Well, Im not witty enough nor organized enough to type up a whole trip report, but I thought Id just give some input on my observations from our trip to DL/DCA from Dec. 8th through 15th of this year. (First park day was Dec. 9th, last was Dec. 14th).
I have already done a review of the hotel we stayed at, Residence Inn Anaheim, on the Disneyland board.
Here goes
Crowds:
As usual, first thing in the morning, no matter what day of the week, was the best time to visit the parks. Even though the parks opened later on the week days (10 am), the parks were very empty in the early morning hours. Because we have a little one, we hit Fantasyland first thing in the morning on the first day and found it to be virtually empty. (Hit Dumbo first and as many times as you can take it so you dont have to do it the rest of the day). Its my favorite time in the parks. The next day we opened DL, we headed straight to Autopia so DS could drive. Then on another day, we hit Critter Country first thing and rode Haunted Mansion (we were the only ones in the elevator) and Splash while DS visited Pooh.
We made limited use of FastPass, but it came in handy. We are finally starting to get the idea. I dont understand why anyone would knowingly wait in line for 45+ minutes when you can get a FP and wait maybe 10 minutes at the most.
Also, going to DCA first thing in the morning on Saturday was brilliant!
My brother and I rode California Screamin twice in a row and probably could have done it a few more times without waiting, but my head was starting to scream, so we moved on. DCA was desolate for the majority of the morning into lunchtime on Saturday. So if youre going to be at the parks on the weekend, hit DCA on Saturday no brainer!
What surprised a lot of us was the crowds on a Thursday night! (Dec. 9th to be exact). It was packed for the Christmas parade. We couldnt believe it. There was an AP holder sitting near us at the parade and even she was shocked at the crowds. Friday night was quite crowded too.
[I shall digress here and note that DL is very dark at night. They need to do something about the lighting. It borders on unsafe. DCA, by contrast, is well-lit at night and quite pleasant.]
We waited until Sunday to see the Electrical Parade again brilliant!
There was hardly anyone in the parks by then and we could just take our time finding a nice uncrowded spot for the parade. No one was around to squeeze into our space. Then we walked over to DL, which was also pretty uncrowded.
Dont ever do your shopping at DTD when the parks close. I dont know what we were thinking! But, to give credit to the CMs, even when I had to wait in a line that was 10 deep, it moved really fast.
Decorations:
It was all Ive heard and more. I cannot explain it. You just have to see it. Two things that stuck out in my mind was the snow at the end of the fireworks and the Santa Claus. It was very magical to see the snow fall over Main Street and I swear the park was silent as we watched it fall. (Note that you have to be between the buildings on Main Street to get the snow to fall on you.) And Santa was probably the best, most realistic one Ive ever seen. He stayed in character all the way to the CMs exit, saying ho, ho, ho to the kids, just the way Santa should sound. The line to take pics with Santa was insane, we passed it by.
Weather:
We were very lucky.
Most days got into the 70s. It was mid-60s one or two days. Chilly (50s?) at night. Not a drop of rain in the sky. If youre expecting fog, it will be colder. We all dressed in layers, which seemed to work best, but then you have to lug your extra layers around when it warms up.
CMs:
All except two that we met were outstanding. One couldnt figure out how to make hot chocolate and collect money and I swear it took her 5 minutes to serve each person in line. Another guy selling churros at DCA literally threw my change in front of me on the counter. Whatever!
Those people should go work at Knotts. 
Everyone else was terrific as usual.
We also visited Legoland for two days too. Its a nice little park for small kids. Clean and well-kept, but definitely not Disney. Thank God, we skipped Knotts in favor of a second day at Legoland.
We had a great trip. Sorry, this ended up being longer than I intended. Id be happy to answer questions if anyone has any.
I have already done a review of the hotel we stayed at, Residence Inn Anaheim, on the Disneyland board.
Here goes
Crowds:
As usual, first thing in the morning, no matter what day of the week, was the best time to visit the parks. Even though the parks opened later on the week days (10 am), the parks were very empty in the early morning hours. Because we have a little one, we hit Fantasyland first thing in the morning on the first day and found it to be virtually empty. (Hit Dumbo first and as many times as you can take it so you dont have to do it the rest of the day). Its my favorite time in the parks. The next day we opened DL, we headed straight to Autopia so DS could drive. Then on another day, we hit Critter Country first thing and rode Haunted Mansion (we were the only ones in the elevator) and Splash while DS visited Pooh.
We made limited use of FastPass, but it came in handy. We are finally starting to get the idea. I dont understand why anyone would knowingly wait in line for 45+ minutes when you can get a FP and wait maybe 10 minutes at the most.
Also, going to DCA first thing in the morning on Saturday was brilliant!
My brother and I rode California Screamin twice in a row and probably could have done it a few more times without waiting, but my head was starting to scream, so we moved on. DCA was desolate for the majority of the morning into lunchtime on Saturday. So if youre going to be at the parks on the weekend, hit DCA on Saturday no brainer!What surprised a lot of us was the crowds on a Thursday night! (Dec. 9th to be exact). It was packed for the Christmas parade. We couldnt believe it. There was an AP holder sitting near us at the parade and even she was shocked at the crowds. Friday night was quite crowded too.
[I shall digress here and note that DL is very dark at night. They need to do something about the lighting. It borders on unsafe. DCA, by contrast, is well-lit at night and quite pleasant.]
We waited until Sunday to see the Electrical Parade again brilliant!
There was hardly anyone in the parks by then and we could just take our time finding a nice uncrowded spot for the parade. No one was around to squeeze into our space. Then we walked over to DL, which was also pretty uncrowded.Dont ever do your shopping at DTD when the parks close. I dont know what we were thinking! But, to give credit to the CMs, even when I had to wait in a line that was 10 deep, it moved really fast.
Decorations:
It was all Ive heard and more. I cannot explain it. You just have to see it. Two things that stuck out in my mind was the snow at the end of the fireworks and the Santa Claus. It was very magical to see the snow fall over Main Street and I swear the park was silent as we watched it fall. (Note that you have to be between the buildings on Main Street to get the snow to fall on you.) And Santa was probably the best, most realistic one Ive ever seen. He stayed in character all the way to the CMs exit, saying ho, ho, ho to the kids, just the way Santa should sound. The line to take pics with Santa was insane, we passed it by.
Weather:
We were very lucky.
Most days got into the 70s. It was mid-60s one or two days. Chilly (50s?) at night. Not a drop of rain in the sky. If youre expecting fog, it will be colder. We all dressed in layers, which seemed to work best, but then you have to lug your extra layers around when it warms up.CMs:
All except two that we met were outstanding. One couldnt figure out how to make hot chocolate and collect money and I swear it took her 5 minutes to serve each person in line. Another guy selling churros at DCA literally threw my change in front of me on the counter. Whatever!
Those people should go work at Knotts. Everyone else was terrific as usual. We also visited Legoland for two days too. Its a nice little park for small kids. Clean and well-kept, but definitely not Disney. Thank God, we skipped Knotts in favor of a second day at Legoland.
We had a great trip. Sorry, this ended up being longer than I intended. Id be happy to answer questions if anyone has any.
