Disneyland on Xmas Day - do not even think about it?

[MMMommy]

So tell me, am I nuts to plan a Disneyland trip on Xmas? Namely, Xmas day and the couple of days before or after it? Crowd calendars say it is horrible. How horrible is horrible? Cannot move and walk because there are that many people kind of horrible? Or typical crowded, long lines kind of horrible?

FWIW, we always get there when they first open and have had luck going on the majority of rides in the first 2.5 hours. Would it be so crowded that even this would not help much?

Thanks for any advice!

[lalasmama]

Sorry I missed this thread earlier!

How bad is it on Christmas Day? It's in the top 4 of the Busiest Days At Disneyland list; first place goes to New Years Eve, second is New Years Day, third is Christmas typically, but may be interchanged with any 24hr event, depending on the situation. It's not uncommon to have the parks close on and off during Christmas/New Years time because so many people come to the parks.

That being said, being there for rope drop will allow you to get the most done, as you already know.

I've been in the parks once when it closed, for Leap Day 2012. In that case, packed meant:

(1) 2 hour lines to get through the turnstiles. A few guests would leave, they would let a few in with 15 or so turnstiles going, only seeing people let in 10 at a time s.u.c.k.e.d. But, to be fair, this was 9pm or so! Earlier in the day, they hadn't closed the parks yet, and entering was quick and easy, like normal.

(2) There's no going anywhere quickly. I found this annoying as an adult with a 8yo, that no one seemed aware of general traffic flow. I wanted to yell something about how Dory (from Nemo) would say, "Just keep swimming." But those in front forgot how to swim. The biggest blockages will be around crowded times/areas: Main Street for the parade and fireworks, New Orleans Square for Fantasmic!, etc. If you can avoid those areas at the appropriate times, you will find it a lot less aggravating, I am sure!

(3) Find joy in the ambiance, and in non-rides. Especially when it's super-packed, try to see the shows you haven't seen in a while--Great Moments With Mr Lincoln, It's Tough To Be A Bug, whatever is at the Golden Horseshoe--or non-rides--Innoventions, the castle walk-through, shopping.

(4) Time your rides well, and make use of Fast Pass. If there's a large line waiting for a non-FP ride, try back again when the parade or Famtasmic! has started. Accept that you will need FP even if you don't usually make use of it.

(5) Be ready to wonder where the Spirit of the holiday went. This was a BIG issue for me--we were at Disneyland for DD's first trip, we were there on the first 24-hour event, we expected every one to be similarly tickled to be there! But I heard more cussing than a vessel of sailors, saw more kissing than in a naughty movie, and a fair amount of people who were pretty seriously unhappy. I guess what I'm trying to say is to not expect everything to be 100% holiday cheer!

All that said, you'd still be at Disneyland, and isn't a crowded Disney day still better than any non-Disney day?! ;)

As for the closings, it goes in a step process: first they stop selling tickets at the ticket window, second they stop letting new tickets enter (must have a stamp to re-enter, even with an annual pass), last no one gets to come in. There's some disboards dissension about a middle step where only on-site guests may enter the park. Since there's not a "on-site guests only" line, I'm not sure how they would make that happen. They may do this multiple times, so "closed" at x time doesn't mean it will still be closed at y time.

[sariana]

A couple of years ago we went on December 27. It was "hardly able to walk" crowded. Walkways were turned into one-way paths (NOT normal at DL!), so if you ended up going the wrong way (easy to do at haphazard, non-planned DL), you had to wait until you got to an opening to turn around and go back the other way. It was awful.

Agree with PP that Fast Passes are a must.

That being said, we still had fun!

[MMMommy]

Thanks guys! Good to know. I think we will try to go in the spring, which will probably be crowded, but hopefully less crowded.

Thanks again!

[ckso]

I've been there where they closed the entrance unless you had an existing pass because they were no longer selling. We were warned at parking. When we left Disneyland to go to ca adventure, we were warned at exit that we may not be let back in even with the pass

Everything was crowded and skipped many rides. Ca adventure of course was less crowded than Disneyland but it was way more people than I cared for. I would avoid if I can