Thank so much Sherry for all the great info!
Sounds like Santa's schedule may work very well for us, as we touchdown at SNA at 5:00pm.
I'm very excited, and really making plans now for our Magical
Disneyland Christmas trip! Whoo-hoo!
You're welcome, Dianna!
I think you'll probably catch the GCH Santa if you kind of linger around the lobby between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., possibly even beyond. Remember that if you don't see him in his chair, he might be on a break. Then you can ask the front desk people when he will be back to be sure you don't miss him.
My friend was resistant to waiting in the line to take Santa photos - and people
will line up at the GCH! She didn't want to move from her comfortable chair in the lobby. We had to wait until there were only a couple of people in line and then we jumped up and got in it. Santa is very fun, and if he takes photos with females only (of any age), he will say, "I'd better not tell Mrs. Claus about this!" or a similar statement. I don't know what the Santas in the other 2 hotels say, or the Santas in the 2 parks.
The Disneyland Hotel Santa has a whole elaborate set-up and backdrop, but I don't
think there is a PhotoPass person there (could be wrong on that), and for some reason, I still like the setting at the GCH better. The GCH Santa spot is very simple - in front of the tree - but there is something that's more holiday-esque about it to me, and slightly more elegant. It seems like a more Christmasy environment than the Disneyland Hotel, and I can't even explain why, really. The Disneyland Hotel has decorations and touches of the holidays all over, and it's worth seeing, but there is something about the GCH lobby Santa photo spot that just 'fits.'
I❤MICKEY;42135202 said:
First of all thank you to everyone for answering my questions. I truly appreciate the time that is spent responding and providing guidance.
I have a few more questions.
- Sherry -- You mention that the Santa at the GCH has a photopass photographer. Does the Santa in DL have a photopass photographer with him? I really hope that he's still there when we arrive even though it will be after Christmas. I think my boys would love it.
- I've read that the decorations will still be up the first week of January. Does this still mean Mickey and the gang will be wearing their holiday clothing? I haven't seen any holiday pictures of the princesses. Do they have holiday clothing as well?
- We did a character breakfast (Minnie @ the Plaza) when we were there in June. Both boys loved it. Does anyone know if the characters are dressed in holiday clothing for character dining? While I loved the Plaza I would consider going to a different restaurant for the experience of the holiday attire.
Thank you in advance.
Best,
Melissa
Melissa -
You're welcome!
Yes, the Santa inside Disneyland at the Reindeer Round-Up has a PhotoPass photographer with him, to my knowledge. I hope he is still there at the Round-Up when you arrive - though you may get "street clothes Santa" rather than "red suit Santa"!!
Because the season is ending so much later than usual in 2012, DLR may, possibly, keep out an extra Santa. I wonder if the California Adventure Santa will stick around?
I've never seen any specific holiday clothes on the Princesses. I've seen some of the Princesses wearing long sleeves (where normally they would be wearing shorter sleeves) to keep warm, but that's about it.
The holiday season usually ends right after New Year's Day - like on 1/2, 1/3 or 1/4. I would imagine that the characters stay in their Winter Sweater gear until that time. This time around, however, the season extends all the way to 1/8 - this is uncharted territory for us, so I don't think any of us know for sure if the characters will still be in their Christmas/Winter clothes all the way to January 8.
I have not eaten at Minnie & Friends yet, but from photos I've seen, some of the characters do wear the famous Winter Sweaters from time to time (probably Minnie and maybe Chip and Dale, etc.) during the holiday season. I can tell you that the characters at Goofy's Kitchen and Storytellers do not wear holiday attire...anymore. That used to be one of my favorite things about Goofy's Kitchen in the old days - the fact that all the characters would dress up for the holidays, and Goofy would even wear a Santa Suit around the restaurant. But when Goofy's switched locations, the characters stopped wearing holiday clothes.
I still adore Goofy's Kitchen, but it annoys me that Goofy no longer comes out in the Santa suit.
However, Goofy's Kitchen has the best and most whimsical Christmas tree out of all the character meals (Storytellers Critter Breakfast doesn't have a tree at all!), so you should wander by there just to see it. It's a short tree, but it's very fun.
