Planning for Disneyland in January
 

2006 prices came out so I'm mustering the will to plan a Disneyland trip for the first week in January because that's about the only chance we'll have to see the 50th stuff. We're looking at Thursday - Sunday, Jan 5-8. Does anyone know of any glaring problems with that? Like there won't be any fireworks that week? Or parks close at 3pm all week for Oprah tapings?

Not sure about fireworks, but Small World will definitely be down, and there's a good chance Mansion will be too, to remove the holiday overlays.

So, when's the Prudence LoT meet? ;)

As I understand it, they are going to do Fireworks nightly for the duration of the 50th celebration.

Mansion's not supposed to go down until the 9th, so they say. Our hearts won't be broken if we don't see any of the "usual" stuff since our primary motivation is to come see the special 50th stuff -- mainly the fireworks. Okay, we would really be upset if we couldn't eat at Napa Rose. That's usually the highlight of our trip.

Fireworks will be on Friday and Saturday. Despite the promise they made, as NA referred to above, Disneyland has once again proved itself a liar - - and fireworks will only be shown Fridays and Saturdays in "off-season."

Pirates is going down for a long rehab in the winter. I don't know if it will be as soon as early January; doubtful if Small World (and possibly Mansion) is/are down. Matterhorn usually goes through a rehab in early winter though. I don't know exact dates yet, but those are always reeeally subject to change anyway.


The fun of the LoT meet will make up for anything closed during your visit!

I knew my suspicious mind would come in handy! I start spring semester on Monday the 9th, so I had been planning to come back on Saturday. "But what if," my mind asked, "they only have fireworks on weekend nights and something happens Friday night and you miss your one and only shot? Better be safe and include Saturday night as well."

We've heard rumors of Pirates, the Monorail, and California Screamin'. It would be a bit disappointing, but our priorities are: fireworks (me) and Space Mountain (him.)

Will there be a LoT meet? That would present a puzzle. Whether 'tis better to engage in face-to-face frivolity or to preserve the digitally enhanced mystery.

Darling, I've already met you! There is no mystery left. ;)

Yes, but I was busy being shy that day. Nary a showtune in sight!

DAMN! We need to get you drunk!

I guess a geek like me should handle these type of questions ;)


Okay, Disneyland in January 2006: What will be closed ?

• It's A Small World
• The Haunted Mansion
• Pirates Of The Caribbean
  
• California Screamin
  
• Snow White: An (Allegedly) Enchanted Musical
• Main Street Electrical Parade (@DCA)

What MIGHT BE closed ?

• The Matterhorn
• Splash Mountain
• Disneyland Monorail
  
• Riverbelle Terrace

Remember will be performed on Friday & Saturday only and Fantasmic will be performed Friday - Sunday only.

Also don't be surprised if another ticket price hike comes along.
Some of the park hopper tickets just went up by $10 this month.

I think that pretty well covers it.

Thanks, GEEK!

Hey zappp, what's May gonna look like?

NA: Sugar! Lots of sugar! And THEN the alcohol, which makes me Really Super Chatty and I wave my arms about despite having no Mediterranean ancestry that I'm aware of. But right after the Super Chatty comes the Super Nap and I get all sleepy.

Zapppppppppop: So here's my pondering. I know gobs of stuff is going down in January. What do you think the odds are that they'll save bunches of it for the 9th? The 1st is on a Sunday this year, so many people have Monday off and are going to make a big weekend of it. Do you think the grand poobahs will start shuttering doors on Tuesday? Or will my gamble pay off and they'll wait that one more weekend?

Is this a sign that I think about this way too much?

It was great fun when we went around my birthday (12/16) a few years ago, but now finals week doesn't end until then and the 17th starts the weekend before Christmas. It wasn't so bad when we arrived on the 13th and left on the 17th, but I think arriving on the 17th would lead to disappointment. I think it would be better for me and my luggage to go just after the holidays.

(And I secretly loathe DL's Splash Mountain but Mr. Prudence loves it. I'm rooting for a closure!)

No matter what else is closed, the AP Lounge in the Grand Californian will be open and happy to entertain you.

How convenient! Especially since we'll have a room just upstairs!

I wouldn't count on it. Even if New Years Day is on Sunday the refurbishments begin on the first Monday after NYD, which would be the 2nd. Unless something odd were to happen that would delay the closures, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Except that unlike past years (that I remember) peak season lasts through 1/2/06 this year. (Doesn't it generally end at 12/31?)

It's not going to bother me that those things are closed because most of my favorites will still be open. But I'll bet some of the attractions closing down in January will still open. For example -- for the past three years they've staggered the Haunted Mansion and small world holiday overlay removals by a week, so I'm betting that at least one is open.

It's not going to make or break our vacation. It's our only chance to be at the park during the 50th celebration and as long as the park exists and is open our mission will be successful.

The part where I get to engage in wild speculation is but an added bonus!

