Just back, a few thoughts to share!

[jeanico2000]

Spent the nights of Dec 5 and Dec 6 at the Grand Californian (loved it!), visited DL Dec 5th in the PM and Dec 7th all day, and visited CA on Dec 6th. Other than the huge crowds at DL, we had a wonderful time (I was travelling with my DH and adult DD) and enjoyed some pretty gorgeous weather to boot! We all 3 loved Christmas IASW and HM, and DH and DD had a huge kick out of Hyperspace Mountain. And after all these years of going to Disneyland, we were in for a really special treat as we finally encountered Tiki Maynard in the Tiki Room! We sat through one show, then went out and came right back in to hear him do the intro all over again. Such a fabulous entertainer, and what a nice guy!
A thought in passing: we found the number of school age children in the parks absolutely mind blowing! Is this the new norm? Here in Canada, early December = exam periods before the Christmas holidays. We never would have dared to pull DD out of school for a Disney holiday at this time of year!
Even though the DL crowds were huge, CA was a joy to navigate on the Sunday. We absolutely loved Viva Navidad!, so don't miss it if you have the chance to see it while you're there.

 

[mom2rtk]

Our school is in session up through 12/22 so it's not time for exams yet. I took my daughter out this week every year for the past 5 years with no problems. This year she started high school so we opted to go in October when she had some days off for fall break.

 

[figment_jii]

As mom2rtk mentioned, a lot of local area schools don't start the winter break until much closer to Christmas. I was tracking some of the districts in the 2015 calendar thread and these are the ones that I know of that aren't on winter break yet:

• Dec 18: Some Northern Nevada, Arizona (Peoria), Nevada (Washoe) School Districts Winter Break Begins
• Dec 21: Some CA (LAUSD, San Diego, Long Beach, Santa Ana, SF, San Mateo, Oakland, West Contra Costa, Marin County, Fresno, Elk Grove, Capistrano, Garden Grove, Sacramento, Oakland, Santa Clara), some Arizona (Mesa, Tucson, Gilbert, Deer Valley, Paradise Valley, Pheonix, Scottsdale, Dysart, Chandler), Nevada (Clark County), Utah (Alpine), Washington (Hillboro) Winter Break Begins

 

[Canuck16]

I think that early December is a pretty popular time for families to travel to DLR for a few days. They get to take in all of the Christmas decorations and shows etc without experiencing the peak crowds during the actual Christmas break.

My BIL/SIL were just there from Sunday to Thursday this week with their 2 kids to do exactly this and said the crowds were extremely manageable.

I personally would take my kids out of school to go in early December then to ever attempt going during Christmas holidays with the massive crowds.

 

[jeanico2000]

My BIL/SIL were just there from Sunday to Thursday this week with their 2 kids to do exactly this and said the crowds were extremely manageable.

Well, I can't speak for crowds after Monday this week, but last Saturday, Sunday and Monday were a zoo in DL as far as we were concerned, although extremely manageable in CA. If your BIL and SIL found the crowds 'extremely manageable' in DL, hats off to them! They must be used to brutal crowds!

 

[Bud Ice]

Huge crowds were at DL because of Candlelight ceremonies. I was one of those people.
Saturday was much more packed for Candlelight than Sunday, in some part due to
Geena Davis reading.

 

[JennyN]

We are here now and it is very crowded. We waited about 45 minutes to have our photo taken with Mickey at his house. We have never been in a line that long for this photo, we would have given it a miss but it's something we do every trip. My DD wanted to spend yesterday evening in the park alone, she only managed 2 hours and then came back to the hotel as she said it was too crowded. I don't know if it's the 60th or because we usually come the first week in December, but it's much more crowded than we are used to. Yes it's manageable but to us not as much fun and definitely more tiring.

 

[Canuck16]

Well, I can't speak for crowds after Monday this week, but last Saturday, Sunday and Monday were a zoo in DL as far as we were concerned, although extremely manageable in CA. If your BIL and SIL found the crowds 'extremely manageable' in DL, hats off to them! They must be used to brutal crowds!

They never go during peak times so crowds were never an issue during their previous trips

 

[Love Tink]

Huge crowds were at DL because of Candlelight ceremonies. I was one of those people.
Saturday was much more packed for Candlelight than Sunday, in some part due to
Geena Davis reading.

That's funny. I saw a woman being taken into Radiator Springs Racers through the exit on Saturday and I was almost sure it was Geena Davis. I guess it definitely was!

 

[dalstitch45]

A thought in passing: we found the number of school age children in the parks absolutely mind blowing! Is this the new norm? Here in Canada, early December = exam periods before the Christmas holidays. We never would have dared to pull DD out of school for a Disney holiday at this time of year!
Even though the DL crowds were huge, CA was a joy to navigate on the Sunday. We absolutely loved Viva Navidad!, so don't miss it if you have the chance to see it while you're there.

I was saying the same thing about the kids. Being from the east coast, I thought the kids must have gotten out early or something. It seems busier than normal this week than in the past three or four years. Guess everyone is realizing what a great week it is to come. Still had a great time, though.

 

[Malcon10t]

First to the OP, you were there on a Sat/Sun/Mon. Disneyland for a weekend isn't hard if you live in CA. We drove down Friday after school, were there for Sat/Sun, and went back Monday. My cousins did the same only going back late Sunday night. So, seeing a large number of kids really doesn't mean much. (And a large number of locals visit the park.) I was there and I will agree Sat/Sun were VERY crowded. Monday was not nearly as bad (though we were only there til noon.) To the poster whose BIL/SIL were there and found the crowds manageable, I think the issue really was the weekend was crowded and the week days weren't nearly as bad. Candlelight did bring out crowds. I know I had friends who flew down Friday with kids for it.

Despite the crowds, we had a blast!

 

[teach1abc]

We go every other year during this time frame to avoid the crowds. The parks were way more crowded this year!! We spent a lot of time waiting in lines Sunday through Tuesday! Wednesday's lack of crowds was what our whole trips in past years were like except for the day of the candlelight processional.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I don't know how much difference this makes, but we have quite a few friends who chose to renew their Premium APs at the Signature level. They are visiting the parks as often as they can now before their passes are blocked out starting on the 19th. Since blockout days for (former) Premiums are a new concept, I can undersand their wanting to squeeze in as many Holiday Time days as possible.

 

[RKKUNK]

Yes! I thought there were way more school aged kids on this visit! We homeschool, so we usually try to go when it won't be as crowded. I think I noticed it more because of all of the kids at breakfast with their parents at the hotel. I even commented about it.

We were there on Sunday and it was absolute madness! Crazy crowded! Monday and Tuesday were way more manageable, but still seemed more crowded than usual for that week in December.