OFFICIAL 2018 Christmas & Holiday Time at DLR Superthread!!

[katyringo]

Alright.. you guys wanna help me
Perfect my fantasy land strategy for our magic morning?

We will be skipping Peter Pan. I’ve been watching wait times. Like 730
Already this morning it’s almsot an hour wait. We will save that one for in the evening when we wanna kill an hour lol

We were newbies last time and got Lucky and had a double stroller with us and got in through a middle gate and were like the 3rd people in the park. We didn’t know what we were doing and just headed toward buzz and star tours. Which actually was pretty awesome.

But fantasy land is a must this trip. We missed most of it last time with it being capacity days and power outage. What time should we get to the gates for 7am MM? Am I being crazy by saying let’s leave the Anaheim hotel by 545-6am? It being the Saturday after thanksgiving? And I think we will head for Alice first.

 

[Candycane83]

Alright.. you guys wanna help me
Perfect my fantasy land strategy for our magic morning?

We will be skipping Peter Pan. I’ve been watching wait times. Like 730
Already this morning it’s almsot an hour wait. We will save that one for in the evening when we wanna kill an hour lol

We were newbies last time and got Lucky and had a double stroller with us and got in through a middle gate and were like the 3rd people in the park. We didn’t know what we were doing and just headed toward buzz and star tours. Which actually was pretty awesome.

But fantasy land is a must this trip. We missed most of it last time with it being capacity days and power outage. What time should we get to the gates for 7am MM? Am I being crazy by saying let’s leave the Anaheim hotel by 545-6am? It being the Saturday after thanksgiving? And I think we will head for Alice first.

I was just planning for fantasyland on our days too. I read Disneyland Daily and with littles she suggests Alice then Storybook Canals. She also suggests to get FPs for Buzz when you get in. I think she mentions to save Pinocchio Mr Toad and Snow White for the end of the day. Not sure what time to get there, I thought half an hour would be fine but you’re right, on busy days you probably need to be earlier.

 

[22Tink]

Guys!

Casey from Disneyland daily has a video up of the new world of Disney store.

Holy cow I’m gonna need more money. There is a whole Christmas section.

Makes me even more excited to get there!!!

 

[PirateRedhead]

Okay not really disney related but I want to share.

I set a goal for myself that before this upcoming trip for my 30th birthday that I would lose some weight.

I hit my pre Disney goal today! Goodbye 60lbs!

Yes! Way to crush your goal.

 

[millie0312]

Alright.. you guys wanna help me
Perfect my fantasy land strategy for our magic morning?

We will be skipping Peter Pan. I’ve been watching wait times. Like 730
Already this morning it’s almsot an hour wait. We will save that one for in the evening when we wanna kill an hour lol

We were newbies last time and got Lucky and had a double stroller with us and got in through a middle gate and were like the 3rd people in the park. We didn’t know what we were doing and just headed toward buzz and star tours. Which actually was pretty awesome.

But fantasy land is a must this trip. We missed most of it last time with it being capacity days and power outage. What time should we get to the gates for 7am MM? Am I being crazy by saying let’s leave the Anaheim hotel by 545-6am? It being the Saturday after thanksgiving? And I think we will head for Alice first.

I would suggest if you want to be first-ish at a line being through security no later then one hour before opening of MM and if you want to be first more like 90 mins. 5:45 doesn’t sound crazy as much as what time our family usually leaves our hotel too lol I found at 60 mins on a busy weekend we were not the first at any gates, but not too far back. We usually bring some food to eat and a warm drink and just relax and chat while we wait- we usually meet fun people we stand next to. As far as order- I’d recommend doing Alice, Mr Toad and Dumbo (also Matterhorn for the bigger riders) first if those are on your list- Casey Jr and Storybook Canal won’t open until after real opening so leave those for later. Anything left in FL should be not much of a line during MM so ride what you feel like hitting. I would recommend grabbing a FP for something like Space, Star Tours, Matterhorn or Indy if any of those interest you as they are close and 3/4 are usually the first to not have FP left later in the day. HTH and have a great time!

 

[katyringo]

I would suggest if you want to be first-ish at a line being through security no later then one hour before opening of MM and if you want to be first more like 90 mins. 5:45 doesn’t sound crazy as much as what time our family usually leaves our hotel too lol I found at 60 mins on a busy weekend we were not the first at any gates, but not too far back. We usually bring some food to eat and a warm drink and just relax and chat while we wait- we usually meet fun people we stand next to. As far as order- I’d recommend doing Alice, Mr Toad and Dumbo (also Matterhorn for the bigger riders) first if those are on your list- Casey Jr and Storybook Canal won’t open until after real opening so leave those for later. Anything left in FL should be not much of a line during MM so ride what you feel like hitting. I would recommend grabbing a FP for something like Space, Star Tours, Matterhorn or Indy if any of those interest you as they are close and 3/4 are usually the first to not have FP left later in the day. HTH and have a great time!

