disney at christmas

[sierranevada]

Hey scrappinbear78, so glad you were able to switch to the PPH and drop the vouchers - that is quite a savings! The PPH is wonderfully decorated and will be magical to stay at!

And I agree with Sherry, I would be surprised if you did not get an accessible room - especially since you will have 2 wheelchairs. I would even call back closer to the trip to make sure it is noted in the ressies and stress how important it is.

Eating breakfast in the room and bringing lots of snacks and water to the parks also really helps save money (my pet peeve is the price of water in the parks!). Or you can bring a refillable water bottle and use it in the parks. We even usually has some sandwich meats and bring sandwiches in a few times. My son's favorite thing to do is eat lunch in the Tiki Room - and yes, it is allowed.

Have a wonderful time and check back in.

 

[specialks]

Hey scrappinbear78, so glad you were able to switch to the PPH and drop the vouchers - that is quite a savings! The PPH is wonderfully decorated and will be magical to stay at!

And I agree with Sherry, I would be surprised if you did not get an accessible room - especially since you will have 2 wheelchairs. I would even call back closer to the trip to make sure it is noted in the ressies and stress how important it is.

Eating breakfast in the room and bringing lots of snacks and water to the parks also really helps save money (my pet peeve is the price of water in the parks!). Or you can bring a refillable water bottle and use it in the parks. We even usually has some sandwich meats and bring sandwiches in a few times. My son's favorite thing to do is eat lunch in the Tiki Room - and yes, it is allowed.

Have a wonderful time and check back in.

Wow -- finally caught back up. Have been off the boards for a while this summer and realized the last page I read was #65.

sierranevada -- eating our packed lunch in the Tiki Room is one of our favorite things to do which we discovered last year. Shhh, don't let too many people find out.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

We are also thinking of taking our kids this year. My son's bday is one week exactly before Christmas, so we were thinking of going that week & actually leaving on Christmas day. Is that week crazy crowded?? I mean what are we talking about for wait.....is it worth it or should we go earlier in the month. I really was hoping that week would work out. We were going to do the parks for 4 days and then universal, seaworl & maybe the zoo? Thoughts & advice?

We went that week last year (DS's bday is the 18th) and we did fine with a plan. HOWEVER, it was our 3rd trip that year so we opted not to even bother with rides that had super long lines.

I agree with Sherry, if you can go even a week earlier it would be a lot better.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

So are you paying for extra nights at one of the DL hotels, or moving to another hotel for first/last nights?

I guess the reason I'm asking is because if you have five-day park tickets but are staying eight at the same hotel, that doesn't mean you have to use the tickets on consecutive days. You could do a couple park days, take a day off to swim in the pool, do Downtown Disney, a movie, Legoland, whatever, then go back a couple days, and repeat. It might keep the non-Disney-day costs down.

I'm not sure about the meal plan tickets, if they have to be used the same days or if they are just straight vouchers per-meal or dollar amount. I do know they aren't very widely used because they aren't very flexible. Perhaps look into that part more and see if you could save some money not using a meal plan -- by doing breakfast in your room, or splitting meals, or eating some meals outside the park. The food costs add up quickly! If you want the "pre-paid" convenience, put the money on a Disney gift card?

Best of luck,
PHXscuba

We used the dining plan for our trip Nov/Dec 2007. Each member of the travel party received a booklet of vouchers in different $ denominations and a couple more specific such as One Character Breakfast, One Lunch in the Park. We could use these anywhere in the park including the snack carts (great for hot chocolate and churros). We were also able to use them at the Coffee Shop and Croc and Bits at the DLH hotel.

I would not buy a dining package to cover every day of the trip but would for about half the length of stay allowing some flexibility for breakfasts etc... We were there for 8 days and purchased four day dining plan. We enjoyed two Character Breakfasts and Lunch at Ariels Grotto through vouchers. The dollar denominations could be used towards these. We would also use predominantly for lunch and snacks throughout each day.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

I have just finished the whole thread, I started a week or so ago. Thank you to everyone for sharing such a wonderful amount of information.

We spent 8 days in the DL and DCA in 2007. We arrived the Sunday after Thanksgiving and stayed until the Monday after the Candlelight Processional. We stayed at the DLH.

