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sbonar
04-14-2006, 07:28 PM
I thought I would get on and ask all you Disney experts. I would like to take my family to Disneyland for Christmas and was wondering if I should buy the tickets now or wait and see if any specials come out.

Thanks so much in advance.

Scott

Monte Cristo
04-14-2006, 07:55 PM
When you say "tickets", what type of tickets are you referring to? If airline, then yes - I wouldn't buy any right now because depending on where you're coming from odds are good that a sale will run. However, don't wait too long (tricky, ain't it? ;) ).

If you mean park tickets, my answer would be: it doesn't matter. You can wait up until your trip if you like as prices don't tend to fluctuate and if there are any specials running after you purchase, Disney will usually honor it.

GrumpyUTboi
04-14-2006, 09:03 PM
My advice, DON'T DO IT!!!! I did not listen to the people here and we had a miserable time! The crowds were beyond any description. We have 4 children and the wait time was 2 hours per ride except for the Pooh ride. We spent 6 days at DCA where the crowds were smaller.

Did I mention that the wait time per ride was 2 hours? If not the wait time was two hours. There were so many people there that we couldn't enjoy the decorations. The biggest pain was when everyone decided to sit down in the middle of the street and to cross from one side to the other was impossible. But if you like 70,000+ individuals bumping into you, stealing your strollers and other things of that nature then knock yourself out.

On the bright side, because it was such a disaster I promised my kids that I would take them in April and that is what we are doing next week. We figure that the crowds will be half of what they were at Christmas time. I just wished that I would have listened to the people here about Christmas time, something that I will do in the future.

WITron
04-14-2006, 09:11 PM
Just a word of caution if you do buy your tickets now. There is a promotion running where you either get a kid's ticket free or you get an adult's ticket for a kid's price. These tickets expire in May I believe.

Stitch Lover
04-14-2006, 10:59 PM
i have heard like GrumpyUTboi said that the crowds near and on christmas day are crazy....but i went the first week of Dec. 2004 and 2005 and i had a GREAT time!:D i was able to enjoy the decorations and i don't remember the lines for the rides being that long. so you could always take your family late Nov. and early Dec. as a early christmas present. just a suggestion:)

ILovePoker
04-14-2006, 11:45 PM
From December 22nd to January 1st. Disneyland and (possibly California Adventure) can both hit maximum capacity, meaning guests who come after the parks hit capacity will not be allowed in. Christmas is really the only time of year that the parks hit capacity. I would advise not going at all.

momuvseven
04-15-2006, 04:41 AM
Let me give another opinion. We came down for December 26 through Jan 1st this past year. It was the experience of a lifetime. We had heard all the horror stories too about crowds, waits and park closure due to capicity.

We had an awesome time, we never waited two hours for anything. In fact the opposite was true. For the first time we saw Santa, Mrs. Claus and the reindeer. No waiting at all and my kids spent a few hours in this area and we have the most wonderful pictures. The ones who didn't beleive in Santa had the magic renewed and believe once again.

We had the best Character breakfast at the Plaza.

We went on dozens and dozens of rides everyday. Saw the parade and fantasmic repeatedly. We never did get real good seats for the fireworks but we still saw them each night. We just aren't into sitting and holding seats for hours.

Yes there was rain, there were crowds, we did leave early on New Year's Eve cause we just got tired and we weren't up to the really big crowds that poured in that night after about 8pm. We heard from others that stayed and had an awesome time.

My kids that went with us were ages 2-12, so we were plenty busy. They all had a great time and went on every ride they wanted to except SPace Mountain.

Space mountain had just opened and all the fast passes were gone as quick as they opened the machines each morning. Again we made the choice not to camp out for two hours to get on it. Mom and the 2 year old couldn't ride anyways. During the two hours while other people were camping out in the morning there was not any wait at all for the other rides in Tomorrow Land or Fantasy Land.

DCA we never waited for anything more than fifteen minutes and we went on everything we wanted to that day as well. The worst wait was actually a caterpiller choo choo train that my 2 year old wanted to ride.

Our secret is we get up early and when the crowds get thick around noon we are leaving to nap, swim, shower and eat. Once we are refreshed we come back and enjoy the evening hours. If we want to ride something and we don't like the wait time we go elsewhere and come back later.

