Some next weekend questions

[Tovin]

Hi all! Mostly lurker here!

My husband and I are heading to Disneyland December 11th (Friday) and DCA December 12th (Saturday).

We're driving from about 4 hours away on December 10th and staying at the Anaheim Plaza hotel. We've stayed there before, so we know what to expect, and we enjoy the experience.

We have Costco tickets for SoCal residents, and will be at the gates at opening on Friday. IMO, it's not Disneyland if you don't get the "opening" feel!

Disneyland will be mostly enjoying the big rides (Space, Buzz, Big Thunder, Pirates, Indiana, Billy Hills - our MUST do) and of course enjoying the holiday spirit, cookies, and hot chocolate!

I'm a lifetime Disneylander, having grown up in San Diego, but it's been 11 years since I've been there for the holidays, so I have a few questions!

Where should we stand for the best fireworks/snow experience?

Also, it appears everyone is reporting 30ish minute waits on rides (which will obviously jump up Friday night as more locals flood the parks) which isn't bad - but the general consensus seems to be that the crowds moving around the park feel like the park is much busier than the ride lines reflect. Is this the case?

For Saturday, we'll be sleeping in a bit and doing ToT, Monsters Inc., Soarin', Aladdin, Toy Story (haven't done this one yet, SO excited!!!), and the animators building thingie with the drawing. I'm planning on doing some Christmas shopping at Off the Page, and heading home around 4pmish. We need to be home to have an entire day off to rest before heading back to work Monday.

With Corn Dog Castle temporarily gone (be still, my breaking heart), where's a good place to get something yummy without breaking the bank or being too fancy?!

Thanks all, and have a very happy holiday!

T

 

[DLR29]

For the fireworks, the best place would be right in front of the castle, but get there quickly because it gets crowded very fast. If that's too crowded, another good spot is right in front of It's a Small World.

Can't comment on the feel of the park with the crowds, but I will say that I would recommend Friday as your sleep in day. Saturday will probably have smaller crowds because of the weird crowd patterns. Because a large percentage of DLR visitors are AP holders, and because Saturday is blocked out for a lot of them, Saturday will actually be less crowded. Take advantage of that day to get the most out of DL, and maybe spend more time in DCA on Friday when the crowds are higher.

 

[pixiewings71]

While in DCA eat at Taste Pilot's Grill or Award Weiners. Both are good, and I do not like hot dogs. Also consider popping into White Water Snacks in the GCH, it's very close to the DCA GCH entrance and if you've eaten there you can use hotel entrance.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Ditto White Water Snacks-I love eating lunch there. So much less crowded.

You can get corn dogs at the Farmer's Market in DCA. There is a sign near the Corn Dog Castle stating such. I don't really like most of the CS food in DCA that's why we eat at WWS when there. Otherwise we usually eat at Pizza Port in TL. DD10 loves their Chicken Fusilli.

When you get to the park check out the map and it will have the locations of the snow on it. Besides MS and IASW you can get snowed on in NOS, by the river. We did this last year after watching F! and the fireworks. Just moved over a few feet and got tons of "snow" on us.

Here's a scan of the map this year showing snow locations-hope you can see them.

They are the blue snowflakes.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Here's what I would do assuming your tickets are parkhoppers. Start your day off Friday morning in Disneyland at opening and collect fastpasses for your big rides. Early in the morning, the return windows are much shorter which will enable you to collect fastpasses more quickly. They rarely enforce the close of the FP window, so you'll probably be able to use an AM fastpass at night.

Then around 10:00am to 11:00am, head over to DCA. Do TSMM first as it will likely develop a 45 minute line or so and does not have FP. Experience other attractions as you desire, keeping in mind that DCA fastpass is not connected to Disneyland fastpass. If your DL window opens at 12:00pm, you can still collect a DCA fastpass at 10:30am. You may also want to try single rider lines. If sitting together on the ride is a must, then it's not for you, but single rider can be a quick way to bypass a long line without burning a fastpass.

Once you've experienced all you want to at DCA, hop back over to Disneyland and use your fastpasses to experience rides while the crowds are much bigger. If you must see the fireworks from the hub, prepare to wait around 2 hours or more. Otherwise, IASW is a great option, plus watching the fireworks from IASW provides the quickest wait for IASW Holiday at night. Once the fireworks end, you simply head towards IASW while the crowds head towards Main Street. After a few minutes, they'll reopen the ride and you'll be among the first on, with a much shorter wait.

 

[Tovin]

Thanks all, for your input. And thanks Dizneydaz for the map!

We're hooking up with some deluxe AP holder friends of ours, so it looks like it's Disneyland on Saturday, since they can get away from the kids that day.

Can't WAIT to see the parks in all it's glory, and since we go often enough there's no MUST do ride other than TSMM, it will be sure to be a blast!!

Happy Holidays!

T

 

[disneegrl4eva]

ok on a normal basis I would agree with DLR29 about being in front of the castle to see it, however, this is christmas fireworks and snowwww is involved lol so you want to make sure and be somewhere that you can get the full effect...just find yourself one of the big HUGE light stands they put out for the shows and park it right there because thats where the snow is going to come out of and the christmas fireworks show really doesnt have the same castle effects as a normal show....but if you go over to IASW, they have really cute visuals during the fireworks and the snow is over there too

 

[Tovin]

Snow certainly IS the most important part of the fireworks, for me personally!

Thanks very much!

 

[S. S. Columbia]

FYI, unlike other fireworks shows, the Believe fireworks show doesn't have any projections on the Matterhorn. (And Tinker Bell doesn't fly from the Matterhorn.)

I saw Believe in front of the castle, and I saw Believe at the north end of Main Street (between Coke Corner and the Kodak store).

I think there was more snow at the north end of Main Street.

HTH

 

[GrandBob]

Just got back from 5 days at DL. Unlike the Hallowishes fireworks, where you needed to be in front of the castle, you can enjoy the Christmas fireworks from anywhere in the park. Besides in front of the castle, I also recommend in front of IASW and by the Rivers of America. It snows in all those locations, too. The best snow we encountered was the first night, where we used the light tower trick for Fantasmic. We were right under the middle light tower, and got a beautiful snow fall on top of us! We also got snow later in the week on Main Street, but there it depends on how close you are to a snow machine.

-Bob