We found the Monday was a busier day but not crazy, we barely had any wait at all on lines for the rest of the week. The Friday afternoon before the Processional picked up and the Saturday and Sunday were the busiest two days we had while there, still the lines were still not too bad. Main Street was crazy on the afternoons.

The processional sounded and looked amazing, we did not try to stay for the whole performance but could see down Main Street from the hub and we also walked past very slowly to catch a glimpse and we loitered in the entrance area to listen for most of the performance.


This was our first Christmas/Holiday Experience at Disney. When we got home we found that our Christmas was not the same, we felt that we had Christmas early whilst at Disney. We all joked that spending Christmas Day at Disneyland would be an experience to try despite it being much busier.

So that is what we are doing, we have just booked 6 days at the GCH for Christmas 20 We will arrive on the 21st Dec and stay through to the 27th.

I thought I would post some pictures from the DLH that we took at Christmas. I wanted to take home the tree in the lobby of the Wonder Tower where we stayed.

The Tree in the DLH Lobby

The Tree in Wonder Tower Lobby

11.
Baubles on the Wonder Tree

 

[Sherry E]

I have just finished the whole thread, I started a week or so ago. Thank you to everyone for sharing such a wonderful amount of information.

We spent 8 days in the DL and DCA in 2007. We arrived the Sunday after Thanksgiving and stayed until the Monday after the Candlelight Processional. We stayed at the DLH.

We found the Monday was a busier day but not crazy, we barely had any wait at all on lines for the rest of the week. The Friday afternoon before the Processional picked up and the Saturday and Sunday were the busiest two days we had while there, still the lines were still not too bad. Main Street was crazy on the afternoons.

The processional sounded and looked amazing, we did not try to stay for the whole performance but could see down Main Street from the hub and we also walked past very slowly to catch a glimpse and we loitered in the entrance area to listen for most of the performance.


This was our first Christmas/Holiday Experience at Disney. When we got home we found that our Christmas was not the same, we felt that we had Christmas early whilst at Disney. We all joked that spending Christmas Day at Disneyland would be an experience to try despite it being much busier.

So that is what we are doing, we have just booked 6 days at the GCH for Christmas 20 We will arrive on the 21st Dec and stay through to the 27th.

I thought I would post some pictures from the DLH that we took at Christmas. I wanted to take home the tree in the lobby of the Wonder Tower where we stayed.

The Tree in the DLH Lobby

The Tree in Wonder Tower Lobby

11.
Baubles on the Wonder Tree

areweindisneyyet!!!!

Welcome to the Disney at Christmas super thread!!! I am so happy you joined us!! I was so excited to see that, (a) we had a new person jumping in on this wonderful thread, (b) you took the time to read through the entire thread and enjoy all the photos, and (c) you posted some amazing pictures of your own - and might I add, these trees/decorations in the DLH are something we have not seen much of in this thread at all. (I posted some DLH tree photos a while back, but they were taken much earlier this decade and the trees have changed since then!)

You've shown us a whole new aspect of the holiday season at DLR (and the DLH) that we have not really seen in this thread so far!!

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful photos and for joining in with us!!

 

[PHXscuba]

OOOOO! Do you know how PERFECT that Wonder lobby tree would look in my living room?! It is absolutely gorgeous! And I love the blue ribbons on the other lobby tree.

I am a huge Christmas tree fan. When we moved into this house with a high living room ceiling about 5 years ago, DH gave me a big tree soon afterward and it is my baby. Even though it is a royal pain to set up and take down, I love having it. I can't wait to see all of the trees at DLR.

I am taking my van, with the seats that fold down .... hmm.... you don't think Disneyland would miss one measly little tree, would they?

PHXscuba

 

[funatdisney]

699 trees at DLR. What's one tree? Sherry, you would have one less tree to photograph.

 

[OctoberDisney]

oooooh! Thanks for posting the pics of the trees in the lobby. I just told DH that I added more to our schedule...we HAVE to go visit each of the 3 DLR hotel lobbies while we are there!
I"m getting that 4.5 days isn't enough! So much to do!

 

[areweindisneyyet]

I have found photos of two more trees at the DLH. One is outside Goofy's Kitchen and the other is where Santa comes to visit the DLH.

The Santa Tree and its presents

Goofy's Kitchen

Walking back to the hotel each night we loved the Downtown Disney tree as well.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

areweindisneyyet!!!!

