Who is going in December 2022??

[DisTXMom]

Just back from 2.5 day trip 12/2-12/4. Stayed at DLH. Few observations:

- monorail for early entry was way to go for sure. We lined up for security at 640am to get in BeRY long line at security, security opened at 700am, monorail Opened at 715/720, in Tomorrowland by 730. A lot of waiting in line, so 12/4 we left DLH at 720, breezed through security with no line, boarded monorail with no line and were in Tomorrowland by 735. So waking up early to be in line by 640 only saved us about 5 minutes and cost us 30 minutes of sleep

-12/2 early entry did Snow White, toad, Alice and Peter Pan (at end of EE). 12/3 early entry did space twice, Alice and Pinocchio

- genie+ was totally worth it for our party of 4. We did everything, most of it multiple times which was great for our ride junkie group. We booked Matterhorn as our first lightening lane 8am and then kept booking it until it was open and we could ride it (it breaks a lot so we gained top tier anytime passes to use in either park- it seemed consistently down at 8am every day). We didn’t do that as a “strategy” but those anytime passes sure helped. We booked quick returns all morning (big Thunder, splash, haunted mansion, buzz, then booked DCA rides from furthest out to quickest return (guardians, Toy Story, then soarin and incredicoaster). Rode pirates and jungle cruise in the mornings before wait times were really high, so did those with 10-20 minute waits. While it was busy, we didn’t wait in any long lines.

- I bought our group rise and radiator springs ILLS because it was a super short trip and we wanted to ride those together. Radiator springs is very doable in single rider lane so we’d likely do that next time. I hate to spend $18 for radiator racers, but it was 120 minute wait, so we basically each paid $9/hr to not wait in line and be able to all ride together. If it has been a 60 minute wait we would have just done standby.

- genie+ refresh helped a ton. Was able to pick up quick returns on several attractions (such as 1pm Toy Story when it was booking for 3:30pm). Every lightening lane I stalked I got

- cast members were all awesome- happy, courteous and helpful.

- parks were clean

- visitors were all pleasant- people seemed in a good mood and happy to be there. Didn’t observe any ugly visitors.

- many key holders being blocked during the weekend helped a lot I think

- Fantasmic! was awesome- forgot how good it was!

This is the shortest Disney trip we’ve done but it really was perfect. Best of luck to the rest of the December visitors

 

[Peachy0118]

Just back from 2.5 day trip 12/2-12/4. Stayed at DLH. Few observations:

- monorail for early entry was way to go for sure. We lined up for security at 640am to get in BeRY long line at security, security opened at 700am, monorail Opened at 715/720, in Tomorrowland by 730. A lot of waiting in line, so 12/4 we left DLH at 720, breezed through security with no line, boarded monorail with no line and were in Tomorrowland by 735. So waking up early to be in line by 640 only saved us about 5 minutes and cost us 30 minutes of sleep

-12/2 early entry did Snow White, toad, Alice and Peter Pan (at end of EE). 12/3 early entry did space twice, Alice and Pinocchio

- genie+ was totally worth it for our party of 4. We did everything, most of it multiple times which was great for our ride junkie group. We booked Matterhorn as our first lightening lane 8am and then kept booking it until it was open and we could ride it (it breaks a lot so we gained top tier anytime passes to use in either park- it seemed consistently down at 8am every day). We didn’t do that as a “strategy” but those anytime passes sure helped. We booked quick returns all morning (big Thunder, splash, haunted mansion, buzz, then booked DCA rides from furthest out to quickest return (guardians, Toy Story, then soarin and incredicoaster). Rode pirates and jungle cruise in the mornings before wait times were really high, so did those with 10-20 minute waits. While it was busy, we didn’t wait in any long lines.

- I bought our group rise and radiator springs ILLS because it was a super short trip and we wanted to ride those together. Radiator springs is very doable in single rider lane so we’d likely do that next time. I hate to spend $18 for radiator racers, but it was 120 minute wait, so we basically each paid $9/hr to not wait in line and be able to all ride together. If it has been a 60 minute wait we would have just done standby.