It was our dream to be there for the holidays and our expectations were met. I would do it again without hesitation. Ideally I would have loved to have traveled during the slow weeks but with school and work schedules that is not going to happen. It was everything I hoped for and more.

No one has ever stolen any of our belongings in the DLR, DCA or area hotels. We feel very safe in Anaheim.

I have to leave so we can be first in line in the morning before the Easter crowds arrive :fez: Off for a great trip!!!!

GrumpyUTboi
04-15-2006, 05:33 AM
I'm glad that mom had a wonderful time this past Christmas, but as I have said the parks reached capacity and when some jerk stole our strollers and we had to get new ones we were told that if we left the park to get the stroller that was right outside the gate that we would not be able to get back in due to reached capacity. Fortunatley with enough persuasion the person at the gate went and got our strollers. If not we would have had a 3 and 4 year old walking around the park.

This past year from Dec 18- Dec 25 ir rained one night around 9 pm. So at that point, yes the crowds subsided. As for the 2 hour waits I got to watch the two little ones while the bigger kids and the Mrs Grumpy went on rides. I can show you pics with dates and times of waiting. While waiting for the family to go on Splash Mountain, the line was so long that it backed up into the line waiting for HM. I will say that we didn't have to hardly wait to get on the Pooh ride. I rode that ride 15 time while waiting for the family on SM.

Buy a lock for your stroller, as we finally learned after having it stolen several times. THere is nothing like walking with a 3 and 4 year old from Toon Town back to the gate to get a stroller only to be told that if we walked out we couldn't get back in. We'll stick to the slow weeks.

Crazy4DL
04-15-2006, 07:16 AM
I seriously believe, attitude is a big part of anyone's DL experience.

If you know ahead of time that large amounts of people or waiting in lines is going to be very frustrating for you and/or your family Christmas break (last couple of weeks of Dec - first few days of Jan) is probably not a good choice.

We have been with our entire family twice at Christmas and we love love love the holiday decorations/season. The first Christmas 1989, we had teenage kids with us and I don't remember it being cold, the lines were no problems, we have never had anything stolen from us at DL. Christmas of 2003 we were there again, it was crowded - that doesn't really bother me at DL, the weather threw us a bit that time. We had babies with us and it was COLD at night and rained a time or two. Still, we had a ball, wonderful memories, and nothing missing. :)

We are so excited to be at Disneyland, it would take a lot to dampen our spirits. :D

SeansMom
04-15-2006, 08:10 AM
Something else to take into consideration: Mr. Grumpy was there This past year from Dec 18- Dec 25. Momuvseven was there December 26 through Jan 1st. I really have no idea, but crowd levels DO vary, so they may have been dealing with just enough differences in crowds to make their experiences a lot different, as well.
What (I think) sbonar really needs to know is that it WILL be crowded, and having a plan of action beforehand is the only way to go. Whether it's Ridemax, or just a good idea of how to handle the timing of visits (in early, leave during the afternoon crush, return later).
It's also good to know how you do in crowds. I wouldn't go during that time period because I hate being jostled by crowds (what I call personal space Mickey calls room for seven!) In that sense, Mr. Grumpy's warning is a good one for all of us who want to maximize their visit with short lines, few crowds, and gates that don't close due to capacity being reached.

Genris
04-15-2006, 08:31 AM
We were there this past Christmas from the 27th through the 30th. Our experience matched Momuv's. We had the trip of a lifetime, and saw, for the first time with our kids, HMH, Small World with the Holiday overlay, the Christmas Parade and all the wonderful Christmas decorations. It was really magical.

Yes the crowds were huge, and the park reached capacity before noon. I think every day we were there. But we never waited more than 20 minutes for ANYTHING. Being Disney veterans, and using the info from here, we planned itineraries and made good use of early admission, parade times, and fast passes. We showed up at the gate nearly an hour early, ate our breakfast in line, and got to know some other Disney die-hards. We rode Space Mountain 4 times in one day :D We rode everything we wanted to ride, and most things more than once. We saw the fireworks several times, and the parades. I think we saw fantasmic (can't remember for sure). Lots of character greets, lots of great dining.

