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cstephens
12-19-2009, 11:25 AM
I went down to the Disneyland Resort on Friday (12/18) night to meet some people for dinner at Downtown Disney. The husband got there before me so was giving me some updates. When I drove by on Harbor at about 7:40pm, the Harbor entrance to the parking lot was closed, and signs were directing people to park at the convention center for theme park parking. There were also signs directing people to Downtown Disney parking, but in the lot closer to the Paradise Pier hotel, which is where a friend ended up parking. There was a long line of cars stretching down Harbor Blvd. to make the right turn on Katella. There were also signs saying that Disneyland was full (though I don't know what level of "full" they were at) but that DCA was still available.

When the husband got there around 6:40pm, the Mickey and Friends parking structure was very crowded, with a long line of cars waiting to get in but the structure was still open at that point, even though he said they were re-parking floors with no CM assistance, so lots of people were just driving up and down the lanes looking for a space. We decided it would be better for me to park at Downtown Disney, but the normal entrance from Magic Way was closed if you were going westbound. They were only letting cars into the lot if you were going eastbound on Magic Way (a decision that I don't understand at all), so the husband gave me instructions on how to get that way. The regular DTD lot was already full, so everyone was being directed to the Lilo lot, which didn't have too many cars in it when I parked.

We had dinner and then stopped by the new D Street store, but I never ventured over to even bag check, so I have no idea how crowded that was.

As I was walking back to my car, I heard Fantasmic, so whether it was scheduled or added later, they had an 11:30pm show last night.

We're going to be at the resort on the 26th, so I expect it will be very crowded then too.

yohomama212
12-19-2009, 03:06 PM
Thanks for the report. We're taking the kids Monday morning and Tuesday night. We've been so busy and they still haven't seen Murphy! We will be prepared for the crowds thanks to the updates here!

Elizabeth

K & S
12-19-2009, 04:00 PM
Last night was the last night for So Cal APs to visit the park while the Christmas Decorations are up. It was also opening day for Mr Lincoln and the ELP.

Those factors may have greatly added to the large crowd.

disney42dude
12-19-2009, 09:14 PM
Last night was the last night for So Cal APs to visit the park while the Christmas Decorations are up. It was also opening day for Mr Lincoln and the ELP.

Those factors may have greatly added to the large crowd.

I'd say that's exactly what is was. I'd bet Jan. 3rd will be about the same if not worse.

cstephens
12-19-2009, 09:29 PM
A friend was at the resort tonight and said the "full" signs were up again, so it can't just be the APs that were making it crowded last night.

mkraemer
12-20-2009, 08:50 PM
Based on my clients' travels, some people are heading to Disneyland right when their kids get out of school for the winter break (ours started on Friday) and be home by Christmas. Others are there for the holidays, and then, depending on the school district, others are coming after New Years because their kids' schools don't resume until the second week in January.

When I talk to people about going to Disneyland (or Walt Disney World) during the holidays, I avoid using the word 'crowded' and prefer to use the term 'very popular' instead! ;)

Teddi
12-21-2009, 11:41 AM
Was told by a CM on Friday 12/18 that it was actually a hard closure and that in the evening everyone was being redirected to DCA and they extended the DCA hours later that night. Saturday 12/19 I was able to re-enter Disneyland (hand stamping was required both 12/18 adn 12/19) at about 6:30 with no problems, though the park was very very busy that day.

yohomama212
12-21-2009, 06:52 PM
We were there today from about 12:30 to almost 4. We headed to the parking structure and were parked on Minnie. I could see that all the other levels were full as we drove up. We waited half an hour for a tram, they were loading on two sides and in that half hour the two trams that came by both loaded on the same side (not ours) so we decided to walk in. We watched the trams go by and the people who had been behind us in line were just getting there as we were getting to the tram area, so it was an even split.

The lines to the ticket booths were full and then some. The lines at the gates were past the monorail tracks but not quite halfway across the esplanade but they moved quickly.

We went straight to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and got there just before they opened the doors for the show. We lucked out with front row center seats. A nice viewpoint overall, but a little too close for the video portion IMO.

From there we headed up to IASW. The CMs said the line was 45 minutes to one hour, we got in near the entrance to Toontown, it wrapped around up by the parade route and came back down and we were in a boat within half an hour.

We needed to get going at that point so we took a monorail out and walked to the parking structure. The wait wasn't too long for a train, maybe 10 minutes. We noticed when we got to the tram loading area that there was practically no wait, that was 4pm.

We plan on getting there close to 4 tomorrow and if I've got enough energy after Fantasmic! and fireworks, I'll update ASAP.

