Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #3!- HOLIDAYS BEGIN 11/12/13!!

[NewbieMouse]

Oh, you've GOT to be kidding me!

Totally heartbreaking!

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I tend to think that MiceChat is one of the better "rumor" sources, but they aren't always accurate either. Based on the description in their "In the Parks" report, the reasoning makes sense. They need to add safety elements in response to the shut downs earlier this year.

http://micechat.com/38720-indiana-jones-gets-updated-at-disneyland-halloween-is-coming/

I refuse to believe this until it comes from Disney *buries head in the sand*


ETA: BUT, if this is in fact true, they most certainly wouldn't try to do a hard ticket Christmas party this year with two headliners down in the park, right? RIGHT?

 

[becd]

I am so disappointed to read this this that I do not believe words can describe it. During our last visit to WDW Splash Mountain and a few of the other rides my kids consider to be "major" were down. I had been bragging to them about how this was the "real" Space Mountain at DL. Oh well - I am sure they will rebound, but what a bummer! However, thanks for the info!

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! OK, now I am very upset. Could someone please post the call in number so that I can check for myself. I am going to keep breathing into my paper bag and hoping its just a horrible mistake and they meant until September, not through the holidays!

Ok, melt down over but still very disappointed!

 

[mom2rtk]

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! OK, now I am very upset. Could someone please post the call in number so that I can check for myself. I am going to keep breathing into my paper bag and hoping its just a horrible mistake and they meant until September, not through the holidays!

Ok, melt down over but still very disappointed!

I doubt you would get accurate information from anyone you call at this point. Keep breathing. And pass me the bag.

 

[Sherry E]

In 3 days we move on to another Theme and out of New Orleans Square/Haunted Mansion Holiday week. So if there is anyone out there who would still like to post their NOS/HMH photos, you have today, tomorrow and Sunday (August 18th) to do it. Once we get to Monday, August 19th we are on to a brand new theme.

Well, there you go throwing facts into my perfectly irrational meltdown. I might have handled this a little better if they had given me more than a few days after dropping our son off at college. I mean, didn't they know I was a mess right now already?

When I mention getting less while paying more, I'm really not talking about losing the value of one ride. I'm really talking about a trip to DLR costing more than a much longer trip to WDW. So that's more of a function of the 5 day ticket thing. I'm struggling with whether to move off-site to save some of that additional cost but just don't want to lose that sensation of being in the Disney bubble. And I also didn't want to lose the early entry. We tend to wake early anyway, so having that extra hour would pay off for us. I just don't know if it pays off enough to justify the extra cost.

So yes, I'm sure I'll eventually adjust to the loss of SM. And I imagine I might soon start coming out of my funk and get excited about our trip. I appreciate your efforts to help in that regard.

I'm sure 18 more theme weeks might just be the ticket.

Janet -

I don't have personal WDW experience to compare to DLR in terms of price, but I know that a trip to DLR can be more expensive than a trip to WDW in a lot of cases. I remember my friend telling me that when she took a holiday trip to WDW a few years ago.

However, we can all relate in some way or another to having certain things 'cut back' and yet still having to pay more -- both in DLR or out of DLR. There are many cases in which we lose the value or volume of something and still pay the same price we were paying before -- or pay much more. That's one huge reason why I would be anti-Christmas party at DLR right now. If the existing holiday events were taken out of the regular roster of entertainment for the general public to enjoy and made a part of a hard ticket party, the value of the holiday season for the price of a general admission ticket decreases...and suddenly more money would be required to enjoy them (by way of a party ticket).

So the funk is understandable. Just don't let it ruin your trip!

If your family is one that normally wakes early, then having that early entry is really a big bonus. Some people cannot get up that early so staying onsite to get the early entry is not worth it.

No problem. I'm safely encased in my funk. Katie came home from school with her choir schedule and there are 2 performance dates scheduled that would happen during both of the sets of dates I have in mind. I have no idea how this is going to work out.

I'm thinking a march on Burbank might be just the ticket for me right now.

Can anyone tell me how reliable micechat is?

Today they are reporting that BTMRR will not reopen until February.

I just can't believe they would have 2 of the mountains down over the peak holiday season.

Someone tell me they are completely unreliable please?

Janet --

MiceChat is the place that had been saying a hard ticket party was coming this year...which doesn't look as though it will happen. They were also the ones who said that a holiday World of Color was coming...and they were right about that. So they are often hit and miss. Sometimes their reported DLR happenings come to fruition and sometimes they don't.

