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

[kswm30b]

Sherry-my next trip to DL might have to be during Halloween. Look at that,I haven't even gone to DL once, and here I am thinking about the next time, lol (I am upgrading to the premiere pass, so I could visit next sept, lol.)

 

[KCmike]

Christmas dates have been announced (taken from mouseplanet.com)

Start planning for Holiday Time at the Disneyland Resort

Mark your calendars; November 12, 2012 through January 6, 2013 is the official holiday season at the Disneyland Resort. We know our readers like to make their holiday plans as far in advance as possible, so here are details of the two events we're most frequently asked about:

DanceTheMagic.com, a Web site that offers travel packages to dance groups, lists November 3 as the date the West Coast segments of the annual Disney Parks Christmas Parade will be taped at Disneyland. (November 4 is a back-up date in case of rain or tape delay). Based on past years, at least some of the floats from A Christmas Fantasy parade will be filmed in a procession down Main Street early Saturday morning, wirh several musical acts performing on a stage in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

This filming usually impacts Disneyland's entertainment schedule—expect Mickey's Soundsational parade to be cancelled both days. This is also usually a good weekend for celebrity-spotting, as the special guests spend time in the parks with their families before and after taping.

While we don't expect an official confirmation for several more weeks, we expect the annual Candlelight Processional to be held December 1 and 2. Dates, performances times, narrator and availability (if any) of dining packages have not yet been announced.

 

[JediMasterNerd]

Wow, this thread and the prior ones are crazy --- tons and tons of great info... I'm on overload with everything I'm reading.

So I've been tasked with setting up a trip for the extended family (only 7 of us total, 4 adults, 3 kids aged 8 - 17) to Disneyland for Christmas. We plan on arriving Sunday the 22nd, leave Wednesday the 26th. Not a lot of time, but I'll take what we can get from the family as I'm the one pushing for us to visit during the holidays - though everyone is interested and excited about it!

With such a short amount of time it's going to be hard to plan things out especially since the different families will have different objectives (rides vs shows, do it up vs save money, etc).

The first issue to solve is where to stay... To me the experience is everything so I was thinking about staying at PPH, unfortunately there are budget concerns so we're also looking at Good Neighbor hotels. Anyone stay at Sheraton Anaheim around Christmas or any of the other Good Neighbor hotels that you could give some feedback on. We were thinking about Staybridge due to the size of the suites and being together Christmas morning. However from what I read you need to take a shuttle to get to DD, doesn't make sense to me to stay that far off grounds so we'll see.

But what I'm really interested in finding out is what are the must-see/do items/events? We were at DL just before summer 3 years ago but never at Christmas. It sounds like the Holiday Tour is a great way to go to get front row seats for the parade and immediate access to two rides so I'm pushing for that (my son and I will do it, not sure about the others). But what else and how do we fit everything in between 2 (maybe 3) days? Fireworks? And aren't there some light shows going on (Fantasmic/Ariel's/etc)? Anything else?

We want to do dinner too. Is there time to do the Holiday Tour with night parade seats, get dinner at Goofy's Kitchen and then get to the fireworks or other shows or do we need to decide what's more important, the shows or a good/fun dinner?

Is going through disneyland.com the way to go to register or is it better to visit a AAA office or anything like that?

Can't wait to get this all (loosely) planned out, thanks for any tips I'm a bit overwhelmed with so much information!

J.

 

[pixleyyy]

<---- That's me doing the happy dance because my leave got approved at work! Now off to buy plane tickets!

 

[tksbaskets]

The first issue to solve is where to stay... To me the experience is everything so I was thinking about staying at PPH, unfortunately there are budget concerns so we're also looking at Good Neighbor hotels. Anyone stay at Sheraton Anaheim around Christmas or any of the other Good Neighbor hotels that you could give some feedback on. We were thinking about Staybridge due to the size of the suites and being together Christmas morning. However from what I read you need to take a shuttle to get to DD, doesn't make sense to me to stay that far off grounds so we'll see.

