Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #2 (Closed)

[Sherry E]

Sad about the reindeer, but everything else sounds wonderful!

I agree, WorldOfColorful!

I will miss the reindeer but I always worried about their health, so maybe they're better off not being in DLR this year. They tended to have very shallow, rapid breathing and I was always concerned that they were not acclimating well to Southern California when they are used to being in a different environment.

Oh, and we're getting the multi-night Candlelight Processional, too - how could I have overlooked that in my previous post? So we're getting a lot of things packed into this year. Next year...eh...who knows what will happen? This year sounds like it will be a bonanza o' holiday merriment!

 

[Sherry E]

I read somewhere that there was a tree decorating contest last year between the businesses of downtown disney? Is this a tradition? Are they worth going specifically to check out? Are they outside or in each store?

jkh1978 -

I think it may have been my comment that you saw. I posted it in the thread announcing the ice rink last week.

Last year was the first year that I became aware of this contest. Not sure if it will be an annual thing. I only got a photo of the sign advertising it in DTD. Laurie/DizNee Luver got a couple of photos of the trees in the contest, which were kind of in a tent. But they were very pretty!

 

[tksbaskets]

Hello everyone,

I have a question and I'm sure someone has gone through the same experience and can answer my question. My father had a heart attack and had open heart surgery last night, we have had plans to visit to Disneyland in December 2012 and here is my first question: For anyone who has had family who have had a 5-way bypass, how long does recovery take? Do you think it is pretty much out of the question for him to go on vacation with us (December 3-7.) Should we start cancelling everything?

If he can still go, any advice on making the trip as pleasant as possible?

I think mellers had some very good advise for you. My father had 3 heart surgeries. His first, a quadruple bypass, was when he was 50. What surprised my mother most was the depression (very common) after he came home from the hospital. It took dad about 6 weeks to bounce back that first time. He was in pretty good shape besides the heart and had not had a heart attack.

Everyone is different - You may want to plan a family trip this summer when the odds are he'll be in shape to go.

Hugs to you and your family. I'll keep you in my prayers.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I will make a long story short, after be in DLR for a week and home and working for a week I had major anterior MI on the way to work and barely made it to ER, followed by a heart cath and then after some terse discussion followed by a quintuple by-pass 3 days later. The Cardiologist said if I had not been in such good shape(worked many years oversea in a very physical job) I would not have survived the MI. I am 66 Y.O. Left the hospital 3 days post op, they were driving me crazy.

I returned to work full-time two weeks ago at 6 weeks, now at at 8 weeks things are slowly improving, worst part is where they took the veins for the grafts.

My suggestion would be for him to follow his physicians advice to the letter. Once home he has to walk as much as he can tolerate if possible.
I would not attempt to go to the resort or if so take everything real slow.
I was told that I was not to ride in anything more than two hours at a time, no driving for at least 10 weeks(Think I listened).

I am a big strong man(6'4 215 at the time) now 194. He has to eat good low fat, no salt meals, but follow the physiians advice. I did not do cardiac rehab and so far way ahead of the plan, but to each his own.

You are not to far from the land so it looks like you could go anytime as far as distance.

Honestly I would plan another time so he might enjoy it a bit more. The sterneotomy will hurt with jostling, itch, wires may poke.

Just my two cents and best of luck to your father..the first few days post op are the worst.

Jack

 

[tksbaskets]

I will make a long story short, after be in DLR for a week and home and working for a week I had major anterior MI on the way to work and barely made it to ER, followed by a heart cath and then after some terse discussion followed by a quintuple by-pass 3 days later. The Cardiologist said if I had not been in such good shape(worked many years oversea in a very physical job) I would not have survived the MI. I am 66 Y.O. Left the hospital 3 days post op, they were driving me crazy.

I returned to work full-time two weeks ago at 6 weeks, now at at 8 weeks things are slowly improving, worst part is where they took the veins for the grafts.

My suggestion would be for him to follow his physicians advice to the letter. Once home he has to walk as much as he can tolerate if possible.
I would not attempt to go to the resort or if so take everything real slow.
I was told that I was not to ride in anything more than two hours at a time, no driving for at least 10 weeks(Think I listened).

I am a big strong man(6'4 215 at the time) now 194. He has to eat good low fat, no salt meals, but follow the physiians advice. I did not do cardiac rehab and so far way ahead of the plan, but to each his own.

You are not to far from the land so it looks like you could go anytime as far as distance.

Honestly I would plan another time so he might enjoy it a bit more. The sterneotomy will hurt with jostling, itch, wires may poke.

Just my two cents and best of luck to your father..the first few days post op are the worst.

