I appologize in advance for my poor writing skills. English is not my first language 
WHO: Me, my husband, daughter (2.5yrs) and son (4mo) - everybody except me was first-timer.
WHEN: Dec 5 (mon) - 7 (wed)
We arrived at Disneyland Hotel on Sun night. While our DD watched TV at the lobby we checked in. We got everything we had requested - DTD view, higher than the 6th floor (our room was on the 7th floor), day bed and bed rails - though I had to ask for the bed rails FOUR times before actually getting them. We checked out the DTD stores for a while. It was windy and very chilly. Well it was more than chilly. It was COLD! We bought some pastries for next morning at La Brea Bakery. The fireworks show was cancelled due to wind that night :-(
Monday: Park hour 9am - 6pm.
Our DS (4mo)'s sitter showed up on time at 9am (more on babysitting later). We were on our way to the park by 9:15am. There were HUGE lines at the gate. The lines were much shorter on the DCA side. We waited in line for about 20min before getting in. We walked thruough the main street and headed to Fantasyland. I picked up FPs for Autopia on the way. First we did It's a Small World. We waited about 15min in line. We weren't too impressed by the attraction, actually. I prefer the regular version. I thought it is supposed to be about different cultures but it was just one holiday decoration after another and everything looked similar... to me. Next we went to Toontown. We decided to take a pic with Santa Goofy first. While waiting in line, Pluto came out and our DD got her very first autograph from Pluto. After waiting for about 20-25min, our DD had a pic with Santa Goofy. I am glad we did this, because she did not want to go near the human santa when we saw one at DCA next day. We checked out many of the fun stuff in Toontown. There was a long line to meet Minnie, and there was another so-so long line to meet Mickey. We decided to say hi to Mickey. Mickey's house was airconditioned and we got to watch Mickey cartoon while waiting in line. I think we waited for about 20min before entering a room where Mickey was. I wasn't expecting for the park to be this busy. By the time we finished doing what we wanted to do in Toontown and headed to Fantasyland, it was almost noon. We did the tea cup (10min wait), the tea cup one more time (almost walk-in), Dumbo (15min), the Carrousel (walk-in), and the Circus Train (10-15min). It is now past 1pm. Everybody was hungy. We grabbed lunch at Village Haus. While we were eating, Captain Hook walked by. We did Alice (10-15min) next. We all did not care for it that much. Too dark, and we did not find it much fun... We hit the tea cup again (walk-in. Our DD LOVED this attraction) and watched the parade for a while. I wish we had a great view of the parade. It was amazing. Our DD had fun watching all the characters dancing. And the adults enjoyed the performance by the dancers/performers. We learned that our DD does not get too impressed by 'ride and watch fun displays' type of attractions (like It's a Small World, Alice). She loved more action-oriented rides like the tea cup and Dumbo. Now it is almost 3pm. I asked DD if she wanted to ride a car (Autopia) but she said no, so we decided to take Monorail from Tomorrowland to go back to the hotel. We thought we would pick up FPs for Space Mountain before we go, but no more FPs, we were told. My husband and I dropped her off and headed back to the park. Now it's grown-up time! We were determined to use the remaing 2hrs to ride as many as possible. First we did Autopia, since it was near the Monorail station and we had the FPs. The line for the stand-by was very long. I think it said 50min wait or something. Even though we had the FPs, we waited about 15min. The first thing I said when we were done was... 'that's it??'. Sorry, I just could not understand why the attraction is so popular! Next, Space Mountain. I LOVE this ride and wanted my hunband to try. We waited for 30min but it was WORTH IT! Next, Star Tours. We said we would do it if the wait was short. 10min! Yipee! This is my favorite also. It is now about 5:15pm and we saw lots and lots of people waiting for the fireworks to start (at 5:45). We did Indiana Jones (40min wait). It was a lot of fun (but not as fun as Space Mountain)! By the time we came out the fireworks show was over and people were heading home. It was just sea of people. We picked up our dinner at Jazz Kitchen Express (fast food version of the restaurant) and got to the hotel around 7pm.