MiceChat/MiceAge is another unofficial source of Disney information -- just like our site is (we're part of the same family as wdwinfo.com). They have to get their information from official Disney sources, just as we do.

I refuse to believe this until it comes from Disney *buries head in the sand*


ETA: BUT, if this is in fact true, they most certainly wouldn't try to do a hard ticket Christmas party this year with two headliners down in the park, right? RIGHT?

Jamie --

I am guessing that Tom/I'mTooExcitedToSleep (who is one of the DIS Unplugged correspondents and he also updates the general info on wdwinfo.com) only reports things once he has learned them from direct, official Disney sources -- but I agree with you. I never feel 100% sure about anything until I hear/read about it directly from an official Disney source. As you've seen, we can't even really trust the official Disney sources to get information correct (such as the fiasco with the incorrect dates this year), but I always feel better once I have seen it myself coming from them.

I don't think we're getting a party at all this year, but if we did get one Disney would simply just try to hype up the "exclusivity" of the Christmas parade, holiday fireworks/snow and access to IASWH and HMH...or they'd have the party in DCA. But I think we'll be spared any kind of major party in 2013.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I believe the part about Space and honestly it doesn't bother me that much because it gives me motion sickness (something about the dark, I think). I don't want to believe the part about BTMR. That I do love. A lot!

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Does anybody know the call in line number? Not that I don't believe what Tom heard, but it would be a handy number to have for future trips.

I found it in the Space Mountain thread it is tel: (714) 781-4636 and then they said it was option 1-1-4 but I have not called the number

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I found it in the Space Mountain thread it is tel: (714) 781-4636 and then they said it was option 1-1-4 but I have not called the number

Thanks. As Perlster said in another thread, that number only has the refurbishments for the end of 2012, beginning of 2013. Odd.

 

[Sherry E]

Thanks. As Perlster said in another thread, that number only has the refurbishments for the end of 2012, beginning of 2013. Odd.

Jamie -

Agreed. I'm not sure what Tom heard -- I never called the number to hear it for myself.

The candy kitchen number for DLR (the one that announces candy cane schedules and other seasonal treat-related info) is usually outdated too, or it takes DLR a long time to update it with new info.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Jamie -

Agreed. I'm not sure what Tom heard -- I never called the number to hear it for myself.

The candy kitchen number for DLR (the one that announces candy cane schedules and other seasonal treat-related info) is usually outdated too, or it takes DLR a long time to update it with new info.

But Perlster called the number yesterday (or sometime previously) and heard the same thing Tom heard about SM. Now it's gone. Do you think there is somebody at Disney who gets kicks out seeing us all panic? I know somethings aren't know too far ahead of time, but I wish they could be a little bit more straight on some things!

 

[Sherry E]

But Perlster called the number yesterday (or sometime previously) and heard the same thing Tom heard about SM. Now it's gone. Do you think there is somebody at Disney who gets kicks out seeing us all panic? I know somethings aren't know too far ahead of time, but I wish they could be a little bit more straight on some things!

^^Probably!

I saw Perlster's post about hearing the same thing yesterday -- and I fully believe that Disney has been careless and a bit sloppy in certain areas related to schedules this year (including this SM thing and the whole incorrect seasonal dates fiasco). They are normally not so careless when releasing info. They may take a million years to release that info but it is usually accurate when it's released, except for this year!

It seems like something is very 'off' in some of Disney's departments -- like the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing (or is it vice versa?). I think that there is some new management in charge of certain things at DLR (One Disney, who also handles some stuff at WDW), so I wonder if that has anything to do with it?

 

[Arizona Rita]

Hi Sherry and everyone else too!
I just wanted to say that back on post 1048 that I sincerely hope that no one took what I was saying in a negative way. I hope to be able to post photos and the "words" section I just play by myself. I do understand that it is one or the other. I am never fast enough with those things anyways!
All the best!
Rita

 

[Sherry E]

Hi Sherry and everyone else too!
I just wanted to say that back on post 1048 that I sincerely hope that no one took what I was saying in a negative way. I hope to be able to post photos and the "words" section I just play by myself. I do understand that it is one or the other. I am never fast enough with those things anyways!
All the best!
Rita

Rita --

No, don't worry -- I don't think anyone took it as negative at all! I just didn't want to focus too much on where a word might be or how to find it because I don't want to give it away to the people who are lurking out there and playing along. Chances are, some folks will look in the wrong spot but they have to figure that out as they go along.

I'm hoping you can post photos at some point too, as that will be a guaranteed entry into the random draw (or more than one if you contribute to more than one theme), and we'd love to see your photos!