Our kids are a bit older (they were 10 and 6 on this trip) so they move quickly, and have more tolerance for riding things when it makes "sense" rather than because that's what they want to ride "right this minute". I know that makes a huge difference.

We also went this past Summer, and although it was crowded then too, they did not reach capacity. That trip felt MUCH worse. People are gumpy when they are hot and crowded. Being packed like sardines in that park is a lot more tolerable to me, when the temps are cooler. And there's something about the atmosphere in the park at Christmas time that feels special. I think people are in a better mood.

I will definitely go again at Christmas time.

hlbtimes2
04-15-2006, 09:30 AM
When you say "Christmas" do you mean for the actual holiday or around that ime when you can enjoy the holiday decorations? We went in early Dec. 2003. The parks were busy, but not super crowded. It was during candlelight weekend. We didnt go to those events, but even with those extra people in the park it wasnt all that bad. If you want to experience the holidays disney style I recomend early December!

If you are looking for a package, I would wait a couple more weeks at least or find out if they will do a price adjustment if they have a special. The last couple fall/winter seasons they have offered 4th night free. If you are just looking at park tickets I dont think it will matter when you buy them.

Leap for Joy
04-15-2006, 10:48 AM
I seriously believe, attitude is a big part of anyone's DL experience.

If you know ahead of time that large amounts of people or waiting in lines is going to be very frustrating for you and/or your family Christmas break (last couple of weeks of Dec - first few days of Jan) is probably not a good choice.

I agree with this. We were in DL from 12/21-12/25 and we had a great time! We went in expecting it to be crowded and willing to be flexible. We were able to do everything we wanted, though not always in the order we planned.

If your group measures a successful trip by counting how many times they got to go on a certain attraction, going during a busy time is not a good idea. If being in the environment and enjoying the energy is your focus, it wont matter when you go.

Back to your original question... You can buy park tickets any time. I would wait and watch for special offers, but I wouldn't expect much for that time of year. The 50th celebration is supposed to be ending then. There will likely be a media blitz to 'get there before it's over' and a lot of people will go for it, so they wont need to offer incentives to fill the park.

If you're wondering about plane tickets, I would watch prices weekly and buy when the price drops substantially or hits your budget range. It's hard to predict what will happen to flight prices because the fuel prices have been fluctuating so much.

Have a great trip!

Omnitographer
04-15-2006, 11:49 AM
Go the first week of december, *before* the holidays. the park should be gussied up pretty good (the haunted mansion still in haloween mode as well). and the crowds wont be nearly as bad as two weeks later when everyone gets xmas off.

Malcon10t
04-15-2006, 01:32 PM
I seriously believe, attitude is a big part of anyone's DL experience.I totally agree. We go each year from Dec 23rd- Jan 3rd. (Been doing this about 7 years now.) While it is crowded and there are occassional gate closings, to me, it is better than summer crowds. People are generally in better moods. Line do get to be 60-90 min long (rarely, Indy, Splash, and Space will be up to 2 hours.)

I don't know about getting the strollers stolen (ours have never been) but if you park in a "no parking area", CMs will move the strollers to a proper area, so you may need to look around. If you put a lock on it, they will cut the lock to move it. As for leaving to get a stroller and being denied reentry, we have a service pup who we left in the kennel and the lead at the front exit area ok'ed my daughter to leave to check on the dog during a closure without issue.

We enjoy Christmas in Disneyland. It is a peaceful time, even with 50,000 people there. If you go, take your time, enjoy the scenery, take a tour, see Fantasmic!, and remember the 50th will be over.

Monte Cristo
04-15-2006, 02:21 PM
If you can pick your own time to go, I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to go to DL during mid-November. The PERFECT time to go during the holidays. Everything is decorated and the crowds aren't there yet. If you think it's too early for the holidays, look at the trip as kicking off the Christmas season then. ;)

Also, if mid-November doesn't work, the first two weeks of December are fine. We went the second week last year, and even with the 50th stuff going on it was absolutely wonderful. There were crowds, but very manageble - the longest wait was maybe 30-40 minutes.

