Ideas for Christmas Visit to Disneyland

We're going at Christmas also!! My birthday is Christmas eve and then we're also going Christmas day. Usually, we go when kids are in school but this year we're going at Christmas so we'll see... =) Have fun!!

Disneyland at Christmas time is in and of itself, a wonderful experience. We went two years ago for Thanksgiving and they had already started the Christmas festivities.

Here are some of the fun things about Christmas at Disneyland:

-Christmas Fantasy Parade
-Snowfall after the fireworks in certain locations-we never got to experience this as it was a little chilly at night, so we left both days before the fireworks.
-The Christmas decorations were amazing! Disneyland is just beautiful at this time of year! The characters are dressed in holiday clothing, Christmas music plays and you can't help but by a hot chocolate and walk along the decorated streets.
-Santa Claus-you can find Santa Claus and his reindeers behind Thundermountain. While it sounded like a wonderful experience for our children, the line was long. We opted for coming back when Santa wasn't there and checking out his reindeer. Santa was also in California Adventure in his beach wear. California themed Christmas music played and that was a fun experience as well.

I would suggest going to the parks for more than one day. We loved the Character breakfast at the Disneyland hotel and loved that with our three day pass, we got to go in early on the third day. We took the opportunity to go on all the rides that had long lines on our third day. We were done at the park by 10am, but we rode 15 rides! Can't beat that:) Have fun!

Hey there... My boss is a Dland freak! Email my boss at ____@____.com...She will give you all the ins and outs of the park and specials.

If you go to Disneyland.com you can create your own map of the park. Save the attractions and rides that you want to go on into a Favorites category. then when your done it prints a map with only your items.
This helped us in particular because we had 2 families with only boys under 5. so we took out all the princessy stuff and the rides that the kids didn"t meet the height requirement on. That saved us a lot of time instead of criss crossing the park we already knew what we wanted to do in each section. Not sure how old your kids are or what gender but hope this helps.
we also went a few days before a major holiday (July 2)and the lines were tolerable.
We also loved the Character breakfast too.

They have a Christmas sleigh that you can take a picture in. There is a person charging for a picture, but you can also take your own.....I always thought it would be great to use the photo for Christmas cards afterwards. You could wear some cute outfits for it too.

Good Morning,

You can try Hotels.com for good rates. My husband and I used them in February when we went to Disneyland and we got an awesome rate and we were only 1 block from Disneyland and we could walk to and from. They also offered free breakfast as well.

Also, Disneyland goes all out for Christmas. They do a lot of decorating and they changed the Haunted Mansion to fit the Nightmare before Christmas theme too.

Have fun!! :)

Go earlier in December if you can, the closer to Christmas the more locals and season pass holders, so longer lines.

I agree with everything the previous poster said...just bring extra layers of clothes (and a change in case you go on any water rides)...stay for the "snow" and fireworks...big time fun! The "snow" is really just a gentle bubble mixture.

Disney at Christmas is NOT politically correct...it is VERY Christmas and makes no bones about it. They change up several of the rides like Small World to sing Feliz Navidad (and they change their costumes) and the Haunted mansion becomes the Nightmare Before Christmas.

P.S. I just thought of another thing...stock up on Disney themed goodies at the 99 cent only store before you go. Take them in in a backpack and give them to the kids in the park. It will save you TONS on knick knacks. I mean mouse ears with your name on them are a must buy in the park, but seriously are you going to pay $4 for a princess pen and mini-notebook in the park, or pre-purchase one at the dollar store before you leave?

Hi,
Disneyland is so pretty during this time.....also..VERY busy. We took my daughter for her 12th birthday...this was Dec 29th. Both teams for the Rose Bowl were there that day..as well as tons of Rose Bowl fans. I am not sure what is would be like before xmas..but know...we waited over an hour for all rides. I know you wait a long time anytime you are there..but it was pretty darn crazy!!! Good luck!! Also you can get a good deal on tickets at costco.

We have been to Disneyland at all times of the year and I say with absolute assurity that Christmas/Halloween time is the BEST time to visit! There are almost no lines, you get to enjoy the holiday decorations (which are absolutely amazing!), and the weather is so nice that even if there are line, you won't mind! As for insider tips, I don't know if I can offer anything terribly specific except to check with the surrounding Disneyland hotels (you can look online) because they activities that they have at the hotels don't always necessitate you staying there. For instance, there's story time at the Disney California hotel by the fireside each evening (hot chocolate too!), there's some really fun morning activities at Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel (definitely worth a little walk over there for breakfast...your kids will love it!), and always get a show schedule and a parade schedule. Some tickets you buy online can also include early admission to Toon Town which is a great way to get into the park ahead of the masses. It's worth it! We are disney freaks at our home so I'm jealous! Have a great trip and enjoy...it's the best time of the year! ;)

I didn't read any of the other posts, so sorry if I duplicate. We go to Disneyland almost every Thanksgiving, but haven't gone over Christmas. Be prepared, it will be crazy busy, but so beautiful and so much fun! We usually eat lunch at least once in the Golden Horseshoe Saloon (or maybe it's Theatre, not Saloon). Find out the showtimes and get there early and order your food. You can eat while you wait and then eat dessert during the show. It's a fun, comical music show and a good way to get a little rest and relaxation during the busy day. We kind of do the same thing for Fantasmic! and the Electric Light parade. Someone stays in the viewing spot and guards it and someone goes and gets all the food. Then we eat while we wait for the show/parade to begin. You kind of have to do maneuvers like this to beat the crowd. The park is so amazing during the Christmas Season. There will be carolers that walk around the street, characters will be dressed in winter attire, etc. I don't know if they still do it, but they used to have snow at night, and there are street vendors who sell hot chocolate in a keepsake mug during parades. The fastpasses for Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain always 'sell' out early in the day, so I would get those passes first thing when you get in. Same goes for Space Mountain if they have a fastpass machine (I can't remember if they do or not). If you can try and eat during off times, so a little later than normal mealtimes or a little earlier you might not have to wait in line as long for food...and then if you go on rides during normal eating times there might be less of a wait. I'm not sure how old your kids are, but the Aladdin show over by the Jungle Cruise is fun if you have kids that are like 2-4 years old. The Aladdin show (if it's still Aladdin) in CA Adventure is awesome, too. I wish I could remember more of the holiday stuff...we haven't been in a couple of years due to other major family events. I just read how someone else mentioned printing the map from Disneyland...I highly suggest doing that or at the very least, make a plan for the park before you go. If you just go and decide to figure out what to do while you're there, you'll only get in a couple of rides! Oh, and Tom Sawyer's island is a great way to let kids run around and burn off energy. HAVE FUN!!

Check out www.getawaytoday.com and see if any of the packages there can help you. We usually use this site when we go to Disneyland. You can also purchase the Disneyland tickets through this site... convenient and saves some time when you first arrive. Packages also include park hopper tickets and some extras...

Have a great trip!