Wow! Imagine my surprise to wake up and sign on, only to see that a whole slew of new posts had come in since I last peeked in on the thread (yesterday)! Woo hoo! We are rockin' & rollin' over here in the Christmas Superthread (in April)!
By the way, I forgot to say hi to
Trish/Phoenixrising, who said hello to me a while back!
Hi, Trish!
It looked like you got your question about the tour answered so I didn't have anything to add beyond that. Sometimes, if I'm short on time and it looks like someone else took care of answering, I'll just be quiet and pop in when I can.
Hopefully I didn't inadvertently skip over anyone else.
Also, Hi,
TK!
Thank you for being a loyal thread participant and helping to tackle questions! I really, really appreciate it!
It's am also a big disney fan and will be going during Christmas for the first time this year! We've stayed at the GCH and it was beautiful even without any Christmas decor. So I don't really have answers but a question.... We are going for the first time with our 2 year old. I'm nervous about how she will do. I know every kid I'd different but if you could just let me know you're experience that would be great! Thank you!
Autty40 -
I neglected to say hello and welcome to you as well! You are absolutely correct - The GCH is beautiful at Christmas time. As I mentioned yesterday, the GCH during the holidays is just lovely. I think that, of the 3 Disney hotels, the GCH is the one that has the style, theme and ambiance to best capture the holiday feeling (even though I love the PPH tree most). It's not a red and green color scheme kind of thing for the GCH decorations - there's plenty of red and green elsewhere in the parks. It's more of a feeling of '
holidays at a cozy, elegant lodge up in the mountains, where everyone is gathered 'round the tree, sipping beverages and chatting' kind of vibe. The decorations are more neutral shades, and the tree is towering and regal, with flickering lanterns and little, twinkling gold lights.
I don't have kids, so I can't address the question about the 2-year-old.
We've always stayed at the PPH for our Xmas trip until this past year (due to finances). We love the tree in the lobby and my little guys really enjoyed seeing Santa every morning and getting a candy cane. Both my boys are scared of Santa, but they loved to wave at him and the Santa helpers would give them a candy cane. The Santa was fantastic as he knew how to talk to them so they wouldn't get more scared. Anyway, PPH is my favorite of the three hotels. Xmas time is SO amazing at the parks! And I think taking the little ones is even more magical because they still believe in the magic of Xmas.
All 3 hotels also have Santa that you can take a photo with. The Grand has the biggest tree and it's gorgeous!
You will have an amazing time!
crystal1313 -
I'm happy to see you here! I was hoping you would join in when we were chatting about our experiences with the Candlelight Ceremony in another thread a couple of months ago! Not only can you offer valuable input from your many holiday trips, but when it comes time to do the Theme Week Countdown to the start of the holiday season (and we'll kick it off in probably early August), hopefully you will share some of your pictures too!
I am SOOOOOOOOO excited! I just booked our reservations for the beginning of December! Yea! Happy Happy Happy!!!
We love Disneyland at Christmas time. Last time we were there at Christmas time was a couple years ago (2010). I am going to attempt to keep it a secret from our boys but honestly Im about to burst now, I dont know if I can make it till then!
Disneyland is always magical, but at Christmas time its even more magical. I cant wait to see all the new things in California and the Christmas decorations they have in those areas. WooHoo!!!!
Mickeybell -
That's wonderful! There were a lot of things I liked about the 2010 holiday season - among them being the candy cane-striped CALIFORNIA letters at the front of DCA - but I was really, really impressed last year, seeing DCA in its fully completed state. I think you'll love it too.
The Cars Land and Buena Vista Street decor (and theme-appropriate Christmas music, too!) really just made the entire park feel more complete in general, and made it seem much more involved in the holiday merriment. You know how DCA kind of felt like it wasn't really up to par in the holiday department in the past? It felt like it was lacking Yuletide cheer? It's probably still not quite on the level of Disneyland in terms of overall holiday merriment, but DCA is definitely in the holiday spirit now. At least I don't feel like I am short-changing myself on holiday fun if I leave DL and go to DCA.
I think I may have just got approval for a DL Christmas trip!!
I didn't really think my BF would approve, but he seems all for it.
We've never been at this time of the year before. We have been to WDW in early December twice. We've been to DL twice now, in early June of 2012 and just this past March.
I, along with everyone else and their mother, would like to go at the least crowded time. I read on the first page of posts here that crowds drastically drop off after Thanksgiving. Looks like Thanksgiving is on a Sunday this year. I am wondering if that following week would be a good time to go, or maybe just the first week in December.
We probably won't be able to afford a Disney owned hotel. Does anyone know if there are traditionally any hotel discounts offered at this time? We might be getting an AP, since we can't seem to stay away.
