Originally Posted By fidoprincess We did it! We went at the worst time of year-lol! It was the most crowded I've ever seen it and it is such a shock to walk up to the security gate and see the giant electronic sign that says "Disneyland Full"! We (me, DH, dd-6 and ds-10)had a wonderful time in spite of the crowds thanks to making plenty of PS ressies. Now we know what to do when DL is so full, EAT! Don't try to go without reservations though-restaurant lines were longer than most of the ride lines! Walking into DL, I got all teary-eyed with happiness seeing the holiday decorations! It was just beautiful and so worth seeing at least once in a lifetime and everywhere I looked had some special holiday touch. Wednesday, our first day was great. We did almost everything. I loved HMH! It was better than I could have ever imagined and we loved Small World too. We never saw those before so they were a priority for us. We got FP for HM and hit small world during the parade (thanks to the tips here!)so it wasn't too bad but the sw line was generally all the way down to storybook and then had an additional cue set up beside the regular entrance. I could have just gone on HM over and over again, that's how much I loved it! I was suprised to hear that it will be the last year they do it. As night fell, we were tired and I was worried the dd would fall asleep for the balcony but they both made it through and loved it. My kids have never seen fantasmic and loved every second and the fireworks too. It was worth the money just for them to see it. They weren't scared at all but had been in the past so we were never able to stay and watch it. For me, it was the only really "bad" part of the whole trip because the CM was rude and not at all organized. We didn't get seated until 8:50 instead of 8:30 because he had mixed up the shows and had to go back and rearrange all the seating. He was staring at the paper and said to me, "Why doesn't this match up?" as if it was MY fault and if I could have, I would have asked for a refund right then and there and skipped the show. He was terrible and I was really bothered by the rudeness. He actually yelled at ME when I peaked into the door to see what was happening after waiting 20 minutes past the seating time! In all of DL and CA for the 4 whole days, he was the only CM that was mean and rude. Every other CM was nice as could be even thought we could tell they were stressed, tired and overloaded with the massive crowds. I haven't had anyone yell at me since I was a kid and it was just awful. I was embarrassed that he yelled at me in front of my children! It really ruined my whole night and put a damper on the whole much anticipated experience although I didn't let the kids know I was upset so they enjoyed it. I would NOT do the balcony again. Still wondering, now days later, why DL would allow someone like that to work the balcony when there are so many nice, competent CMs that could make the experience wonderful, especially considering the cost (4X56=$224, ds figured it cost over $10/minute!) Thursday/Thankgiving was great for us. We did BB for lunch and had a waterfront table. Our waitress was just overwhelmed with giant parties but was sweet as could be and took great care of us. I think she had 5 tables of 16 or more! One surprise, they gave us the dinner menu for lunch but I still was able to order the Monte Cristo, it just cost more than the usual lunch price! For dinner, we had PS for Carnation and got a great table along the front to watch the Holiday Parade. It was so nice and they had a special turkey dinner the kids enjoyed! Next day, we did Plaza Character Breakfast but it was so crowded the kids only got to see a few characters and no matter how hard the people worked, they couldn't fill up the food fast enough and the special coffee machines were broken. It was just "okay" and the rest of the day was so packed at DL we could hardly walk and only did FP rides for the rest of the time. We did go back and hit Fantasyland rides during the next parade and that was really fun because you could see a lot of the parade from many of the rides. We did the dreaded dumbo ride then too and it was around 30 minutes-probably the longest line we waited for and felt lucky that it was so "short'! Oh, forgot-we loved, loved Space!! FPs were gone by 10 or 11 each day but we managed to get them 2X and enjoyed the ride a lot! We had to leave DL Friday around 4 because it was just too crowded so the kids took their animals to build-a- bear and bought new holiday outfits. The new outfits are too cute and the people working there were so nice to the kids, helping them "bathe" and dress the animals. Dh wanted to tip them they were so nice but they weren't allowed to accept tips! Then we went to Goofys kitchen and had a wonderful time and a wonderful meal-the best of the whole trip. We'd been in the past but it was never this good-lol! Sat went to DL and had breakfast at Carnation-just fair considering the dinner was so good before. We left DL-just too crowded- around 11:30 and went to CA where it was wonderful. Hardly any lines and we did everything. Kids really loved the new Turtle Talk and even things they said they were "too big for" like Playhouse, they ended up loving too. Had dinner at Tratoria for the Block Party Parade and enjoyed ourselves even though it had gotten really cold. We had plenty of clothes and had a really great waiter. We realized that CMs can really influence your trips so much more than we ever noticed esp. after what happened at the balcony! Lots of Cms talked to us and were especially nice to the kids. One told me he had been working 7 days straight and he had terrible bags under his eyes he was so tired. He told me not to feel too sorry for him though because he was making $21/hour! Went back to DL after dinner and rode SW & Space once more and decided to try and stay for the fireworks since it was our last night and we had only seen them from the balcony. It