CamCay
04-15-2006, 04:06 PM
Grumpy got everyone a little off track. Three A has great packages that of course include Enhanced Fastpass. Good prices and much help with the wait for rides. Airline tickets i don't recommend buying more than six months in advance. Don't let Grumpy scare you, we go every year before Christmas, this last time Dec. 18 thru 23 and it was our best trip ever.

wingsong
04-15-2006, 08:44 PM
My sons and I spent Dec. 17 - 23, 2005 at the parks, and had an amazing time. I agree with the people above who said it all depends what attitude you go in with. We expected it to be busy. That said, we seldom needed to use fastpast (Space Mountain and Soarin' were the exceptions), and the longest wait we had was for the Matterhorn (30 minutes). The kids literally got to ride everything. One night they went on Grizzly River Run 3 times in a row with no wait! Awesome.

The temperatures fluctuated from low 60's to low 80's. Comfy for us (although a family next to us was talking about the need for long underwear! so I guess it all depends where you're from).

Hard to guess when to buy tickets. I did get ours last year around this time and the prices never really did go down (so felt good about our choice).

TP2000
04-16-2006, 03:57 PM
We have 4 children and the wait time was 2 hours per ride except for the Pooh ride.

Did I mention that the wait time per ride was 2 hours? If not the wait time was two hours.


I have to chime in and agree with some of the others here. The wait time for rides is not "two hours" long at Christmas. Yes, there are a few very low capacity attractions like Dumbo, Peter Pan or Astro Orbiter where the wait times can be 60 to 90 minutes. But unless you completely ignore Fastpass for Splash Mt., Space Mt. and Indy, you will never have to wait two hours for anything at Disneyland during Christmas.

It's a very crowded time of year, don't get me wrong. And often during big entertainment events like Fantasmic!, Christmas Parade, or fireworks on Main Street, it can be wall to wall people. But if you folllow the CM's directions, use some common sense and a bit of humor, you'll be just fine.

Two hour long waits don't happen for anything, except for Standby Lines on Space Mountain, etc. And again.... plan a bit and get a Fastpass. Even Small World Holiday with it's HUGE line that stretches all the way to the Motorboat Cruise dock only took 35 minutes for me on multiple visits this past Christmas. It's a fast moving line that only looks like it's hours long. Same with Pirates; a HUGE line that stretches to the French Market, but it never stops moving and took just a few ticks under 30 minutes to wait through, and then you are on this amazing ride for the next 15 minutes. And then there are things like the Mark Twain, Tiki Room, HISTA, etc. where you just wait the 7 or 10 minutes until the next show, or the next boat that pulls into the dock. Sure, the Tiki Room is full, but everyone sings along and it's more fun that way.

Two hour wait times for everything except Pooh is a big exageration in my opinion. Or else you are purposely trying to wait in every long line you can find, and avoid the Fastpass system for odd moral reasons.

Malcon10t
04-16-2006, 06:00 PM
Two hour long waits don't happen for anything, except for Standby Lines on Space Mountain, etc. And again.... plan a bit and get a Fastpass. Even Small World Holiday with it's HUGE line that stretches all the way to the Motorboat Cruise dock only took 35 minutes for me on multiple visits this past Christmas. It's a fast moving line that only looks like it's hours long. Same with Pirates; a HUGE line that stretches to the French Market, but it never stops moving and took just a few ticks under 30 minutes to wait through, and then you are on this amazing ride for the next 15 minutes. And then there are things like the Mark Twain, Tiki Room, HISTA, etc. where you just wait the 7 or 10 minutes until the next show, or the next boat that pulls into the dock. Sure, the Tiki Room is full, but everyone sings along and it's more fun that way.

Two hour wait times for everything except Pooh is a big exageration in my opinion. Or else you are purposely trying to wait in every long line you can find, and avoid the Fastpass system for odd moral reasons.What I find fun at DIsneyland is timing to see how long the waits actually are. We have been on Soarin, where the wait is 85 minutes, and we were off in 45. Tower of Terror, sign says 90, we are off in under 60. The Mark Twain, well we did wait extra, because we wated the Mark Twain, and the Columbia was pulling in, so we sat and waited the extra time. At Christmas, Pirates was usualy about 30-45 mins, as was HMH. Most of teh FL rides were about an hour. IASW was never more than 35, except the handicapped access, which was averaging an hour. When rides get to be 90 mins, we generally find a show to do. Billy Hill is great! I am surprised to find it less than full. We also have our fun places to sit and watch. Perhaps I should tell people not to go to Disneyland at Christmas, cause we go then, but it really is a lot of fun if you smile and enjoy the season.

rentayenta
04-16-2006, 06:20 PM
I seriously believe, attitude is a big part of anyone's DL experience.