Tuesday: Park hour 9am - 6pm
We went to Storytellers Cafe for breakfast around 9:30am. We did not have reservation but were seated in 3min. Food was great! We loved the Mickey waffle. The waiter was very friendly and took great pics of us with the characters. We saw Chip & Dale, two Bears (from Little Bear?), a monkey from Tarzan (?). We were so full we did not have to eat lunch! Entered DCA thru the hotel entrance around 10:30am. Grizz River Run was only 5min wait! But we had our DD with us so could not do it. Picked up the FPs for Soaring over CA. On our way to Hollywood, we saw Mickey, Goofy and Max in Hawaiian shirts and santa hats, greeting people at Sunshine Plaza. Got autographs and photos. Walked around the Hollywood area until the Playhouse Disney show started at 11:30am. We wanted to pick up the FPs for Tower of Terror but they were not offering FP for that attraction that day. Only Soaring and California Screaming. Playhouse Disney show was a lot of fun for my DD! She danced her little butt off. I remember some posters complaining about the seating (we sit on the floor) but there were bench seats by the back wall. Next we hit Bugs Land. We watched the Ugly Bug Ball - our DD even got on the stage and danced with Madame Butterfly, Flik and Atta
It is a very small show but quite enjoyable. You get to see Flik and Atta very close. We did the rides in Bugs Land with almost no wait. Flik's Flyers, Ladybug Boogie, Drive'Em Buggies. Our DD took her clothes off (she even tried to take her diaper off, which we stopped) and played with water at Puddle Park. I really love the Bugs Land. Everything is cute. Restroom is a giant Kleenex box. A tunnel is a cereal box. Clovers as shades. I wish we had time to sit down and appreciate all of that. But with a toddler, it is not an option! We decided to head back early (1pm), so that DD could rest a little before watching the fireworks at 5:45pm. We dropped by Engine Ear shop to pick up some Mr. Potato Head parts. My husband and I came back to DCA around 2pm. We first went to Soaring, using the FPs. Stand-by waiting time was about 30min. We loved the attraction (though it was chilly inside)! We really felt like we were flying. Next we did the Grizz run. It was still 5min wait! Yooo hoo! We did not have/buy ponchos so of course we were soaked! We were told California Screaming broke down. Darn! So we did Malibooner (15min wait), Orange Stinger (5min). I wanted to do Mulholland Madness but it broke down. We saw Calif Screaming doing test runs, so we decided to wait for it to open again, like 30+ other people were doing. It re-opened after 20min of waiting. Lucky us! We LOVED it! It was long and exciting. It is now 4pm. We called our room and ask the sitter how our DD was doing. We thought we would bring her back to the park if she was not too tired. The sitter told us our DD had just fell asleep. So We decided to head to Disneyland by ourselves. We checked the information board to see which rides had short waiting time. We wanted to ride Space Montain again but it was not operating :-( The waiting time for Big Thunder Mountain and Matterhorn was only 10min, so we went to BTM first. But we were told it had just broken down! Darn! Since we were at Frontierland we decided to go to Haunted Mansion Holiday. Again, I prefer the regular version over the holiday version. Since it was already 5pm and the wait for Splash Mountain looked short, we decided to make it as the last ride for the day. BIG MISTAKE. The wait was about 15min, which was okay. But my husband got very wet, and since it was 5:30pm, it was chilly. He HATES to be cold! We had to hurry back to the hotel to watch the fireworks from our hotel room. Walking fast made him even colder... Poor hubby.... We made to the room just in time for the fireworks but our DD was too sleepy to watch it :-( I went to World of Disney for some shopping while my husband enjoyed a nice warm bath. The shops and restaurants at DTD were all busy. I picked up our dinner at Jazz Kitchen. The restaurant was packed and the bartender who took my to-go order was making a million drinks a minute! Their Jambalaya pasta was spicy but very tasty.