Also I was looking at the rider overlays. Looks like SM will be back to normal and not have the Ghost Galaxy anymore. So that leaves us with IASW and HM, correct? And I believe I remember that IASW gets its overlay before Thanksgiving?
OhioStateBuckeye -
Hello, my fellow
Walking Dead thread poster - Welcome aboard!
I'm glad you joined in, and I'm glad that it sounds as if you are about to make your very first DLR holiday trip.
You said you were at DL in early June of last year? I wonder if we were there at the same time.
Did you happen to read
pixleyyy's TR from December 2012? She had been to WDW during the holiday season and, while I think there were some things she liked about DLR's offerings, she was more impressed with WDW.
My December trips (at least the ones from 2010 on) take place in either the first week or the second week of December, so I am a big advocate of this early time frame. In 2007, 2008 and 2009 I went on the weekend right before Christmas and it was too crowded for me, so I switched to early December for my next 3 holiday trips.
Thanksgiving is very late in November this year (11/28), like almost at the end of the month - and it happens to coincide with the first day of Hanukkah, which I think is very rare (at least it seems rare to me). When Thanksgiving weekend ends on 12/1, a lot of people on holiday breaks from work or school should start to head home. A lot of them may even leave before Sun., 12/1. And so, for the first week or two of December, there is a lower crowd level because it's still too early for a lot of folks to have their Christmas breaks.
The great thing about that early December time frame (and Mondays seem to be great low-crowd days in that time frame, from what I have witnessed) is that the crowds are probably as low as they are going to be during the official holiday season, but you will still get the
full array of holiday offerings, treats, decorations at the hotels, etc. I'm not sure when the Candlelight Ceremony will begin this year - it depends on which park is going to host it. If it's in Disneyland again, it may not begin until Sat., December 7th, though that seems late.
As for discounts, last year there were no hotel discounts. I think that Disney was capitalizing on the crowds descending on the parks to see CL and BVS, and they chose to not offer any discounts.
However, in previous years I have definitely seen "Fall discounts" that began sometime in September and extended as far as to the end of the weekend immediately before Christmas! This year there have already been hotel discounts, so I am hopeful that maybe, just maybe, there may be a return of the "Fall discounts" that sneak into December as well!
IASW Holiday will get its overlay installed in late October and it will begin running (probably) a couple of days before the holiday season officially starts at DLR, which will be somewhere between November 8th and November 15th.
Yes, HMH is running through the holidays too. And don't miss the teeny tiny Christmas decorations on the Storybook Land boat ride, as well as Roz in her Santa hat on the Monsters, Inc. ride!
Well after looking at hubby's schedule I think we will be going the 6-8th. Will have to be a quick trip since this is my final semester of school and I will be doing my externship so I won't be able to miss any work or classes. But at least we will get to see Disney at Christmas. Everything will be ready by then right? We won't be missing anything by going this early? Our other option would be to go the 20-22.
stubby -
You won't miss anything unless Disney suddenly takes something off the roster of entertainment that has been there before. Usually, going anytime in December is a pretty safe bet that all holiday decorations, treats, entertainment and merriment will be taking place. November (pre-Thanksgiving) is the time when it gets a little iffy, and some things don't start yet, or some food items are not available; certain decorations are not up yet; some merchandise is not on sale yet, etc.
Even though the 6-8 dates will still be a weekend, I think that the earlier December time frame will be less crowded than the 20-22 weekend, to be honest. Once you get past the mid-December point, too many people are on their holiday breaks and the crowds pack in!
Hi Stubby,
I think Dec. 6-8 is a great option. Everything holiday-wise should be up and running. I don't think you will miss anything. What a fabulous way to jump-start the Christmas feeling/holidays than a trip to Disneyland
!!
Cheshirecatty -
I agree!
Ok next question...how soon do I need to make hotel reservations?
stubby -
At any hotel, or at a Disney hotel?
I don't know about off-property hotels, but as for Disney hotels I have made my reservations as late as October (for an early December trip), and there were plenty of openings available. I don't know that I would recommend that, as you never know when the hotels could suddenly book up, but I have waited that long.
Sherry, I'm obsessing. I must get one of those dang candy canes this year!
Jenny -
The canes are huge, and I have never gotten one! I love me some peppermint-y goodness (like ice cream or brownies or mochas) with crushed up pieces of candy canes, but eating that much peppermint in one cane is a lot. So I haven't quite tried to tackle it yet.
I know that fellow DIS'er
danimaroo scored candy canes last year, and
Laurie's (DizNee Luver) husband was kind enough to do most of the footwork for her in terms of getting the candy cane in 2012.
That's great to hear, stubby! 
!