I wouldn't be surprised to see a delay past the 1st. When the 1st is on a Sunday, a lot of things get shifted. Things like the Rose Parade and the Rose Bowl. They happen on the Monday instead. So it would really make a lot of sense for them to hold off on the usual "first monday" practice because there are going to be a lot of people still in town for those things. But they could easily just make it Tuesday, no guarantee they'll hold off for a whole week.

Ooooh, oooh, let's go to the Rose Parade this year!! I always wanted to do it when it didn't mean spending New Years Eve on Colorado Blvd.


Oh, and I wouldn't be surprised, based on past experience, if Disneyland starts shutting down attractions for rehab at 12:01 a.m. on New Year's.

No, it's usually the next Monday. Some years, that means you get almost a full extra week into January before they put Christmas away.

But usually the peak season prices end right after the holiday. Or at least they have the years I've looked at it. That's part of my gamble -- to go right after the prices drop, but possibly before all the toys are back in the box. If I were paying peak season prices through Monday, I'd be pretty annoyed if they commenced value season conditions on Sunday. Not that they couldn't or wouldn't do that, but it would really hank my hiney.

So I'm paying value season prices and don't expect any better than value season conditions. But I'm hoping the pink pixie in the sky waves her magic wand and that because Monday is the official "holiday" they'll wait until the 9th to, as CP so elegantly put it, "put Christmas away."

Or maybe our resident curmudgeon is right and the construction walls will go up at 12:01am on the 1st. In which case it's showtunes for all in the AP lounge!

You'll have to go up to the balcony for that. :evil:

I don't get it?

In other news -- we bought plane tickets and paid our deposit, so I guess we're going! Jan 5-8, GC.

Now to plan my dining options! 3 dinners... Napa Rose is a must. Vineyard Room if it's open. But #3? hmmmmm....

Ask Sczcerbiack...aka Ms. Peron.

FYI, current schedules show HMH open until January 9th, so you're in luck there.

Perhaps a Character Dining meal at either Disney's California Adventure, Disneyland, or one of the Disney hotels? Since you're making a special trip to the Disneyland Resort, Character Dining would allow you to just sit back, relax, eat and have characters come to you without having to stand in line for photos or autographs. Whether you are a child, adult or someone young at heart, most people seem to enjoy these--and it will be different from your existing two choices.

We've done a couple character breakfasts at DL and we're not really eager to do it again. The first one we enjoyed because it was Pooh and friends. Our last experience was quite disappointing -- I don't know if it was because we were "merely" adults or because we were the only customers in our section of the restaurant, but characters just gave us a distant wave (if that) as they passed us on their way to the other side where there were ample quantities of children. We specifically said we wanted to see characters, so I'm not sure what was going on that morning.

Conversely, we had a most excellent time at Liberty Tree in the Magic Kingdom at WDW. I think we'll save our character experiences for there.

We had poor service at Catal both times we were there and just weren't blown away by Granvilles. (Although the service at Granvilles was excellent.) Might just end up at Storyteller's.

We ended up experiencing the Storytellers character breakfast from the fringe a couple of times last December. We were ordering a la carte, but the characters still came around, and we got some cute interaction with some of them (not over the top, as we were 2 adults dining alone, but it was fun). The food from the menu was very good (I had pancakes one morning, and the fruit platter the next - the carrot bread that came with it was divine:) )

I know dragging up a thread this old is double plus bad, but I feel equally creepy starting a new one for one question:

What's the timeframe for making priority seating or advanced dining reservations or whatever they're called now? I found lots of WDW info and I'm not up to wading through to find the DL version.

90 days.

Turns out it's actually 60. Which gives us a little lnger to make up our minds. 3 dinners total, 4 lunches, maybe some breakfasts. And so far we'd decided on 1 Napa Rose dinner, 1 Vineyard Room dinner, 1 Carnation Cafe lunch, 1 Blue Bayou lunch, 1 Storyteller's breakfast and 1 Carnation Cafe breakfast.

Currently the DLR is still advertising their Christmas season ends on January 2nd. Remember is scheduled for Friday-Sunday but no tact-on snowfall.

Refurb Schedule:

It's A Small World - January 4th thru January 17th
Haunted Mansion - January 18th thru March 10th

The Monorail will begin making one way trips in January & then close in September, in preparation for the new fleet of monorails and revamped submarines.

Cool beans! Now, it just has to stop being windy by Friday, Jan 6th and I'll be all set!

Looks like we'll get HMH, which is a mutual yay. BT is probably relieved that we'll miss iasw, but I'll just make him ride twice in May. (mwahahahaha!)

Now the other pins-and-needles moment -- will the Monsters, Inc ride be open?

Oh heck no.... thats like.. hoping beyond hope. But a nice thought.

You'll have to be content with our smiling faces!!!!

Monsters Inc. officially opens on January 26th. However, Greg Emmer wants the ride to soft open to the public on Christmas. Whether or not that happens depends on how much more time it will take to finish the landscape/pavement work being done outside the ride.

Monsters is supposed to soft open on January 20th - so sex the rumor mill.

Just screams quote me.

Freud would be so proud. :D

It MUST be those darn cats again ;)