Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #3!- HOLIDAYS BEGIN 11/12/13!!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Got back a couple weeks ago. This thread wad very helpful! I was surprised at the crowd levels. Although it wasn't overly crazy - it was still quite crowded. RSR was fantastic but that line is insane!

Holiday tour was worth it and the Christmas lights were spectacular. I will have to go back again just for the decorations. I miss it already. :santa:
 
Thank you for posting those beautiful pictures. I am afraid I have the Disney blues right now, and your pictures are like a soothing slave. I am hoping that someone who is in the parks this week will post trip reports, too. Oh, I will just have to start planning for next year!
 
I've got the Disney blues too, but decided to do some retail therapy this morning, and scored some Disney Jim Shore ornaments for 90% off. Am going to start to save for either a WDW or DL trip for the family once I've got the money for the next greyhound addition to the family and have my pics developed finally. The next trip will probably will be to WDW even though it costs us double to vacation there compared to DL. We've never been to WDW, so that's where the family want's to vacation next, but in my heart DL will always be my fav place to go for vacation.
 
!Interesting how the ice cream conveniently appears this week, when it is expected to be super mega-crowded before and after Christmas, but it wasn't available at Gibson Girl earlier in the season when crowds were presumably lower. Interesting that the ice cream was available at Ghirardelli early in the season and then vanished, never to return, but now it pops up at Gibson Girl at the end of the season!:rotfl2::rotfl2:

If it's anything like the freezer at my house, it was probably buried under too many frozen pizzas and chicken nuggets and they just found it! :lmao:

Merry Christmas to you too, figment_jii -- and to everyone who has recently posted (Amy, Jenny, czmom, mrsw94, Kauinohea, perlster, Bret, Jamie, crystal1313, egritz, Trish, Astylla, etc.), and to all of the DIS'ers I met or saw this year -- including Kim, Kathy, Janet, PHXscuba, Laurie/DizNee Luver and Liza/funatdisney! (PHXscuba and Laurie each sent me very nice thank you PMs for inviting them to join me at Club 33, which was so thoughtful of them to do!:goodvibes And Kathy made me a cute little scrapbook to keep pictures in, which was also extremely kind and thoughtful.) Thank you, also, to everyone who participated regularly in the Theme Week Countdown, particularly pattyduke34, who entered in every single week's theme!

Thank you so much Sherry! It was awesome to get to see you several times during our trips. It just seemed the logical conclusion to this year long journey you helped us take. :santa:

I'm SO glad your photos turned up safe and sound. I love what I have seen you post so far and look forward to seeing so much more. I especially love your composition in those shots of the resort trees. LOVE the fireplace in the background! :thumbsup2 Looks just like home. :goodvibes
 


lucysmom said:
Thank you for posting those beautiful pictures. I am afraid I have the Disney blues right now, and your pictures are like a soothing slave. I am hoping that someone who is in the parks this week will post trip reports, too. Oh, I will just have to start planning for next year!

0oh...soothing slave...is that an amenity offered at the DLR hotels?



____ J/K! I know it's a typo.
But just could not help myself. Lol
 
Thank you for posting those beautiful pictures. I am afraid I have the Disney blues right now, and your pictures are like a soothing slave. I am hoping that someone who is in the parks this week will post trip reports, too. Oh, I will just have to start planning for next year!

...a soothing salve!! Autocorrect can be a real pain sometimes!
 
Oh I know it can be. Seriously. Lol



Ok, time for me to dummy up. :faint:

I liked the Jingle Jungle Cruise. I love the Jungle Cruise. If it returns next year, I would love to see more holiday decor. Nothing over the top, after all it is a jungle out there! And it isn't like the skips can go out to the five n dime to buy, well really anything. Maybe though between friends and relatives of the western crew and Trader Sam's connections, a bit more decor will find its way to this tropical outpost; Christmas lights, post cards, letters from home, maybe a real Christmas tree freshly boated and or flown in, hand made ornaments and some gifties from and to the crew and island natives. I liked the native tree et al.
Ok, so if I could work on this theming and decorating, it would make my day! :)
I made it a point to see Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, holiday version.
I cannot compare it to the non holiday version for I would always end up missing it. Anyway, I really enjoyed their performance. It would have been especially nice if their act had been a bit longer.
Indy does need a big time out. The first day I was there, Indy was down before the park even opened. And although I am not able to visit as often as many, all the same, I have not seen it like that before. It did not open until 7:45 p.m. then went back down before closing. Wow! And Mara's eyes never did shine upon you.
I had thought about trying the famous peppermint Wonderland ice cream, but did not have enough room for it. But...back on the old homestead, while doing some last minute shopping at Target, I spied one container of this minty delight and thought I better get it, while the getting is good. I looked for more, but no, that was the last carton period. The store was if not short on ice cream, was clean out of various flavors. This limited edition Dryers Grand Ice Cream is totally yummy delicious! I might add a bit of homemade chocolate syrup. :)
When I actually make it. Lol
My only grievance about my visit to the land, is my last day there, because it was my last day there. For if I had my druthers, I would still be there.
 


Merry Christmas Disers!!

Woohoo for getting the ice cream at Gibson girl, glad some of you are still in the parks enjoying some holiday magic!!

I'm sorry for those who were harassed about the passes and the 2 year olds age. Such a frustration. I'm sure a lot of parents lie about their kids age to save some money. Not sure how they could enforce that rule? Maybe require copies of birth certificates? In fact, I'm surprised they don't, given how thoroughly they enforce the multi day tickets.

Hope the new year's holiday isn't as crowded for those still gearing up for their visit... Enjoy the parks!!
 
Merry Christmas everybody! Hard to believe all those months of trip planning, the actual trip, talks of Christmas movies & peppermint ice cream and here we are with Christmas Day almost at an end. Life moves at a crazy speed!

There may been some discussion about extending our holiday 2014 trip to stay the day past Thanksgiving (that would make an 8 day trip!) and renewing our APs since we'll be back in SoCal in June 2014. Yes, we just only got this year's and are planning like that. Christmastime was actually very nice, but we realized we don't really want to be back for Thanksgiving Day - it's nice to have one low-key (meaning minimal work for us) holiday. We'll see what actually happens though - it's still 11 months off and a lot can change. But I can dream in the meantime...

Belated Merry Christmas, Jamie! (That reminds me -- I have about 7 non-urgent PMs waiting for me to get to them, and yours is one of them! I haven't had any time, it seems, so I am woefully behind on all of that.)

Anyway, I can totally understand wanting to extend the trip to cover Thanksgiving -- and not just because it's always fun to squeeze in more Disney time when possible, and it's probably extra fun to be at DLR over a holiday!

For me, the reason to extend the trip would be that if I were coming home on 11/25, I would not only be exhausted when I got home but I wouldn't feel truly settled back in for at least a few days -- and trying to either prepare a Thanksgiving meal on 11/27 or help someone else prepare it would be tough to tackle. It would be too soon. Some folks who are used to taking a lot of trips for business or pleasure can bounce back much more easily into their normal routines when they return, so maybe snapping right into Thanksgiving mode would be easy for your family to do if you ended your trip on 11/25. But, if you are anything like I am, it would take at least a few days to get back into a routine after DLR -- and Thanksgiving would be too much to deal with on top of that! It's easier (albeit, more expensive) to just stay at DLR over the holiday.

I hope you're able to extend the trip to the day after Thanksgiving, but it will be a wonderful holiday trip even if you don't.


Thanks, Sherry. I had a great time meeting you as well. It was a highlight of my trip. Even though I joined this thread late, it was so nice to see it all cone together. The tips were invaluable, and I enjoyed reading about everyone's trip. Hopefully, everyone had a very a merry Christmas (especially those lucky enough to be at Disney today)!

It is nice to see that we have a voice. Somewhere out there someone from Disney is reading and listening. I agree that too many changes happened for them to be mere coincidences. How I would love to work for Disney! They must have cool jobs. As much as I would love reading and writing about Disney, I think VIP tour guides have the best job ever!

Kim --

Thank you for the kind words!

