Magical Ideas for December trip

[DisneyFamilyMom]

I am relatively new to this, so bear with me (my first post)....
I am looking for magical, memorable ideas for our December (8-12) Disneyland trip. It will be me, my husband, daughters (4 yrs old and 6 months old), and our nanny (21 yrs old from Germany...her first trip!). We just love the holidays at Disneyland! We have reservations for the Disneyland Hotel, but are hoping someone cancels out of the Grand Californian so we can stay there. Wish us luck!

It is also my husband's and my 5th wedding anniversary. Does anyone have any fun ideas/secrets for tours, events, etc??

 

[got2travel]

The Holiday tour is always a hit. I haven't done it myself, but I know people who schedule it every year.

There's always lunch or dinner at the Blue Bayou inside the Pirates ride. But in my opinion it's not as great as it used to be. The prices are higher now and the food and service not as good. I prefer to go to Cafe Orleans to get my Monte Cristo fix.

Character meals are fun. We do Goofy's Kitchen almost every trip and have never been disappointed.

Preferred seating for Fantasmic is also a nice treat. No hastle with the crowds, no sitting on the ground, and you get treats to eat while watching the show.

 

[Pooh's Purple Pal]

You might want to look into the Holiday Tour - you'll get priority boarding for It's a Small World and Haunted Mansion and most importantly for your 4 year old, special seating for the Holiday Parade! There's nothing like being able to walk up last minute and get great seats for the parade, as well as cocoa and a cookie. The characters quite often interact with the front row kids too, and it makes for very special memories.

The down side would be the walking part of the tour. We have done the tour with families that have a stroller as well as families that wear their infants, so it can be done, but it does last 2.5 hours, so that might be along time for the little ones.

We also do character meals, cookie decorating on Main Street, and the Fantasmic dessert buffet (but that might be too late and loud for the kids).

Enjoy your trip. DL at the Holidays is just magical!

 

[ScrapperKimmyD]

Be sure to stop by City hall (I believe that's where you go) and let them know it's your anniversary and your nanny's first time.

I think they give you something (a button, maybe?) that let's CMs & characters know it's a special day for you and they give you extra attention if they see it.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Fantasmic is apparently too intense for little ones, so that might be something nice to schedule for you and DH while the nanny watches the kids back at the hotel? You can schedule tickets to Fantasmic dessert buffet only 30 days beforehand, and I guess they sell out quickly, so call right at 8am PST if that's what you'd like. (Or if you're staying onsite, ask Guest Services to arrange the tickets for you.)

Goofy's Kitchen was a lot of fun, but if your DD4 is into princesses, you may want to attend the princess meal. I have 2 little boys so we didn't do it, but we saw so many little princesses wandering around the parks, it was so cute! (Little girls often dress up in their princess wear for the princess meal!) Little girls can also be dolled up (hair & makeup) at Libby Lu in DTD, so that might be something special for DD4.

How cool that you'll be bringing your nanny! There were so many things we had to skip because of the kids' ages (like having dinner at a nicer restaurant!)

I hope you all have a wonderful time!