Thanks so much! So good I’m not crazy thinking of being there that early. I will prepare hubby. The time change does work in our favor here lol!

 

[Tink1987]

So we caved and bought AP’s yesterday! It was getting close to the time where we had to order our tickets and we decided to just go for it!

It means we will be there for when Galaxy’s Edge opens. It will be absolute madness but we really wanted to be there. So exciting.

 

[katyringo]

So we caved and bought AP’s yesterday! It was getting close to the time where we had to order our tickets and we decided to just go for it!

It means we will be there for when Galaxy’s Edge opens. It will be absolute madness but we really wanted to be there. So exciting.

That’s so exciting. I dream of a day we buy AP’s. It’s a life goal. Maybe in retirement (we live in Iowa)

 

[Tink1987]

That’s so exciting. I dream of a day we buy AP’s. It’s a life goal. Maybe in retirement (we live in Iowa)

Thats a good retirement goal! That’s exactly what it has been for us too, a lifetime goal. I couldn’t describe it better. This is our second time being AP holders and coming from the UK, I feel so blessed to be able to say it. It means such a lot to me.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... I hit my pre Disney goal today! Goodbye 60lbs!

Congratulations! What a great achievement and a super fun reward to look forward to!

... I dream of a day we buy AP’s. It’s a life goal. Maybe in retirement (we live in Iowa)

Start a little AP savings account now! We have an ongoing account for our APs for renewals and the inevitable price increases -- makes the pain a little less acute if we know we've been saving all along. And when we pay in full each year, it makes us really appreciate those passes that much more each time we use them because we remember how much work it took to save up for them. Every little bit in savings helps -- and when the time comes to put your dream into action, you'll be suprised how much you'll have saved up! Everyone has a different game for saving -- some of our friends do the Starbucks trick (every trip to Starbucks gets a matching donation into the savings account), other friends choose a specific amount that goes into the kitty every time (e.g. whenever they get a $5 as change, it goes into the account). Once the whole family starts playing the game, it really gets fun trying to meet the goal. And it never hurts to let family and friends know that you're always open to Disney gift cards for birthday and holiday gifts! Keep that dream alive -- it CAN come true!

 

[tink89]

Booked first Dining Reservation!!!

 

[Candycane83]

Booked first Dining Reservation!!!

What reservation did you make? I made mine for Jazz kitchen for arrival day!!

 

[tink89]

What reservation did you make? I made mine for Jazz kitchen for arrival day!!

I did Goofys kitchen for arrival day. Since we are not going to be in the parks and we are such a large group I wanted everyone to get the feeling of already being there!!! Plus all of my family really likes Goofys and it will be the first time there for many in our party and i think Goofys is a good intro.

 

[AmyJamer]

What reservation did you make? I made mine for Jazz kitchen for arrival day!!

We did too! Hope it’s yummy!

 

[deannaf87]

I am getting sooooooooo excited. Just got word of my October bonus coming up on next check. That $$$ is going straight to Disneyland tickets.

 

[lostangel52577]

Which is the best Christmasy restaurant to have Christmas lunch? I’ve been to pretty much every restaurant but this is the first, and probably only time, I’m going to Disneyland on Christmas so want to pick my restaurant more for the Christmas experience. I’m open to either park, or the hotels.

 

[crystal1313]

We are going Nov. 30 ad Dec. 1. I am torn whether or not to purchase Maxpass. We are a family of 4. We used Maxpass last year. We were only in the parks for one day. I have to be honest, I thought I did a ton of research, but I still felt kinda lost using MP. I was just planning on doing paper FP this trip. I am used to being the FP runner and since we will NOT have hoppers this trip, I feel like I can totally handle that. We are on a budget and the extra money can go towards food. But I can't help thinking we might miss out on something if we don't use MP. Am I not thinking of other perks for MP? What would you do? Help!

 

[greewe]

Our family is not planning on using max pass this trip. But one person is going to purchase it just for photo pass.

 

[pblack]

Just under 3 weeks before i'm there for the opening of holidays + my birthday! Hubby and I are getting AP's again since I have two work trips in/near Anaheim next year. We fly in the night of the 8th and fly out the night of the 11th. Will be in the parks the 9th-11th.

 

[millie0312]

I would never go to the parks without MP now fwiw- there’s plenty of threads on here with MP info or ideas of how to really take advantage of it but the 90 mins wait instead of 120 mins (I set my phone timer lol) and the ease of getting a FP plus it actually has more availability then paper FP sets it apart for me as way beyond useful. I’m happy to try to help if you need some MP help but we use it every day of our 5 days as a must have and it really helps on crowded days/times. Plus the photo pass we always use anyway so an added bonus. It’s not a make or break for some families but it really does help make our trips especially if you have less park days then 5 to squeeze all the must do’s in. We even take afternoon nap/breaks and I get FP while we’re at our hotel for the evening- such a great thing!