Originally Posted By boydisney So my family is going to do Christmas together at DLR. And I am stoked. Of course, I am the Disney guru of my family and have helped spearhead the planning. We are staying in the Grand Calfornian which we have never done and are so excited for as we have been in the other two many times. But my dilema is this. We have NEVER been at the park for Christmas. I ask you my LP community for your suggestions for the best place to have Christmas dinner at DLR. There will be two 6 yr old girls BTW. Thanks a million!
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 Wow, that sounds like an awesome trip! How cool to actually be there for Christmas day. Sadly, I can't give you good advice for an actual Christmas dinner, although I do remember reading in the past that ressies go fast. We did have a great seasonal dinner at Napa Rose in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but not actually on the day. I can't wait to live vicariously and read what people suggest for you! I can recommend the in room tree that is delivered to your room at the GCH for an additional charge. It is an adorable little fake tree, about 3.5 feet tall, IIRC. We got one two Christmases ago, and have used it each year since. Ours came decorated with really cute Disney decorations, including balls, cookies and plush toys. It does not have lights on it, but I have read about people who have brought a string. I have since put lights on ours and it looks great. If you want more details or photos, I could probably dig some up. They give you a great box to pack it away in. We just shoved it in the box, drove it home, stuck it in the garage and take it out fully decorated each Christmas. It's my easiest Christmas decoration to put up. We loved the Reindeer Roundup, all the Christmas photo opportunities, and the the tree in the GCH is so beautiful! I'm sure that you will have a wonderful time, and look forward to reading dining suggestions!
Originally Posted By boydisney Wow. What an amazing post with some great suggestions. We will get a tree for the rooms for sure. And the Napa Rose is a great suggestion as well.
Originally Posted By Mickeysbestfan While Napa Rose is a beautiful restaurant, it might not work out the best for you for a Holiday meal. Since you will have a couple little girls with you, I would check with Disney Dining and find out which restaurants will be having a Christmas Dinner. I believe for Easter, Mother's Day, and Thanksgiving they do have a wonderful meal service in the Ball Room of the DLH. I would think they would have the same type of thing for Christmas. If you are looking for something less formal, I would look at booking either Goofy's Kitchen or Storytellers. But I would call Disney Dining and ask when you can book dinner, as I am sure they will book up quickly.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb One suggestion not dining related. Try to get to the parks at rope drop if you can. I here DL can reach capacity very early in the day during the holidays. Steak House 55 had a wonderful atmosphere when we ate there at Christmas time back whe it was Granville's. The Dickens Carolers came by and treated us to beautiful Christmas music.
Originally Posted By SuzieQ You need Debtee in this topic - the go to the GCH almost every Christmas. I'll drop her an email asking her to check in here.
Originally Posted By quincytoo LOL SUZIEQ Great minds think alike! I was thinking the same thing earlier !!!!!
Originally Posted By debtee Hi guys I'm here thanks for letting me know about this topic. You are going to have such a great time boydisney! We have been to DL for six years in a row at Christmas. It's just so special. All of the Disney hotels are so lovely to stay in but our personal fav is the GCH. It's just magical at Christmas. From the moment you walk into the foyer and see that giant Christmas Tree, it sets the magic for a great stay. As Dalia suggests above, we have had the Vacation Planning Christmas tree delivered to our room each trip. For us it's worth the extra money, as it makes our room feel like Christmas. With it's individual theme each year it's unique and you can't get it anywhere else. VP set it all up for you to be there on arrival and it's just gorgeous. I have brought all of them home to Sydney with me on the plane so you can keep them for years to come. VP can ship it home for you too if you live within America. There are many features available to you for staying at the GCH and each morning you will find in your room, a list for you to see what's on in the hotel for that day. It's very useful especially with two little girls, as they might like to do some of the activities. As we have been so many times, we have done so many different things for food each year. Napa Rose has a special Christmas Day menu, which is wonderful. We had a great time when we did that one year. It was a lovely dinner. Another restaurant that has to most wonderful Food it the Vineyard Room in DCA. I'm not sure of it's hours with the renovations going on but that sticks in my memory as one of the best Christmas Day dinners we have ever had. Another option was a Christmas