But what I'm really interested in finding out is what are the must-see/do items/events? We were at DL just before summer 3 years ago but never at Christmas. It sounds like the Holiday Tour is a great way to go to get front row seats for the parade and immediate access to two rides so I'm pushing for that (my son and I will do it, not sure about the others). But what else and how do we fit everything in between 2 (maybe 3) days? Fireworks? And aren't there some light shows going on (Fantasmic/Ariel's/etc)? Anything else?

We want to do dinner too. Is there time to do the Holiday Tour with night parade seats, get dinner at Goofy's Kitchen and then get to the fireworks or other shows or do we need to decide what's more important, the shows or a good/fun dinner?

Is going through disneyland.com the way to go to register or is it better to visit a AAA office or anything like that?

Can't wait to get this all (loosely) planned out, thanks for any tips I'm a bit overwhelmed with so much information!

J.

Hi, I didn't see how old your children are but for all ages the tour is the way to go! If you get the early tour you'll be seeing the 3ish pm parade and have plenty of time to have dinner at Goofy's Kitchen and then be back in time for the fireworks. I just booked directly through Disney (had to call for the tour I believe 60 or 90 days before) and got my Disney Visa or DVC discount.

I have only stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel (Heaven at DL) and the Park Vue Inn. I'd recommend that too on a budget and it's literally right across the street from DL.

Bret is better versed in the off site hotels. He's stayed at some very nice ones.

<---- That's me doing the happy dance because my leave got approved at work! Now off to buy plane tickets!

Wahoo!! So glad it's working out for your trip. You'll take lot of pics to post for those of us staying home this year, right?

 

[JediMasterNerd]

Thanks for the reply... For me the big question surrounding the hotel is what's the difference in the experience between staying on the grounds vs across the street during Christmas... I've read so much about how the DL hotels, like all of DL goes all out. I've read nothing about the Good Neighbor hotels other than they do decorate like a traditional hotel would. Of course, then there's the argument that you really won't spend much time at your hotels so does it really matter that much...

Regarding the parade, is there a lot of difference in viewing the parade in the evening vs the afternoon? I assumed that in the evening it would be all lit up and more majestic and while it would be fun/nice in the afternoon I was thinking seeing in the evening would take it to a new level. Is that correct? So I was hoping for an afternoon tour and evening parade.

What about the other shows? World of Color, Fantasmic and the fireworks. What are those schedules like? I had read something about a dessert seating to see Fantasmic/Fireworks... I'll need to look into that (cost/etc)... I assume that's discussed already elsewhere.

Thanks again!

J.

 

[M&C]

Thanks for the reply... For me the big question surrounding the hotel is what's the difference in the experience between staying on the grounds vs across the street during Christmas... I've read so much about how the DL hotels, like all of DL goes all out. I've read nothing about the Good Neighbor hotels other than they do decorate like a traditional hotel would. Of course, then there's the argument that you really won't spend much time at your hotels so does it really matter that much..

I can't tell you much about the good neighbor hotels during Christmas because we always stay at one of the DL hotels for the holidays. All I can tell you is that it's great because there is no break in the DL Christmas theming when you go from the park to your hotel. I suggest either GC or DL hotel, but preferably GC.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Regarding the parade, is there a lot of difference in viewing the parade in the evening vs the afternoon? I assumed that in the evening it would be all lit up and more majestic and while it would be fun/nice in the afternoon I was thinking seeing in the evening would take it to a new level. Is that correct? So I was hoping for an afternoon tour and evening parade.

What about the other shows? World of Color, Fantasmic and the fireworks. What are those schedules like? I had read something about a dessert seating to see Fantasmic/Fireworks... I'll need to look into that (cost/etc)... I assume that's discussed already elsewhere.

Thanks again!

J.