So I think your best bet for a character meal with any traces of holiday attire is still going to be Minnie & Friends.
another person seriously considering a Mom daughter trip from 1/3-1/5. Literally the only time available considering University schedule.........
Hi, Judy!
Unfortunately, we won't get to see Santa this year.
We will be leaving a couple days too early.
Hope you can take our place this year and tell him we said hello.
Our countdown is picking up speed. Already we are down to 86 days! My husband keeps telling me it's almost time to start packing.
Marie - I know! I can't believe your trip is rapidly approaching! I can't believe it's already almost 2 years since your WDW trip!
You're welcome. I'm glad Bret chimed in too.
How could I have forgotten the spectacular light show at DHS? He had other great comparisons too about the fireworks and parades. We've never been the the Christmas Event (Mickey's Very Merry....). It is always before we vacation (typically the week between Christmas and NY)
Check out Bret and Sherry's trip reports too. Another fun reporter is deejdigsdis. They are fun and informative. All seem to see things I have never noticed before.
Let us know what you decide to do!
TK
I think I've got links to everyone's TR's (and some other TR's of note that I chose) in Post #3 on Page 1 of this thread. And for the mega-TR's that include many different trips, I have the links cued up to the page on which the actual holiday portion of the TR's begin!! For example, I have the link to deej's TR cued up to where her holiday trip starts!
Long time lurker but I have a question. Would you do a DL trip Dec 12-15 with a 17 month old kiddo? I had decided I wanted to (love love love Christmastime at DL even though I've only been once during the holidays) and have been planning and plotting and whatnot but we have tons of family in our ear telling us how awful it will be. After awhile it wore on me and now I'm questioning myself. We know it will probably be crowded. And we know it will be a more slow paced trip just because of DD1. Works better for DH anyway that man needs a nap like a little kid. Plus my aunt and uncle have AP, live 15 minutes away and have offered to go any or all of the days with us and watch the wee one so we can go on stuff she can't. Plus I figure if all else fails and DD1 simply can't handle it we can drop her at their house during the day. So would you go?
Hello, lash! Welcome out of lurdom!
While I don't have a 17-month old child, December 12-15 should be okay.
Well, let me clarify - last year, my exact DLR trip dates were December 12-15! Those exact same dates (see my Trip Report, "The Evil Chair and the Peppermint Cone of Death"). The time frame was a Sunday - Wednesday. This year, of course, it will be a Monday - Thursday.
You may, possibly, run into the Cast Member holiday parties on Monday, 12/12 and Tuesday, 12/13. We don't know the CM party schedule yet. In the past, the CM parties always happened one week earlier than that, but last year they were moved to a week later - right during my trip.
This year, there is no telling if they will go back to their old schedule or keep the new one.
What this will mean is that, if the CM parties are on 12/12 and 12/13 this year, Disneyland will close at 6 p.m. It really wasn't a big deal for me - even though I thought it would be - because I just wandered around Downtown Disney and into the Grand Californian and all that after I left Disneyland. California Adventure also stays open to take the overflow of people exiting Disneyland. So it works out okay if you plan it right.
Disneyland will still have the Winter Castle lighting, fireworks and snow on Main Street before closing at 6 p.m. And the Christmas Fantasy Parade will happen earlier.
So, anyway, just be aware that 2 of your dates
may, possibly, coincide with the CM parties. We won't know the dates of those for a while.
As for crowds, I found the crowds to be much larger than I expected, but not unbearable. Not the worst I have seen at DLR, by any means, but much more crowded that I thought it would be. It was very busy on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (12/12 - 12/14), and then I noticed a definite decrease in crowds by Wednesday, 12/15.
I'm not sure if the parks were more crowded because the CM parties were happening at night on Monday and Tuesday and everyone was trying to get everything done before DL closed?
I would bet that this year, Wednesday, 12/14, will probably be a lighter crowd day for you. The 12th and 13th will probably be pretty crowded.
I wouldn't worry about it, though - the real heavy, capacity crowds usually descend upon DLR in that immediate week leading up to Christmas, and especially in the week between Christmas and New Year's.
I would definitely go if I were you!!!
