First visit during upcoming holidays

[grahf1234]

Hello. I booked a vacation for me and the family to visit the parks this December (16-22). Will be doing a 5-day hopper tickets.
I know that’s probably one of the busiest time of year, so had a few questions for you disneyland regulars:
1. We've done wdw a few times during the last week or two leading up to christmas. I know how busy it gets but never felt it got extremely overwhelming. Should I expect the crowds to be similar to wdw or does it get even worse?
2. Would 5 park days be enough to experience most of the unique attractions that disneyland/dca have to offer? Assuming genie+ and individual lightning use where available. It would seem like it to me but I also notice that many attractions don't have lightning lanes. Was hoping it'd be enough if I skip the (almost) replicas like the different star wars rides, mickey&minnie, soarin, etc.
3. Would parades and fireworks remain the same for regular day visitors and then switch to holiday versions for after hour events? Or do they simply switch all of them to holiday versions? I like all the holiday decorations and ride overlays, but was hoping I'd catch the regular world of color, fantasmic, wondrous journey, magic happens, etc.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

1. I have not been to WDW so cannot compare crowd experiences. Disney controls how many people they let in with reservations of course, but it is rather opaque what that means. What I do know is that the 19th is the last day before Christmas and New Year's that any of the magic key holders can enter using their passes, so expect it to be very busy for sure through those days and then packed with vacationers and daytrippers thereafter.

2. 5 days will be plenty of time to enjoy everything especially if you are willing to purchase Genie+ and possibly individual lightning lanes, and you intend to come in with at the very least a loose plan of action.

3. Fantasmic if running again by then does not have a holiday version. Parades and fireworks and World of Color will be holiday versions only. I believe Disney has already announced that August 31 is the last day this year for the current fireworks show. They will do the Halloween one exclusively in September and October and the winter holiday one will begin when the Disney holiday season officially begins, probably Veteran's Day weekend. The Christmas parade will most likely run twice daily in Disneyland. The World of Color holiday version will most likely run twice nightly at DCA. I would also expect Festival of the Holidays to return to DCA which will include numerous holiday-themed food and drink booths and special musical performances. Bands and musical groups at Disneyland will generally be performing holiday themed songs.

 

[Amw1064]

1. I have not been to WDW so cannot compare crowd experiences. Disney controls how many people they let in with reservations of course, but it is rather opaque what that means. What I do know is that the 19th is the last day before Christmas and New Year's that any of the magic key holders can enter using their passes, so expect it to be very busy for sure through those days and then packed with vacationers and daytrippers thereafter.

2. 5 days will be plenty of time to enjoy everything especially if you are willing to purchase Genie+ and possibly individual lightning lanes, and you intend to come in with at the very least a loose plan of action.

3. Fantasmic if running again by then does not have a holiday version. Parades and fireworks and World of Color will be holiday versions only. I believe Disney has already announced that August 31 is the last day this year for the current fireworks show. They will do the Halloween one exclusively in September and October and the winter holiday one will begin when the Disney holiday season officially begins, probably Veteran's Day weekend. The Christmas parade will most likely run twice daily in Disneyland. The World of Color holiday version will most likely run twice nightly at DCA. I would also expect Festival of the Holidays to return to DCA which will include numerous holiday-themed food and drink booths and special musical performances. Bands and musical groups at Disneyland will generally be performing holiday themed songs.

If going November 11th weekend do you think the Christmas parade and all decorations will be up and running?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

If going November 11th weekend do you think the Christmas parade and all decorations will be up and running?

If Disneyland does indeed start the official holiday season that weekend as they did last year and for several years pre-Covid, then yes, the parade, fireworks, decorations, World of Color, and entertainment should all begin that weekend.

 

[SpaceMan5]

#2 - I have seen a variety of posts on what ppl think about the number of days needed in the parks. Some will say 1.5 days and others will say 5 days or something in between. It really depends on the person/family in how they want to enjoy the parks. If you are under a time constraint then you can do it in 1.5 days but prepared to follow a regimented plan and being in the parks basically all day. My preference is to plan for 5 days so its not like a working vacation. This allows us to go at a more leisurely pace and can revisit lands and rides more often. I have done it both ways and for me personally I like the laid back approach.
I have a feeling though once you get into the parks you will want to ride the duplicate rides you mentioned.
As I always say, if you feel that you missed out on a bunch of stuff it gives you a great reason to start planning your next DL adventure. Cheers

 

[grahf1234]

3. Fantasmic if running again by then does not have a holiday version. Parades and fireworks and World of Color will be holiday versions only. I believe Disney has already announced that August 31 is the last day this year for the current fireworks show. They will do the Halloween one exclusively in September and October and the winter holiday one will begin when the Disney holiday season officially begins, probably Veteran's Day weekend. The Christmas parade will most likely run twice daily in Disneyland. The World of Color holiday version will most likely run twice nightly at DCA. I would also expect Festival of the Holidays to return to DCA which will include numerous holiday-themed food and drink booths and special musical performances. Bands and musical groups at Disneyland will generally be performing holiday themed songs.

