I am very excited to start planning our December trip! We are thinking of going Sun Dec 4th - Fri Dec 9th. Since most of our time there are weekdays I wanted to check the hours and schedule to make sure we would be able to see some of the evening shows/fireworks. I checked the
Disneyland calendar and it is only showing dates thru October. Does anyone know what the December schedule usually is/or has been in the past? Thanks for your help!!
While there does seem to be a mysterious absence (online) of information about 2010's early December dates (including the dates you plan to go to the parks this year), in
Post #3 of the Disneyland at Christmas Time Superthread, under the Q&A section (in red and green), one of the questions is about holiday season hours and there are a few links to as much as I could scrape up of December 2010's schedule (actually, it's only the first 10 days of December 2010 that seemed to be lacking some info)!
As vincev33 mentioned, there could be Cast Member parties during your trip. Keep in mind that we do not yet know when the Cast Member parties will be held this year. Traditionally, the CM parties have taken place very early in December, always on a Monday and Tuesday, I think. Last year, however, the CM parties happened one week later than they normally had taken place - and no one really knew why they broke tradition and happened later.
So we are not sure if the CM parties will happen on Mon., 12/5 and Tues., 12/6 this year, or on Mon., 12/12 and Tues., 12/13. If they happen on 12/5 and 12/6, that will be during your trip. On CM party nights, Disneyland closes at 6 p.m. to the general public, while California Adventure remains open. You could also take that opportunity to enjoy the Grand Californian Hotel lobby experience (very festive during the holiday season, especially at night!) or perhaps eat dinner in Downtown Disney or one of the hotels.
Also, if you find yourself at Disneyland on 12/4, be aware that this is a Candlelight Processional night, so crowds are supposedly bigger, as people pack into Disneyland trying to catch a glimpse of this beautiful ceremony.