Wedensday:
We only had a couple of hours this day. When we got to Goofy's Kitchen at 9am, there were already many people waiting to get in. We had to wait for about 15min even though we had priority seating. Pluto was outside greeting people and taking photos with guests. Food was good, but more unhealthy food and sweets than Storytellers (more about the comparison later). We saw Goofy, Chip & Dale, Geppetto, Mad Hatter, Aladdin, and Max. Geppetto was very nice to our baby. Others were okay. We ended up staying there until 10:30am. We checked out from the hotel, put the luggege in the car and headed to the park for the last time. I wanted to get the silhouette art done for my DD and DS so we went to the silhouette studio on the main st. Our son got his silhouette with golden mickey behind it, and our daughter got hers with golden minnie. With frames and extra set of art, I paid about $50 ($7 each for the art, $9 each for the frame, and I think $7 each for the mickey/minnie. The extra art was free). We wanted to do Jungle Cruise after that but we ran out of time. We took some photos in front of the christmas tree and left the park.
<<<Babysitter serviece>>>
Our kids were too young to be enrolled in the resort's childcare services. We found the babysitting agency through the hotel. The resort make us sign the waiver (only via Fax.. I thought we are in the 21st century..) before giving us the info. They are not responsible for any problem we might experience with the agency. We decided to hire a babysitter for our 4mo old son, because we thought he would be better off staying in a hotel room playing with someone and having relaxed time. And we also thought it would make things easier for us too. WE WERE SO GLAD we did! On the first day as we were getting ready to hit the park, I found out he had fever! I almost had a heart attack! I did not want to believe it. This was his very first fever. WHY NOW? But fortunately the babysitter we hired was just 3mo away from becoming a pediatric nurse. She came in, checked his temp, and told us not too worry about it. He had croop cough but he was eating fine and was in good mood. She said she would keep a close eye on him. I am so glad I had Tylenol. I called her from the park to see how he was doing.
The babysitter was wonderful with our DD too. She would take DD and DS downstairs to watch singers singing Christmas songs. She brought some coloring books and books for our DD to enjoy. She said she comes to the hotel often to babysit, so she was very familiar with the hotel services. She told me about the hotel medical service (you can talk to an on-call nurse, get disposable thermometers and such, which I did). I highly recommend this sitter. I don't want to disclose her name here so if you would like to know let me know your e-mail address and I will give you more info.
By the way, they charge $13/hr + $7 for commuting. $1 per extra child (which I thought unbelievable). Tip is optional but I paid about 15%.
<<<Hotel>>>
We really liked the hotel. Yeah we had to ask for the bed rails four times and a coffee maker twice but over all we thought it was a good hotel and very conveniently located. The monorail station was just a couple of minutes away (our room was in Sierra Tower). The CMs were friendly. We had a view of the parks and DTD... and of course the fireworks! Request Sierra Tower, people!
But a few complaints...
Don't even think about doing laundry there. I was told they were refurbishing the laundry room.
They don't have a microwave guests can use!
<<<Character breakfast>>>
If you have time to do only one, go to Storytellers. Food is better and the restaurant is more spacious than Goofy's. You can enter DCA via the hotel entrance if you are staying at one of the resort hotels. We just could not relax at Goofy's. It was too busy and we thought Goofy's was never going to come to our table. We did not want our DD to eat frosted cup cakes and pizzas for breakfast - but they were there - of course she wanted to eat them! They did the Maccarena (sp?) - like dance and the 'bang pots and pans' thing, which was fun, but I thought the place was too small for that kind of entertainment. Our DD was in the crowd but I could hardly see her because there were many kids and adults gathered in such a small space in front of the buffet.
<<Randam thoughts>>
* Don't go without.... Lip Balm! It was very dry and my lips went crazy! We are from damp Seattle...
* Don't go without... basic meds. I am sure you can buy them there but I was so glad we had Tylenol and was able to give it to him right away.
* Definitely do... get a refillable mug if you are a coffee drinker. I bought one at the Coffee Shop at Disneyland Hotel and enjoyed coffee every morning and evening. It costs you $8 to get the cup (and the first coffee/tea). Otherwise you pay about $2.50 per coffee. You can get refill at any resort hotels, but not in the park.
* Definitely DON'T... buy canned juice at LOST BAR! It was late at night and I needed to get hot water for our DS' formula. Lost Bar was the only one open. I thought I would get a can of grapefruit juice for our DD for the nexr morning. They charged me $3.25 for a stupid 5.5oz can of juice!
I would like to say big THANK YOU to this forum for giving me very usuful infos when I was planning the trip. You guys are the best!
