Wow, wow, wow, that's all I can say. Loved spending Christmas at Disneyland. There are Christmas decorations throughout the parks and the hotels and downtown Disney. Christmas music in the air pretty much everywhere and general good cheer all about.
I've been planning this trip for the family (mom, dad, brother, niece, nephew, Christian and myself) for the past 10 months or so, gathering a bunch of info on the best way to approach the parks during the busy holiday time --- Christmas is said to be the busiest days of the entire year.
Here are the highlights:
Holiday Time Tour... The tour itself (the information provided) is very good, but not fantastic (imo) but the other perks make up for it making this a major highlight. Some of the stories are interesting - she even talked about special Disney Christmas things they do (Disney-made candy canes and Candle Light Processional). We visited both parks and heard stories not only about Disneyland but different cultures and how the holidays are celebrated/etc. Got to snack on either an Egg Nog or Peppermint Marshmellow (Christian and I did Peppermint and it was DELICIOUS). Part of the tour includes walk-on (no-wait) access to Haunted Mansion Holiday and It's a Small World Holiday. Totally worth it and both rides were amazing, love the way they re-did It's a Small World for the holidays - new decorations and Christmas music!! We also received hot chocolate in a souvenir cup (very tasty) and it was appreciated by all along with some gingerbread... But the creme de la creme was when we walked to the parade area with everyone sitting around and they open up a rope for us to cross the empty street/parade route to our our cushioned seats facing It's a Small World Holiday. It's a priceless moment when your mom comments on how she feels like such a VIP.
Characters and Christmas decorations... I already noted that the decorations were everywhere. So many Christmas trees all decked out, theme related decorations in different areas of the parks (New Orleans Square, Haunted Mansion, Cars Land, Toontown, etc). Many different santa clauses that make appearances (each hotel, Elias & Co, Jingle Jangle Jamboree). The characters being dressed up in holiday outfits. I'm so glad that Christian is still into all of the characters --- not quite like he was when we were there last (2009), but still wanted to get pictures taken and get their autographs.
The shows... When you visit Disney there are always shows of various types to see. They had a Christmas themed parade which we had those awesome seats for as part of the holiday tour. Lots of fun and a GREAT way to catch the parade! We also saw World of Color after eating at Carthay Circle Restaurant from the reserved "Center-stage" viewing area. The nice part about this reserved area is that you have plenty of elbow room and can move around a bit without impacting anyone else. A great show with a Prep & Landing Christmas introduction to it. On Wednesday my mom, Christian and I did the Dessert Dining option to see Fantasmic and the Christmas fireworks shows --- another great choice as an add-on item. I waited in line 15 mins to "reserve" our seats on a seating chart and then we continued to enjoy the park and returned 5 minutes before the show to our reservered chairs where we served various drinks and each received a dessert tray with a great selection of desserts that lasted each one of us several days. Fantasmic was great though not changed for the holidays. Then we saw the fireworks from our chairs which was a great show and after the fireworks snow fell across all of us...
Shopping... If you visit Disneyland you have to get souvenirs --- and of course there is a lot of Christmas themed merchandise, especially ornaments. They did have Christmas-shirts (Merriest Place on Earth) that I wanted earlier in the season, but they sold out of them. Bummer. We picked up our share of souvenirs and were happy.
Well, I think that's it for now - at least with the important stuff! I'll talk about rides and the overall experience in a second recap post.