Welcome to the Disney at Christmas super thread!!! I am so happy you joined us!! I was so excited to see that, (a) we had a new person jumping in on this wonderful thread, (b) you took the time to read through the entire thread and enjoy all the photos, and (c) you posted some amazing pictures of your own - and might I add, these trees/decorations in the DLH are something we have not seem much of in this thread at all. (I posted some DLH tree photos a while back, but they were taken much earlier this decade and the trees have changed since then!)

You've shown us a whole new aspect of the holiday season at DLR (and the DLH) that we have not really seen in this thread so far!!

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful photos and for joining in with us!!

Thank you for making me feel so welcome. So many of the wonderful photos of the thread have sparked memories. My girls would love to see Disney not decorated for Christmas ... just normal, but now that I know about the Holiday Season I don't think I can go back

 

[areweindisneyyet]

OOOOO! Do you know how PERFECT that Wonder lobby tree would look in my living room?! It is absolutely gorgeous! And I love the blue ribbons on the other lobby tree.

I am a huge Christmas tree fan. When we moved into this house with a high living room ceiling about 5 years ago, DH gave me a big tree soon afterward and it is my baby. Even though it is a royal pain to set up and take down, I love having it. I can't wait to see all of the trees at DLR.

I am taking my van, with the seats that fold down .... hmm.... you don't think Disneyland would miss one measly little tree, would they?

PHXscuba

Fun at Disney
699 trees at DLR. What's one tree? Sherry, you would have one less tree to photograph.


I tried that on my husband, he just laughed. I was sure that it would fit amongst our luggage as we flew home. No sense of adventure me thinks.

 

[AttilaTheHun]

Hi Again Everyone,

I have not been on the boards for a bit so I spent the time to catch up. Since we got back from San Diego's Comic Con I have been busy getting my son ready for school. He is not happy I cannot understand why?

Well since I decided to stay at the Sheraton Park Hotel I started to do more thinking. I followed your advice and bought the Birnbaum Guide's book on Disneyland and have been reading it on the train while going and coming home from work. Since I was there the last time in the late 80's it was interesting to see all the new changes. I was planing on arriving on Dec 21th and just going to Medieval Times that evening for the dinner show, then the next day on Wednesday going to Universal studios for the day. That would have then given us Thursday through Sunday to spend at Disneyland. We would fly home Monday the 27th.

Well, since reading the guide book I was thinking maybe we should fly in on Monday night on the 20th so then we can spend Tuesday at Disneyland and still go to Medieval Times for Dinner. Now my question to all you wonderful knowledgeable people is this? Should we go to Universal Studios on Friday or Saturday? The book says the least crowded days to go are Tues-Thurs and the most crowded day is Saturday. I would have 5 days instead of 4 to spend in Disneyland but I cannot decide which day would be the best to skip?

I will get my hotel reservations called in next week, then I will start saving for the park hopper tickets and everything else. Wish I could win the Lotto Let me know what you all think.

 

[amamax2]

oooooh! Thanks for posting the pics of the trees in the lobby. I just told DH that I added more to our schedule...we HAVE to go visit each of the 3 DLR hotel lobbies while we are there!
I"m getting that 4.5 days isn't enough! So much to do!

I so agree. I have three days and am thinking I need to send DH and the boys off to the parks one day while I just wander the resort taking pictures and drinking in the atmosphere. We've been twice during the Christmas season, but I haven't seen any of these things? Where was I?????

Thanks for all the recent pictures everyone - we all needed them!

 

[goldies 5]

Thanks for sharing- areweindisneyyet
Great photos.

 

[RedRosePrincess]

Does the "snow" fall once a day on Main Street? I swear it happened twice a night but I don't remember. Its been a while since I've been to DL during Christmastime.

Also, what time does it normally happen?

 

[Sherry E]

Does the "snow" fall once a day on Main Street? I swear it happened twice a night but I don't remember. Its been a while since I've been to DL during Christmastime.

Also, what time does it normally happen?

I think you're right - I think the snow falls twice a night. I'm not sure of the times, though. It seems like whenever we caught the snowfall or were near it when it was happening, I didn't look at the time. But I'm sure someone here must have an approximate idea of the times.

 

[Sherry E]

I have found photos of two more trees at the DLH. One is outside Goofy's Kitchen and the other is where Santa comes to visit the DLH.