I agree 100% Ruthie! We have been twice in December and both times were excellent! In 2004 we went from December 19-26. Up until Christmas Day it was fantastic. Christmas Day and the day after were nuts but we still had fun. I would try to have a few days before Dec. 25 to "do it all" so in case the park is crazy you can bail if you want to. The holiday spirit is alive and well at Disneyland and I highly recommend going. :)

December 2005 we went in the earlier part of the month but after the Candlelight Processional and it was amazing again. A bit more crowded than the year before but still well worth going. We went with our good friends and that always makes for a good time.

This year we aren't sure if we'll make it due to the new house but we are going to try our hardest.

Have fun and reserve your room now. You can always cancel if you need to or rebook if any deals come out.

I Heart Disneyland!
04-16-2006, 06:50 PM
I am SO going in November. Crowds or not. I want to see Christmas decor and be in the place I am so happy. I don't care about lines, etc. I will be on vacation!! (Maybe it helps that my kids are grown, but, I doubt it.) I agree too with Ruthie's thoughts....the attitude is key!!

Go for it and enjoy yourself. Just know there will be extra crowds and have a good time.

Rhiannon8404
04-16-2006, 08:58 PM
I would love to go to Disneyland for Christmas. Unfortunately, both my parents and my IL's would absolutely kill us dead if we went out of town for Christmas. So we go for Thanksgiving. We arrive the Sunday or Monday before and leave the Friday after Thanksgiving. The only really busy day is Thanksgiving Day. We spend that day at DCA and then do the Thanksgiving Buffet at DLH.

I agree with all those who say that it's all in what you are there for. If you don't get to go very often and you want to be able to see and do as much as possible, I'd say pick a less busy time. If you don't mind if you miss some things, but just want to soak up the atmosphere, then go during the holidays, it's wonderful.

potzbie
04-16-2006, 11:21 PM
From December 24 to January 2, all out-of-state people here for the ROSE PARADE and ROSE BOWL will come to Disneyland.

Thus the humongus crowds.

But if you don't mind crowds, Disneyland itself is fine.
• The park opens early and closes late.
• The Christmas decorations are super.
• All the entertainment on Main Street is on the schedule daily.

So, if you don't mind the impossible crowd during parades, and don't have to transverse MAIN STREET within a half-hour of the parade, then, sure, the park itself shows its best side during Christmas week.

Nonetheless, if you can schedule your trip for the week prior, or the week after, you will find shorter queues, and not wait for seating in restaurants.
Thus, the best time to avoid crowds, but see the Christmas decorations, is AFTER THANKSGIVING and BEFORE CHRISTMAS DAY.

AlbertaMinnie
04-17-2006, 07:08 AM
Sorry Grumpy, but I think that Christmas in DL is something that EVERYONE should experience at least once. The lights, the music and the magic is something beyond words. Yes, expect crowds, but also R E L A X and enjoy yourselves. Don't forget that you are on vacation....Don't get bent out of shape when you see a long line....use the fastpasses, and if you have little ones, use the "child swap". Our dd's were 4 and 6 when we visited from Dec. 27-Jan 3. Our stroller never got stolen, we ate at "off" hours, to avoid the crowds and we too experienced the best ever character breakfast we've ever had.

It is most important to plan ahead, read all the posts on this website and others and anticipate crowds. We were packed in, shoulder to shoulder on Main Street to watch the New Years Eve fireworks and it was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced in my life. One thing that I found that works in DL during busy times, is do NOT try to keep to a schedule.....that will only stress you out. Eat when you want, ride when you want, take a break when you want and most importantly, enjoy the experience!

Reserve a hotel room as soon as you can, asking about their cancellation policy....at least you will have a room to stay in, and if a special comes up out of the blue....just cancel your reservation or make the necessary changes to it. Everything else will just fall into place for you. Enjoy! I wish I were going again too!