Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #2 (Closed)

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I know it's already been posted that Mickey & Minnie were skating and the dwarves were out t other parades (I saw them.) but with the princess float, I noticed snow/prince, belle/beast & aurora/Phillip would switch places between walking behind the float & being on it a they walked along the route

There was also Ariel and Eric. I didn't see Belle/Beast get up on the float last Saturday, but it's possible. It was just that in November, Belle/Beast were on the back of the float (on the steps) and did not get on/off at all (at least not either of times I saw the parade). I was just surprised at the changes since November, but it sounds like not all of the differences "permanent" changes.
 
Do we know for sure that the Jungle Cruise was closed because of the CP? Was this information confirmed anywhere? To me it doesn't seem like there would be any direct connection between the two, but there may be some behind-the-scenes reason for it. I just don't want to get on a 'blame the CP for everything' bandwagon (like the 'blame the locals' and 'blame the AP holders' bandwagons) unless we know for sure.:rotfl2:

Honestly, yes, there were crowds on Main Street on my CP nights - but a lot of them were due to the parade as well, at first. It was slightly more inconvenient, but compared to the crowds on New Year's Eve and some crowds I've seen in Adventureland in the past, I didn't think it was nearly as bad as I expected. On weekends it could be worse, of course - I was there on weeknights. And if the narrator is a big draw, that must have an effect too.
 
Sherry E said:
Do we know for sure that the Jungle Cruise was closed because of the CP? Was this information confirmed anywhere?


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We just returned yesterday from Disneyland and San Francisco--we had a very nice time. It was kind of a complicated--we had a large (37 person) graduation party for my daughter in San Francisco, since she graduated high school in November. We live in Seattle, so a trip to Disneyland followed by a party in our old city planned remotely was kind of :scared1:

We stayed at the Del Sol Inn, which was not fancy, but was clean, quiet and had some nice amenities. We loved the fresh baked cookies, and the nice pool deck. We ate lunch there--it was lovely and quiet. We also liked the fridge and microwave, and, of course, the proximity to the park. The disabled-accessible room was quite good; although it wouldn't be suitable for someone who was totally mobility impaired. For the price, it was a terrific deal.

Everything at the Disneyland Resort went beautifully. We rode the Radiator Springs Racers twice during our 5-day trip to Disneyland, and we kicked it off the night before our friend's ticket was valid with a trip to Goofy's Kitchen, and we hit the Surf's Up! Breakfast the morning before we headed off to San Francisco.

Overall, I have to agree with some other posters--while we had great interactions with the characters we saw at Goofy's Kitchen, it lacked something without the games and dancing for the children. Surf's Up! on the other hand, was great. In the middle of the week, we also hit the last seating at Storyteller's Cafe, and that was great too. Meeko came over and did a little dance with the graduate. We got a lot of time with both Meeko at Storyteller's and Stitch at the PCH.

I was amazed--somebody remembered our family from last Christmas, when my husband brought out his origami spaceships. They still remember the "Spaceship Guy," even a year later.

My daughter (16) loved decorating cookies as much as the little kids did--I stopped being able to do it a few years ago, and she admitted that she missed it. We really enjoyed the little show at the BBQ, and the Christmas makeover.

We also really liked seeing Santa in the department store in California Adventure, and the 3-D Prep & Landing show. We were really glad to see what a makeover both parks received for the holiday. Everybody in our party (16-55) had a great time.

Our friend (55), traveling with us, blew one of the dwarves a kiss during the Christmas Parade, and he made a "call me" sign with his hands, which left all of us in stitches.

The worst part of our whole trip was heading to San Francisco on United through SNA. We were traveling with two mobility scooters, and the front agent decided to consult with the hazmat team with regards to our sealed, tippable, FAA-certified mobility scooter battery--I have been traveling with a mobility scooter for many years (although always with Alaska), and have never had such a miserable check-in. It took us more than an hour to get checked in and through security. By the time we got through, we were all in a bad mood and very tired. We got some food from Ruby's Diner (which we miss, since it pulled out of WA), and started to feel more human. We boarded just fine, and got off the airplane--no scooters.

It turned out they had taken them to baggage claim, and it took 20 minutes to bring out scooters back to us. Then I called our hotel, and after being assured that the airport shuttle was "fully wheelchair accessible", found that it wasn't, and sent the rest of my family ahead. After waiting half an hour for the shuttle that was to be there in 15 minutes, it took the driver several tries to load my scooter, and he clearly did not know how to operate the lift, much less safely. After another 5 tries to unload me, I rolled into the hotel lobby, rolled up to the lift and saw a sign "Contact Front Desk for assistance". The front desk was up five steps and back from the lift.:furious:

After all of this, I had had it, and, with less grace than I should have displayed, I yelled "FRONT DESK!!!! I NEED ASSISTANCE!!!!", since that was the only way I would be able to do it. After that, things went better with the hotel (and slightly better with the shuttle).