- genie+ refresh helped a ton. Was able to pick up quick returns on several attractions (such as 1pm Toy Story when it was booking for 3:30pm). Every lightening lane I stalked I got

- cast members were all awesome- happy, courteous and helpful.

- parks were clean

- visitors were all pleasant- people seemed in a good mood and happy to be there. Didn’t observe any ugly visitors.

- many key holders being blocked during the weekend helped a lot I think

- Fantasmic! was awesome- forgot how good it was!

This is the shortest Disney trip we’ve done but it really was perfect. Best of luck to the rest of the December visitors

Absolutely loved how positive this sounds! Your ride style sounds a lot like ours.

So many unfortunate trip reports lately, so I love reading this one

 

[BGinCali]

Just back from 2.5 day trip 12/2-12/4. Stayed at DLH. Few observations:

- monorail for early entry was way to go for sure. We lined up for security at 640am to get in BeRY long line at security, security opened at 700am, monorail Opened at 715/720, in Tomorrowland by 730. A lot of waiting in line, so 12/4 we left DLH at 720, breezed through security with no line, boarded monorail with no line and were in Tomorrowland by 735. So waking up early to be in line by 640 only saved us about 5 minutes and cost us 30 minutes of sleep

-12/2 early entry did Snow White, toad, Alice and Peter Pan (at end of EE). 12/3 early entry did space twice, Alice and Pinocchio

- genie+ was totally worth it for our party of 4. We did everything, most of it multiple times which was great for our ride junkie group. We booked Matterhorn as our first lightening lane 8am and then kept booking it until it was open and we could ride it (it breaks a lot so we gained top tier anytime passes to use in either park- it seemed consistently down at 8am every day). We didn’t do that as a “strategy” but those anytime passes sure helped. We booked quick returns all morning (big Thunder, splash, haunted mansion, buzz, then booked DCA rides from furthest out to quickest return (guardians, Toy Story, then soarin and incredicoaster). Rode pirates and jungle cruise in the mornings before wait times were really high, so did those with 10-20 minute waits. While it was busy, we didn’t wait in any long lines.

- I bought our group rise and radiator springs ILLS because it was a super short trip and we wanted to ride those together. Radiator springs is very doable in single rider lane so we’d likely do that next time. I hate to spend $18 for radiator racers, but it was 120 minute wait, so we basically each paid $9/hr to not wait in line and be able to all ride together. If it has been a 60 minute wait we would have just done standby.

- genie+ refresh helped a ton. Was able to pick up quick returns on several attractions (such as 1pm Toy Story when it was booking for 3:30pm). Every lightening lane I stalked I got

- cast members were all awesome- happy, courteous and helpful.

- parks were clean

- visitors were all pleasant- people seemed in a good mood and happy to be there. Didn’t observe any ugly visitors.

- many key holders being blocked during the weekend helped a lot I think

- Fantasmic! was awesome- forgot how good it was!

This is the shortest Disney trip we’ve done but it really was perfect. Best of luck to the rest of the December visitors

So glad you had a positive trip! Thanks for the detailed recap - especially valuable to hear of your monorail experience!! Very different perspective vs regular opening historically not being the best (timely) option.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

LOVED reading your trip report - thanks disTXMom!!

I am sorry to ask a stupid question. We are going Mon - Wed Dec. 12-15th, and haven't done Genie+ yet, but are planning on it. We are ride junkies too, and I would ride Space Mountain many times per day whenever possible. I think I get the concept of fishing, and that you got top tier anytime passes when Matterhorn was down for example - I could use that to go a second time on Space even if I had already booked and used a regular LL on Space, correct? Because normally Genie+ is a once per ride per day set up, right? TIA

 

[pharmama]

I am sorry to ask a stupid question. We are going Mon - Wed Dec. 12-15th, and haven't done Genie+ yet, but are planning on it. We are ride junkies too, and I would ride Space Mountain many times per day whenever possible. I think I get the concept of fishing, and that you got top tier anytime passes when Matterhorn was down for example - I could use that to go a second time on Space even if I had already booked and used a regular LL on Space, correct? Because normally Genie+ is a once per ride per day set up, right? TIA

Yes, the Multiple Experience Passes will allow you to "bypass" the one ride per day Genie+ rule. So if you already rode SM via Lightning Lane/Genie+ on a given day and you get a MEP that is valid for SM from another top tier ride, you can use it to ride SM via the Lightning Lane again.