Kay
WHO: Me, my husband, daughter (2.5yrs) and son (4mo) - everybody except me was first-timer.
WHEN: Dec 5 (mon) - 7 (wed)
We arrived at Disneyland Hotel on Sun night. While our DD watched TV at the lobby we checked in. We got everything we had requested - DTD view, higher than the 6th floor (our room was on the 7th floor), day bed and bed rails - though I had to ask for the bed rails FOUR times before actually getting them. We checked out the DTD stores for a while. It was windy and very chilly. Well it was more than chilly. It was COLD! We bought some pastries for next morning at La Brea Bakery. The fireworks show was cancelled due to wind that night :-(
Monday: Park hour 9am - 6pm.
Our DS (4mo)'s sitter showed up on time at 9am (more on babysitting later). We were on our way to the park by 9:15am. There were HUGE lines at the gate. The lines were much shorter on the DCA side. We waited in line for about 20min before getting in. We walked thruough the main street and headed to Fantasyland. I picked up FPs for Autopia on the way. First we did It's a Small World. We waited about 15min in line. We weren't too impressed by the attraction, actually. I prefer the regular version. I thought it is supposed to be about different cultures but it was just one holiday decoration after another and everything looked similar... to me. Next we went to Toontown. We decided to take a pic with Santa Goofy first. While waiting in line, Pluto came out and our DD got her very first autograph from Pluto. After waiting for about 20-25min, our DD had a pic with Santa Goofy. I am glad we did this, because she did not want to go near the human santa when we saw one at DCA next day. We checked out many of the fun stuff in Toontown. There was a long line to meet Minnie, and there was another so-so long line to meet Mickey. We decided to say hi to Mickey. Mickey's house was airconditioned and we got to watch Mickey cartoon while waiting in line. I think we waited for about 20min before entering a room where Mickey was. I wasn't expecting for the park to be this busy. By the time we finished doing what we wanted to do in Toontown and headed to Fantasyland, it was almost noon. We did the tea cup (10min wait), the tea cup one more time (almost walk-in), Dumbo (15min), the Carrousel (walk-in), and the Circus Train (10-15min). It is now past 1pm. Everybody was hungy. We grabbed lunch at Village Haus. While we were eating, Captain Hook walked by. We did Alice (10-15min) next. We all did not care for it that much. Too dark, and we did not find it much fun... We hit the tea cup again (walk-in. Our DD LOVED this attraction) and watched the parade for a while. I wish we had a great view of the parade. It was amazing. Our DD had fun watching all the characters dancing. And the adults enjoyed the performance by the dancers/performers. We learned that our DD does not get too impressed by 'ride and watch fun displays' type of attractions (like It's a Small World, Alice). She loved more action-oriented rides like the tea cup and Dumbo. Now it is almost 3pm. I asked DD if she wanted to ride a car (Autopia) but she said no, so we decided to take Monorail from Tomorrowland to go back to the hotel. We thought we would pick up FPs for Space Mountain before we go, but no more FPs, we were told. My husband and I dropped her off and headed back to the park. Now it's grown-up time! We were determined to use the remaing 2hrs to ride as many as possible. First we did Autopia, since it was near the Monorail station and we had the FPs. The line for the stand-by was very long. I think it said 50min wait or something. Even though we had the FPs, we waited about 15min. The first thing I said when we were done was... 'that's it??'. Sorry, I just could not understand why the attraction is so popular! Next, Space Mountain. I LOVE this ride and wanted my hunband to try. We waited for 30min but it was WORTH IT! Next, Star Tours. We said we would do it if the wait was short. 10min! Yipee! This is my favorite also. It is now about 5:15pm and we saw lots and lots of people waiting for the fireworks to start (at 5:45). We did Indiana Jones (40min wait). It was a lot of fun (but not as fun as Space Mountain)! By the time we came out the fireworks show was over and people were heading home. It was just sea of people. We picked up our dinner at Jazz Kitchen Express (fast food version of the restaurant) and got to the hotel around 7pm.
