Ok, so what if we ARE going the week after Christmas? Any tips?

[JenKate]

My husband's entire family is going on a cruise leaving out of LA over Christmas. We'll get off the ship on the 26th and drive up to Anaheim for two days. I decided I wasn't going to be that close to Disney and not go!

Everyone has been to Disney before except my two sons and I, so they're not as interested as I am in maximizing the experience. (The boys are 6 and 8, I'm 31!)

I am honestly so excited I can't stand it, but I know I'm going on two of the busiest days of the year. So any tips/suggestions?

 

[Sherry E]

My husband's entire family is going on a cruise leaving out of LA over Christmas. We'll get off the ship on the 26th and drive up to Anaheim for two days. I decided I wasn't going to be that close to Disney and not go!

Everyone has been to Disney before except my two sons and I, so they're not as interested as I am in maximizing the experience. (The boys are 6 and 8, I'm 31!)

I am honestly so excited I can't stand it, but I know I'm going on two of the busiest days of the year. So any tips/suggestions?

I had initially made plans to be in DL this year from 12/26 - 12/29 because that is a friend's birthday weekend. Last year, we were there on the weekend right before Christmas, which was bad, crowds-wise, but we did okay. I had to cancel the plan for this year and don't know if I will be able to re-book, but honestly, based on my experience in DL on New Year's Eve and Day in the past, and seeing what the crowds can be like, I am thinking I might be better off not going on that weekend this year. You have to understand - the park is not just annoyingly crowded. That time of year, between Christmas and New Year's, it can be SCARY. I mean, you have to really brace yourself for it. There are folks on this board who say they would rather go any other time of the year than to have to go between Christmas and New Year's. Sometimes the park even reaches capacity and cannot let anyone else in. You can get caught in a cluster of people and not be able to move. I am not saying it is ALWAYS like that because I am not there at that time every year, but based on my own experience and that of others on this board, it appears that the pattern is for crowds to peak right after Christmas and it is CRAZY. Make sure you have a good plan of action implemented and utilize every time-saving trick you can to minimize getting caught in a wall-to-wall mob. Use Fast Passes, Priority Seating for Dining, go to one of the hotels to sit and relax when the crowds get too thick, plan everything your family wants to do and see BEFORE you get to the park and try to stay on course. If you leave it to chance and try to just wing it, you won't get very far because the crowds will be daunting.

Good luck! That time of year it is absolutely magical at Disneyland, and everyone should see it!

 

[DLR29]

I completely agree with Sherry. The best advice if you are going to go during that time is to arrive EARLY! EARLY EARLY EARLY! Like an hour before the park opens which is 7AM. It is well worth it because those first couple hours in the park is when you will be able to actually get on rides and also walk without having to bump into people every other step.

Also use FastPass as much as possible, especially for Indy, Space, and Splash. Understanding the rides is also key. You don't want to waste precious morning hours riding Pirates when you could be riding Peter Pan. This is because later in the day when the crowds are humongous, pirates will certainly have a shorter line than Peter Pan (or at least a faster moving one).

Oh, and get there early!

 

[Mugglemama]

i'm not sure how much RideMax would help on a day where the park is nearly to capacity (or at capacity), but i personally would still try it. it's only $15, and it's bound to get you on a few more rides and have shorter waits than you would without it.

 

[beware_i_dazzle]

My husband's entire family is going on a cruise leaving out of LA over Christmas. We'll get off the ship on the 26th and drive up to Anaheim for two days. I decided I wasn't going to be that close to Disney and not go!

Everyone has been to Disney before except my two sons and I, so they're not as interested as I am in maximizing the experience. (The boys are 6 and 8, I'm 31!)

I am honestly so excited I can't stand it, but I know I'm going on two of the busiest days of the year. So any tips/suggestions?

ya go somewhere else its crazy busy

 

[Pinkstarblm]

made the mistake of going the day after christmas! Will NEVER do that again!!!! It was insane!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Will the park be crowded? Yes, but if that's your only chance to go, don't let the crowds scare you off. I've visited Disneyland either the week before or the week after Christmas 4 times and enjoyed myself on every single occasion.

To beat the crowds make sure you arrive early, early, early. That cannot be stressed enough. Since everybody likes to sleep in on vacation, they don't want to get to Disneyland that early. So while they sleep you can collect FastPasses and get a lot of attractions done before the crowds hit.

And in the afternoon, don't be afraid to leave the park for a couple of hours and take a nap. This does two things. It gets you out of the park when the crowds really start to pick up and it helps you rest up for my second tip to beating the crowds.

Stay late. Simply put, the majority of the crowd is going to leave after the fireworks. You can do almost every attraction in Fantasyland in the last hour of the day except for Peter Pan, Toad, and Matterhorn(which can all be done during early morning hours). I do recommend doing Matterhorn at least once at night because it's so cool. Storybook Land is a must do at night, especially during Christmas. You may also find smaller crowds on other attractions as people camp out for Fantasmic (although you should see that as well, but with two nights, you can use the other night for touring).

And should the crowds get to be too much, just head over to California Adventure. I've seen days where Disneyland is packed and DCA is almost deserted.

And again, don't be afraid of the crowds. You can work around them. In fact save an attraction like POTC for when the park gets crowded. Because it can handle such a large number of guests per hour, it rarely sees waits longer than 20-30 minutes while others can see wait times of over an hour. So use your early morning touring for the Space Mountains and Indiana Jones of the park.

Last, Disneyland is absolutely amazing at Christmas. Yes, it will be crowded, but it's still wonderful. I've literally been every year in December since 2003.

 

[Disney Dreams]

Arrive early.
Stay late.
Use fastpasses.
Use single rider lines.
KNOW and ACCEPT that you will not get everything done, then just enjoy what you are able to do.

And learn to LOVE people - there will be more there than you can possibly imagine.

 

[tink2dw]

We flew in on Jan 1. And some how my jet lagged miss the fact the 1st was News Eve day. So, we went to DL for about 15 minutes. It wasn't closed for too many fire safty people. But is was wall to wall every where and So loud. We turned back and left.

Jan 2 nearly dead everyone went back home to work.