 

[chezcurrie]

LOVED reading your trip report - thanks disTXMom!!

I am sorry to ask a stupid question. We are going Mon - Wed Dec. 12-15th, and haven't done Genie+ yet, but are planning on it. We are ride junkies too, and I would ride Space Mountain many times per day whenever possible. I think I get the concept of fishing, and that you got top tier anytime passes when Matterhorn was down for example - I could use that to go a second time on Space even if I had already booked and used a regular LL on Space, correct? Because normally Genie+ is a once per ride per day set up, right? TIA

PP answered your question and I wanted to ad a caveat about "fishing" - in your case I would definitely try with a ride you are ok only riding once, just in case it doesn't break down. So since you mentioned Space as a priority, I would go the matterhorn LL fishing route, because if you don't get a MEP it also has a single rider line so you could re-ride. Also hit Space up in the am or just before close when lines are shorter. Hope this makes sense!

I was in the parks yesterday with my teen and while I didn't try and fish we hit 8 rides before hopping and another 4 before dinner, with a 90 min break mid day. We had a LL for Big Thunder at 4pm but it went down right as we were about to board, and I could have easily gotten another MEP and Indiana at this time but we were ready for dinner and home. It was, however, COLD, so pack those light jackets and hats!

 

[lynzi2004]

For locals in the area, I'm starting to read reports about the mask mandates POSSIBLY being put back into place for Los Angeles county. Is there any talk of Orange County potentially doing the same thing? I just want to be prepared either way. We live in a part of the country where masks haven't been worn in months so we don't readily keep them in cars, suitcases, etc. I would likely need to order more to have them on hand and we all know how Amazon's shipping has been lately! We arrive Dec 14. Thanks!

 

[DisTXMom]

Absolutely loved how positive this sounds! Your ride style sounds a lot like ours.

So many unfortunate trip reports lately, so I love reading this one

We were concerned because of all of the bad trip reports as well, but had a great experience.

LOVED reading your trip report - thanks disTXMom!!

I am sorry to ask a stupid question. We are going Mon - Wed Dec. 12-15th, and haven't done Genie+ yet, but are planning on it. We are ride junkies too, and I would ride Space Mountain many times per day whenever possible. I think I get the concept of fishing, and that you got top tier anytime passes when Matterhorn was down for example - I could use that to go a second time on Space even if I had already booked and used a regular LL on Space, correct? Because normally Genie+ is a once per ride per day set up, right? TIA

Yes- Top tier anytime passes can be used to ride attractions that you’ve already ridden with genie+. When Matterhorn went down at 8am park opening, we got top tier passes that were good for anything other than rise or radiator springs racers. When Big Thunder went down one day during our window, we got a lower tier that was good for things like Splash, Buzz, Soarin, incredicoaster bur would not work for top tier rides. Good luck!

And I agree with what’s posted above- I was not intentionally “fishing”- my DD loves Matterhorn and we would have ridden it if it had been open during our window- but we were trying to do it early because we were in that area. I wouldn’t recommend booking something you don’t actually want to ride because you may be better off just getting that LL. It just happened that our first ride went down both days.

 

[PlutoIsHere]

Couple day till we fly down! Reports of rain coming up are kind of a bummer. We are from Washington so rain isn't a huge deal but soaking in sun is always nice! Just beyond excited for the trip though. First time at DLH. First time taking my son. Disneyland is my happy place and its going to be great being back.