Tuesday: Park hour 9am - 6pm
We went to Storytellers Cafe for breakfast around 9:30am. We did not have reservation but were seated in 3min. Food was great! We loved the Mickey waffle. The waiter was very friendly and took great pics of us with the characters. We saw Chip & Dale, two Bears (from Little Bear?), a monkey from Tarzan (?). We were so full we did not have to eat lunch! Entered DCA thru the hotel entrance around 10:30am. Grizz River Run was only 5min wait! But we had our DD with us so could not do it. Picked up the FPs for Soaring over CA. On our way to Hollywood, we saw Mickey, Goofy and Max in Hawaiian shirts and santa hats, greeting people at Sunshine Plaza. Got autographs and photos. Walked around the Hollywood area until the Playhouse Disney show started at 11:30am. We wanted to pick up the FPs for Tower of Terror but they were not offering FP for that attraction that day. Only Soaring and California Screaming. Playhouse Disney show was a lot of fun for my DD! She danced her little butt off. I remember some posters complaining about the seating (we sit on the floor) but there were bench seats by the back wall. Next we hit Bugs Land. We watched the Ugly Bug Ball - our DD even got on the stage and danced with Madame Butterfly, Flik and Atta
It is a very small show but quite enjoyable. You get to see Flik and Atta very close. We did the rides in Bugs Land with almost no wait. Flik's Flyers, Ladybug Boogie, Drive'Em Buggies. Our DD took her clothes off (she even tried to take her diaper off, which we stopped) and played with water at Puddle Park. I really love the Bugs Land. Everything is cute. Restroom is a giant Kleenex box. A tunnel is a cereal box. Clovers as shades. I wish we had time to sit down and appreciate all of that. But with a toddler, it is not an option! We decided to head back early (1pm), so that DD could rest a little before watching the fireworks at 5:45pm. We dropped by Engine Ear shop to pick up some Mr. Potato Head parts. My husband and I came back to DCA around 2pm. We first went to Soaring, using the FPs. Stand-by waiting time was about 30min. We loved the attraction (though it was chilly inside)! We really felt like we were flying. Next we did the Grizz run. It was still 5min wait! Yooo hoo! We did not have/buy ponchos so of course we were soaked! We were told California Screaming broke down. Darn! So we did Malibooner (15min wait), Orange Stinger (5min). I wanted to do Mulholland Madness but it broke down. We saw Calif Screaming doing test runs, so we decided to wait for it to open again, like 30+ other people were doing. It re-opened after 20min of waiting. Lucky us! We LOVED it! It was long and exciting. It is now 4pm. We called our room and ask the sitter how our DD was doing. We thought we would bring her back to the park if she was not too tired. The sitter told us our DD had just fell asleep. So We decided to head to Disneyland by ourselves. We checked the information board to see which rides had short waiting time. We wanted to ride Space Montain again but it was not operating :-( The waiting time for Big Thunder Mountain and Matterhorn was only 10min, so we went to BTM first. But we were told it had just broken down! Darn! Since we were at Frontierland we decided to go to Haunted Mansion Holiday. Again, I prefer the regular version over the holiday version. Since it was already 5pm and the wait for Splash Mountain looked short, we decided to make it as the last ride for the day. BIG MISTAKE. The wait was about 15min, which was okay. But my husband got very wet, and since it was 5:30pm, it was chilly. He HATES to be cold! We had to hurry back to the hotel to watch the fireworks from our hotel room. Walking fast made him even colder... Poor hubby.... We made to the room just in time for the fireworks but our DD was too sleepy to watch it :-( I went to World of Disney for some shopping while my husband enjoyed a nice warm bath. The shops and restaurants at DTD were all busy. I picked up our dinner at Jazz Kitchen. The restaurant was packed and the bartender who took my to-go order was making a million drinks a minute! Their Jambalaya pasta was spicy but very tasty. Wedensday:
We only had a couple of hours this day. When we got to Goofy's Kitchen at 9am, there were already many people waiting to get in. We had to wait for about 15min even though we had priority seating. Pluto was outside greeting people and taking photos with guests. Food was good, but more unhealthy food and sweets than Storytellers (more about the comparison later). We saw Goofy, Chip & Dale, Geppetto, Mad Hatter, Aladdin, and Max. Geppetto was very nice to our baby. Others were okay. We ended up staying there until 10:30am. We checked out from the hotel, put the luggege in the car and headed to the park for the last time. I wanted to get the silhouette art done for my DD and DS so we went to the silhouette studio on the main st. Our son got his silhouette with golden mickey behind it, and our daughter got hers with golden minnie. With frames and extra set of art, I paid about $50 ($7 each for the art, $9 each for the frame, and I think $7 each for the mickey/minnie. The extra art was free). We wanted to do Jungle Cruise after that but we ran out of time. We took some photos in front of the christmas tree and left the park.
