Disneyland Dec. 28-Jan.4

[Martini Mom]

I am turning 50 in June and would like to celebrate Disney style. Unfortunately finding time when we can all go, I'm a teacher, my daughter is in university and my sons in high school, is proving challenging. It looks like Christmas is the only time it will work for us. What are your thoughts on being in the parks during the holiday. I like the idea of being there for New Years!! But I guess we need to be prepared to not being able to do many rides due to the crowds. What do you think? Should we wait for a less busy time??

 

[SMD]

APs were unblocked on the 2nd last year and the gates to both parks were closed on the 4th. There were also DL gate closures several days the week between Christmas and New Years. That being said, with older teens is there a reason they can't handle long hours, long lines and crowds? I'd make some ADRs, maybe dining packages for the shows and then plan around those. With a older group you can be pretty flexible with available AP times and use single rider. I'd also think about what else you want to do on your non-park days so that the parks aren't as much of the main focus to take the pressure of that part of the trip. I'd also rent a car so that you can easily get to those other activities and away from the resort if it does feel to crowded on non-park days.

 

[PoohsFan1]

We will be there in December this year. We arrive on Christmas Eve and leave on New Years Day. DH and I are slowly preparing for the worst but we know if we can't get on a ride that we really want to go on (especially the headliners) then so be it, we just want to be there at this time of year (we too have never been to any Disney park on a major holiday). Since we will be staying onsite (we are staying at PPH), we know that it will be excessively crowded so we are already planning on going to the parks in the morning (taking advantage of MM) and then heading back to the resort for midday rests and to lay around the pool, then later on we hope to head back to the park for dinner and the night time activities (barring any closures). Our 2 teenage DDs will be with us, who will be 14 and 16 at the time of the trip, (they will learn about the trip either the night before or the day we leave, since this is their only Christmas Present). DH and I cannot wait to go to DLR for Christmas and see all of the wonderful decorations and to taste all of the yummy treats they have to offer that time of year (I really want a freshly made candy cane and to try the candy cane beignets). I hope you have a great time as well and good luck .

 

[cruisehopeful]

It will be very crowded, but you'll be there for enough days that you'll still be able to do everything.

 

[StormyCA]

We were there the 28-29 of Dec. It was very crowded but we managed to do everything we wanted using FP or just putting up with a long standby wait. What we noticed was that we chose not to ride certain rides multiple times because we didn't want to wait in the long lines after using FP the first time or wait in a long standby line twice.

 

[LoverDisney]

We will be there in December this year. We arrive on Christmas Eve and leave on New Years Day. DH and I are slowly preparing for the worst but we know if we can't get on a ride that we really want to go on (especially the headliners) then so be it, we just want to be there at this time of year (we too have never been to any Disney park on a major holiday). Since we will be staying onsite (we are staying at PPH), we know that it will be excessively crowded so we are already planning on going to the parks in the morning (taking advantage of MM) and then heading back to the resort for midday rests and to lay around the pool, then later on we hope to head back to the park for dinner and the night time activities (barring any closures). Our 2 teenage DDs will be with us, who will be 14 and 16 at the time of the trip, (they will learn about the trip either the night before or the day we leave, since this is their only Christmas Present). DH and I cannot wait to go to DLR for Christmas and see all of the wonderful decorations and to taste all of the yummy treats they have to offer that time of year (I really want a freshly made candy cane and to try the candy cane beignets). I hope you have a great time as well and good luck .

We will be there from December 23 -28 and have the same mindset. My kids will be 13 and 16 at the time and they don't know that we are going. This will be our first time so I am also preparing for the worst. We are staying at PPH and plan to take advantage of MM. I cannot wait!

 

[Susie63]

We are in the parks on the 21st & 22nd and again on the 31st, 1st & 2nd. We will hit the parks just after opening, ride our favs, pull fp's, definitely ADR'S for dinner everyday and just snacking from the carts the rest of the time. We will do the WOC dessert party and hopefully Fantasmic 2.0 will offer the same. One night for parade and fireworks...that's it. Single rider is my friend and we will try to do Frozen at the last showing of the day. And when it gets really nuts....head for Animation Academy.

 

[PoohsFan1]

We are in the parks on the 21st & 22nd and again on the 31st, 1st & 2nd. We will hit the parks just after opening, ride our favs, pull fp's, definitely ADR'S for dinner everyday and just snacking from the carts the rest of the time. We will do the WOC dessert party and hopefully Fantasmic 2.0 will offer the same. One night for parade and fireworks...that's it. Single rider is my friend and we will try to do Frozen at the last showing of the day. And when it gets really nuts....head for Animation Academy.

That is really a great plan, I like it all. If you wouldn't mind, I may incorporate the way you are touring DL into our schedule as well. I am hoping that we will be able to get onto our favorite rides before the massive rush comes into the parks by utilizing MM each morning (we are morning people anyways so we don't mind getting up early) and really utilize FP a lot . Also, I forgot about single rider lines...since my kids are definitely old enough and we do use single rider lines while we are at WDW, this would not be a problem for us at DL either .

 

[Susie63]

That is really a great plan, I like it all. If you wouldn't mind, I may incorporate the way you are touring DL into our schedule as well. I am hoping that we will be able to get onto our favorite rides before the massive rush comes into the parks by utilizing MM each morning (we are morning people anyways so we don't mind getting up early) and really utilize FP a lot . Also, I forgot about single rider lines...since my kids are definitely old enough and we do use single rider lines while we are at WDW, this would not be a problem for us at DL either .

Since the majority of people in the paks will be non AP holders you will be able to take advantage of a little knowledge. I have friends who have been going to Disneyland for one day a year for 30 years and had never heard of fastpass. They used it at Halloween and could not believe how much it changed their experience. Single rider blew their minds. We usually don't do ADR'S but I know that they will be required over the holidays. Same thing for the premium experiences. Are they expensive....yes. About $108 Cdn right now.....but so worth it given the crowd levels. I just hope that Fantasmic will have a package.

 

[NWT]

I have been to DL once leading up to Christmas, once on New Years Eve and once New Years Day. I'm pretty experienced and know many of the tips. However, those days are horrible! I will never do it again. It was so packed. It was difficult to get around and to see anything. Lines were endless and I definitely did not feel the magic. January 3 and 4 will be busy, but nothing like the week before Christmas up to January 2nd.

 

[SMD]

January 3 and 4 will be busy, but nothing like the week before Christmas up to January 2nd.

That wasn't the case this year and likely won't be next year either. Even if Disney makes more changes to the AP structure, it will take a few years to see the full impact. If anything, there might have still been some premium APs left last year leading up to the 31st so there will be even more people who regain their park access on the 2nd and 3rd next year. I did notice that So Cal Select is blocked until the 8th, but based on this past year I'd go in expecting the 3rd and 4th to be just as bad again.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

There are several posters on here who do this every year, Malcon10t and family come to mind. They have a solid game plan, kind of what is described above. Do as much as possible as early as possible and then prepare for a whole lot of nada the rest of the day. It is ok to be of the mindset of knowing it will be crowded, but it is entirely a different thing experiencing it taking two hours just to walk from the Hub to NOS in those crowds.

Not trying to scare you off, but you really need to be prepared for more than just crowds. Everything will take a lot longer, from moving around the parks to bathroom breaks, to getting food from a cart. Have fun, but be prepared.