 

[TexanInTheMidwest]

PP answered your question and I wanted to ad a caveat about "fishing" - in your case I would definitely try with a ride you are ok only riding once, just in case it doesn't break down. So since you mentioned Space as a priority, I would go the matterhorn LL fishing route, because if you don't get a MEP it also has a single rider line so you could re-ride. Also hit Space up in the am or just before close when lines are shorter. Hope this makes sense!

I was in the parks yesterday with my teen and while I didn't try and fish we hit 8 rides before hopping and another 4 before dinner, with a 90 min break mid day. We had a LL for Big Thunder at 4pm but it went down right as we were about to board, and I could have easily gotten another MEP and Indiana at this time but we were ready for dinner and home. It was, however, COLD, so pack those light jackets and hats!

I was in Disneyland on Monday (the 5th) and Wednesday (the 8th) and Big Thunder went down several times and I never got to ride it. I got as far as being seated on the train and it went down. I also had three different lightening lane reservations for Big Thunder become "experience anything" yesterday which on the surface seems nice but there wasn't anything I wanted to ride that was on the list (it excludes a handful of rides like Rise, Peter Pan, Webslingers, etc).

I ended up using one at Luiggi's in DCA and the ride operator tried to talk me out of it to "save it" for something better

 

[chezcurrie]

I was in Disneyland on Monday (the 5th) and Wednesday (the 8th) and Big Thunder went down several times and I never got to ride it. I got as far as being seated on the train and it went down. I also had three different lightening lane reservations for Big Thunder become "experience anything" yesterday which on the surface seems nice but there wasn't anything I wanted to ride that was on the list (it excludes a handful of rides like Rise, Peter Pan, Webslingers, etc).

I ended up using one at Luiggi's in DCA and the ride operator tried to talk me out of it to "save it" for something better

Big thunder has been my elusive ride my last 2 visits as well. Next time it’s priority #1!

 

[deejdigsdis]

I was in Disneyland on Monday (the 5th) and Wednesday (the 8th) and Big Thunder went down several times and I never got to ride it. I got as far as being seated on the train and it went down. I also had three different lightening lane reservations for Big Thunder become "experience anything" yesterday which on the surface seems nice but there wasn't anything I wanted to ride that was on the list (it excludes a handful of rides like Rise, Peter Pan, Webslingers, etc).

I ended up using one at Luiggi's in DCA and the ride operator tried to talk me out of it to "save it" for something better

I was in Disneyland the 7th and 8th. All 3 LLs I had for Big Thunder converted to the other passes! I did get to ride it once, at least.

 

[Wildcard]

We also missed every opportunity to ride Big Thunder. We just wrapped up a few days and every single time we passed it, it was down. We also used Genie+ one day, and got a couple multi uses out of it. I swear at one point, we wasted almost an hour ping ponging between Indiana Jones and Big Thunder as each one said they were up, only to close just when we got there! I tend to give Disney a bunch of slack, but got pretty frustrated with this. Other than that, a stellar trip!

 

[Mister Skellington]

Here currently, scored some LL for Toy Story first thing and then rode it later.
Food is fantastic at DCA yesterdayZ. We sampled several different booths. We also had lamplight lounge brunch yesterday, fyi- you can add a side steak to any entree - chilequile with a steak is ONO!
Fantasmic dessert package was great last night. The Christmas version is amazing! ( though the original is better)
Today is our “rain day” Not too worries as I’m in Disneyland today. Blue Bayou and Trader sams today!

 

[AZMermaid]

cancelling Blue Bayou 12:50 Fantasmic first show for 12/18 and blue bayou 4:30 for 12/18 if anyone wants to coordinate- both for 4

 

[amyg1975]

We had a great day yesterday. We got to the Disneyland around 12 (we flew in to Long Beach). We had lunch at Pizza Planet and immediately bought Genie+. We then bought Magic Bands. We got to ride the monorail, which we haven’t been able to do in a long while because it tends to close early in the day. We saw the 3:30 parade and we got a great spot by Small World at 3:20. We stayed until 11 and we hit 13 rides. Weather was great and now we are getting ready to brave the rain.

