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Cinderelli
12-07-2003, 06:17 PM
My husband and I are taking our children to Disneyland this month. They are almost 5 yrs. and 3 yrs. old. I can't wait to see the park thru their eyes - especially since this is their first experience. Is xmas eve or xmas known to be particularly busy at the park?

DisneyFan25863
12-07-2003, 06:56 PM
Ha. Haha. Have Fun. Don't expect to get onto any rides, though ;)

TP2000
12-07-2003, 09:45 PM
Christmas Eve is extremely busy, and the Park closes at 8pm even though it should be open until Midnight with all the crowds. But Disney has this thing where they send their employees home to be with their families or something silly like that. No Fantasmic! on Christmas Eve because of the early closing time.

Christmas Day is insanely, insanely busy. The Park is open until Midnight of course, but it's just painfully crowded. Get there early because Christmas Day is often one of the days during that week where they have to close the turnstiles because the Park is maxed out with people. If you leave in the afternoon for a hotel nap, be prepared to not be allowed back in to the Park until later in the evening. There are certain areas of the Park, mostly Adventureland and Critter County, where it is so crowded that it's probably not a good idea to take young children into. It's just not safe, and it's often gridlocked with people and you can't move for minutes at a time and children tend to get scared.

Are you sure you can't put the visit off for two or three weeks? You're not going to be able to do much, and the crowds will prevent the children from actually seeing much besides strangers knees and elbows.

Ghoulish Delight
12-07-2003, 09:47 PM
Go on Christmas Eve. That's the day people tend to stay home with and do the family thing, Chirstmas day is when they tend to take the family to the park. The emptiest I've EVER seen the park was on a rainy Christmas Eve. Almost completely deserted.

Now, I don't expect it'll be as empty as it was when I went (about 11 years ago) because the park is more crowded in general. But given the choice between the two dates, and compared to other days during the season, Chirstmas Eve will probably be the least crowded day of the month.

TP2000
12-07-2003, 09:50 PM
Originally posted by Ghoulish Delight
Now, I don't expect it'll be as empty as it was when I went (about 11 years ago) because the park is more crowded in general. But given the choice between the two dates, and compared to other days during the season, Chirstmas Eve will probably be the least crowded day of the month.

Trust me, it's ridiculously crowded the last two weeks of December now. It's gotten completely out of hand in just the past three or four years.

Cinderelli
12-08-2003, 09:20 AM
Thank you everyone for your insight. I think we'll stay away from the park both of those days. We're actually very flexible as to when we can go. It's just that the kids are excited, so we'd like to go sometime soon. Although, I wouldn't want their first experience to be hellishly crowded. I'd much rather wait. We're local, so we won't be staying at hotel .... just hopping into the car and spending the day at the park for some fun. So, is it best to wait until after NY's to go or is the park just packed the entire time b/n xmas and NY's since kids are out of school?

Morrigoon
12-08-2003, 10:08 AM
Bring them to Sunday's potluck.

Cinderelli
12-08-2003, 12:07 PM
What's that Morrigoon?

The Mouse Is Back
12-08-2003, 04:41 PM
If your schedule is really flexible, take them on a weekday within the next week, before most schools are out on winter break.

Santa is there, there is cookie decorating on Main Street, all the decorations are up, they can see the parade and the fireworks. Even though it's more crowded than, say, a weekday in the middle of January, it's still manageable.

:)



-Allegra-

eor1222
12-08-2003, 06:00 PM
My wife and I spent Christmas Eve afternoon and evening at Disneyland two years ago (2001), and the place felt very empty. Most rides we went on were either no wait or 5-10 minutes at the most. We actually expected a larger crowd, but never saw it.

I don't know what Christmas Eve 2002 was like, but from our experience two years ago, I'd recommend going on Christmas Eve to anyone. (It probably IS a good assumption, however, to avoid Christmas Day. That and New Year's Day, too.)

Morrigoon
12-09-2003, 11:15 AM
Cinderelli:

Monorailman's birthday is this week. To celebrate, we're having a mousepad potluck in the picnic area on Sunday. See the thread in the lounge. We love meeting lurkers and new members :)

eor1222
12-09-2003, 03:23 PM
Originally posted by Morrigoon
Cinderelli:

Monorailman's birthday is this week. To celebrate, we're having a mousepad potluck in the picnic area on Sunday. See the thread in the lounge. We love meeting lurkers and new members :)

Must be the weekend of birthdays. The guitarist in my church's worship band also has a birthday this week, and we're celebrating Sunday evening at Rainforest Cafe (as luck would have it, 2/3 of the band has passes, too).

Happy birthday, whoever Monorailman is!