Elizabeth

princessariel
12-22-2009, 07:56 AM
i was there on the 18th, and it was SUPER crowded. we arrived around 8, and dland was full, so we went to CA adventure. it was not so bad in the walkways there. a 25 minute line for screamin, but ovr an hr for Toy story and 55 for soarin. at about 9:30 we heard that dland was open again so we headed over there. big mistake. the fireworks were just letting out and we got stuck in a HUGE crowd on main street. it took us 30 min. just to get to the castle :eek: one walkway was completly stopped and the CMs were confused. i thought this was odd because usually they are better at crowd control. i think just every other socal AP wanted to come that night :rolleyes: oh well, but a word of advice for others, never get on main street after the fireworks :)

zombie pirate
12-22-2009, 10:56 AM
I wouldnt go to Disneyland this time a year even if I had free tickets. I hate spending allmost a hour in line for most of the rides.

Malcon10t
12-22-2009, 09:33 PM
OK, this is how crowded (or cold) it was tonight... The 8pm showing of Tiki Room was standing room only!

THpoohbear
12-22-2009, 11:32 PM
WOW! I've never seen standing room only at the Tiki Room!

jswtsang
12-23-2009, 06:52 AM
I went on Saturday for my birthday and it was pretty crowded, in fact people were getting downright rude, a lady was directing traffic and they ignored her, so she asked the guard to help her and they walked by her and the guard, then other people shoved by her so forcefully that she fell :(.

I did have a question if anyone was there that night/day, there were tons of teenagers dressed in day glo colors and overed in Pony beads, you know the ones you get in camp? They had them all over their belts and all up their arms, some very elaborate with scenes of alice in wonderland, or mario brothers...does anyone know what they were, i.e. I was thinking they were like the opposite of goth, b/c they were so colorful. I was just wonderig if this is a new teenage fad, a disneyland thing, or if all the colorful bead people were meeting there like on bat day or gay days.

There were just too many of them for it to be a coincidence IMHO.

jt

K & S
12-23-2009, 06:55 AM
A friend was at the resort tonight and said the "full" signs were up again, so it can't just be the APs that were making it crowded last night.

I guess that was just wishful thinking on my part.

:(

Malcon10t
12-23-2009, 06:58 AM
WOW! I've never seen standing room only at the Tiki Room!I haven't either! That is why it really surprised me. We are used to having a side bench to ourselves. MDM started to put her leg up on the bench (she is in the walking cast, and wanted to elevate it) but the seats were needed for people. It ended up with about 5 guys standing by the exit door through the show.

disneyland addict13
12-23-2009, 09:21 AM
We were in the parks from Wednesday the 16th until Monday the 21st, staying at the Grand Californian. Although we all felt that it was extremely busy, we found ways to avoid the crowds and still managed to have an amazingly pleasant time.

We used Early Entry every day that it was offered and sometimes found that instead of riding rides during Early Entry, it was nice to just walk around the park and enjoy its emptiness. We also took this time to take many gorgeous pictures with almost no people in them.

Every day, we took a nap from about 1 PM to 4 PM when the parks were extremely crowded and when the weather was warmest. It definitely helped us to recharge and made the rest of our day much more enjoyable.

Another key for us was utilizing FastPasses. In the morning, we collected FastPasses for Space, Indy, Haunted Mansion, and Big Thunder when the return times were in only about 30-45 minutes. Then, we used those FastPasses at night when the lines were on average about an hour long. This saved us from ever having to wait in a line that was more than about 40 minutes.

Overall, my entire family loved the trip. My mom was thrilled to spend her birthday in the park, and we absolutely LOVED Napa Rose on the 20th. The food and service were both amazing. We were seated at the chef's counter and so we had Sous Chef Alex design a meal for us. We were always pleasantly surprised by what delicious food he placed in front of us. The braised short ribs were to die for!

Although the parks were very crowded, we found something special to do every day and had such a magical time. It was our first visit during the holiday season, and we definitely plan to do so again.

Sheila
12-23-2009, 03:10 PM
I did have a question if anyone was there that night/day, there were tons of teenagers dressed in day glo colors and overed in Pony beads, you know the ones you get in camp? They had them all over their belts and all up their arms, some very elaborate with scenes of alice in wonderland, or mario brothers...does anyone know what they were, i.e. I was thinking they were like the opposite of goth, b/c they were so colorful. I was just wonderig if this is a new teenage fad, a disneyland thing, or if all the colorful bead people were meeting there like on bat day or gay days.