Yes, someone out there in the Disneyland Resort camp is definitely reading along and paying attention to certain threads, and most definitely this one. They may not tune in year-round. Maybe they only pop in to see what's being discussed every now and then, or after certain bits of "news" have been released.

They (at DLR) devote so much time to collecting survey information (I'm sure we've all been approached by CMs to take surveys while in the parks -- in fact, I answered a lot of questions about Viva Navidad on my last day at DLR), so they clearly want to know what the general public thinks about certain things. Survey results can sometimes be skewed if the survey takers are in a rush, not giving accurate information, or if they think they are supposed to answer a certain way, but an active, busy, popular thread like this Superthread -- where we get into detail about every facet of the DLR holiday season, as well as discuss what we like and do not like -- is a perfect way for the 'lurkers' from DLR to get an idea of what people honestly think/like/dislike.



I'll definitely post my thoughts on the 2013 Hallmark Movies Sherry! I'm already looking forward to next year as well! :goodvibes

I have a bunch still on my DVR but so far (PSA I find Hallmark Christmas Movies 'popcorn for the brain' Light, airy, and hits the spot. As such I do not expect to see any up for Golden Globes or Oscars but that isn't why I watch the Hallmark Channel on a continuous loop during the holidays :-)

Snow Bride - very cute

Catch a Christmas Star - very cute as well

Fir Crazy - it's up there as my favorite so far

Santa Switch - not one of my favorites. I thought the whole divorce/get back together was unplausable

Finding Christmas - much like "Trading Christmas" that is one of my favorites, this was very cute.

Yet to watch (I'll edit this post when I do):
The Thanksgiving House
Pete's Christmas
A Very Merry Mix-up
The Christmas Ornament
Window Wonderland
Let it Snow
The Christmas Spirit
Hats off to Christmas

TK --

Thank you for your reviews of what you have watched thus far! I will be very curious to see what you think of the others!

You know, I really need to take a page from your book and start actually recording the new Hallmark holiday movies -- or any other holiday movies from the last few years, or from any other channel, that may have escaped me, and that I would like to watch -- and keep them in the DVR until I have had a chance to sit down and view them, uninterrupted. I think that would be a better, more organized 'system' for me! This would be especially effective since Hallmark, Lifetime, Ion and UP don't have On Demand listings with my cable provider and I can't just go back and watch the movies at any old time.

What ends up happening with me is that I intend to sit down and watch all of the brand new Hallmark movies, the brand new Lifetime movies, and any other brand new holiday movie that debuts on random channels...but it doesn't always happen. I keep the Hallmark Channel on almost all season long, so that automatically prevents me from seeing some of the new Lifetime/UP/Ion/ABC Family films. But, when I switch over to one of those other channels, I find older movies from the last several years that I have not seen (such as Christmas Angel on Lifetime), and I get caught up in those... which ends up preventing me from watching something else I haven't seen on Hallmark!

Basically, the entire 2 months of November and December become a blur as I switch back and forth between the Hallmark Channel, the Hallmark Movie Channel, Lifetime, ABC Family, Ion and UP. I manage to catch quite a few of the brand new movies on each channel...but not all of them. I also manage to catch quite a few of the older gems that I haven't seen yet...but not all of them. So, by the time the final holiday movie airs and we welcome a brand new year, there are still many older and new movies I have not seen.

Another problem is that sometimes I can watch maybe the first 30 minutes of a movie, and if it doesn't grab me right away or if the commercials are too distracting, or if something else is distracting me, I tune out and switch to another channel. Sometimes I make a snap judgment and decide that I 'can't get into' or don't really like a certain movie, but then I happen to catch it at another point weeks later when I am more focused -- and realize I really like it! (That happened this year, in fact!)

So, all of that said, here are my reviews of what I managed to catch on various channels this year, whether I made it all the way through the movies or not...

Hallmark Channel's New Movies of 2013 (note that the Thumbs Up smilies only indicate the ones that I really, really liked a lot -- not the ones that I liked somewhat)

Pete's Christmas -- I loved the holiday scenes at the very start of the movie. Otherwise, it was just so-so. I think I missed a section of it somewhere along the line.

