Help!Which week in December is better?

[Eeyorecln]

We need help from all you DL experts out there. We are definitely going to DL this December. Yeah. For us this is a big trip due to our lg. family(4 boys: 6,5,4,and 1) and the fact that we're 1 income because I want to be home with the kids. So I want it to be as memorable as possible. We're staying at the HoJo to save money. We want to figure out which week is best for catching parades,fireworks,etc. and with the least rides closed down. We can go Dec. 4 thru the 12 or Dec. 11 thru the 19. We also would like to avoid long lines if possible. We're also wondering if Fantasmic is runnig at all as we would like to do the dessert buffet as a splurge. We are trying to figure out character meals as well (Goofy's Kitchen or Ariel's Grotto for character dinner). We're doing the Lilo and Stitch breakfast. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated. This is also around our wedding anniversary if there's anything special at DL we can do for that. Thanks for any info. or suggestions. We can hardly wait.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I would think that December 4-12 will be better for crowds. As you get closer to Christmas more people begin to arrive. This far in advance you won't be able to find out exact schedule information. As you get closer you can go to Disneyland.com and click on calendar for a schedule of events. The dessert buffet is a lot of fun, we have done it twice and found it to be a really nice splurge. You can book this exactly 30 days in advance. I would think they would have Fantasmic on the weekends. We were there this exact same time in 2004 and Fantasmic was not running but that was due to the sailing ship Columbia being down for refurbishment. For our visit there were fireworks every night and at least one parade each day. This far out I am not sure if the same will be true for 2005 however. With so many rides being refurbished for the 50th I would hope there would be very little down for your visit, whichever week you choose. To avoid as many lines as possible arrive at the park at opening! It is just a wonderful time of year to visit, the decorations, holiday parade and fireworks are just magical. You will love the HoJo! Have fun with your planning!

 

[MATTERHORN]

Well we (I have two girls, 4 and 1) went this past year from Dec 13-17 (Mon-Thurs) and let me tell you, we had NO lines. Literally walked onto a boat at Pirates, even Peter Pan and Dumbo were only a max 10 minute wait in the middle of the day. We got great seating for all the shows. The reason we picked that week was because the first week of December is the Candlelight Processional and cast member parties, so some nights DL closed early around 6pm. That is way too early for us to be done for the day! We got all the benefits of the parades and fireworks every night of our stay at 7:45, the park closed at 8pm. Then we went to DTD or dinner and were in bed by about 10pm. It was perfect! Good luck and I hope this helped a little. For reference, I would personally never go any later than the dates we went, it got really busy the day we left. But I wore shorts, it was about 78-80 degrees each day. Also, there was no Fantasmic, but only because the Sailing Ship Columbia was being refurbished, Fantasmic started again the day we left!


Andrea

 

[nursemelis374]

I am going to have to disagree with Matterhorn on this one. I went on December 13th also, my birthday, and it was quite crowded. I was actually shocked at how crowded it was. My friend and I were talking with one of the CMs that works on Haunted Mansion and they said they had to call in extra people for the day! We had wanted to see the parade, but even a half hour before it started there were people lined up 5 people back from the curb! We still had fun though. I really believe that all of the Disney parks just get more and more crowded around Christmas time each year because it is such a good time to go and so festive! I still think you would have a good time, especially if you plan and use Fastpass. The good thing is that by December pretty much everything should be open and that will help with the lines.

 

[LucyKate]

We went December 1-5 last year and had no crowds. we walked on to Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones etc,

From what I have read crowds go through the roof after school break up on December 16 so I would have thought the further away you are from that the better.

 

[Eeyorecln]

Thanks for all the opinions we certainly will try to schdule our trip to end before schools in CA let out.

 

[MATTERHORN]

nursemelis374, Funny how two people there on the same day can have two totally different experiences. I must say though that we were in DCA until 4 and then went over to DL till 8 because that was the day we arrived. SO I can't comment on crowds at DL before 4 that day, but obviously we hit it right!


Andrea

 

[Amy&Dan]

We were there from December 8-12. Saturday the 11th was absolutely awful. The worst crowds I had ever seen in my 7 trips to Disneyland. Wednesday and Thursday (8th and 9th) were not crowded at all except the usual lines at Dumbo, Peter Pan and the Haunted Mansion Holiday. Friday the 10th was getting pretty packed, we left early to swim, it was unseasonably warm. The CM I spoke to on the 11th, said the reason for higher crowds was that the previous weekend had been lousy weather. There a lot of variables in predicting crowds I think. Bad weather on previous days can make for huge crowds on other days, also I think more people are taking their kids out of school now to avoid crowds. We did that since we were travelling with my elderly parents who just cannot stand in lines too long. I think the safe assumption is that weekends are always crowded, Fridays and Mondays are usually the busiest days during the week, DCA is less crowded than Disneyland and that it is getting harder to find those off season times when nobody is there! With fastpass and getting to the parks at opening however, you can still have fun. Even that Saturday the 11th which was packed, we did a whole lot the first two hours Disneyland was open.

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

Matterhorn: Hello from a fellow Las Vegan !

As far as the Op: Go the earier week and use your pictures for your greeting cards. My DD birthday is on the 20th so we usually go early every December for her birthday. We have never been on a day that has been overly crowded, but our AP's don't allow us to go on the weekends which is fine because I know it will be way to crowded to enjoy anyway.
Just a side note :although you may catch a nice sunny day it is almost always cold at night and the temp. can drop a good 25 degrees so take something warm to watch the parade and fire works . Our favorite past- time is to let DD decorate a cookie at the fire house get a hot chocolate from the bakery and stake a spot out for the parade!!!
Have a great trip!
Luckey