Thanksgiving Week Report from First Timers

[NJShoreDad]

This Disney loving family just returned on Monday from our first trip to Disneyland. We usually do WDW, but used our DVC points to take an ultimate Disneyland Thanksgiving Vacation. We stayed in a 2BR Villa at the Grand Californian and was lucky enough to get a Paradise Pier View room. Incredible!! We were there Saturday before to Saturday after thanksgiving.

It was me and my wife, DS11, DD9, and DD5. We ended up surprising the children - they had no idea we were going anywhere and we woke them up at 4:30 AM with the news that we were going to "Disney" (which they assumed meant WDW.) It finally hit them when we got to the gate! Some excitement, but also some nerves about the flight from NJ to CA.

When we go to WDW, we usually spend at least 6 days in the parks. It is never enough time to do everything, but we know if we miss something we will get to it the next time. This trip was a bit different due to the logistics of getting to the West Coast (plus the extra points cost of VGC.)

The kids were all troopers but you realistically can't go from 7AM to 10 or 11PM every night with them. I feel like this is the only way to get everything in and have a little extra time to ride duplicates. Hence the need for at least 6 days in the parks. At DLR, all you can get is a 5 day hopper, which is a huge bummer. It still aggravates me that Disney doesn't want people going to the parks for more than 5 days. They don't want us spending money in the parks I suppose...

Of the 8 days at VGC, we ended up in the parks for 5 of the days, one day at Legoland, and the other two days were the bookend days that we would have spent in the parks but did exploring at the resort and DTD instead. We ended up splitting the 5 days almost evenly: we started out with more time in Disneyland, but also got plenty of time in at DCA.

Experienced Thanksgiving Dinner at the Disneyland Hotel Grand Ballroom was our first Thanksgiving away from extended family. It was great - the food, the areas for the character photos, live music, etc. it was really special. Recommended experience , especially when we went - we had a 1:15 reservation and were seated right away. It allowed us to get time in the parks in the morning and at night.

So here are some other quick impressions:

High Points:
1) We were blown away by the theming at Cars Land! You really feel like you are "there" in Radiator Springs. This plus RSR is almost worth the price of admission
2) The Grand Californian is perhaps the best DVC resort associated with a park. BLT is our home resort and we love it, but I would buy VGC in a heartbeat if it were available. Love the access directly to DCA. However, the DCA entrance at GCH is better during the mid-day and at night. Don't waste your time trying to get in at opening unless you plan to arrive super early to get in line. The walk to the main gate isn't far.
3) I definitely like the paper FastPasses, especially when you can jump between parks to get them and can hold one in each park at the same time! I was the FastPass "runner, and it worked out great.
4) Holiday theming on attractions: It's a Small World, Haunted Mansion Holiday, and Jingle Cruise were excellent. IASM was the favorite.
5) Aladdin is a must-see at DCA. The Genie was hysterical.
6) WoC Winter is amazing. I would love to see the regular WoC.
7) Candy Canes!! We were able to get candy canes in Disneyland on the first day they were making them. Got 5 wristbands for the last batch of the day. Barely made it and we were there 15 minutes after park opening.
8) Children loved Mickey and the Magic Map. Well done with the video screens and effects.
9) Pinocchio's Workshop was so worth it! We brought the children here for a few hours while my wife and I got dinner at Napa Rose
10) We all loved seeing Toontown again. We like the new Fantasyland but it was good to spend some time in Toontown again.
11) Believe in Holiday Magic Fireworks - you really notice when they air-launch the shells (they don't do it for all of them) but it is a nice effect with the way they appear from nowhere
12) Legoland is driveable for a day trip. Just plan for traffic!
13) California Screamin' was a pleasant surprise. A really good coaster.


Challenges:
1) 5 days are not enough (already said this but Disney, you are really making a mistake limiting visitors to 5 days.) Why not sell a 6 or 7-day pass?
2) The photo thing at the entry gates causes delays. They need separate lines for the folks that are there for the first time and need their photo taken. Also, it didn't seem to be working some of the time - cast members at the gates fiddling with the little iPhone gizmo when the network goes down
3) Disneyland is obviously smaller than the Magic Kingdom at WDW, and it really doesn't handle crowds well, especially when they rope off areas for parades
4) Parades seem to take forever at Disneyland. Huge gaps between floats - I don't recall seeing this before.
5) Ride reliability is an issue. I posted from the parks about this last week, and from talking with cast members it does seem to be an issue. Rides will go down suddenly, often at the worst times. Saw this happen to: RSR (at least twice), Soarin' over California, Pirates, Space Mountain, Pinocchio at DL, California Screamin' (not just the regular WoC shutdown.)

Crowd Days:
Sunday before Thanksgiving: Not terrible, most had 30 minute or so wait. I'd give it a 5 or 6
Monday before Thanksgiving: Same as Sunday (5 or 6)
Tuesday before Thanksgiving: Jammed. (8 or 9)
Thanksgiving: Good in the AM (5 or 6) but then more crowded in the afternoon
Black Friday: Better in the AM, got worse quickly. 7 or 8 overall.


Back to reality... Bummer.

 

[yesman70]

Was their last week withy family too. Awesome hotel and great staff. Didn't have one bad experience.


Our families Probably crossed paths at some point. We had a wonderful time!


Parks were very manageable last week. Especially if you have a runner for fast passes. CA was very light on Thanksgiving day

 

[DharmaLou]

we were there for 5 days, our last day being the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (your 8-9/10 day). I didn't feel it was nearly that crowded. We spent that entire day at DLR with no exceptionally long waits. I would have said that Monday was actually much busier. There was over an hour wait for POTC on Monday, Tuesday we saw it at 35 at one point.

