFF coupon code right now so I booked our flights and saved some $$, or more correctly, points. Hurray!

Edited to add that I generally rebook the hotel when the DLR hotels have their promotion sale in late fall. I'm hoping this won't be the year they decide not to do that.

 

[michellej47]

Wrong thread, sorry!

 

[Disneysince82]

EEEKKKKKK I was too excited to see this thread!!! We have reservations right now from 12/24-1/1 at the GCH & DLH.... but I am seriously having a serious internal battle with myself right now I actually feel like I might be going a little crazy.

I am beginning to wonder if we need to just do 5/6 days over Christmas and leave before New Years Eve because of the crowds and ages of our kids -- 5 & 15. I keep reading how overran the GCH is during Christmas and I seriously was almost considering just switching to just the DLH. I am not sure if it s honestly the FOMO that has me going towards the GCH.

So right now I am internally going over a 100x a day(and I probably love it as much as I hate it!)

Stick with the OG plans 12/24-1/1 Split between the 2 hotel
5/6 days over 24-28 GCH(or DHL?)
Switch to just DHL 1 bedroom suite 12/24-1/1 and sadly this would be 1/2 the price right now from the OG plan

We really want to do the 1 bedroom suite so DH & I can have some privacy & it seems like the price of just getting 2 rooms(adjoining) will be pretty much the same price.

I really need to purchase plane tickets I need to stop messing around LOL

 

[floribr1]

Glad to find this thread - yay!

We are new owners at the Villas at Disneyland Hotel, and have booked our first stay as owners for December 12-15. We are beyond excited to be going in December. It will be my first stay at the DLH. Woot woot!!

 

[edhmom]

I'll be there December 2-5 staying at DLH with my 23 year old daughter. I've been to DL many times, but never at Christmas. She's never stayed at DLH, we always stay across the street so I'm hoping to surprise her. I'm so excited!

 

[Disneysince82]

Anyone think we will be able to swim end of December or should I just leave the swimsuits at home

 

[TarynM]

We'll be at the parks December 8th-11th, 3.5 days in the parks. I love going at Christmas! Still debating on where to stay, we've been rotating our hotels this year for our trips and we're trying to decide if we want to keep doing that or if we'll repeat.

 

[princesslizzy]

Me and husband will be there December 5th-9th. He found a super good deal on southwest flights and asked if I wanted to go to Disneyland again. Took me all of 2 seconds to say yes, and then I started asking questions once the shock wore off. We willbe going with my brother in law and his wife, so 4 adults this time. He is not usually the Disneyland fan, and we just did a big 20th anniversary trip there in October, that I had to plan all of. So to have him taking steps to plan another trip so soon was a big surprise!

We fly in early in the morning and will be in the parks the 5th-8th and then an early flight home on the 9th. Are there any events we need to plan around or know about when picking our tickets? I have never been in December, it's usually October or summer time for us.

 

[PBandJFamwich]

We are doing our first Disneyland trip December 3-7! Staying in a deluxe studio at the new Villas at Disneyland Hotel. My husband was born in Torrence but moved when he was 3. This will be his first trip back to SoCal.

 

[PBandJFamwich]

Anyone think we will be able to swim end of December or should I just leave the swimsuits at home

I’m hoping it won’t be too cold in early December. It’s our first trip to DL and stay at Villas at Disneyland Hotel. Never thought we would get the chance to stay at DLH and go on the monorail slides. It would be great to enjoy the pools on this trip and not have to wait a few more years until our next trip. We purposefully only bought a 50 point contract since we will only visit every 2-3 years.

 

[PBandJFamwich]

Glad to find this thread - yay!

We are new owners at the Villas at Disneyland Hotel, and have booked our first stay as owners for December 12-15. We are beyond excited to be going in December. It will be my first stay at the DLH. Woot woot!!

Hi Neighbor! We are new owners at VDH too! December 3-7 is our first stay.

 

[PBandJFamwich]

First trip to Disneyland been going to Disney World my entire life and I’m both nervous and excited as I haven’t a clue what I’m in for. We will be there December 2-8th ❤. I will say being a Florida resident and getting all the discounts that come with it I was shocked at how expensive Disneyland hotels are (I always rent points and stay deluxe plus have been a passholder for last 23 years)Six nights at the Disneyland Hotel at Rack rate Wowza .

