Indeed! I should be MyMuse18 over there. You?
MyMuse -
I'll look for you under that name on Facebook and send a friend request, but if I can't find you I'll send you a PM here.
Hello. I am planning our annual Disneyland trip. This is our first time going for the holiday season. We are looking to go November 11-15. My question is will all the holiday offerings be ready by than or is this to early in November?
We want to go when the tree in town Square is up, all the lands are decorated, the icicle lights are up on the castle. We want to visit Santa's reindeer roundup, ride iasw holiday, and watch the Christmas parade and fireworks show. Also want to try the holiday food offerings, especially the desserts!
simplicio -
You are in luck! (Sorry it took so long to respond.
) While the season officially begins on Monday, 11/12 this year, I think that there is a good chance that certain things will be open or running over the weekend leading up to that day, such as the Christmas Fantasy Parade and It's a Small World Holiday.
If history repeats, I expect that IASWH should possibly be open by Friday, 11/9, at the earliest, and if not on 11/9 then it should be open by 11/10. I could be wrong, but I think the holiday parade began a day or two early last year as well. Worst case scenario is that the parade will begin on 11/12, and you'd still see it.
November 12th is also when the nighttime Winter Castle should light up in icicles at night and when Santa's Reindeer Round-Up is open.
The Believe in Holiday Magic fireworks should be running on 11/12.
All the lands that are going to be decorated (Toon Town, New Orleans Square, Frontierland, A Bug's Land, Cars Land, Main Street, Buena Vista Street, especially) will be decorated by the time you arrive, and all of the Christmas trees, large and small, will be up.
All of the holiday treats should be on sale at that point. Some items may appear later in the season but most of them will be available when you go. I'm not sure if the freshly made candy canes will be out yet (these are the ones that people wait in line for at the Candy Palace on Main Street), but we'll see.
The only thing that you won't really get to experience is any of the holiday decor at the 3 Disney hotels. The hotels tend to not really be decorated until after the season begins, by Thanksgiving weekend. While it may not sound like a big deal to miss the hotels, they do offer some really nice photo spots with Santa and some gorgeous Christmas trees. Also, Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel has a really whimsical tree. They might make an effort to get the hotels decorated a little earlier this year, so check them out anyway just to be sure, but otherwise, if not, that is the only aspect of the seasonal decorations that you will miss.
This is a fabulous thread!!! I have finally (after about a month) read through both christmas threads and loved them! Love the links, pics, weekly challenges, info etc. Its been fun to see people's trips play out. The pictures and everyone's info on Holiday Time at Disneyland has got me so excited! Thanks everyone, esp Sherry, for all the info and the links in the thread! We are headed down the Dec 15-22. Sounds like it will be busy, but with the planning tips from this thread, hopefully we can make it an enjoyable experience!
shishigirl -
Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm so glad you're enjoying the thread. I have (and do) put a lot of time into it, and I'm glad it has paid off in creating a place where we can all plan and share our anticipation, discuss breaking news, etc. We have some amazing contributors here. I love this thread not only for the wonderful pictures and information provided by the people who participate, of course, but also because there is just a fun vibe here. It's a subject (Disneyland at Christmas Time) that is just magical, and I think it's great fun finding ways to talk about it, plan and build excitement.
Yes, it will probably be pretty busy during your trip (though not like post-Christmas busy) - especially towards the end of it - but you'll have a whole week at DLR, so there will be plenty of time to do everything. If it's too crowded to do something on one day, you can go back and do it the next day. You'll have a wonderful trip!
There's a new Theme Week starting tomorrow, so stay tuned for that!
Hi all,
I asked this before but didn't see an answer... Hoping someone knows approximately when the Christmas menus are announced? I've seen last years but am interested in the Carthay menu for WoC on either Christmas day or eve...
Thanks,
J.
JediMasterNerd -
I don't think anyone knows yet. I would think that Carthay would have at least a few special items for Christmas, but Disneyland is notorious for taking a long time to release information. (There was recently a whole thread about the delay in releasing the hours/schedule for October.) You could call the Dining people, or e-mail them, and ask the question but they will probably say they don't know.
I would hope that Disneyland releases the Christmas Day menu info in October, but chances are it won't be until November. I hope I'm wrong, though!
Another suggestion for you... on Friday nights, the lines for counter service can be stupid long. We waited for Hungry Bear for an hour at 5 pm once on a Friday night (so not worth it). If I was to take a night off and not do a ressie, it would not be on a Friday or Saturday night. Looking at your schedule I would switch and do the BBQ on Friday and do counter service on the quieter Tuesday night. Or put another place you'd like to try for Friday night... at least as a backup. So you have a ressie in place if it is super crowded and you don't want to deal with a CS place.