Thanks for all the details! Didn't realize fantasmic was down, and from the looks of it it's going to be out for a while and re-imagined...

Kind of a bummer that we won't be able to catch the regular parades, fireworks, music since we don't plan on going there again soon. But at the same time that'd be the only opportunity to catch some of the holiday overlays that we don't see at wdw.

 

[grahf1234]

#2 - I have seen a variety of posts on what ppl think about the number of days needed in the parks. Some will say 1.5 days and others will say 5 days or something in between. It really depends on the person/family in how they want to enjoy the parks. If you are under a time constraint then you can do it in 1.5 days but prepared to follow a regimented plan and being in the parks basically all day. My preference is to plan for 5 days so its not like a working vacation. This allows us to go at a more leisurely pace and can revisit lands and rides more often. I have done it both ways and for me personally I like the laid back approach.
I have a feeling though once you get into the parks you will want to ride the duplicate rides you mentioned.
As I always say, if you feel that you missed out on a bunch of stuff it gives you a great reason to start planning your next DL adventure. Cheers

2. 5 days will be plenty of time to enjoy everything especially if you are willing to purchase Genie+ and possibly individual lightning lanes, and you intend to come in with at the very least a loose plan of action.

Great to hear! Yeah was hoping to make it a little less stressful and from looking at the attractions count and how relatively small the two parks are in size, I figured that 5 days would be enough for a less stressful trip. Of course that's assuming crows levels and lines are relatively similar to what I usually experience at wdw during that same time period (one/two weeks before christmas). Also not sure how much the limited number of rides offering lightning lanes would affect things. Seems like most things don't support lightning lanes which feels like a big departure from wdw. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing tbh for someone who plans to use the service.

 

[SpaceMan5]

Great to hear! Yeah was hoping to make it a little less stressful and from looking at the attractions count and how relatively small the two parks are in size, I figured that 5 days would be enough for a less stressful trip. Of course that's assuming crows levels and lines are relatively similar to what I usually experience at wdw during that same time period (one/two weeks before christmas). Also not sure how much the limited number of rides offering lightning lanes would affect things. Seems like most things don't support lightning lanes which feels like a big departure from wdw. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing tbh for someone who plans to use the service.

I can't speak to the crowd levels in Dec but in Jan I felt it was pretty busy even with the rain. We only purchased Genie+ on our first day since we arrived midday and wanted to hit a bunch of rides. For the remaining 4 days we didn't feel the need to purchase Genie+. We just kept an eye on the Disney tip board to check wait times and adjusted on the fly. We also didn't rope drop or stay until closing and we hit all of the rides we wanted with the exception of PP.

 

[gottalovepluto]

1. Worse. DLR is SO much smaller, it is going to feel more packed to you.

2. Despite feeling more crowded you can totally get all the rides done and repeat all the faves and take breaks back at your hotel. You don’t even have to skip duplicates. This is especially true if you utilize G+/ILL. The efficiency at DLR comes from how fast it is to get to everything vs WDW because it is all so close.

You’ve made a great call to go during the holiday season, I think DL’s Xmas decor kicks MK’s rear between HMH & IASWH.

 

[grahf1234]

1. Worse. DLR is SO much smaller, it is going to feel more packed to you.

2. Despite feeling more crowded you can totally get all the rides done and repeat all the faves and take breaks back at your hotel. You don’t even have to skip duplicates. This is especially true if you utilize G+/ILL. The efficiency at DLR comes from how fast it is to get to everything vs WDW because it is all so close.

You’ve made a great call to go during the holiday season, I think DL’s Xmas decor kicks MK’s rear between HMH & IASWH.

Good to know! Yeah the changes to those two rides is one of the reasons I thought it'd be better to do the trip during the holidays

 

[Tinkaboo]

You will love IASW! It’s so much better than WDW, especially at Christmas. I was just there and rode and while it was a great respite from the heat, it just didn’t seem as magical as at Christmas. It’s a must do every day we’re there during the holidays!

Ditto with HMH!

 

[Pluto468]

If going November 11th weekend do you think the Christmas parade and all decorations will be up and running?

The holiday season officially starts November 10th.