 

[NJShoreDad]

Was their last week withy family too. Awesome hotel and great staff. Didn't have one bad experience.


Our families Probably crossed paths at some point. We had a wonderful time!


Parks were very manageable last week. Especially if you have a runner for fast passes. CA was very light on Thanksgiving day

I agree, it was a great week. My "challenges" were not showstoppers by any means. My wife even said yesterday that DL and DCA are among her favorite parks, and agreed if it were closer we'd be there a lot more. Maybe need to get myself on VGC resale waiting list!

 

[SMD]

The photos aren't really causing delays. The lines were pretty backed up before they added that. It really doesn't take that long, it's just compounded by the fact that you're anticipating getting in the park and it makes every little thing the CM does with the scanner seem like it's taking longer than it is. But I did notice that last month they transitioned from having a CM stand in front of the turnstile with the scanner to having the CM at the turnstile operate the scanner. The turnstile CMs tend to be, let's say, "more mature" and I think the learning curve has been a little slow. They are now scanning APs both with the handheld and at the gate, which makes me wonder if turnstiles may be about to change. However, I haven't noticed it taking that much longer on average to get into either park.

 

[NJShoreDad]

we were there for 5 days, our last day being the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (your 8-9/10 day). I didn't feel it was nearly that crowded. We spent that entire day at DLR with no exceptionally long waits. I would have said that Monday was actually much busier. There was over an hour wait for POTC on Monday, Tuesday we saw it at 35 at one point.

Interesting, as I thought that the POTC crazy day was the same day that it went down (Tuesday) as we spent most of the morning on that side of the park. I recall being amazed at how long the line looked and the way it snaked all through New Orleans Square. We never made it on POTC that day but did eat dinner at Blue Bayou (which was very good.) The morning was good on Tuesday but the crowds really built up (I thought.) That was the night we also got to see the fireworks, but we really spent most of our time in NOS, Toontown, and Fantasyland. It was pretty jammed up I thought, but then again we are totally new to DL.

 

[NJShoreDad]

The photos aren't really causing delays. The lines were pretty backed up before they added that. It really doesn't take that long, it's just compounded by the fact that you're anticipating getting in the park and it makes every little thing the CM does with the scanner seem like it's taking longer than it is. But I did notice that last month they transitioned from having a CM stand in front of the turnstile with the scanner to having the CM at the turnstile operate the scanner. The turnstile CMs tend to be, let's say, "more mature" and I think the learning curve has been a little slow. They are now scanning APs both with the handheld and at the gate, which makes me wonder if turnstiles may be about to change. However, I haven't noticed it taking that much longer on average to get into either park.

Thanks for the insight. You are probably right - it is magnified when you are anticipating either getting into the park for the first time or trying to get back in when hopping (such as to meet a FastPass time.) My wife and I joked that I always seemed to pick the line that had the most people that needed their pictures taken, and I picked a real winner when the lady in front of me wanted to debate the cast member about why she had to have her photo taken... it definitely magnified it.

 

[NJShoreDad]

Was their last week withy family too. Awesome hotel and great staff. Didn't have one bad experience.


Our families Probably crossed paths at some point. We had a wonderful time!


Parks were very manageable last week. Especially if you have a runner for fast passes. CA was very light on Thanksgiving day

We probably did cross paths and agree about the hotel. You just can't beat the location. We stayed in the Villa side but took advantage of the pools, Whitewater Snacks, Storytellers breakfast, Pinocchio's workshop, Napa Rose, etc. Also got to see them putting the finishing touches on the gingerbread version of the Grand and heard the carolers sing carols in front of the tree. The only thing we wish we had done was have the children experience the storytelling that they do near the fireplace.

Agree that overall the parks were manageable. We'd definitely do it again, and I really do think we will as we had an amazing time. My wife still thinks it could be more of a favorite than WDW.

 

[yesman70]

We probably did cross paths and agree about the hotel. You just can't beat the location. We stayed in the Villa side but took advantage of the pools, Whitewater Snacks, Storytellers breakfast, Pinocchio's workshop, Napa Rose, etc. Also got to see them putting the finishing touches on the gingerbread version of the Grand and heard the carolers sing carols in front of the tree. The only thing we wish we had done was have the children experience the storytelling that they do near the fireplace.

Agree that overall the parks were manageable. We'd definitely do it again, and I really do think we will as we had an amazing time. My wife still thinks it could be more of a favorite than WDW.

Yea, we used Whitewater snacks a lot! Didn't do Storytellers this time, but had Thanksgiving dinner at Goofys kitchen which was fantastic. Fun place.

We didn't spend too much time in the grand hall, but we did see the Gingerbread house a few times.

How was Pinocchios workshop?

 

[NJShoreDad]

How was Pinocchios workshop?

It was great - the children had a fun time. You have a stack of forms to fill out for each child (CA law requires this, apparently), but the staff was very friendly. Each child got a cubby to hold their stuff and they did crafts, watched cartoons, and played games. They also take the children to either see the fireworks or WoC from one of the two viewing areas at the hotel. Unfortunately fireworks were cancelled that night - they didn't try WoC because the last show was too late in the night. They will give them a snack and you can also pay to have them served dinner if you wish. We had already fed our children so it was just the snack. The staff was also very accommodating in understanding about our DS5's food allergies.

It was well worth it - and they only offer limited spots at Pinocchio's Workshop so it doesn't get too crowded. It was very nice for my wife and I to be able to get a night "out" and know our children were safe and having fun!

Also noticed the comment about Goofy's Kitchen. We had breakfast here the morning we went to Legoland and it was one of the best breakfast buffets I've experienced at either WDW or DL. Definitely better (food wise) than Storytellers, in my opinion.