But, yes, by all means play along with the code word challenge silently -- I think Orbitron might be doing that as well. We have 18 more themes to come between now and November 4th, so you will have a lot of words to find -- and then the song to figure out (but it really won't be all that hard for anyone who knows any Christmas songs at all). In fact, many people may figure out the song before they get all of the code words, but they will have to stay silent until the last code word is announced!

Muahahahahahahaha!!

 

[ksromack]

Well, there you go throwing facts into my perfectly irrational meltdown. I might have handled this a little better if they had given me more than a few days after dropping our son off at college. I mean, didn't they know I was a mess right now already?

Where is your son going to college? My son just went back too but fortunately he's not terribly far away. He runs track/cross country for Lindenwood University so it's only 30 minutes from home...however, being a senior this year coupled with his sports/practice schedule....yeah, we don't see him too much Anyway, I just look at it like life's way of preparing us for when they really do move out on their own.

When I mention getting less while paying more, I'm really not talking about losing the value of one ride. I'm really talking about a trip to DLR costing more than a much longer trip to WDW. So that's more of a function of the 5 day ticket thing. I'm struggling with whether to move off-site to save some of that additional cost but just don't want to lose that sensation of being in the Disney bubble. And I also didn't want to lose the early entry. We tend to wake early anyway, so having that extra hour would pay off for us. I just don't know if it pays off enough to justify the extra cost.

I struggle with this too, but I really really want to visit the original park. I can't let myself think about the fact that our last trip to WDW cost less AND we had free dining. We weren't planning on staying onsite at all for this coming trip.....I just decided we would. Now I have to figure out how to pay for it The boy's first semester books cost over $800!

 

[Autty40]

I have not been during Christmastime, but I have been during Halloween. So I have some pictures of Haunted Mansion from that trip:
Thank you to perlster who recommended tinypic. I hope they load right!

 

[ksromack]

If you cancel your PPH package and switch to room-only, how will they credit you back for what you paid in gift cards? Will Disney put the money back on the gift cards or credit it in some other way? Or would they somehow be able to seamlessly transfer what you paid from the cancelled package to a room only reservation?

One good thing is that if you can get yourself booked in a room only situation, then if a discount of some sort comes along later -- even just one week before your trip -- you can call the reservations number and have the CM apply the discount to your existing reservation. I've done that in the past. I've switched dates and hotels based on discounts that came out, which I applied to my existing reservations. People have done that with packages too, but I think that some of the value of the money saved with a discount is cancelled out by whatever fee is charged to make a change to the reservation.

I really want to switch but apparently when you book a room only it goes through a different reservation system. She said they would refund my cc for the original deposit and credit the gift cards but that it would take 1-2 billing cycles. What does that mean, exactly?. Clearly she was discouraging me from switching. She kept asking why I wanted to switch. What's that all about? So I would have to cancel the first reservation, wait to get credited, then make another reservation and pay another deposit. I didn't do it when I was on the phone because frankly I can't spare the cash right now. Also, I had to wait to make sure I even kept those gc.....it's a miracle that I did and have them sitting right here. I just don't see the benefit of doing the package...what was I thinking? A 5 day hopper cost's $300. She did say if I bought an AP I could call them with the receipt number and they would credit my package with that $300. I wouldn't even have to pay off the balance of my room only until we arrive. My package needs to be paid off 30 days prior to our visit. The CM on the phone did say that general public discounts could come up. Hm.....what are the chances of that? I mean, I definitely want to pay this thing off before we arrive.

That was nice of you to leave the tree and some lights in the room for the next guests to enjoy last year -- do you think that the cleaning people left it there or would they have removed the tree from the room?

Gosh, I really didn't think of that. The only thing that did consider is what if the family that stayed in our vacated room didn't celebrate Christmas?

 

[Sherry E]

Autty40 -- Thank you for posting your photos! You've got an entry into the random draw for the gift card!

I really want to switch but apparently when you book a room only it goes through a different reservation system. She said they would refund my cc for the original deposit and credit the gift cards but that it would take 1-2 billing cycles. What does that mean, exactly?. Clearly she was discouraging me from switching. She kept asking why I wanted to switch. What's that all about? So I would have to cancel the first reservation, wait to get credited, then make another reservation and pay another deposit. I didn't do it when I was on the phone because frankly I can't spare the cash right now. Also, I had to wait to make sure I even kept those gc.....it's a miracle that I did and have them sitting right here. I just don't see the benefit of doing the package...what was I thinking? A 5 day hopper cost's $300. She did say if I bought an AP I could call them with the receipt number and they would credit my package with that $300. I wouldn't even have to pay off the balance of my room only until we arrive. My package needs to be paid off 30 days prior to our visit. The CM on the phone did say that general public discounts could come up. Hm.....what are the chances of that? I mean, I definitely want to pay this thing off before we arrive.


