Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #5

[petals]

Christmas Fantasy:

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I can't believe next Monday starts the final week! It has gone by so quickly! And the Hallmark movies are starting this weekend! So excited!

I also want to thank you Sherry for all of the effort you put into this thread! I love it!















(these guys are my all time favorite part of the parade!)

 

[sgrap]

Starting to think about packing since we leave 3 weeks from today (yes, I'm an early packer . . . stresses me out too much to leave it until the last couple days). How accurate do these long range type weather forecasts tend to be? http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/anaheim-ca/92805/month/327150?monyr=11/01/2015

 

[millie0312]

Starting to think about packing since we leave 3 weeks from today (yes, I'm an early packer . . . stresses me out too much to leave it until the last couple days). How accurate do these long range type weather forecasts tend to be? http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/anaheim-ca/92805/month/327150?monyr=11/01/2015

They aren't accurate hardly at all- last year I was glued to the long range weather and thought it would rain every day- turned out we got zero rain (from the forecasted every day we were there lol), so I would wait until you are closer if you can help it (lol we leave in Dec and I'm already starting some packing lol who can blame you). I think the most accurate is a couple days out but even a week is more accurate



Ugh- first day of my trip hours are up- WEDNESDAY Dec 9 DL 8 am to 12 am although CA is 8 am to 9 pm (if they are expecting busy not sure why CA wouldn't be open until 10 or 11)- this confirms my thoughts that the second week of Dec even mid week will be crushed with crowds. I spoke with Disney on an unrelated issue and was told EE on Thurs is 7 am so the hours will probably be the same Dec 10 as well. Happy about longer hours in some ways (more park time!!), but sad it means earlier crowds (I was hoping they wouldn't be too bad until the weekend) and honestly a bit sad all 5 of our park days will be late (with a 1 and 8 year old 10 or 11 closing would be ok since we feel a strong need to be at EE and close the park but not as strong of a need for sleep lol). Anyway- it will be fun and I'm looking forward to not being able to walk in DLR way more then the open spaces of home lol!! Figured I'd update everyone the hours are longer then last year and share my mixed emotions of the night

 

[Astylla]

I'm absolutely stoked about the longer hours despite what crowds may be. MY reason for this is when the parks are open until 10pm-12am closing it makes it much easier for midday breaks.

Just being there this weekend with very busy crowds and being able to cover as much as we did with similar hours in just 1.5 days makes it promising for a 7 night stay.
A little planning and making best use of FP can go a long way

 

[millie0312]

I'm absolutely stoked about the longer hours despite what crowds may be. MY reason for this is when the parks are open until 10pm-12am closing it makes it much easier for midday breaks.

Just being there this weekend with very busy crowds and being able to cover as much as we did with similar hours in just 1.5 days makes it promising for a 7 night stay.
A little planning and making best use of FP can go a long way

This is true! We always take a mid-day break and with shorter hours I wasn't sure how it would work out for us, so now with the prime hours we are used to it is perfect for that lol we really like the first few hours of the day and the last few hours since they aren't as crowded. Luckily last year we went and it was SO busy so while I was hoping to see what "less" busy was like, really busy is all we know so we are used to it (plus I'm preparing for it to be be at capacity busy so when it's not I'll be happily surprised and if it is then I won't be sad- cup is half full no matter what lol). I figured it would be good to share so that everyone knows how Disney is thinking the crowds will be that second week of Dec

 

[KalamityJane]

Yay!! I'm super happy for longer hours too (our first day is the 9th as well!) A lot of times after morning parks and then lunch/swimming, the kids sleep right through dinner and this will make it much easier to go back to the parks again

 

[lvdis]

Here I was thinking Wed, December 9th would be our least busy day of our stay. We are in the parks from Sunday, 12/6 through Wed, 12/9. Now that I see the hours, I'm concerned that may be as busy as Sunday. Any thoughts on which day out of Mon, Tues, Wed (12/7 - 12/9) might be the busiest? I wanted to scheduled the Holiday time tour for the busiest day. I originally thought Monday, since there aren't any tours offered on Sunday. Now I'm not sure!