The time at Disneyland and the party went off without a hitch, and they were the important things. Now we're waiting for an Early Action envelope to come from one of the colleges to which my daughter applied. popcorn::

Hope everyone has a great Christmas, and for all those yet to start their trips, have a great time! :santa:
 
Love the pics Sherry!! I'm curious about something, and was wondering your thoughts on something. With the CP moving to the Hyperion Theatre in 2013, what are your thoughts on DL having a similar event that WDW has, the MVMCP?? Just curious to your thoughts regarding this. More curious than anything else.

Trish -

Thank you!:goodvibes

I almost forgot to reply to you about the MVMCP.

I think there will be a DL version of MVMCP - either in 2013 or in 2014. I think we all know it's inevitable. I've said in the past that I think it's kind of a questionable choice to take a longstanding holiday fireworks show and a longstanding holiday parade and make them party exclusives. Those two things have been going on for years (unlike the Halloween Screams fireworks, which were only available to the general public for one year before becoming a party event), and to suddenly make them part of a separate party from roughly mid-November to the week of Christmas seems silly. Lots and lots of people (from all over - not just locals) have already seen these things and may not want to pay even more money to see them again.

It would make much more sense to me if Disney rolled out a whole new holiday parade and a whole new holiday fireworks show and made those part of a party...OR added in a whole new extra thing to the party to lure people in. The initial belief was that the Candlelight Processional could be destined for a paid party too. This is possibly why Disney ran it for so many nights this year - to lure people into it and get them to want to see it again next year.

However, now that I've seen the CP, to me it seems way too religious to stick into a Christmas party. Fireworks and a parade make sense, but the CP has a different tone to it and I don't think it would fit into a party vibe at all.

So, if the party happens in 2013 in Disneyland, then the CP will almost inevitably go to DCA. This is kind of too bad because I think the CP is so perfect in the Town Square setting.

But that brings me back to the party - seeing that the fireworks and parade are well-established and not new, what else will Disney add into the party to lure in the people who have already seen the parade and fireworks 100 times? There should be something else.

My opinion - though I am certain that this scenario will not come to fruition - is that Disney/TDA should start the Christmas party in California Adventure, just for the first year, and then move it over to DL in the years to come. They could do an all-holiday World of Color (not the current semi-holiday thing that they have) and unveil the holiday version of Toy Story Midway Mania that has been rumored for years - and make those the party exclusives. This way, there would be some all-new things to lure in the masses for a party.

But I think the party will be in DL, and it will hold the fireworks, snow and parade hostage for most of the holiday season, and the CP will sadly move over to DCA.




Thanks, Tom!

I had only walked past the Jungle Cruise and not paid attention to the signs. Do we know why JC closes? Is it (as figment_jii indicated) because of audible sounds from the ride, or is there some other reason? I'm just curious how the JC would affect the CP. They would seem far enough away from each other to not have an impact, but clearly that is not the case!

We just returned yesterday from Disneyland and San Francisco--we had a very nice time. It was kind of a complicated--we had a large (37 person) graduation party for my daughter in San Francisco, since she graduated high school in November. We live in Seattle, so a trip to Disneyland followed by a party in our old city planned remotely was kind of :scared1:

We stayed at the Del Sol Inn, which was not fancy, but was clean, quiet and had some nice amenities. We loved the fresh baked cookies, and the nice pool deck. We ate lunch there--it was lovely and quiet. We also liked the fridge and microwave, and, of course, the proximity to the park. The disabled-accessible room was quite good; although it wouldn't be suitable for someone who was totally mobility impaired. For the price, it was a terrific deal.

Everything at the Disneyland Resort went beautifully. We rode the Radiator Springs Racers twice during our 5-day trip to Disneyland, and we kicked it off the night before our friend's ticket was valid with a trip to Goofy's Kitchen, and we hit the Surf's Up! Breakfast the morning before we headed off to San Francisco.

Overall, I have to agree with some other posters--while we had great interactions with the characters we saw at Goofy's Kitchen, it lacked something without the games and dancing for the children. Surf's Up! on the other hand, was great. In the middle of the week, we also hit the last seating at Storyteller's Cafe, and that was great too. Meeko came over and did a little dance with the graduate. We got a lot of time with both Meeko at Storyteller's and Stitch at the PCH.

