Help with Planning for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day 2018!

amandacfmartin

Earning My Ears
Joined
Oct 20, 2018
Hello Everyone,
I am currently planning a first visit to Disneyland with my family of 5. Kids are 7,8 and 10. We will be flying in at 2pm on Dec. 24th and planning to go to the parks that evening/late afternoon, as well as spending the next 2 days at the parks. We have a Magic Morning with our 3 day pass. I have been reading many posts and blogs about tips for the busy holiday days.
My questions are this - which park should we visit on Christmas eve? Should I make dinner reservations? We are interested in doing as many rides and and attractions as we can! We know to go early for the next two days. The magic morning at Disneyland is on Dec. 25th. Should we do the magic morning and then go to DCA? Or do Disneyland all day 25th and then do DCA on the 26th? Also, we would like to return to our hotel in the afternoons, ideally, rest and then go back in the evening, but I'm worried about re-entry to the parks on the busy days.
Any advice is much appreciated!
 
I would absolutely make dinner reservations for Christmas Eve, the parks are packed during this time.

Yes do Magic Morning every morning it’s available.
 
What a great holiday trip. It sounds like you are staying off property which means you only have one MM w your 3-day park hoppers. Here is what I would do since your goal is to ride as many rides as possible:
  1. Download the Disney app - this will give you a tool to see real time wait times in both parks so you can have a chance to zig when others are zagging during the height of holiday crowds.
  2. Though you have a big group and it will be spendy, I would buy MaxPass. It will absolutely help you maximize your time on rides rather than in lines or running to pull paper FastPasses.
  3. Yes get a dining reservation for Dec 24th. You will be tired from travel, and it will be nice to know that at some point that evening you will not have to fight the crowds to order food and find a table to feed the kids.
  4. Dec 25th - use your one MM for Dland. Get to the gates at least 45 minutes (earlier if you can) before MM starts. Being at the front of the line at the gates puts you ahead of the wave of humanity lining up behind you. Once you enter you will not be able to make FPs reservations during the MM hour, so use that time to ride attractions that have no FP and always have long lines - PP, Dumbo, Alice, Toad, Nemo (if open). As soon as MM ends, start reserving FPs via MaxPass and vigilantly keep track of when you can reserve a new FP and always be booking those throughout the day. If you plan to go back to hotel midday then just don't book FPs for that segment of time, but you can stack them up for the evening and have them waiting for you for your return. I was able to book FPs via MaxPass even when we were at the hotel, but I was on property. Not sure if this works off property.
  5. Dec 26th - You have no MM but start at opening for DCA anyway (be at gates 45 min before regular park opening) as the first hours (even though there have been others in DCA before you using their MM) are still the least crowded you will experience that park the whole trip. As soon as you walk through the gate, start reserving FPs. Rinse and repeat. Scan app to see shortest standby lines to fill in between FPs.
  6. Also don't forget to use mobile ordering on the Disney app. This is a hugely helpful tool. You can send your food order to participating counter service restaurants within the parks. That means that you and your family can seize on an open table and wait there (instead of in a line at the counter) and just pick up the food when it is ready. It even works for things even like ordering ice cream at Gibson Girl on Main Street. On my last trip, I was sitting on the curb waiting for a parade, used mobile ordering to purchase a root beer float, few min later received a notice it was ready, swanned past a 15 minute line up of people waiting to order at Gibson Girl, picked up my float and was back sitting on the curb with my daughter in under 3 min.
  7. You asked about switching parks/reentry in the evening. Sure - just go where you have stacked your FPs. The parks may reach capacity, but if you have already been in the parks that morning and have FPs stacked you will have priority reentry over people just showing up for the first time. One thing - if you do not plan to see F! then I would steer clear of the whole west side of Dland during its two performances. It is insanity back there when F! is on and crowd control is such that you may be forced to move with flow of crowd in directions you did not intend. My family typically closes down DCA then hops over to Dland to close it down, but your kids are much younger than mine and may not last that late into the night.
Have a wonderful time!
 

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