 

[ttig34]

Yeah, they must really expect to be slammed the second week of December, as they have never had that long of hours that week before. When I check the Disney hotel reservations,
they seem to have some availability the first week of Dec, tons of availability the third week, but pretty much sold out the second week. And with the longer hours, I am sure a lot of APer's will show up in the evening. When they closed around 9 as they had in the past, far fewer locals showed up after work. We should be prepared for craziness.

 

[KalamityJane]

Yeah, they must really expect to be slammed the second week of December, as they have never had that long of hours that week before. When I check the Disney hotel reservations,
they seem to have some availability the first week of Dec, tons of availability the third week, but pretty much sold out the second week. And with the longer hours, I am sure a lot of APer's will show up in the evening. When they closed around 9 as they had in the past, far fewer locals showed up after work. We should be prepared for craziness.

I'm actually hoping this means the 3rd week won't be as crazy... *crosses fingers* We are there 9-16.

 

[ttig34]

I'm actually hoping this means the 3rd week won't be as crazy... *crosses fingers* We are there 9-16.

It may not be as crowded 3rd week. As I mentioned in a earlier post ,the third weeks still has a lot of availability of rooms, so perhaps it will indeed be less busy that week. Seems everybody trying to beat the crowds by going early, is now accomplishing the opposite.

 

[lvdis]

It never fails, every time I think I'm going at a slower time and we'll have earlier closing times, the hours end up getting extended! Don't get me wrong, I do like longer hours, but the thought of it being extremely crowded, especially for the nighttime entertainment has me very worried. Oh well, flights and reservations are already all made. We'll just have to go with the flow and hope for the best! I had already decided I wanted to focus more on shows and Christmas stuff this trip. Hopefully the rides we want to do will still be somewhat manageable.

This will be my first trip to Disneyland during the holidays. I'm sure I'll enjoy it no matter what.... but I was really hoping for less crowded (as was everyone else, I'm sure!).

 

[tlovesdis]

It never fails, every time I think I'm going at a slower time and we'll have earlier closing times, the hours end up getting extended! Don't get me wrong, I do like longer hours, but the thought of it being extremely crowded, especially for the nighttime entertainment has me very worried. Oh well, flights and reservations are already all made. We'll just have to go with the flow and hope for the best! I had already decided I wanted to focus more on shows and Christmas stuff this trip. Hopefully the rides we want to do will still be somewhat manageable.

This will be my first trip to Disneyland during the holidays. I'm sure I'll enjoy it no matter what.... but I was really hoping for less crowded (as was everyone else, I'm sure!).

Well for Thanksgiving week they are doing two fireworks shows a night to help alleviate the crowds, so maybe they will do it then as well?!!!!

It has amazed me this year to see the crowds! I mean, I knew the 60th would draw a ton of people, but not nearly as much as it has!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

will they tell us if they will do two fireworks ahead of time?

 

[tlovesdis]

will they tell us if they will do two fireworks ahead of time?

I would imagine so. For the week of Thanksgiving the fireworks are listed twice on the DL website under entertainment, so if they were going to do it again it would be there!

 

[motor58]

I was already worried about crowds for our dec 6-11 trip, and now I am really worried! I also picked that week thinking it would be a "slower" week of the crazy busy season. I agree about making the best of early hours, late hours but how do you do that with kids? Ours are 7, almost 9 and 11. Looks like I have some thinking to do. Also have a slightly grumpy husband who isn't into this trip as I'd like and it being busier won't be doing me any favors as he really hates crowds. This is the first year we've stayed onsite and I think I picked a good year to stay at GCH, having our room so close might be really really helpful.

But really, how do you guys do a busy season with kids? What does your day/night look like?

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I am just expecting high crowd and ready to do as much in the first 3 or 4 hours of each of my days and take a nice brake and then do night time shows. The late hours also mean some low crowds at the end the night after FW a lot of ppl do leave.

