Hey everyone, Im back. After having to cancel my solo trip earlier this year, I have now booked Christmas for me and mum, Im mid 30's & mum is early 60's.
We have booked Sequoia Lodge arriving Monday 23 December and leaving Friday 27 December.
While I have been to DLP my mum hasn't and neither of us have ever had a Christmas holiday anywhere , we have always only done the traditional family get together for Christmas.
Really looking forward to a Disney Christmas and any tips and hints would be most welcome.
One question we both have is what is Christmas Day like at Disney and which restaurant would be best to book for Christmas Day?
One thing I want to see this time is the descent of the stairs in Disney Hotel.
ok so Ive been doing some research about Christmas Lunch and its defiantly something we both want to do, even though we know it will be pricey, but hey its Christmas at Disney :) Im going to check with our travel agent if they have any details for Christmas 2013 as all I can find online is from previous years.
We are also thinking about breakfast in the park for one of the days as this was something I didnt do on my last visit.
Getting excited for the new Christmas Dreams and cant wait to read trip reports from October and November.
Hi, no advice for the Christmas season (I've only been once,years ago, and it was late November so nowhere near actual Christmas!) but just wanted to wish you a lovely time, sounds fabulous! :D And I've always thought the Sequoia a lodge looks perfect for that time of year!
you should get in touch with kelly.dylan here on the forum she was there pretty much for your exact dates last year so she may be able to help =]
Quote from: "SwipatronSparks"you should get in touch with kelly.dylan here on the forum she was there pretty much for your exact dates last year so she may be able to help =]
ooh thanks for that I will :D
Quote from: "jeakat24"Hi, no advice for the Christmas season (I've only been once,years ago, and it was late November so nowhere near actual Christmas!) but just wanted to wish you a lovely time, sounds fabulous! :D And I've always thought the Sequoia a lodge looks perfect for that time of year!
thanks for popping by. Yes Sequoia with the log fires should be really Christmassy, the photos I checked out from previous years look amazing
ok so I have now booked Christmas Brunch on Christmas Day for us. It is in The New York Hotel at 12pm (noon, mid day) . It cost €69 per adult and is a buffet. This suits us much better than a table service set menu meal as my mum has a medical dietary condition called coeliac disease which means she cant eat anything with flour or bread etc. This way she can have a nice meal without any fuss.
I booked it direct with our travel agent. At the moment it is just a provisional booking as they haven't officially started taking bookings for it yet.
This is the info in the brochure the travel agent gave me.
Merry Christmas Brunch
25 December 2013
12 Noon
Price Adult €69 Child €29
At Disney's Hotel New York, come and live Christmas with family or friends. Accompanied by Disney characters, you will enjoy a mouth watering buffet in an end of the year festive atmosphere.
...doing Tiger bounces ..... :)
The December Calender is now online... no scheduled closures for any day of our trip, and the main park is open until 10pm every night. Very happy :)
You will have an amazing time. We went at Christmas time a couple of years ago - we came home on Christmas Eve :( and stayed at the Sequoia Lodge. What made it really magical was the snow that had been falling for a good few days before we got there and while we were there as well. One bit of advice - take lots of warm clothes or layer your clothes as we froze.