I was amazed--somebody remembered our family from last Christmas, when my husband brought out his origami spaceships. They still remember the "Spaceship Guy," even a year later.

My daughter (16) loved decorating cookies as much as the little kids did--I stopped being able to do it a few years ago, and she admitted that she missed it. We really enjoyed the little show at the BBQ, and the Christmas makeover.

We also really liked seeing Santa in the department store in California Adventure, and the 3-D Prep & Landing show. We were really glad to see what a makeover both parks received for the holiday. Everybody in our party (16-55) had a great time.

Our friend (55), traveling with us, blew one of the dwarves a kiss during the Christmas Parade, and he made a "call me" sign with his hands, which left all of us in stitches.

The worst part of our whole trip was heading to San Francisco on United through SNA. We were traveling with two mobility scooters, and the front agent decided to consult with the hazmat team with regards to our sealed, tippable, FAA-certified mobility scooter battery--I have been traveling with a mobility scooter for many years (although always with Alaska), and have never had such a miserable check-in. It took us more than an hour to get checked in and through security. By the time we got through, we were all in a bad mood and very tired. We got some food from Ruby's Diner (which we miss, since it pulled out of WA), and started to feel more human. We boarded just fine, and got off the airplane--no scooters.

It turned out they had taken them to baggage claim, and it took 20 minutes to bring out scooters back to us. Then I called our hotel, and after being assured that the airport shuttle was "fully wheelchair accessible", found that it wasn't, and sent the rest of my family ahead. After waiting half an hour for the shuttle that was to be there in 15 minutes, it took the driver several tries to load my scooter, and he clearly did not know how to operate the lift, much less safely. After another 5 tries to unload me, I rolled into the hotel lobby, rolled up to the lift and saw a sign "Contact Front Desk for assistance". The front desk was up five steps and back from the lift.:furious:

After all of this, I had had it, and, with less grace than I should have displayed, I yelled "FRONT DESK!!!! I NEED ASSISTANCE!!!!", since that was the only way I would be able to do it. After that, things went better with the hotel (and slightly better with the shuttle).

The time at Disneyland and the party went off without a hitch, and they were the important things. Now we're waiting for an Early Action envelope to come from one of the colleges to which my daughter applied. popcorn::

Hope everyone has a great Christmas, and for all those yet to start their trips, have a great time! :santa:

mellers -

It sounds like you had a mostly good holiday trip!

It's funny you mentioned Surf's Up, the Storytellers Critter Breakfast and Goofy's Kitchen. Those are the 3 character meals I have done (except Goofy's is a 20-year favorite of mine)...and I still prefer Goofy's above all!:rotfl2:

This was my first visit to Surf's Up (last week), and while I can definitely see that the characters have a lot of fun and are very playful and interactive with the guests, I really missed the huge selection of food at Goofy's (I like to have more choices). Plus, the scrambled eggs were creamy and weird (although I don't think the eggs at any of the character meals get rave reviews!).

Plus, I like that at Goofy's I usually have a minute or two to get settled in my chair, get my food and get my camera out before a character comes over. At Surf's Up, the very second our behinds hit the seats there were characters coming over and I didn't have my camera out, nor had I been to the buffet. I felt like everything was happening too quickly.

I guess I like to ease into my character meals rather than being launched into them, full throttle!:rotfl2: But I can certainly see where others would really enjoy the characters at Surf's Up!:thumbsup2
 
Thank you for the Nutcracker pictures! They sure are cute and my son will no doubt be on the look out for them during out trip. Less than a week now!! :cheer2:
 


I've started my trip report from our Dec. 4-8 trip. I've only just begun but expect lots of photos and lots of details from our trip. You can join in on the trip report at WE'RE CANCELLING CHRISTMAS. There's an index of posts on the first page that I'll keep updated as I add more details.

Here's a few of my favorite photos from the trip.
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[It sounds like you had a mostly good holiday trip!

It really was a good trip. Especially at Disneyland.

It's funny you mentioned Surf's Up, the Storytellers Critter Breakfast and Goofy's Kitchen. Those are the 3 character meals I have done (except Goofy's is a 20-year favorite of mine)...and I still prefer Goofy's above all!:rotfl2:

Goofy's was my longtime favorite, but it's slowly been edged out by Surf's Up. I see your points, though.
 
I didn't want to quote and post them all again, but what great photos you got pixleyyy. Love them!