day dinner with Stitch and his friends over at the PPH. We enjoyed this so much as heaps of characters were coming over to our table for photo's and the food was a Christmas buffet which was very good. We went to Storyteller's one year too as they also provide an excellent Christmas Day menu. Ahhh the list is endless. Maybe it's better if you ask me which restaurant you are interesting in going to and if we have been there, I can answer it for you that way? Disneyland is busy on Christmas Day no doubt about it. We have never found it to be a problem though as it's never been our ONLY day in the park so to speak, so we take it at a pace that we want. We don't have to be commandos on the rides, as we can come back the next day anyway. In our experience, we have found you can either be there at rope drop as many people do not want to be there so early on that Day, they are busy opening presents, so you can get to rides before the crowds. Or you can choose to just stroll in when it suits you but expect you may not get to all the rides you want that day without waiting a very long time! I think it has rained on two Christmas Day's that we have experienced. While it was cold on those days, it was so much fun, in that people seem to leave the park early, so you can run around and go nuts jumping on all the rides over and over again! I think we went on HMH about 6 times in a row without one wait! LOL I have to say standing in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle and watching the fireworks on Christmas Day is one of the most magical things I have ever done. I get tears in my eyes every time, the music, the atmosphere it's just MAGICAL. Any questions please as, as I'm sure I will remember things once I have hit post! LOL
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Since you mentioned the holidays at the PP. Did you know they have the best New Years Eve Party? The restaurant chefs and waitstaff love their NYE party. I forgot what the fee is but I wonder if the other hotels have a party.
Originally Posted By boydisney Wow. Thank you very much Debtee. I appreciate all your help. And yes, I do have a few follow up q's to your post. As I am a novice when it comes to GCA what is "VP" and how can I get ahold of them for the room tree? What is the cost? Also, we are leaning towards Storytellers. It is my understanding they have great family Christmas day menu and Chip 'n Dale walk around to meet guests? Am I right?
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 VP is "Vacation Planning," and I have always found their staff to be extremely helpful! I found this number on the disney.com website: (714) 300-PLAN (7526), and I have always been able to contact them when staying at one of the resort hotels by contacting the hotel and asking to be transferred to Vacation Planning. I usually find that I need to leave a message, and someone calls me back in a day or so, sometimes faster, sometimes it takes a few days, depending on how busy they are. Their staff have gone above and beyond the call of duty for me and my family to help us plan all kinds of details. They can help with dining reservations, and may well be the right people to talk to about your Christmas dinner. If I recall correctly, I have been able to put in requests with them for things like reserved seating for Fantasmic before the actual day when you can call to make a reservation, and they put in the request as early as they can on first day it becomes available. For a tricky Christmas day reservation, it might be just the thing to have someone in vacation planning help you make your reservation! They can also help with any gifts you might want to have delivered to your room; they once created a special gift basket for me for my family that included personalized hand made cards that I made at home and sent to them, they added the cards to the gifts I had them put into a basket for me for my relatives to find in their room. They are also the people who help with the trees, stockings, and any other special gifts you might want to have delivered to your hotel room. They are really helpful, and I would recommend giving them a call.
Originally Posted By debtee Thanks Dalia for getting back here before I could and explaining Vacation planning! I would take full advantage of Vacation planning. They have always booked everything perfectly for us and made our trip extra special. <Also, we are leaning towards Storytellers. It is my understanding they have great family Christmas day menu and Chip 'n Dale walk around to meet guests? Am I right?> Yes they have a very nice Christmas Eve and Christmas day Menu. We have been to both on different years and have always had such a nice meal and a wonderful time. It seems to us, the CM's are always happy, even though they are working during a holiday period. Chip & Dale are always around the foyer/ entrance to Storyteller's. They don't actually come around to each table but you are more then welcome to go and have photo's with them in the foyer. We have always managed to get lots of photo's with them even in this busy peak period. Sometimes, extra character's pop up like Pluto! Have fun!