The only difference in watching "A Christmas Fantasy" parade during the afternoon and evening is that you can see the Christmas lights on the floats at night than during the afternoon. I would recommend seeing the parade at night so you can see the Christmas lights on the floats lit up during the parade. "A Christmas Fantasy" parade will be running at 5:30pm everyday during the Holiday season at DL. Longer park hours days which will have two parades that the first one will be 2:30pm and the 2nd one will be 5:30pm. If you want to do the Holiday tour, go for the 5:30pm parade time in order to see it during the evening.

You can also check out my youtube videos and compare both parades at different times. Afternoon parade A Christmas Fantasy Parade 11/18/11 2:30 Show Part 1 , A Christmas Fantasy Parade 11/18/11 2:30 Show Part 2 . At night A Christmas Fantasy Parade 11/19/11 5:30 Show Part 1 , A Christmas Fantasy Parade 11/19/11 5:30 Show Part 2

You can check out the park hours from last year of the times of the shows. November 2011 Park Hours & December 2011 Park Hours. As for your question, WoC will be running at 8pm & 9:15pm on the busy days while on slow days where there is only one show will be 8:15pm. WoC also had a short Holiday segment called "Prep and Landing" which is part of the Holiday season last year. F! will be running on the weekends and busy days during the Holiday season. The times will be 9:00pm and 10:15pm. "Believe..In Holiday Magic" fireworks will be running everyday during the Holiday season at DL. It starts at 8:45pm.

There is a dessert seating to see F! and the fireworks. If you get the first show of F! you are allowed to stay in your seats to watch the fireworks after F!. But since the fireworks start at 8:45pm and F! starts at 9pm you will be able to see the fireworks first from the F! dessert seats and shortly watch the first show of F!. You have to check in early so you can watch both shows in the reserved seating area. Check out Fantasmic! Superthread - Or Everything You Need To Know About Fantasmic at Disneyland which will tell you everything about F!.

 

[iamthehiccup]

Does anyone know what website I can check out to see what rides will be down in December? I've been searching but had no luck.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Does anyone know what website I can check out to see what rides will be down in December? I've been searching but had no luck.

You can look at Disneyland Park Hours December 2011 and it also shows the rehabs for which rides are down in that month. Mostly in December every year, all of the rides at the DLR will be running.

 

[6Smiles]

Bumping off page 4 Christmas eve is 5 months away

 

[monkey30]

I am so excited! I get to go to DL for both Halloween time and Christmas!
I just booked my flight for me and a good friend. Leaving DH and the kiddos at home for some much needed rest... Wait a minute rest? I hav the plane ride to rest I guess!

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

Monkey30, are you doing two separate trips, one for each season, or you, like me, trying to do one long trip to get in both holidays?

 

[greenkai3000]

Are there usually any hotel and ticket offers for the Holiday Season? If so, how far in advance does Disney offer them?

Will the dates the Cast Members have their parties , and the Candle light procession be posted anywhere for those of us who are trying to avoid those dates?

Thanks for the help.

 

[monkey30]

Monkey30, are you doing two separate trips, one for each season, or you, like me, trying to do one long trip to get in both holidays?

2 seperate trips, I go end of Sept with the family and then end of nov with a good friend

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

Getting excited!! Just over 4 months for us!

Does anyone have any idea what time Tangaroa Terrace opens for breakfast btw?

 

[I'm mikey]

Heres a couple of pics from Dec 2011.

Paradise Pier Santa

 

[tksbaskets]

Who doesn't smile and start humming Christmas Carols when we see great DL pics? I just love the ones that have been posted. Here are a couple that make me smile.

Plus the added bonus that my men still will humor me for pics like this:

 

[Grumpy Grandma]

Thank you so much for posting the pictures .... just made my day!

 

[julieheyer]

Did anyone else read that Disneyland is starting the Christmas Holiday officially on November 12th?

This is huge for us, that is our official first day in Disneyland!! I couldn't be more thrilled!!

Woohoo! We're going the 15-16th! I'm so excited to get the full Christmas celebration! I can't wait!!

This thread rocks, btw! Thank you!