 

[707MickeyGirl]

I'm getting ready to take my DGD7 the day after Christmas. We're staying until January 3rd and I know it's going to be completely packed. I'm actually hoping for some rain to thin the crowds out a bit. Our days will begin early with rope drop. We'll have lunch around 1pm and then take a hotel break for a few hours so that we can return to the parks and stay late - until around 11 or so. I'm scheduling one TS meal per day so that we can also take a break that way. We'll also be watching shows, parades, drawing in the Animation Academy, and taking snack breaks. If my granddaughter seems overly tired at any point, I'll take her back to the hotel again. I haven't had to do this on our past trips but I'm prepared to do it if needed. I've seen too many families where the kids are exhausted and the parents are not being kind. Those are not the kind of memories I want to create with my granddaughter.

For you, motor58, having a slightly grumpy husband along, as well as 3 kids, that will be a little more complicated. Maybe you could split up for a brief period each day where you take 2 kids and he takes 1, or vice versa. Sometimes it feels like a "break" if you don't have 5 opinions going on. (It's easy for me because there are just the two of us and I pretty much do whatever my granddaughter wants to do.) Take a break every day. Being at the GCH will definitely help. And if your husband needs some real downtime, you and the 3 kids will be an even number and you can go on rides together - no one will have to sit alone.

 

[millie0312]

I was already worried about crowds for our dec 6-11 trip, and now I am really worried! I also picked that week thinking it would be a "slower" week of the crazy busy season. I agree about making the best of early hours, late hours but how do you do that with kids? Ours are 7, almost 9 and 11. Looks like I have some thinking to do. Also have a slightly grumpy husband who isn't into this trip as I'd like and it being busier won't be doing me any favors as he really hates crowds. This is the first year we've stayed onsite and I think I picked a good year to stay at GCH, having our room so close might be really really helpful.

But really, how do you guys do a busy season with kids? What does your day/night look like?

I have an 8 and 1 year old- luckily they are both early risers so here is what we do- get to EE about 30 mins early (we eat some yogurts, pastries, etc while we wait to keep them busy), then hit EE through lunchtime hard- this is the least busy time of the day so we used a touring plan catered to us from advice here- you have to be a bit go with the flow and be able to skip a ride if it's down or the line is longer then expected and remember to keep an eye on it later to come back (either another day or when it opens/line dies down). After lunch (it's best to eat around 11 for lines) we decide a last 1-2 rides/things to do or see, then get back to GCH by about 1 pm. At this point my 8 year old does NOT want to take a nap lol so I allow a quick swim if needed but she knows the rule is she must sleep at some point (maybe for your very oldest not needed as much but honestly we ALL napped daily including the adults lol). After a swim and nap we either eat at Whitewater Snacks or figure out a place to eat in the parks and go back in around 5-6 pm (giving us a nice 4ish hour break). We go from 5-6 until 11-12 depending on closing hours and sometimes we are there a few mins after closing if we are in a line- the last 2-3 hours of the night are busier then the morning but less busy and manageable for sure. With my kids we also tried to avoid some areas if we could at the busiest of times like NOS in the HM area because honestly if it's busy it's hard to walk there! We love critter country but getting through the walkways when Jack and Tiana are meeting plus lines at POC and HM- it was a nightmare lol but as everyone says as long as you expect busy and have real expectations of what you will be able to do it'll be great and your kids are really at a prime Disney age! Also last year we had 3 non hopper tickets and it was very busy and we only missed a couple rides off our to do list (we didn't do much show stuff other then F! And WOC) and still did lots of meet and greets and our breaks so if you have hoppers and/or more days you will probably get your to do list done busy or not

 

[motor58]

707Mickey Girl-that is what I was thinking. The kids are old enough I can handle them myself and I can give him a break. Also split up helps tons too. We've been two times before so we have an idea of what is going on, and that helps. I also will book childcare for one night.

Millie0312-Do you have a hard time getting your kids up for early entry? We've never stayed onsite before but we've had a chance to do it each of our other trips and I don't know if we made it! I think this whole be there at rope drop, go until lunch, then take a long break and return between 4-6pm is what we will try. I just don't know how long they will last at night though when they were up super early that morning.

Thanks everyone for your responses-I knew it would be busy, very busy, but now it's looking like it's gonna be nutty busy, the exact kind of busy we actively try to avoid. I know with planning we can have a fantastic trip, and now maybe I will see what crazy busy disney looks like. Which I've always had a morbid curiosity about