First Trip to DLP - Dec 23-25 - Need help!

[ilovethesun]

Hi all,

I've been perusing these boards for a while now. We moved to France from the US 2.5 weeks ago. We live about a 2 hour drive from DLP. We're taking our 2 and 4 year old daughters for Christmas. We have been to DLR/California Adventure once earlier this year and I went to WDW twice as a child - seems like forever agur girls are in love with the characters and princesses. We have lunch at Auberge booked for Christmas day but otherwise have no big plans. Obviously will not be doing many big rides - just smaller things and shows. Would love any advice. I've heard that you can go in and see characters in the hotels - where can we find the schedule for this? We are staying at the Marriot villas.

Also, we are planning to purchase dream passes. Where do we park when we get there? If we pay for parking, can we be reimbursed once we have our AP?

Thanks so much!

angie

 

[cap'njack.]

Hi all,

I've been perusing these boards for a while now. We moved to France from the US 2.5 weeks ago. We live about a 2 hour drive from DLP. We're taking our 2 and 4 year old daughters for Christmas. We have been to DLR/California Adventure once earlier this year and I went to WDW twice as a child - seems like forever agur girls are in love with the characters and princesses. We have lunch at Auberge booked for Christmas day but otherwise have no big plans. Obviously will not be doing many big rides - just smaller things and shows. Would love any advice. I've heard that you can go in and see characters in the hotels - where can we find the schedule for this? We are staying at the Marriot villas.

Also, we are planning to purchase dream passes. Where do we park when we get there? If we pay for parking, can we be reimbursed once we have our AP?

Thanks so much!

angie

Hi Angie.

You'll have to park in the Main Carpark and make sure that you get a reciept, then when you buy your AP you can hand over the reciept and claim back the car parking cost.

They have a schedule of what characters are appearing at the Hotel's and at what time on an information board at the front of every hotel. The DLH have a character parade at 4pm everyday however this was very busy when we were there in December.

 

[ilovethesun]

Thanks for the info. Since we are planning to purchase Dream passes, can we utilize them for extra magic hours on the first day or will no one be in the AP office? Where is the AP office?

Also, is Stitch Live not being performed this month? I can't find it anywhere on the schedule.

Are any of the Christmas performances indoors?

 

[ilovethesun]

Also, what are cinemagique and anamagique? Will my kids enjoy either of these?

 

[TOT CREW]

Also, what are cinemagique and anamagique? Will my kids enjoy either of these?

Most definitely - they are excellent. Both you and your kids will love these shows - they are must do's !!!

 

[DLPdaft]

Thanks for the info. Since we are planning to purchase Dream passes, can we utilize them for extra magic hours on the first day or will no one be in the AP office? Where is the AP office?

Also, is Stitch Live not being performed this month? I can't find it anywhere on the schedule.

Are any of the Christmas performances indoors?

Guest Services, where you can purchase your APs, will be open from 8am. However, you need to get past security to get entrance to the parks, and you need to either already have a Dream AP, or be staying at a Disney hotel, to get past security at the beginning of extra magic hours. So no, I'm afraid you won't be able to use your AP's for extra magic hours your first morning.

Stitch live will be on - the times are not printed on schedules because the shows go on every 15 minutes or so all through each day.

There is a Winnie the Pooh show which is only on for Christmas, and is indoors. Mickeys Winter Wonderland is strictly speaking indoors, but if anything is even colder than outside - as its like a big barn with an ice rink at the front of it

 

[ilovethesun]

Great, you guys are being super helpful! Do you know if I should expect the parks to be super crowded? I saw the post about this coming Sunday...

Also, as I said we are doing auberge but are also considering the character tea. Any thoughts on this? I'll check out the reviews on the restaurant thread.

I see that you can meet with the princesses at the royal castle stage between 11:45 and 1:45. Is it just one princess that you will see (they had something like this at DLR but it was 3 princesses). Does this tend to be pretty crowded? I know that the princesses change throughout the 2 hours. My girls would be happy going over and over again so just trying to get a good idea.

I also assume that you can get autograph books near or close to the entrance?

And looking at the show schedule I see at Disney Studios that there are a couple of things I don't know:

Toons on the Set for Christmas
Merry Christmas Walt Disney Studios

What are these?

And the other character meets, does this mean that there is just usually a character there at those times? Does anyone ever actually get to see Mickey and get a pic with him? We did this quite easily in Fantasyland at Mickey's house at DLR. He makes it all so magical!

OK... I'm sure I'll think of more questions... AHHH I'm getting so excited!

 

[cap'njack.]

Great, you guys are being super helpful! Do you know if I should expect the parks to be super crowded? I saw the post about this coming Sunday...

Also, as I said we are doing auberge but are also considering the character tea. Any thoughts on this? I'll check out the reviews on the restaurant thread.

I see that you can meet with the princesses at the royal castle stage between 11:45 and 1:45. Is it just one princess that you will see (they had something like this at DLR but it was 3 princesses). Does this tend to be pretty crowded? I know that the princesses change throughout the 2 hours. My girls would be happy going over and over again so just trying to get a good idea.

I also assume that you can get autograph books near or close to the entrance?

And looking at the show schedule I see at Disney Studios that there are a couple of things I don't know:

Toons on the Set for Christmas
Merry Christmas Walt Disney Studios

What are these?

And the other character meets, does this mean that there is just usually a character there at those times? Does anyone ever actually get to see Mickey and get a pic with him? We did this quite easily in Fantasyland at Mickey's house at DLR. He makes it all so magical!

OK... I'm sure I'll think of more questions... AHHH I'm getting so excited!

I'd go expecting them to be super busy and then be surprised if they aren't tbh.

The Princess queue is generally massive and it is just one set of Princess & Prince at a time, they change every 30 minutes.

You can pick up autograph books in Disney Village and at every shop on Main Street so you can certianly get one before you see any characters.

That's exactly right, there will be a character there at that time. Mickey is on Main Street, just next to the book store outside the arcade between 10:30 and 13:30 (AFAIK) and also in the Studios for meet and greets. We randonly bumped into Mickey in Frontierland dressed as a Farmer!!

 

[DLPdaft]

Unless you want to queue for quite a while (ie at least 45 minutes) to see one princess and her prince, I'd forget the Princess meet and greet. We have done it, but not in Christmas season, and when we did it, it was at 10am, so the park wasn't mobbed yet. As you are doing the Princess dinner, you are guaranteed to see more princesses there than at the meet and greet stage.

You can get autograph books and pens everywhere in DLRP - in all the shops in the parks, the Studios, in the Village, in the shops in each hotel, everywhere

Toons on Set are some of the characters doing a meet n greet near Cinemagique.
Merry Christmas Walt Disney Studios is similar, but the characters come out in vehicles and do a (very) mini parade first.

If there are timed meet n greets for the characters around the park and studios, yes, that means the characters are only at those particular spots at those particular times. These are queued meet n greets though, not scrums, and so although you may wait quite a while, you will meet the character in an orderly fashion, and will have plenty of time with the character to get autographs and photos.