Thanksgiving House -- This was one that didn't "grab" me when I tried to watch it, so to this day I have not seen it all the way through and cannot make a fair assessment.

Snow Bride:thumbsup2 -- LOVED it! It was a delightful holiday-comedy-romance. Real chemistry between the attractive leads. Snappy dialogue. This one was recorded and is staying on the DVR! One of my favorites from this year's crop of new movies, for sure, and perhaps one of my favorites of all of the Hallmark movies from any year!

A Very Merry Mix-Up:thumbsup2 -- This is one that I thought I could not get into. This is one that I thought I did not like when I first tried to watch it. However, I made a point to actually record it and pay attention to it the other day and...I love it! It is very charming and sweet. I love the family in it -- they are like the family that everyone would want to have. I think this is one of my favorites of the 2013 crop of new movies as well! It is staying on the DVR.

Window Wonderland -- I tried several times to get into this movie and for some weird reason it never grabbed me, no matter which scenes I watched. I did not record it so I have not watched it from beginning to end...only bits and pieces.

Fir Crazy -- This is another one that did not grab me on any occasion when I tried to view it, and I wish I had recorded it so I could give it a fair chance and watch it without distraction. I read another online review of it somewhere and the reviewer seemed to like it. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Fir Crazy will be repeated between now and 12/31 so I guess I have to wait until November 2014 to watch it in its entirety.

Let It Snow:thumbsup2 - LOVED this movie! This is definitely staying on the DVR, as it is a favorite from 2013 and one of my favorites of all the Hallmark movies from any year. The story is so sweet. The lodge/inn is endearing. The two romantic leads are appealing. I loved that they both come to realize how much they love Christmas, despite what they each thought. I loved her childlike glee when she woke up on Christmas morning.

The Christmas Spirit -- I liked this one a lot better than I expected to. It's not a favorite of all-time, but I liked it and would watch it again.

Finding Christmas -- This is the one that I thought would end up being my favorite of the 2013 new movies. It wasn't! I loved Trading Christmas (from 2011), so I thought the whole plot device of 'swapping houses' would be perfect for me. Any time I tried to watch Finding Christmas I got bored. I thought it dragged in the beginning, and I didn't think the leads were interesting or charismatic enough to hold my attention. However, that said, I did not watch it all the way through and will give it another chance. It could end up like A Very Merry Mix-Up in that I think I don't like it at first, but I actually end up loving it!

Santa Switch -- This is another one I did not watch all the way through. The plot didn't appeal to me, but the scenes I watched were boring. If I encounter it again in 2014 I will give it another chance.

Hats Off to Christmas -- This was cute. I can't tell if I really liked it, or if I just liked it. It's somewhere in the middle, I think. It was pleasant and I'd probably watch it again, but it's not saved on the DVR.

Catch a Christmas Star -- It's cute. I liked the story. I would watch it again, but it's not holding any of my DVR space at the moment.

Finally...

The Christmas Ornament:thumbsup2 -- This was one that I didn't think I liked too much...at first. And then I watched it again...and LOVED it! This is definitely staying on the DVR, along with Snow Bride, A Very Merry Mix-Up and Let It Snow (and Farewell, Mr. Kringle, Trading Christmas, Mrs. Miracle and Most Wonderful Time of Year too)! I don't know if there was chemistry between the leads or not, but I totally bought into the relationship -- and I thought that the dialogue was better and even more realistic than it sometimes is in Hallmark movies! (Plus, what female wouldn't want a super-handsome guy saying those wonderful things to her, like Cameron Mathison says to Kellie Martin in the movie?) I didn't understand what the true significance of the title of the movie was going to be...until the end! Nice little 'twist,' think.




Older Hallmark movies (from last year and prior) that I finally watched all the way through, for the first time, this year:

A Bride For Christmas:thumbsup2 -- Loved it. Another pair with real chemistry. I should have saved it on the DVR.

Once Upon a Christmas and Twice Upon a Christmas -- Very syrupy-sweet and Kathy Ireland's acting is questionable, but I have to admit I was drawn into all of that syrupy holiday goodness.