It is our first trip to DL too! We’ve been to WDW 3 times and Aulani once since March 2021. We have considered at DL trip since our first but wanted to wait for ToonTown to reopen. Always wanted to stay at DLH but was cost prohibitive. We’ve now bought a DVC contract at WDW and one for DLH! So excited to get to stay there when we thought we never would. Also being able to stay deluxe at WDW when we were strictly value resort guest is exciting.

 

[Disneysince82]

I’m hoping it won’t be too cold in early December. It’s our first trip to DL and stay at Villas at Disneyland Hotel. Never thought we would get the chance to stay at DLH and go on the monorail slides. It would be great to enjoy the pools on this trip and not have to wait a few more years until our next trip. We purposefully only bought a 50 point contract since we will only visit every 2-3 years.

SUPER JEALOUS you are points!!! I considered booking one of the Villas they have listed at DLH just on their regular site & have went back and looked at then a few times.

Even if it is cold... you might still see me shaking in the pool or the hot tub LOL

 

[PBandJFamwich]

Even if it is cold... you might still see me shaking in the pool or the hot tub LOL

I will be seriously considering purchasing wetsuits just so we can enjoy the slides. I’m sure our 5 year old will be begging to swim and not care about the cold while we will only be able to tolerate the hot tub.

 

[Disneysince82]

I will be seriously considering purchasing wetsuits just so we can enjoy the slides. I’m sure our 5 year old will be begging to swim and not care about the cold while we will only be able to tolerate the hot tub.

GO DOWN THE SLIDE!!! I don't care if it is pouring rain I am 100% going down that slide LOL I mean our 5 & 15 yr old might be watching & wondering what in the world is wrong with us -- but DH and I are going down that Monorail slides.

 

[PBandJFamwich]

GO DOWN THE SLIDE!!! I don't care if it is pouring rain I am 100% going down that slide LOL I mean our 5 & 15 yr old might be watching & wondering what in the world is wrong with us -- but DH and I are going down that Monorail slides.

I just realized you are actually going over Xmas/new years! Now I’m jealous of you!

We just went to WDW for my birthday on the 20th, and I joked with my husband that we can never go on a Disney trip for his birthday on December 27th (at least not for awhile). We probably could have our Disneyland trip work since we wouldn’t have to upgrade our WDW annual pass (darn block out days). Decided not to since flights are significantly more at that time and so we don’t have to struggle scheduling Xmas with our families.

 

[Disneysince82]

I just realized you are actually going over Xmas/new years! Now I’m jealous of you!

We just went to WDW for my birthday on the 20th, and I joked with my husband that we can never go on a Disney trip for his birthday on December 27th (at least not for awhile). We probably could have our Disneyland trip work since we wouldn’t have to upgrade our WDW annual pass (darn block out days). Decided not to since flights are significantly more at that time and so we don’t have to struggle scheduling Xmas with our families.

One of my earliest memories as a kid was seeing Toy Tinkers on a Disney Christmas special on TV(which is probably why I LOVE Chip & Dale so much...well that and I grew up with Rescue Rangers LOL) & going to Disneyland on Christmas Day. I joked if I could ever do it again I would and it sort of just become possible so I booked it! One of the big thing was also scheduling for us. The last few yrs I have gotten to my limit with it & last year I even bailed on Christmas Day evening plans because I was just so tired -- I am truly looking forward to NONE of them this year. Yes, I know it is selfish.... and I am OK with that. I want to enjoy this holidays and am tried of not being able to.

Ok, our oldest son's bday is 12/27!! He won't be on this trip due to his work. Our youngest 2 have never been to Disneyland and its as pushed back because of COVID etc. Our daughter has been asking pretty much every other day to go to Disneyland for the past year We tell her you have to get on a plane to go so she seriously thought everyone who flew(this will also be her 1st flight) was going to DL! But have told her we are going to the Beach and aren't going and are hoping to keep the surprised till she figure it out and we pull up to DL.

I feel your pain on the flights & I haven't even purchased flights yet & need to this next week. It is almost stupid how expensive it is going to be to fly from Denver to LAX -- SNA is almost $100s more each ticket.

Right now I am really battling with if we should keep our reservations through New Years due to the crowds and the kids or just do the 5-6 day Christmas and leave before NYE. I have the hotel booked and can modify that of course, but it is something that I spend way too much time thinking about. Well that and if I need to just scrap GCH all together and just do DLH. I feel like I might be falling into the whole FOMO thing when it comes to going with GCH....which I am ashamed to admit.

