So, tell me how do you plan your Christmas trips to DLR?

hurleysweety

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Just curious what factors really matter when deciding on a Christmas trip to DLR? Why did you decide to go, and would you go again? Is everything just more crowded and harder to book (PS, hotels, lines)? Any difference in going the week or weekend before Christmas? I read about many of the "extras" like special entertainment and the decorations and it has made me so excited about the possibility of going.

Oh, and is it a trip that can be done on a budget? Or does it require some splurges?

I hope this hasn't been asked too many times before!

TIA for all your :teacher:
 
We have gone 2 years in a row and will go again this year. DBF's birthday is in the first week, but even if it wasn't, we would mostly likely go during the Christmas season.

From being there and what I've read here, the first 2 weeks of December are usually the best to go because everything Holiday is up in full swing and the crowds aren't there yet since no one is on winter break yet.

The parade and fireworks are different than the non-Holiday season. Most eateries have Christmas type desserts, the giant Christmas tree is up in Town Square, the castle has snow on it, and IASW and HM have their Holiday overlays.

As for the budget, it's pretty much the same as regular non Holiday time. I can't recall anything being more expensive, unless you're booking a hotel around the week of Christmas/New Years.

HTH! :santa:
 
We have gone the last two years during X-Mas...it's my favorite time of the year to go!! The magic of DL plus the Holiday time of Christmas = Heaven! We go the first week of December and go mid-week. The parks are bare, it's fantastic! All of the entertaiment is up and running at this time also. I prefer going on the days that they hold the cast member parties becase the parks close early, which means the fireworks and parades are earlier. For us it works because we have 3 little kids. We have done both, BWPPI and DLH. I prefer DLH because you walk through DTD and the decorations are just amazing. But you can forsure do it on a budget. The first week of Dec is cheaper than say teh week before Dec. So look around and price things out with a few different dates.
 
We went last December. I had seen some pictures from other peoples trips so we made a last minute decision to go. Now, I want to go every year during the holidays. I'm a huge disney nut of course, but going during Christmas is the ultimate experience. One of the most beautiful times of year, and if I can sound a bit corny here, one of the most magical times too. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything and I'm looking forward to the next time we get to go.
 

There is nothing like DLR during Christmastime. I guess we are all being corny by throwing the word "magical" around, but there is no better way to explain it, really. Everyone who has been to DLR during the holiday season knows that it takes on a whole different life and personality, and it is truly charming! It is almost as if the magic is in the air and we are all breathing it in. I think that as magical as Disneyland is the rest of the year (Halloweentime, for example, is a lot of fun), it is amplified 1000% in November/December. You almost can't explain why it is so special, because certainly Christmas decorations are up everywhere outside of DLR. But DLR (DL specifically) fully lends itself to the lights and garlands and wreaths and 700 Christmas trees around the whole resort, and the IASW Holiday exterior illuminated at night is something to behold - it is almost takes your breath away, it is so majestic and awe-inspiring. You get the same feeling when you see the stunningly beautiful Winter Castle sparkling and glowing incandescently throughout the park. You are wholly immersed in the holiday atmosphere in every corner of DLR. Every single restaurant and shop has some touch of the season, unlike any other time of year at DLR. The holiday merchandise is even more addictive than the regular merchandise. Certain lands like ToonTown and A Bug's Land have their own decorations unique to the Toons and the Bugs. Holiday music is played everywhere, carolers are singing, Santa is entertaining children and adults alike in several locations around DLR, the smells of peppermint confections and gingerbread cookies with Mickey ears fill the air. You can sip on hot cocoa or a peppermint coffee drink while watching it 'snow' on Main Street. Everyone is in a festive mood. I could go on and on. In fact, just thinking about it - I want it to be December NOW!!! Even if I could not go to DLR for a full weekend or few day-trip, as long as I am living in SoCal, I would still have to go for at least one day, just to take it all in.

Oh, and the last two Decembers I have been there, it was on the weekends right before Christmas, and while it was crowded, I didn't find it unbearable at all, especially when we could escape over to DCA if DL got too crazy, or we could go and sit in the wonderful and spacious lobby of the GCH, by the enormous tree and listen to the carolers or the piano player or the guitar player by the fireplace. I think it would have been worse crowd-wise as soon as Christmas ended, in that week leading up to New Year's. Also, as soon as Christmas ends, Santa leaves and the carolers are only there for a few extra days. It is less expensive (hotel-wise) and less crowded to go in the first 2 weeks of December. Last year, I got a good AP rate on the hotel, so I changed the dates of our trip to take advantage of that. If we had gone one week later - right after Christmas - it would have been a few hundred dollars more!