We just returned yesterday from our 3 night birthday celebration trip. Had a wonderful time. The Candlelight Processional was truly amazing and probably the highlight of my trip. Thanks to Sheri's great tips, we were in the right place at the right time and got seats. I did love all the decorations. And my son and I both thought Racers and Carsland in general were simply amazing.
 
I didn't want to quote and post them all again, but what great photos you got pixleyyy. Love them!


We just returned yesterday from our 3 night birthday celebration trip. Had a wonderful time. The Candlelight Processional was truly amazing and probably the highlight of my trip. Thanks to Sheri's great tips, we were in the right place at the right time and got seats. I did love all the decorations. And my son and I both thought Racers and Carsland in general were simply amazing.

Oh that's awesome, Tracey!

I'm so glad that my tips/info helped somewhat with getting the CP seats!:cheer2::cool1: Who was your narrator?

And I totally agree about the CP - I knew that I wanted to see the CP because I am a huge Christmas fanatic and a huge Christmas music fan (plus, I grew up going to church and sat through many Christmas services or shows as a kid), but I had no idea that it would be sooo amazing...and moving! I think it was the highlight of my trip, too (in fact, I am calling my current TR "Candlelight & Cannonballs..." as an homage to the CP)!

When the young man started singing "Silent Night," I was totally transfixed and hypnotized. And then when we all got to sing along, I was getting unexpectedly choked up (but so was everyone around me) for no apparent reason.

I can only imagine that, in the wake of the horrific tragedy that took place in CT last week, the subsequent CP ceremonies have been even more powerful and emotional.
 
Thanks for your response Sherry, I appreciate your thoughts on a potential MVMCP for DL. I tend to agree that it would be a better fit in CA over DL. However, since TDA has had so much success with the MHP, it wouldn't surprise me if they were to have a Christmas party to have it in DL. If it were to happen during the dates I'm planning on going, I probably wouldn't go it. I found the last MHP that I attended to be very heavy crowds and hard to move from land to land in Sept/11. I'm going solo during Christmas time, first off cause DH is letting me go, and I want to experience it first hand, as I'm a Christmas junkie.
 
Sherri- we were told the jungle cruise is too noisy, so they do not run it for CP... So if you want to ride it at night, line up around 8:45 to be near the front of the line when it opens at 9.
 
I love looking at all these pictures! Gets me very excited for our trip next December! :)

Question: Is the afternoon parade less crowded than the evening parade? I thought I read during the holiday season they run it twice daily....forgive me if I am mistaken.
 
I love looking at all these pictures! Gets me very excited for our trip next December! :)

Question: Is the afternoon parade less crowded than the evening parade? I thought I read during the holiday season they run it twice daily....forgive me if I am mistaken.

We went to the later of two parades on Dec. 7. There was a 1pm parade that we didn't go to but showed up at 2 and had to quickly snag spots so we could be curbside for the 3:30 parade. Definitely busy!
 
I love looking at all these pictures! Gets me very excited for our trip next December! :)

Question: Is the afternoon parade less crowded than the evening parade? I thought I read during the holiday season they run it twice daily....forgive me if I am mistaken.

There was only one parade the day we went, but we noticed that the area around the bathrooms near Alice in Wonderland did not fill up nearly as fast as the area on Main Street. We staked out a spot there and had a wonderful view of the parade.
 
There was only one parade the day we went, but we noticed that the area around the bathrooms near Alice in Wonderland did not fill up nearly as fast as the area on Main Street. We staked out a spot there and had a wonderful view of the parade.

For the viewing areas not on Main Street, how early did you have to stake out a spot?
 
For the viewing areas not on Main Street, how early did you have to stake out a spot?

You could get a spot about 30-45 minutes before the parade without a huge amount of trouble. We had two people in wheelchairs--if we were a little more mobile, and didn't care about being RIGHT AT the front, we could have found something at 20 minutes before the parade. Keep in mind, though, this was the middle of the week during the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas Break for most schools.
 
I love looking at all these pictures! Gets me very excited for our trip next December! :)

Question: Is the afternoon parade less crowded than the evening parade? I thought I read during the holiday season they run it twice daily....forgive me if I am mistaken.

As the PPs said it does run twice, once at 1 pm and then again at 3:30 pm. Both parades seemed busy last weekend. However, if you are willing to be further back in the crowd, then there are still spaces available pretty close to the time the parade goes by. I would stake out a spot about 30-45 minutes early if you want a good view. However it's likely to be much more crowded the closer it gets to Christmas so keep that in mind.
 
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