<<<Babysitter serviece>>>
Our kids were too young to be enrolled in the resort's childcare services. We found the babysitting agency through the hotel. The resort make us sign the waiver (only via Fax.. I thought we are in the 21st century..) before giving us the info. They are not responsible for any problem we might experience with the agency. We decided to hire a babysitter for our 4mo old son, because we thought he would be better off staying in a hotel room playing with someone and having relaxed time. And we also thought it would make things easier for us too. WE WERE SO GLAD we did! On the first day as we were getting ready to hit the park, I found out he had fever! I almost had a heart attack! I did not want to believe it. This was his very first fever. WHY NOW? But fortunately the babysitter we hired was just 3mo away from becoming a pediatric nurse. She came in, checked his temp, and told us not too worry about it. He had croop cough but he was eating fine and was in good mood. She said she would keep a close eye on him. I am so glad I had Tylenol. I called her from the park to see how he was doing.
The babysitter was wonderful with our DD too. She would take DD and DS downstairs to watch singers singing Christmas songs. She brought some coloring books and books for our DD to enjoy. She said she comes to the hotel often to babysit, so she was very familiar with the hotel services. She told me about the hotel medical service (you can talk to an on-call nurse, get disposable thermometers and such, which I did). I highly recommend this sitter. I don't want to disclose her name here so if you would like to know let me know your e-mail address and I will give you more info.
By the way, they charge $13/hr + $7 for commuting. $1 per extra child (which I thought unbelievable). Tip is optional but I paid about 15%.
<<<Hotel>>>
We really liked the hotel. Yeah we had to ask for the bed rails four times and a coffee maker twice but over all we thought it was a good hotel and very conveniently located. The monorail station was just a couple of minutes away (our room was in Sierra Tower). The CMs were friendly. We had a view of the parks and DTD... and of course the fireworks! Request Sierra Tower, people!
But a few complaints...
Don't even think about doing laundry there. I was told they were refurbishing the laundry room.
They don't have a microwave guests can use!
<<<Character breakfast>>>
If you have time to do only one, go to Storytellers. Food is better and the restaurant is more spacious than Goofy's. You can enter DCA via the hotel entrance if you are staying at one of the resort hotels. We just could not relax at Goofy's. It was too busy and we thought Goofy's was never going to come to our table. We did not want our DD to eat frosted cup cakes and pizzas for breakfast - but they were there - of course she wanted to eat them! They did the Maccarena (sp?) - like dance and the 'bang pots and pans' thing, which was fun, but I thought the place was too small for that kind of entertainment. Our DD was in the crowd but I could hardly see her because there were many kids and adults gathered in such a small space in front of the buffet.
<<Randam thoughts>>
* Don't go without.... Lip Balm! It was very dry and my lips went crazy! We are from damp Seattle...
* Don't go without... basic meds. I am sure you can buy them there but I was so glad we had Tylenol and was able to give it to him right away.
* Definitely do... get a refillable mug if you are a coffee drinker. I bought one at the Coffee Shop at Disneyland Hotel and enjoyed coffee every morning and evening. It costs you $8 to get the cup (and the first coffee/tea). Otherwise you pay about $2.50 per coffee. You can get refill at any resort hotels, but not in the park.
* Definitely DON'T... buy canned juice at LOST BAR! It was late at night and I needed to get hot water for our DS' formula. Lost Bar was the only one open. I thought I would get a can of grapefruit juice for our DD for the nexr morning. They charged me $3.25 for a stupid 5.5oz can of juice!
I would like to say big THANK YOU to this forum for giving me very usuful infos when I was planning the trip. You guys are the best!
Kay
