Originally Posted By mickeynewe Just wondering who all will be going in December? We will be going from December 13th-17th. This is the first time in December we have gone. Anything special we should look for in Disneyland at this time? We usually go the first week of November when they are first starting to get all the decorations up. What more should we expect? Thanks everyone! ºoº
Originally Posted By ImTinkerbellsfan I'll be there Dec. 4 to Dec. 10. All the decorations will be up by the time you will be there. Plus HM and IASMW will be decorated inside and outside for christmas. Those rides are pretty cool at during the Chrismas Holiday.
Originally Posted By mickeynewe Thanks Tinkerbellfan! They usually have those open in November when we go also. I love to see them both decorated for the holidays! Its such a fun change! I didn't know if what else to expect. I love discovering new things at Disneyland so this will be a treat for us to see what happens for the holidays that we haven't been able to see so far!
Originally Posted By ImTinkerbellsfan I think you are able to see everything in November that you see in December. Too bad we are going at different times, we could have done a meet and great. Have a great trip. But, if you decide to go earlier and are there when my family is, I would love to do a meet and great. I can't change my dates because of my college class schedule.
Originally Posted By mickeynewe Aw, it would have been great to have gotten together to say, "hi". LOL...we made those dates because they were readily available...still are...and the rates were really reasonable. Plus, we didn't want to go too close to Christmas. I have to say, I hate doing it, but we are taking our little one out of school. She used to get time off every November for 2 days for teacher in-service days and then we would only take her out 1 day to give us a total of 5 days (incorporating the weekend), but they stopped doing that. But now, we have come to really love this family time together each year. The classwork/homework is just REALLY tough for her to catch up on after a trip because they have to have their missed work turned in immediately otherwise they get a zero. Plus, they won't let them have their schoolwork in advance. I always feel bad when she gets all her assignments on her first day back to school. I am thinking of trying to find a way to get her best friend to fax her classwork/homework assignments to her at the hotel while we are gone so it won't be so tough on her. Does anyone know if the PPH will allow that?
Originally Posted By mike-LTM We will be there Dec 14-18. This is the 6th year in a row we've made a Dec. trip. There is nothing better than the Park during the Holidays. The sounds, the lights, the people, the decorations and snow on Main Street all make for a special trip. I can't wait!!!!
Originally Posted By mickeynewe You will be there the same time as us! Is this a family trip for you as well? At the risk of sounding extremely sentimental, I love standing on Main Street just watching my family and listening to the music as the snow falls. It always gives me a warm cozy feeling and makes me teary-eyed.
Originally Posted By mike-LTM Its always a family trip. This year there is more family than usual. That will make even more special. Getting sentimental is why we love the Park. That's the magic!
Originally Posted By Devinparis The two times i've been there in Dec and I thought this was kinda neat. In the firestation there were tables set up where you can buy and decorate a cookie. I don't recall how much it cost, but you do get to pick from a few different items what you want to put on your cookies.
Originally Posted By javaj We're going 15th to 19th, staying at Paradise Pier, but this is our first family DL trip so I don't have any advice. I used to go to DL frequently when I was growing up, but I haven't been there since 1997 so I'm sure a lot has changed. We usually visit WDW once or twice a year but we're heading overseas for Christmas so we're spending 4 days at DL before leaving from LAX.
Originally Posted By Goofy24 I'm going Dec. 8th - 13th! My first time going during the holidays, so I am REALLY looking forward to EVERYTHING!!!
Originally Posted By norcaldisney ^You will love it! It's such a different feeling during the holidays. We will be there December 18-22. Hopefully it will not be too busy that week.
Originally Posted By Tinkerbell819 I am hoping to go from 12/8-12/13, also! I have been searching for deals on hotels and flights. I brought 2 of my boys last Dec. and we loved it so much we're hoping to make it an annual event! Last year we were able to book Hojo's for the Entertainment rate of $45 a night and this year the price is like $102 or something...since money is always tight in Dec. I am looking for someplace cheaper, but I always think if I wait the price might come down...so far it hasn't! lol I can book the Castle for $47, but it gets bad reviews on here...
Originally Posted By norcaldisney Well, we are trying the Castle Inn for the first time this year so we will see how it goes. I was able to get a good deal on lastminutetravel.com so I went for it. The walk is short to the parks and I read that they have new carpet so figured how bad can it be. ~Crossing fingers~ it will be ok.
Originally Posted By DoomBugger I like Castle Inn, I have stayed there a few times. They were so nice to us for our honeymoon they upgraded us to a suite for nothing. It was awesome. Of course all of the hotels along the strip are about the same. We have stayed at many of them. My thought on the whole thing is, the closer the better. We hardly spend anytime in our room, why pay more?
Originally Posted By Tinkerbell819 I really love staying at Hojo's and it feels like "home" when I arrive there. I know where everything is already and we can throw our stuff down and head right out to the parks! I also love that the pool/hot tub area is open 'til midnight! But, I don't know if I love it enough to pay more than double the price that I can book the Castle for! (I called and their pool area is only open 'til 10pm.) Decisions, decisions!!!! I am glad to hear your good review Doombugger!
Originally Posted By mickeynewe Okay, we stayed at the Castle many years ago. I thought their customer service was great. We checked in at around midnight, expecting to be charged for this night, we found that they actually only charged us for 4 nights instead of 5. This was a welcome surprise! Also, they upgraded us to a large suite over the lobby area when they found out that we were celebrating our anniversary and that we had brought my mother-in-law to do some babysitting so my hubby and I could go off and spend some alone time together in the park after dark. So, it was really nice to be able to have our own separate bedroom as well! We never asked for an upgrade, they just gave it to us free of charge and at their discretion. To me, that was pretty good customer service! We have never stayed their again, however, when we did the room was nice and it was clean. It was also relatively new (or had just been remodeled..something along those lines anyhow).
Originally Posted By BoyStory We'll be there Mon-Fri Nov 28-Dec 2nd. I'm looking forward to the Christmas Celebration and hoping what I've heard on this board is true; that the week AFTER Thanksgiving is slow crowd-wise
Originally Posted By mickeynewe This is the same time frame my best friend and her family are going. I thought about moving our dates to coincide with theirs, however, the rates are much HIGHER for this time frame than when we are going.