 

[PBandJFamwich]

One of the big thing was also scheduling for us. The last few yrs I have gotten to my limit with it & last year I even bailed on Christmas Day evening plans because I was just so tired -- I am truly looking forward to NONE of them this year. Yes, I know it is selfish.... and I am OK with that. I want to enjoy this holidays and am tried of not being able to.

I feel like we don’t quite have the luxury of peacing out on Xmas yet. My brother is a firefighter and my BIL a dentist so it’s difficult to schedule around their work/on-call schedules already for my parents.

Ok, our oldest son's bday is 12/27!! He won't be on this trip due to his work.

Our youngest 2 have never been to Disneyland and its as pushed back because of COVID etc. Our daughter has been asking pretty much every other day to go to Disneyland for the past year We tell her you have to get on a plane to go so she seriously thought everyone who flew(this will also be her 1st flight) was going to DL! But have told her we are going to the Beach and aren't going and are hoping to keep the surprised till she figure it out and we pull up to DL.

We told our daughter we were going to Florida to a hotel with a pool when we were trying to surprise her with her first WDW. Big mistake waiting until we got there to tell her. Everyone on the plane was talking about Disney and a few asked if she was going to Disney World! Luckily she didn’t really put it together but the big reveal wasn’t as grand as we had hoped. We told her about our last trip and had a countdown chain but haven’t decided about what we will do for this coming trip.

I feel your pain on the flights & I haven't even purchased flights yet & need to this next week. It is almost stupid how expensive it is going to be to fly from Denver to LAX -- SNA is almost $100s more each ticket.

We need to book our flights this week too. Luckily we found a flight from one of the airports we don’t mind traveling to direct to SNA. It’s still a 3 hour drive from our home but the closest airport with a flight to anywhere other than MCO and Vegas is 1.5 hours away and very pricey to fly to LAX. Travel from the Midwest can be fun.

Right now I am really battling with if we should keep our reservations through New Years due to the crowds and the kids or just do the 5-6 day Christmas and leave before NYE. I have the hotel booked and can modify that of course, but it is something that I spend way too much time thinking about. Well that and if I need to just scrap GCH all together and just do DLH. I feel like I might be falling into the whole FOMO thing when it comes to going with GCH....which I am ashamed to admit.

I’m not someone to talk someone out of a good time at Disney and say go for it all. YOLO!

 

[Disneysince82]

I feel like we don’t quite have the luxury of peacing out on Xmas yet. My brother is a firefighter and my BIL a dentist so it’s difficult to schedule around their work/on-call schedules already for my parents.





We told our daughter we were going to Florida to a hotel with a pool when we were trying to surprise her with her first WDW. Big mistake waiting until we got there to tell her. Everyone on the plane was talking about Disney and a few asked if she was going to Disney World! Luckily she didn’t really put it together but the big reveal wasn’t as grand as we had hoped. We told her about our last trip and had a countdown chain but haven’t decided about what we will do for this coming trip.

We need to book our flights this week too. Luckily we found a flight from one of the airports we don’t mind traveling to direct to SNA. It’s still a 3 hour drive from our home but the closest airport with a flight to anywhere other than MCO and Vegas is 1.5 hours away and very pricey to fly to LAX. Travel from the Midwest can be fun.

I’m not someone to talk someone out of a good time at Disney and say go for it all. YOLO!

Oh trust me when I say I wish this had to do with scheduling around others this year I just decided I am choosing me LOL

I have considered maybe telling her before and then doing a countdown chair or similar closer to the visit! If we were going to fly into SNA there as no chance hiding because you pretty much land in Disney Airport When I went for the 50th the oldest we tried the same thing and when we landed he figured it out really quick -- and he was the same age.

I know we will have a blast no matter how long we go, and our original plan was only 5-6 days. Then we made it longer to stay all the way through NYE. I have hotel reservations but I probably need to just stop over thinking it so much. Well I might not overthink it if the hotels were not so $$$$

 

[Diana ZP]

Trying again for a trip with the niece and her girls...sadly September dates went down in flames! So now we are trying for December 4-8!!!! This time I am going with or without them! It has been too long since I got my Disneyland smiles on!