Gosh, I really didn't think of that. The only thing that did consider is what if the family that stayed in our vacated room didn't celebrate Christmas?

Kathy --

I've heard that "1-2 billing cycles" bit (they say it is based on your credit card company's cycles??) in the past and I think Disney has to say that for legal reasons, but they usually credit back pretty quickly -- within a couple of weeks at most. Usually sooner.

The good news is that the DLR hotels probably do not book up as fast as I imagine the WDW hotels do. For example, I made my early December 2012 PPH reservation in late October, and there were plenty of rooms available. I don't necessarily recommend waiting that long because it is risky, but if you do cancel the package and wait to be credited back so you can then book a room-only reservation, you will still have time. But hurry!

I think that the word "package" leads people to think they are getting a deal and actually saving money. As I mentioned to you a while back, in the old prehistoric days of packages at DLR they actually did save money and they were worthwhile. But now I don't see much reason for a package when you get the same hotel perks (like early entry) with a room-only deal. You just don't get the little extras like a free pin and lanyard, or a free bag or whatever it is they are giving with the packages. I guess people just buy them because of the convenience?

Yes, another good thing about room only bookings is the ability to put down only one night's deposit up front and then pay the rest later -- some people like to do that and some don't. You can pay it all in advance, of course, but you wouldn't have to.

Also, you can cancel a room-only booking up to 5 days prior to your arrival without penalty, in case an emergency comes up. It's not as easy to do that with a package without having to eat some of what you paid.

There have definitely been PIN codes and general public discounts posted on the Disneyland website which would cover your dates (even some of your dates, if not all) -- maybe something as high as 20% or 25% off -- and there may be a better AP deal that comes out before your trip than the current 10% off. So if you switch to room-only you can keep an eye out for deals to pop up, and then suddenly switch to the better discount!

I wonder if the housekeeping people would have left the little tree in the room, or taken it to Lost & Found. It would have been a shame if the tree went to waste -- they're not cheap.

 

[mom2rtk]

Where is your son going to college? My son just went back too but fortunately he's not terribly far away. He runs track/cross country for Lindenwood University so it's only 30 minutes from home...however, being a senior this year coupled with his sports/practice schedule....yeah, we don't see him too much Anyway, I just look at it like life's way of preparing us for when they really do move out on their own.


I struggle with this too, but I really really want to visit the original park. I can't let myself think about the fact that our last trip to WDW cost less AND we had free dining. We weren't planning on staying onsite at all for this coming trip.....I just decided we would. Now I have to figure out how to pay for it The boy's first semester books cost over $800!

He's going to Missouri S & T in Rolla. It's about 3 1/2 hours from KC. Our older son is a Junior this year at Rockhurst here in KC. It sounds like your son is a very busy guy. I bet you really don't see him any more than a kid who is hours from home. And $800 in books? I was worried that might be the case for my son at Rolla taking Chemistry, Calculus and Econ. But so far it was only the $250 Chemistry book that made us The Econ book was a $37 download and Calculus is "only" supposed to be $125 (It's on backorder).

I knew when we decided on DLR this year that we would be paying more for a shorter trip. I accepted that. But I also naively thought that with the addition of photos to multi-day tickets that DLR would go back to offering more than a 5 day ticket. So when the new ticket pricing came out and not only did they not add a longer ticket, but the stories of people being able to add a 6th day dried up, I was disappointed. I was just finally adjusting to that when these closures were announced. It was sort of a 1-2 punch. Well, I guess 1-2-3 now that both mountains might be involved.

But I did chat with Katie last night (it might be just the 2 of us on this trip). She had been really disappointed in the SM announcement the night before, so I was hesitant to tell her about BTMRR. But we talked it through and decided we would go ahead regardless. We really just want to see the holiday decorations on the other coast. After doing WDW in December 4 of the last 5 years, we want Disney, but a little change of pace.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Here are some of my pics of the HMH.



























These were from my 2011 trip.

 

[kkmcan]

Not sure if this has been discussed as I haven't read the whole thread but I was wondering about the crowd levels Dec 19th-22nd.... we wouldn't normally consider this weekend but we want to do a Christmas trip and don't want our teenage kids to miss school.

Is is manageable? Or just too crazy?

Thanks!