I was there on Saturday as well. Those kids you saw were most likely part of the Rave counterculture. Many of the brightly-colored beads and other decorations are references back to certain illicit substances consumed whilst at a rave event. ;)

potzbie
12-23-2009, 05:11 PM
A friend was at the resort ... and said the "full" signs were up again ...

Speaking for myself, I want to hear when (i.e., day of the week, and the hour)
(a.) DL puts up the "Full" signs, or
(b.) DL stops entry into DL (i.e., redirects people to DCA).

Indeed, I try to keep a mental record of which weekends (MLK day, Easter, etc.) are the heaviest, and plan my visit accordingly.
Year after year, I should build up a good knowledge base of the "worst" days.

MouseVII
12-23-2009, 05:15 PM
Speaking for myself, I want to hear when (i.e., day of the week, and the hour)
(a.) DL puts up the "Full" signs, or
(b.) DL stops entry into DL (i.e., redirects people to DCA).

Indeed, I try to keep a mental record of which weekends (MLK day, Easter, etc.) are the heaviest, and plan my visit accordingly.
Year after year, I should build up a good knowledge base of the "worst" days.
Don't know that exact time, but last Saturday the 19th I left DL to go to DCA around 11:30-12pm and the signs were already up. Hope this helps.

jswtsang
12-24-2009, 06:00 AM
I was there on Saturday as well. Those kids you saw were most likely part of the Rave counterculture. Many of the brightly-colored beads and other decorations are references back to certain illicit substances consumed whilst at a rave event. ;)

Thank you Sheila, I asked at work, and that's what people thought, but I always thought Rave people had those glow sticks and went out at night so it confused me :)

Quite frankly I'm surprised they got in like that b/c their appearance was almost costumish, I know my friend nearly got denied entrance on her birthday one year b/c she wore a tutu, until she started sobbing because she hadn't brought any other clothing with her and then they took pity on her. I also saw teenage girls in tutus, so maybe they've relaxed the policy.

Mystery solved for me :)

jt

Sansarc
12-24-2009, 09:29 PM
We were at DLR on 12/21 from about 10:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. At that point, we returned to our hotel for two hours and returned at around 4:30 p.m. When we were driving toward the park (my husband acted as our shuttle driver), the electronic signs said that DLR was "full." However, when my son and I reached the entrance, we were allowed in -- so I'm not sure what the "full" sign meant? Our hands were stamped each time we exited the park -- even though we told them that we had received the stamps earlier. It didn't seem to matter. They stamped our hands repeatedly. The wait times were long for Splash Mountain, but then Big Thunder posted a wait time of 40 minutes and it was only 15 minutes. Pirates had a wait time of 50 minutes, but we got on the ride in 30 minutes. Is this common? Are the wait times usually over-estimated? Peter Pan had the only accurate wait time (60 minutes). We actually went on this ride much later, after dinner -- at about 10:30 p.m. DLR was crowded all day, but not unbearably so. We just adjusted our schedule for it. We got fast passes -- which helped enormously. We also ate dinner at Catal's -- so it was a relief to leave the park and relax for a while. Shopping wasn't as horrible as I'd imagined either -- I've been in the stores during Xmas season when you can't even get near a cash register. This wasn't the case on Monday. We didn't return to the park on 12/22 as we'd planned -- so I can't comment on that day. But the 12/21 was manageable. We all had a nice time.

Angie2009
12-26-2009, 09:19 PM
We were there 12/23, as planned did morning and evening with a break in the PM. We went over to DCA at around 1130 and needed hand stamps to get in - I hadn't heard of DCA closing to new entrants before, but our DL handstamps got us in.

We didn't wait in any lines but I think that's because we just did early morning rides at DL then Jedi training at 10:30, then went over to DCA and did bugs land which wasn't busy (is it ever busy?). In the evening we did Matterhorn immediately after fireworks and Pirates during Fantasmic and there weren't waits to speak of. It was very crowded.

mckygirl99
12-27-2009, 03:34 PM
Has anyone been since the 24th? I am asking since most of the APers are blocked out now. Thinking about taking my 2 year old to see the snow tonight.

HauntedKid
12-27-2009, 03:41 PM
I`m going this weekend, saturday second, do you think it will be to crowded, I`m taking my mom and my bro cuz they haven`t been there for the holidays... :)

cstephens
12-27-2009, 08:15 PM
We were there for a bit on Saturday the 26th, and it was busy but not jam-packed crowded. Parking in the afternoon wasn't an issue at all, and there were no signs even saying that the parks were crowded or any requirements for hand-stamped, which they did on Christmas day, a friend told us.