Jack

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I hadn't even thought of the jostling - even people bumping into you.

Glad to hear you are on the mend. You should enjoy that trip I see you counting down for.

 

[LullahBelle]

Will be at the DLR from 11/17-11/21. Just bought tickets for the "Holiday Time Tour", for 3:15, Nov. 18, and am totally excited!

I have been to WDW many times, but was only at the DLR, on a day pass, back in 2001. Reading this thread, as well as the older Holiday thread, over this past Spring and Summer, inspired me to plan this trip.

I was craving my "Disney fix", as other than a disney cruise, last Spring, we had last been to WDW since 2009, and was bummed because did not have a full week to devote to a trip, and DH had had his Disney fill...that's when inspiration struck: since DLR is much smaller than WDW, therefore lending itself better to a 3 day tour, and my mother lives on the West Coast...we could just meet out there and leave DH out of the equation!

Anyway, I have enjoyed researching and learning more about the DLR, and am super excited to be experiencing it when it's all dolled up for the Holidays!

 

[KCmike]

I will make a long story short, after be in DLR for a week and home and working for a week I had major anterior MI on the way to work and barely made it to ER, followed by a heart cath and then after some terse discussion followed by a quintuple by-pass 3 days later. The Cardiologist said if I had not been in such good shape(worked many years oversea in a very physical job) I would not have survived the MI. I am 66 Y.O. Left the hospital 3 days post op, they were driving me crazy.

I returned to work full-time two weeks ago at 6 weeks, now at at 8 weeks things are slowly improving, worst part is where they took the veins for the grafts.

My suggestion would be for him to follow his physicians advice to the letter. Once home he has to walk as much as he can tolerate if possible.
I would not attempt to go to the resort or if so take everything real slow.
I was told that I was not to ride in anything more than two hours at a time, no driving for at least 10 weeks(Think I listened).

I am a big strong man(6'4 215 at the time) now 194. He has to eat good low fat, no salt meals, but follow the physiians advice. I did not do cardiac rehab and so far way ahead of the plan, but to each his own.

You are not to far from the land so it looks like you could go anytime as far as distance.

Honestly I would plan another time so he might enjoy it a bit more. The sterneotomy will hurt with jostling, itch, wires may poke.

Just my two cents and best of luck to your father..the first few days post op are the worst.

Jack

Wow Jack. Glad you are alright. Its easy to try to push recover for sure and the hard part is always listening to what we should be doing vs. what we think we should be doing. My father passed away a few years ago and didn't follow the advice of doctors to take it easy as well. Life is short. Happy to hear things are improving. Take care.

 

[focusondisney]

Hi! I just got off the phone with Vacation Planning, making our arrangements for our trip. I have read about the Holiday Tour & requested that. The very nice CM told me there's also an Ultimate Holiday Tour which will include the regular Holiday Tour PLUS premium seating for the Candlelight Processional! It is $150 per person & no discounts (AP, Visa, AAA) apply.

The regular tour would have been $54.40 with the discount, so it is a big jump in price for the CP to be included.

We only get tp DL every 5-6 years & we only have 5 days, so I'm OK with splurging. But now that I typed it out, $100 for the CP seats alone seems kind of crazy! I don't think he mentioned any other extra features, but I will call to confirm & double check that after my 30 mark in a few weeks.

Has anyone else booked this tour? Did I miss any other special perks?

 

[lurpee]

Thanks for posting this! My family will probably go this route. That's $450 for my fam ( assuming the baby is free). Did they give you any other info?
Thanks,
Kerri

 

[focusondisney]

Thanks for posting this! My family will probably go this route. That's $450 for my fam ( assuming the baby is free). Did they give you any other info?
Thanks,
Kerri

No, and I didn't realize til after I hung up that I should have asked a few more questions!

We did my dining reservations first & I said I would be interested in a CP dinner package if they became available. The agent said they didn't have any info on that yet, but I could call back & change my reservations if they came out later. After we finished those, he put me on hold to pull up tour information. When he came back, he gave me the prices for the 2 tours I want booked with my discount (AP,AAA & Disney Visa are all the same discount). That's when he asked if I had heard about the Ultimate Holiday Tour. He said it included all the features of the regular Holiday Tour plus reserved premium seating for the Candlelight Processional; the cost is $150 per person & no discounts apply.

I was excited about that as it will get 2 of my priorities done all in 1. I will be calling back to confirm after the 30 day mark & ask more questions then. I will probably have to tweek my dining a little too, after the CP & tour times get released.

I hope someone else will have a little more information to share. Even tho it is pricy, it seems to be the way to go for those of us with limited time & an aversion to crowds & waiting!!

