Thank you to everyone on the forums!

[mgmgbook]

I lurk on this forum every time we have a trip coming up. So... lately I've been reading your posts since last February in anticipation of the trip we just completed. My kids are always amazed at how much knowledge I have of the parks. Because all of you are willing to share your experiences, I look very wise during our trips.

We visited DL on Sunday, 11/29 and then Tuesday thru Friday, 12/1 - 12/4. I thought I would reciprocate and pass along what went well for us. It's a long post - sorry.

Lodging: Howard Johnsons - we like staying here because the staff is great and the walk to/from the park is easy. There are only a few people on that westside sidewalk so it's easy to navigate. I have never felt unsafe walking there, even late at night. One downside to our stay at HJ was that we could not get WiFi. We tried tech support several times but finally gave up. I like reading the paper while the kids are still asleep so I was a little bummed that I didn't have that chance. Otherwise - all was good. The Christmas tree next to their lobby was one of the prettiest ones I saw on the trip. Btw, if the staff of a hotel informs you that Godfather's provides the best delivery pizza, you should go with their recommendation. We went with another place and it was horrible! I wish I could remember the name of the place to warn all of you but I can't.

Dining: Fantasmic dining package at the Blue Bayou - well worth the price. The staff was great, the food was great and the ambiance was great. We had front row seats for the show. We are a short family so front row is always nice. WOC dining package at the Wine Country Trattoria - the food was good. The ambiance was not so great. We had indoor seating and it was NOISY. We could barely hear our waiter. We had front row standing for the show which was nice. We didn't need to wait for a good spot. We just walked in 10 minutes before the show started. We were in the water zone but we didn't get wet. Naples restaurant in DTD was good. I really liked their pizza and salads.

Rides: I didn't think I would be able to convince my family to try the single rider line at RSR but, when the line appeared to be 60 minutes long, they gave it a try and liked it! It was fun to be able to race against a family member (not that that always happens) but we all ended up in cars that left one right after another. Surprisingly, we didn't need to use fastpasses that often during our trip until 12/4, when the crowds increased exponentially. The one exception was HSM. Fastpasses only for that ride. The line grew to 120 minutes at one point. I LOVE the ride but I will not waste 2 hours of my time at DL for any ride. Speaking of lines, we waited 40 minutes for PP. I regret my time in that line. If I had to do it over, I would have waited until later in the day. The wait time always seemed to be around 40-45 minutes throughout the day. We wasted some cherished morning time in that line. AND the ride is so short! Love the Yeti at the Matterhorn but that ride is so bumpy now. Love BTMRR!! It was being refurbished during our last trip. We must have ridden that ride 10-12 times. HM was great as well! I actually prefer the Xmas overlay to the normal setup.

Shows: PTN was amazing! As was the fireworks. I kind of wish, however, that there were no parades or fireworks on one or two of the nights we were there just so we could actually maneuver down main street at night. It's nearly impossible to navigate the parks at times. We didn't even try to go back to DL from DCA on Friday night because it was so crowded.

Lockers: Couldn't live without them. It's so nice to be able to layer up and down throughout the day without having to carry jackets around with us.

First Aid: Nice to be able to head in there and get ibuprofen if you get a headache and forgot to bring stuff with you.

Gems: We got picked to be the family to open DL on our first day. We got a fastpass to HM for doing that. We got WOC passes to both shows with our dining package because they gave us the wrong ones originally. The photo booths that they have with the backdrops (i.e. the California Screamin' one where it looks like your family is on the ride) are really cute.

Thanks again everyone! I'll be back perusing the forums in another year in preparation for a trip in the summer of 2017. (Never been in the summer).

 

[chickapin parterre]

thank you for writing, always great to read how folks use advice, curios to how you ended up waiting 40 mins for peter pan and what time of the day that wait happened?

 

[GatorChris]

Very similar experience to yours, staying at the HoJos and seeing some crazy crowds. The tree at HoJo is really nice. It's our second Christmas season in a row and we love it there. We did Blue Bayou, but not with the package. We still managed to get pretty good seats for F!

I'll have to try the lockers once we stop using the strollers. And good to know about getting some advil. The Matterhorn always messes with my neck enough to bring on the headache. Glad you had a good trip. I've been saying it'll be a while before we return, but the further I get from our trip, the more I want to go back.

 

[Nonsuch]

...Surprisingly, we didn't need to use fastpasses that often during our trip until 12/4, when the crowds increased exponentially...

The exponential increase continued on 12/5, crowd levels were similar to what we experienced Christmas to New Years week in 2014. I suspect Disneyland will go to capacity many times in late December this year.

 

[BritBrit]

We were just there 12/4 - 12/7 and the crowds were HUGE! It was my first time navigating a stroller in those size crowds, which made things very interesting. However, most folks seemed to be in good / festive moods, so everyone was having a good time!