We are going March 2014 but we have also decided to go Christmas 2014 - near enough your dates this year, so i will be interested to see how you found Christmas Day. We will have our 2 children with us and we have always promised them that one year we would spend Christmas Day there. :)
Hi disneymadfamily2014 :)
I used to live in Germany so I know how to dress for the cold :) I have discussed this with mum and we will both have lots of layers as well as snow grips for our shoes, hats and gloves
awww that will be amazing bringing the kids for Christmas Day, I will try my best to write-up as much info for you, both now during the planning stages and when we get there
quick update :)
I have now sorted out our meal plans
Christmas Eve
Breakfast in the hotel
snacks throughout the day in the park
evening meal at either Planet Hollywood or Rainforest cafe
Christmas Day
Breakfast at hotel
Merry Christmas Brunch Hotel New York
evening snacks in the park
Boxing Day
Breakfast in the hotel
snacks throughout the day in the park
evening meal Blue Lagoon
Day we leave
Breakfast in the park if possible
Ahh you will have an amazing time! My Christmas wish is to one day spend Christmas eve and day at Disneyland! I'm sure it's truly magical! My mum would love to go as well! Last year me, dh, dds and my mum went during Halloween and we talked so much about how special Christmas at Disneyland must be! :)
Not sure about the cold though! :)
Have a great time and please come back for updates and for a detailed TR! ;)
See you at the Blue Lagoon for dinner on the 26th bad_pink_tink ;)
I hope you both have a great time, if I was going at Christmas I think The Sequoia Lodge would be my choice - fingers crossed you get just enough snow to make it feel extra festive, but not so much that it closes anything
Quote from: shewholaughs on November 04, 2013, 08:59:35 AM
See you at the Blue Lagoon for dinner on the 26th bad_pink_tink ;)
hi
shewholaughs I take it you have booked Blue Lagoon too on that day :) Pirates is my second favourite ride /attraction and Ive always wanted to eat in Blue Lagoon. I cant wait
Quote from: daddyof2 on November 04, 2013, 10:18:58 AM
I hope you both have a great time, if I was going at Christmas I think The Sequoia Lodge would be my choice - fingers crossed you get just enough snow to make it feel extra festive, but not so much that it closes anything
thanks
daddyof2 I hope so too :)
That's the plan! We're booked in for 7.30 on the 26th.
I need to find somewhere for present opening on Christmas morning. I think after EMH and breakfast we're going to decamp to the fireside at Sequoia Lodge to open presents.
Then we have a late lunch booked at Walt's at 2pm.
THEN dinner (if we want it) in the hotel at the Manhattan Diner at 8pm.
Should be enough time after that to hotfoot it back to the park for the show!
yes present opening, thats something we need to sort out too. Last year we did present opening with SKYPE with family members in the UK. That was fun :) This year though we need to figure things out, as France is in a different time zone to UK and we are booked for the 12 pm Christmas lunch at HNY. I know its mad but I really want to do EMH on Christmas morning.
I think we'll just do phone calls because as I understand the wifi coverage in the park and hotels isn't all that good. Maybe try and Skype later in the day before dinner.
I definitely want to take advantage of EMH on Christmas Day - I've heard it's the busiest day of the year in the park, so want to maximise ride time!
I saw on another forum post today that you can ask your hotel to arrange for you to have breakfast in the park (somewhere in Main St apparently) instead of your hotel at no extra cost so you can make the most of EMH, so I'm going to ask about that when I arrive too.
Quote from: shewholaughs on November 25, 2013, 12:39:47 PM
I definitely want to take advantage of EMH on Christmas Day - I've heard it's the busiest day of the year in the park, so want to maximise ride time!
me too, I know I will be like a little child, awake really early on Christmas morning, so I think we try to get breakfast early, do EMH and be back at the room around 11 am. We are booked for Christmas Brunch at 12 pm at HYN so the plan is to Skype before we head over there
Quote from: shewholaughs on November 25, 2013, 12:39:47 PMI saw on another forum post today that you can ask your hotel to arrange for you to have breakfast in the park (somewhere in Main St apparently) instead of your hotel at no extra cost so you can make the most of EMH, so I'm going to ask about that when I arrive too.
yep, going to do this too, on our last day :)
I went to the travel agents today to pick up our tickets... weeeee its getting closer :) Only 17 days to go
11 days to go, almost there :)
Another little update, I just booked Plaza Gardens for the evening we arrive. We will have a long day travelling and I thought it best to make a reservation at Plaza Gardens just in case of big queues. Our flight lands at 1 pm, so I have made the reservation for 6 pm , which will give us plenty of time to get our bags, make our way across the airport to the VEA pick up , travel to the park, check in and then head to the park. We will have snacks during our journey, my mum always packs sandwiches but we will need a proper meal and after travelling all day I know we will be in no mood for waiting for ages for a table at a restaurant.
Also a little tip for those ringing the restaurant reservation line, make sure to get a confirmation number and the name of the person you speak to. Apparently my previous reservation at The Blue Lagoon was not entered on the system, so the lovely lady I spoke to today re did the booking for me, and give me her name and confirmation numbers for BOTH bookings.