 

[jkh1978]

Hi! I just got off the phone with Vacation Planning

What is Vacation Planning? Is that "concierge"? We only booked a standard room at DLH.

 

[jkh1978]

Hi! I just got off the phone with Vacation Planning, making our arrangements for our trip. I have read about the Holiday Tour & requested that. The very nice CM told me there's also an Ultimate Holiday Tour which will include the regular Holiday Tour PLUS premium seating for the Candlelight Processional! It is $150 per person & no discounts (AP, Visa, AAA) apply.

I thought that these could only be booked 30 days in advance?

 

[focusondisney]

What is Vacation Planning? Is that "concierge"? We only booked a standard room at DLH.

Anyone who books a reservation for any of the 3 Disney hotels can use this service. The info was in my emailed confirmation. They can book dining, tours, birthday parties, etc. They do the same things the concierge advance planners do at WDW, but you don't have to have a concierge room to use them. I have a resrt view, room only reservation.

I thought that these could only be booked 30 days in advance?

We booked my dining right away, as I am within the 60 days. I gave him my credit card numbers & he will make the tour reservations at the 30 day mark.

 

[jkh1978]

Anyone who books a reservation for any of the 3 Disney hotels can use this service. The info was in my emailed confirmation. They can book dining, tours, birthday parties, etc. They do the same things the concierge advance planners do at WDW, but you don't have to have a concierge room to use them. I have a resrt view, room only reservation.




We booked my dining right away, as I am within the 60 days. I gave him my credit card numbers & he will make the tour reservations at the 30 day mark.

maybe I'm looking at the wrong thing, but on my email and the attachment from the Walt Disney Travel Company, I see no reference to Vacation Planning. Booked in pay and paid it off in September.

 

[jkh1978]

Hi! I just got off the phone with Vacation Planning, making our arrangements for our trip. I have read about the Holiday Tour & requested that. The very nice CM told me there's also an Ultimate Holiday Tour which will include the regular Holiday Tour PLUS premium seating for the Candlelight Processional! It is $150 per person & no discounts (AP, Visa, AAA) apply.

The regular tour would have been $54.40 with the discount, so it is a big jump in price for the CP to be included.

We only get tp DL every 5-6 years & we only have 5 days, so I'm OK with splurging. But now that I typed it out, $100 for the CP seats alone seems kind of crazy! I don't think he mentioned any other extra features, but I will call to confirm & double check that after my 30 mark in a few weeks.

Has anyone else booked this tour? Did I miss any other special perks?

I called Dining today, who did not yet know what the plans would be with CP. I called the Tours, and they did not know about the Ultimate package, or what times the holiday tour would be. The only thing they could tell me was the price. I called Vacation Planning, who mentioned the Ultimate plan at $150 and gave me the rates and discounted rates for the regular tour, but did not know what times the events would be and could only tell me any more information based on past tours.

 

[lurpee]

I called Disney Tours today and talked to Joe I think. He confirmed the Ultimate Holiday Tour just as the person first posted about it. He added that it will be available for booking Nov 3rd and said AP holders might get priority on it. He said to check the blog as well as Disneyland.com/APHappier for more info. He said that they're focusing on the Halloween parties first.
Kerri

 

[jkh1978]

I talked to Karen. I wonder how many people are answering the phones and if they are co-located. Do they turn to each other and ask "why are we getting so many calls now about a thing we haven't announced yet?"

 

[focusondisney]

Hey, the CM offered to book it for me!

We are about 2 weeks away from Dec 3rd, so more info should start coming soon. Anyway, he took all my info & said he'd be booking me at the 30 day mark & call me if he couldn't book it. He's also going to be booking another tour for us, too.


Maybe I should have kept this to myself til I got booked?!

 

[jkh1978]

Hey, the CM offered to book it for me!

We are about 2 weeks away from Dec 3rd, so more info should start coming soon. Anyway, he took all my info & said he'd be booking me at the 30 day mark & call me if he couldn't book it. He's also going to be booking another tour for us, too.


Maybe I should have kept this to myself til I got booked?!

No, thanks for sharing. But with this new information, and knowing that dining is going to also have plans, makes me more anxious for November to get here.

I'm on the east coast, so going to WDW, you need to plan somethings 180 days out. So I'm too uptight to not know what the plans will be. And I believe the people on the phone that they do not know the details, and are being friendly sharing the information that they do know.

 

[focusondisney]

Just kidding about not sharing!

We're coming from the east, too. And by your ticker, it looks like we'll be there at the same time. I've given up hoping for low crowds. Now I'm just hoping for nice warm weather.