was crazy and a really nice CM was telling us where to sit and helping us find a spot. We were late for finding a spot since it was already 8:30 and after talking to the CM for a while she was "97%" sure the fireworks would be cancelled because of wind so we decided to leave. They were going to make the "official" determination in 10 more minutes so we thought we had enough time to at least get to the end of Main Street and maybe we would see them there if we weren't out in time. We were between the castle and the matterhorn so we started to get out but it was slow going and right when we were going around the hub in front of the castle, they made the announcement to cancel early! We were in the worst possible place! Honestly, I was scared that the crowd would get out of hand and heard some people cussing and fighting. The crowd was REALLY upset and really packed in like sardines-just a dangerous situation all around! We slowly made our way around the hub-one way only-while the snow was falling and cut over to the "secret" exit behind coke corner. That was great because Main Street was so crowded you could not move and it was interesting to see "backstage"! They had a lot of CMs all along the way back there too. We went to get our aps and there was no line at all. The CM there was so nice and tried to explain that we would lose our EE-(just can't seem to get up and out early with 2 kids after keeping them out late each night) and our ESPN coupons that we had never used (never can even get in the door there!) I thought that was really nice even though we already knew it. He carefully explained every little detail and made sure I knew about the blockout dates and gave us tickets for the rest of the day-even though it was around 10pm and we were leaving. He waited while we combed the kids hair and everything! One last comment about the crowds: if you go when it is so crazy, get a locker and stroller/wheelchair right away if you need them. We didn't get a stroller until the last day but strollers and wheelchairs were sold out almost everyday by 11 or noon and the lockers were gone before that! We did fine and only got the stroller the last day to help dd keep up and be able to stay later-plus it was free with the D.Visa! All in all it was a great tip except the ride home. Since 101 was closed, 5 was a mess! It took us almost 11 hours to get home instead of the usual 6! The kids were great but I felt so sorry for DH driving. We were home so late I almost let the kids stay home from school but they went cheerfully. I know they will come home grouchy and tired though but they will have all their new "tinkerbell" toys to keep them busy! Sorry if this is too long but thanks to all who gave me hints and tips to make this a great trip! We go back again in Jan and I'm sure it will be a whole different experience without the "mega" crowds. I am already excited to go back esp. with our new APs and staying at DH for a mere $89/night!!
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Glad you had such a great time considering the crowds. Feel for you, our drive home on HWY 5 last Wednesday was 8.5 hours. Compared to my normal 5 hours.
Originally Posted By dlkozy Fun read! I am glad that you had fun inspite of the crowds. Are you in Northern Cal?
Originally Posted By kmsandrbs So you did end up getting the APs and are going again ... great! We had some of the same problem with EE and our kids ... but still managed to use it at least a little. And that drive up I5 after Thanksgiving does get just horrible. Last time we did that, we ended up taking side roads just to be moving. Not sure it saved us much time, but we were not bumper to bumper for half the day.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 I really enjoyed reading your report, I love long reports I'm glad that you were able to have a fun time despite the crazy sounding crowds. Have a magical time in January and let us know how it goes
Originally Posted By DisneySuiteFreak "the "secret" exit behind coke corner." Where is this exit and does it lead completely out of the park? Thanks...
Originally Posted By fidoprincess I guess it isn't really a "secret"! It is the passageway behind main street that is generally used for "Employees Only". The entrance is all the way back in the coke corner and when you walk through, you are walking behind the buildings along main street and come out right before the fire station on main street still in the park. We all loved going through-lol. We saw lots of things "guests" aren't supposed to see like some employee lockers and lots of unusual machinery. We never did figure our what it was-lol. There were a lot of cast members lining the path to make sure we didn't touch anything. I was so glad that I read these boards because main street was totally stopped-no one moving and people were angry about the fireworks being cancelled. It was not a good scene! No cast member was sending people through the back way unless you were right there so we were lucky that I knew about it and we could make our way over there. It saved a lot of time but more importantly, with 2 kids ready to leave, it probably saved some tears-lol!
Originally Posted By DisneySuiteFreak Thanks for sharing you TR and info. I've been at the park when it's crazy busy and you're right, it's scary and frustrating especially with small kids or elderly parents. You don't want them pushed and shoved around or lostin the crowd! Thanks again!
Originally Posted By fidoprincess You're welcome! I was reading some other reports and people that also took the "secret exit" were soo soo upset because they felt walking "behind the scenes" took away the illusion that is main street. We've been a lot so for us it was just something new to see and saved us that horrible packed slow walk down main street. I did find out that big machine is actually a shredder! No wonder they had so many CMs near there. Imagine all the paper DL has to shred back there-lol!