 

[TinkAgainU]

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[BLTLDZ]

I know how you feel! We’ve been healthy in our house but part of me just knows our luck will run out right in time for our trip.

I’m mostly trying to focus on what I can control: plenty of sleep, trying to eat well and get some fresh air and activity, wearing our masks indoors, up to date on vaccines, hand washing, etc. Also packing all the sanitizer and wipes for the plane, etc. Hopefully if we encounter germs we’ll be primed to fight them off.

My big kid had a runny nose this morning and it crossed my mind that if we are going to get sick we should do it now, with over a week before our flight. (Still would rather avoid it all completely though!)

Hoping for good health for everyone!

We were there 12/4-12/9. I too, had a feeling this time I would get sick. Hubs and I went 4th of July week, we drove. Dined indoors. walked around the parks but avoided the rides. Both came back perfectly healthy.

This past trip was actually a trip we planned for my nine-year old niece as an 'end of Chemo' trip. It was myself, Hubs, Sis, Brother in law and my niece and nephew. We got back this Friday night (and I started to feel 'off' Friday afternoon as we were leaving). Woke up Saturday with a fever and head/chest congestion. No one else is sick as of now, thankfully. Hubs has a dry cough, but otherwise, he feels fine.

I went on all the rides. I had to for my niece. I wanted to. I masked as much as I could, but honestly, I still knew I would get sick. Don't judge me, but I believe in a higher power, and I prayed before we left that if anyone had to get sick, please let it be me. After all that family has been through with my Niece's Cancer the last two years, I just wanted them to enjoy this trip and not come back sick.

Ps- I am negative for Covid, but still running a fever with a headache and congestion. Day 3.

We also drove this time. Sanitized constantly, did all the things. But sometimes? It happens.

Load up on Zinc, C, Elderberry. Get plenty of sleep from now! I was working like a maniac leading up to this trip, trying to cram it all in, which definitely did not help my immunity! Have a wonderful trip, and try not to worry!

 

[Astylla]

Last minute trip before my Inspire key is blocked out for the holidays.

Fly down from SF Bay area Wednesday afternoon on SW points
Wednesday - Springhill Suites Convention Center on Marriott points
Thursday - Grand Californian ( Last minute DVC rental yay!)
Friday - Fly back to SF bay area bay area on SW points

After a really rough past two weeks I definitely need this.

 

[Wildcard]

We were there 12/4-12/9. I too, had a feeling this time I would get sick. Hubs and I went 4th of July week, we drove. Dined indoors. walked around the parks but avoided the rides. Both came back perfectly healthy.

This past trip was actually a trip we planned for my nine-year old niece as an 'end of Chemo' trip. It was myself, Hubs, Sis, Brother in law and my niece and nephew. We got back this Friday night (and I started to feel 'off' Friday afternoon as we were leaving). Woke up Saturday with a fever and head/chest congestion. No one else is sick as of now, thankfully. Hubs has a dry cough, but otherwise, he feels fine.

I went on all the rides. I had to for my niece. I wanted to. I masked as much as I could, but honestly, I still knew I would get sick. Don't judge me, but I believe in a higher power, and I prayed before we left that if anyone had to get sick, please let it be me. After all that family has been through with my Niece's Cancer the last two years, I just wanted them to enjoy this trip and not come back sick.

Ps- I am negative for Covid, but still running a fever with a headache and congestion. Day 3.

We also drove this time. Sanitized constantly, did all the things. But sometimes? It happens.

Load up on Zinc, C, Elderberry. Get plenty of sleep from now! I was working like a maniac leading up to this trip, trying to cram it all in, which definitely did not help my immunity! Have a wonderful trip, and try not to worry!

As it turns out, we just returned home on Saturday and 3/4 of us tested positive for Flu A. And we were all vaccinated in the fall. I think with everything going around now, and as packed as DL is, it's inevitable unless you get infected beforehand. I fully expected us to come back with something or another.