The Santa Tree and its presents

Goofy's Kitchen

Walking back to the hotel each night we loved the Downtown Disney tree as well.

That Goofy's Kitchen tree has always been one of my favorites. I like the trees that carry more of a theme - and not all of the DLR trees have clearly defined themes that correlate to their specific areas, which surprises me. The Goofy's tree is one that is a little bit whimsical, a little off-kilter and very colorful. It matches the carpet coloring!! The ToonTown tree is another one that I have always liked because it matches the colors and theme of that land. And I like the tree in Pooh Corner because it has the dripping 'hunny' pots. Otherwise, it's hard to find trees that really seem to tell you what land you are in by looking at them. Many of them are just pretty trees with no real theme.

Thank you for making me feel so welcome. So many of the wonderful photos of the thread have sparked memories. My girls would love to see Disney not decorated for Christmas ... just normal, but now that I know about the Holiday Season I don't think I can go back

I know what you mean. I've spoiled myself. It's been hard for me to do any 'regular' DLR trips at all anymore. Even though I grew up with non-holiday Disneyland and that was perfectly fine with me, once I experienced the holiday season for the first time, it was hard to want to go at any other time!! Even though I love HalloweenTime too, it just doesn't compare. It's not that I wouldn't have fun going to DLR on a non-Christmas season day, but it's so much prettier and more magical during the holidays!!

Fun at Disney
699 trees at DLR. What's one tree? Sherry, you would have one less tree to photograph.


I tried that on my husband, he just laughed. I was sure that it would fit amongst our luggage as we flew home. No sense of adventure me thinks.

One less tree to hunt down - that's right!!! Only 699 - that makes the quest easier!! I wish I had thought of starting my tree hunt sooner. Last year was not a good year for tree hunting since my trip was so short and DLR was so crowded. I should have begun the tree hunt in 2008!!

Honestly, as much as I don't like the idea of going to DLR without my friends who would normally accompany me, I really, really think that the only way I will be able to fully get into 'picture mode' and put up my antenna to start scouting out interesting photo ops is to go solo - for several days. That's the only way (for me). A one-day trip won't be enough. I think I just have to really embrace a full-fledged multi-day solo trip and start snapping away like crazy!!

Hi Again Everyone,

I have not been on the boards for a bit so I spent the time to catch up. Since we got back from San Diego's Comic Con I have been busy getting my son ready for school. He is not happy I cannot understand why?

Well since I decided to stay at the Sheraton Park Hotel I started to do more thinking. I followed your advice and bought the Birnbaum Guide's book on Disneyland and have been reading it on the train while going and coming home from work. Since I was there the last time in the late 80's it was interesting to see all the new changes. I was planing on arriving on Dec 21th and just going to Medieval Times that evening for the dinner show, then the next day on Wednesday going to Universal studios for the day. That would have then given us Thursday through Sunday to spend at Disneyland. We would fly home Monday the 27th.

Well, since reading the guide book I was thinking maybe we should fly in on Monday night on the 20th so then we can spend Tuesday at Disneyland and still go to Medieval Times for Dinner. Now my question to all you wonderful knowledgeable people is this? Should we go to Universal Studios on Friday or Saturday? The book says the least crowded days to go are Tues-Thurs and the most crowded day is Saturday. I would have 5 days instead of 4 to spend in Disneyland but I cannot decide which day would be the best to skip?

I will get my hotel reservations called in next week, then I will start saving for the park hopper tickets and everything else. Wish I could win the Lotto Let me know what you all think.

Well, hmmm...I'm not sure how busy Universal would be on Saturday, but I'm inclined to think you should skip DLR on Saturday because that day would likely be the most crowded. So I suppose that Saturday would be the best day for Universal.

Maybe someone else has some ideas on that?

 

[goldies 5]

I agree with Sherry about the Universal, because driving through LA on a Sat. can be bad enough. During the week is a nightmare.

 

[goldies 5]

Well I just found some of last years schedule. I have Friday Dec. 11-Sun. Dec 13. The hours are obviously longer on the weekend. But I was mainly trying to remember the snow. It appears on my schedule to only happen once. After the Believe Fireworks at 9:25pm. Now I thought in past years I have seen snow twice also- but I think it may only be on the nights of Fantasmic playing twice, which is usually the weekend or very crowded times.
I am not 100% on that, but I do know it did not snow twice on the weekdays when we were there.