So no matter how crowded it may be in December compared to other months, when you get there and see that gigantic Christmas tree on Main Street and all the colors everywhere, and hear the holiday songs playing, you will know you made the right decision to be there! You know what a good word to sum it all up would be (besides "magical")? GLORIOUS! It's absolutely glorious!!
 
Oh thank you so much everyone! :goodvibes Now I want it to be Christmas too! Is it December yet? Its so great hearing everyone's experiences and how magical it really is!

I went in November 2003 (parents surprise trip) during Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I wasn't certified obsessed until our trip in May 2007, when my family really noticed I had gone a little Disney crazy - so I didn't "appreciate" or fully "understand" all the wonderfulness of Disney holiday decor in 2003. Plus, it will be a whole different story 6 years later this December! And with my DH...ooohh I'm so excited! :santa::yay:

Thanks again everyone!
 
Oh thank you so much everyone! :goodvibes Now I want it to be Christmas too! Is it December yet? Its so great hearing everyone's experiences and how magical it really is!

I went in November 2003 (parents surprise trip) during Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I wasn't certified obsessed until our trip in May 2007, when my family really noticed I had gone a little Disney crazy - so I didn't "appreciate" or fully "understand" all the wonderfulness of Disney holiday decor in 2003. Plus, it will be a whole different story 6 years later this December! And with my DH...ooohh I'm so excited! :santa::yay:

Thanks again everyone!

Let me know if you want to see about 700 photo's from our December trip. Good way to waste an hour and see what the park looks like. :)
 
Let me know if you want to see about 700 photo's from our December trip. Good way to waste an hour and see what the park looks like. :)

Hi zeitzeuge, I would love to see your pictures.... we went the week before Christmas in 2006 and will be back again this year and can't wait. Did you post them in a trip report? I just love any photos from Christmas time at DL. I know it's still months away but seeing others trip photos really gets the "magical" feelings going and makes the long wait not so bad :santa:
 
Hi zeitzeuge, I would love to see your pictures.... we went the week before Christmas in 2006 and will be back again this year and can't wait. Did you post them in a trip report? I just love any photos from Christmas time at DL. I know it's still months away but seeing others trip photos really gets the "magical" feelings going and makes the long wait not so bad :santa:

Click here for the link.

While looking through them, I'm a little OCD when it comes to trying to get a perfect shot, so you'll see 30 pictures of the castle, or 20 pics of IASW....
 
I decided to go for Christmas this year (12 - 19 dec) for several reasons:

I've been going to Disneyland Paris for about 6 years now and thoroughly enjoy it, but it's starting to lose some of it's magic for one reason or another. I've been at Christmas time there a few times, but they've made a number of changes over recent years which left me a little disappointed when I went in January of this year.

I was in DLR last year at the beginning of October and had a wonderful time, so I decided I wanted to go again this year. I was initially looking at going in late October this year, but on a whim, decided to check the prices for early to mid December. As the price difference was only about £30 ($42.50), I decided to book for December instead in the hope that Disneyland's christmas would be as magical as DLP's used to be.

I'm expecting I might have to pay a little extra for some things to get the most out of it (DLP gets VERY busy during its christmas season so I'm expecting similar at DLR, though of course I don't know for sure), but as I don't get to either of the USA Disney parks very often (this is my second trip to DLR, plus I went to WDW about 10 years ago), I'm prepared to pay a little extra for certain things such as front of line passes for the other parks I will be visiting, a character meal here or there at DLR etc... The only extra I couldn't bring myself to book was one of the Disney hotels - as nice as they look, the difference was about $1000 :scared1:).

Whatever happens though - I'm determined to enjoy it as in my experience of DLP and the pictures I've seen of DLR at Christmas, there's nothing quite like the Christmas season at a Disney park :love:
 
Hi zeitzeuge, I would love to see your pictures.... we went the week before Christmas in 2006 and will be back again this year and can't wait. Did you post them in a trip report? I just love any photos from Christmas time at DL. I know it's still months away but seeing others trip photos really gets the "magical" feelings going and makes the long wait not so bad :santa:

I also have some DLR Christmas pictures scattered throughout my Trip Report, inlcuding some from Christmas 1990, 1992, 1993 and 1994 and then from Dec. 2007 & Dec. 2008 and PhotoPass holiday stuff. My TR started out as just a piddly little TR for my October 2008 trip, but then I added in the TR for Dec. 2008 and went back and inserted a ton of pictures from Disneyland trips ranging from 1972 - 2008 (though not as many as zeitzeuge has), as well as a few other surprise pictures! Anyway, the link to the epic TR is in my signature below. I was just thinking about adding in some more pictures to it - older ones, because I have so many - but have been too busy to scan/upload and post lately.

I never get tired of looking at people's photos of DLR - even though we all get similar versions of the same locations and things, I always like looking at pictures and reading TR's because it makes me wish I was there!
 




















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