OFFICIAL 2018 Christmas & Holiday Time at DLR Superthread!!

My sister and I are planning to be there December 1st! Probably a park hopper, unless we decide to do just California Adventure.
 
We are going December 26-January 1st. We’ve been to WDW about 8 times, first time going to DL. We are super excited but worried about how busy it will be. Can’t wait to start planning.
 
December 8-13 for us. Staying close at Desert Inn. It's been years since we've been there for the holidays. Can't wait for Small World!
 


1craftymom said:
We are going December 26-January 1st. We’ve been to WDW about 8 times, first time going to DL. We are super excited but worried about how busy it will be. Can’t wait to start planning.
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This is the time frame we went last year! I have so many tips if you want to hear them! It will be very very busy but we had an amazing trip!
 
PirateRedhead said:
I'd LOVE to hear all your tips!
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Alright. Here are my tips for surviving Disneyland the week between Christmas and New Years.

- have realistic expectations. The parks will be very busy and crowded. Have each person in your group pick 1-2 must do things each day. Make those a priority and anything else is extra.
-if your budget allows, do character meals, and show dinning packages. Character lines in the park will be long. The meals are a great way to see them. The shows will be full full full. The packages garuntee great viewing. We did B.B. fantasmic, world of color dessert party, surfs up, plaza inn and at the time Ariel’s grotto which isn’t open anymore.
- EARLY! If you are staying on site use your early entry every single day. If you have a magic morning use it. Arrive at park opening everyday. It’s not overly advertised but the last few years Disneyland offered magic morning at Disneypark every morning the week after Christmas instead of the usual 3 days. So we used ours on a wednesday.. and because it wasn’t super advertised the park was slow the first hour! We got so much done! So look into that!
-maxpass. Use it. No arguments. The liens for the paper fastpasses will even be long.
-if you only have one magic morning, you can make reservations at plaza inn on a day you don’t have magic morning to use but it’s still offered for before the park opens. Great way to get in early and start book fast passes while you eat via maxpass!
-capacity. Disneyland park will hit capacity. This means a few things. 1. They will stop admiting new guests for awhile- usually until evening time. This means if you have hoppers and are even planning to start the day in DCA, go get scanned in at Disneyland and then you will be able to get back in. There are diffferent levels of capacity closures and that’s the first one. If you plan to take an afternoon break at the hotel ask a CM before you leave if getting back in is going to be a problem. Another level of closures is only those with reservations. Our fantasmic package reservation got us back in one day. They have a CM holding a huge binder with all the reservations. We had ours printed out and we just showed it to the CM. Saved some time. DCA never hits capacity- so you can always head over there.
- parades- this year they are offering a dinning package and for your dates I would highly encourage it if the parade is a must do. We found good seats but waiting about 1.5 hours. I took kiddo on some rides while daddy sat with sleeping baby, so it worked out.
-Have fun! We had an amazing trip. It’s freeing to know we can rock Disneyland even on the craziest busiest day. I don’t even worry about crowd levels with planning really after that expirence.
-
 


katyringo said:
... DCA never hits capacity- so you can always head over there...
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Great tips, but be aware that DCA has been known to hit capacity a few times in the past! Definitely rare, but it can happen. So just stay aware -- always ask CMs, keep watching those twitter feeds, etc. Knowledge is power, especially at DLR!
 
theluckyrabbit said:
Great tips, but be aware that DCA has been known to hit capacity a few times in the past! Definitely rare, but it can happen. So just stay aware -- always ask CMs, keep watching those twitter feeds, etc. Knowledge is power, especially at DLR!
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Oh really?! I can’t imagine DCA at capacity that would be crazy amount of people!! I was there the day this year the power went at Disneyland- dec 27th. Also a capacity day. People ran to DCA... we were there and I looked my husband and was like “it got so crowded so fast!!!”

I’m sure Star Wars land will change everything we ever knew.
 
2tinkerbell said:
Doing the Happy Dance - we got our Blue Bayou Dining Package this morning!
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I booked our Fantasmic! dining package this morning too! One more ADR to book tomorrow for our departure day and our trip planning is complete. 54 more days!
 
katyringo said:
Alright. Here are my tips for surviving Disneyland the week between Christmas and New Years.

-. Disneyland park will hit capacity. This means a few things. 1. They will stop admiting new guests for awhile- usually until evening time. This means if you have hoppers and are even planning to start the day in DCA, go get scanned in at Disneyland and then you will be able to get back in. There are diffferent levels of capacity closures and that’s the first one.
-
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So, if we go to DL first, and then jump over to DCA. We will be able to get back into DL even it hit capacity? is that correct?
 
Joining in on the thread! We will be there Nov 21 - 24th staying the the DLH for the first time (eeek!). Can't wait. :-)
 
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