Disneyland between Christmas and New Year

[sugarbear]

... how many days should we plan?
Our kids are 6 and 3. I was thinking fly in on the 26th and out on the 30th, but I didn't know if that was too long / not long enough?

We likely won't rent a car, so we are limited to nearby parks.

BONUS:
What can we / should we NOT miss?

[alleinesein]

You are insane!! Just be prepared for crowds crowds and crowds.

Are you staying on property? If so your best bet is to take advantage of Extra Magic Hours so you can hit up the popular rides before the lines get too long.

In DLR you will want to check out the Jingle Cruise, Haunted Mansion Holiday, its a small world Holiday, Holiday fireworks and the Christmas parade. Positions yourself in front of its a small world after sundown to watch the light show that they do.

DCA- WOC (if they are doing the holiday version- do the dining package so you can get FPs), lighting of Carsland at night.

Throughout the parks and hotels- check out the decorations. They have been doing a giant Gingerbread house in the lobby of the Grand the past few years. Check out the carolers- they perform in both parks and the lobby of the Grand. Santa makes numerous appearances throughout the resort so you have a few opportunities for photos.

For the adults (the kids can come along during the day)- swing by Trader Sams for a holiday themed tiki drink. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and the MelekalikiMocha are tasty.

[sugarbear]

alleinesein and Loco Coco, we are not excited about crowds, but we can't go during spring vacations, and we'd rather do the crowds of Christmas than the heat of summer.

Thanks for the info!

[alleinesein]

sugarbear December weather tends to be cooler but bring your swim stuff anyways The pools are heated and we have had some 80F+ days in December the past few years.

If you like Gingerbread make sure you get one of the mickey gingerbread cookies; they dip his head in chocolate to give him mouse ears.

Downtown Disney also has an ice skating rink right next to the ESPN Zone during the holidays. It was Frozen themed last year so it will probably be the same this year. They also have little shops set up in the area to look like a mini Christmas village.

Another thing that I forgot to mention. If you are staying on property at the Disneyland Hotel they do Disney movies at night during the week.

I'll be up there the second weekend of December so if they have anything new/cool this year I will report back.

[mmmomof2]

I'm a huge Disney fan and I will most likely never step foot in the parks between 12/20 and 1/1 again! BUT if you stay within walking distance (preferably in a Disney hotel) and get to the parks for EMH, take a mid-day break, make meal reservations, and go back after dinner it is doable.

[bugandbibs]

This is our favorite time of year to go. It's pleasent during the day, but it gets cold and night FYI. You will need outerwear. I don't find the crowds too bad, but we are never able to visit during non crowded times.

(No other advice because it's changed too much since we went last).

[alleinesein]

They did revamp the DLR APs last year so this years crowds might be a bit lighter since the last half of December is blocked off for the majority of APs. This will be the first holiday season with the new passes so it will be interesting to see if it has the desired crowd impact that Disney is trying to achieve.

[TBM]

Aug 9, 2016 11:44:01 GMT -5 bugandbibs said:

This is our favorite time of year to go. It's pleasent during the day, but it gets cold and night FYI. You will need outerwear. 

This is something that I think people underestimate no matter the time of year.  It cools off once the sun goes down and can be cold during the winter. ETA: It can be pretty chilly in the summer too.  I think Disneyland probably racks up a crazy number of sweatshirt and jacket sales because people assume SoCal=warm weather 365 days a year.  

[was5]

Aug 9, 2016 15:13:47 GMT -5 TBM said:

Aug 9, 2016 11:44:01 GMT -5 bugandbibs said:

This is our favorite time of year to go. It's pleasent during the day, but it gets cold and night FYI. You will need outerwear. 

This is something that I think people underestimate not matter the time of year.  It cools off once the sun goes down and can be cold during the winter.  I think Disneyland probably racks up a crazy number of sweatshirt and jacket sales because people assume SoCal=warm weather 365 days a year.  

H loves to tell the story of when he went to Disneyland in early January in his late teens. He was either too cheap or didn't have enough money for a sweatshirt so he wore his short sleeves all night and froze. He couldn't understand why so many people were carrying jackets and sweatshirts around during the day when it was sunny and warm.

[alleinesein]

I think us locals are so used to the daily temp fluctuations that we don't bat an eye at the fact that it drops a good 20-40 degrees once the sun goes down. It does this in the summer as well as the winter so it is no big deal and taking a hoodie along on a warm day is just par for the course.

Anticipate it being in the high 40s/low 50s in the morning and don't be surprised if it does drop down into the 30s. Layers are definitely your friend when visiting the park in the winter.

[TBM]

Aug 10, 2016 2:16:59 GMT -5 alleinesein said:

I think us locals are so used to the daily temp fluctuations that we don't bat an eye at the fact that it drops a good 20-40 degrees once the sun goes down. It does this in the summer as well as the winter so it is no big deal and taking a hoodie along on a warm day is just par for the course.

Anticipate it being in the high 40s/low 50s in the morning and don't be surprised if it does drop down into the 30s. Layers are definitely your friend when visiting the park in the winter.

I swear every time my mom visited us she asked what the weather was and if they should bring a jacket.  My answer was to remind her that she always complained about being cold, so yes, bring a jacket. ;p

Now that we live in FL, with our 2 days - 2 weeks of 'winter' a year, (boo....I miss cool, coastal SoCal and June gloom!), it seems like every person we meet that has ever been to DL or SoCal comments on how cold it was or how cold the Pacific ocean is.  Our neighbors went to San Diego on a business trip and were given a strict packing list, with shorts and light clothing, but no sweaters or jackets included.  Everyone froze and after a day or so the company bought them all sweatshirts and rented heaters for the rest of their events. lol