:santa:


ABC Family's New 2013 Movies

Holidaze -- It was cute. Nothing spectacular, but very pleasant.

Christmas Bounty -- I totally missed it, although I think it is on On Demand.



ABC Family movies from last year and prior, that I finally saw in their entirety:

The 12 Dates of Christmas-- Pretty cute and witty. Not a favorite, though.

The Mistle-Tones:thumbsup2 -- This is one that I did not see all the way through in 2012, but I finally had a chance to watch it this year and I really liked it! I liked the song choices in the movie as well.

Snowglobe -- It was pretty cute and funny! I loved the snowglobe townspeople!


:santa:


Lifetime's New Movies of 2013

Kristin's Christmas Past -- I tried to get through it. Cute idea, but it bored me. I stopped watching before it ended.

The Twelve Trees of Christmas -- I never saw it all the way through, and what I saw did not grab me. Hopefully I will be able to see it in full in 2014. It deserves another chance.

Christmas in the City -- Totally missed it.

Christmas on the Bayou -- The first few minutes bored me and I did not watch the rest of it.

Dear Secret Santa-- Totally missed it.

A Snow Globe Christmas:thumbsup2 - LOVED it! Witty banter, a cute romantic holiday story with a bit of fantasy, and nice little 'twist' at the end. This one stays on the DVR!



Lifetime Movies from 2012 and prior, that I just watched for the first time this year:

Christmas Angel (with Bruce Davison):thumbsup2 -- LOVED it. It was more serious and not upbeat. I was wiping tears away at one point. But the message is a good one, and it ended on a positive note. I should have recorded it and did not.


:santa:


ION's New Movies for 2013

All I Want for Christmas -- So-so. Not bad, not good.

Christmas Belle -- A nod to Beauty and the Beast, holiday style. It was not bad. I liked it, but didn't love it.

My Santa -- Totally missed it.

Defending Santa -- Totally missed it.

Holiday Road Trip -- I think I would have liked it, but I totally missed it!


:santa:


UP's New Movies for 2013

Marry Me For Christmas -- Totally missed it.

Christmas For a Dollar -- Totally missed it, but looks like it would have been good in a downbeat sort of way!

Silver Bells -- I only caught some of it and it bored me. I didn't watch all the way through.

Guess Who's Coming To Christmas? (with Drew Lachey):thumbsup2 -- I like the 'pompous rock star goes to a small town and finds love' story. It was very cute!



2012 Movie from Ion/UP that I didn't see in full:

Christmas Lodge -- Looked like a cute story, but I never had time to watch it.


:santa:


Anyway, those are just the movies that were new or that I caught for the first time this year. There are so many others on Lifetime and Hallmark that I never got a chance to watch this year. Hopefully they will be rerun in 2014 so I will have another chance. At least I will probably never run out of holiday movies to watch, whether I am catching all-new ones or catching up on older ones that I missed.




I love this thread :) I was just curious what to expect tomorrow. We may be hitting downtown disney for a bit. Would get there between 10-11am and take off around 3ish. Horribly bad crowds? Just want to prepare myself lol.

lash --

By now you must already be at Downtown Disney. I would imagine that it is crowded -- but probably much more so in the parks!



I didn't end up going on my trip over the weekend. I got ill about 3 weeks ago and thought it would be long gone when I planned last minute, but of course, my body had a different plan in store. Mid-week last week, it morphed into a nasty sinus infection and I sadly gave my tickets to someone else. Thank goodness I already had a trip planned for February or I'd be in a deep disney depression!! Hope everyone has had a great time and enjoyed the amazing holiday spirit at our favorite happy place!

nicolispicoli --

I hope you're feeling better now. I'm sorry you were not able to go for the holidays, but at least you were able to give your tickets away.



Got back a couple weeks ago. This thread wad very helpful! I was surprised at the crowd levels. Although it wasn't overly crazy - it was still quite crowded. RSR was fantastic but that line is insane!

Holiday tour was worth it and the Christmas lights were spectacular. I will have to go back again just for the decorations. I miss it already. :santa:

GizMo123 --

I'm so glad to hear you had a good trip, and that the tour was worthwhile for you! I got back a couple of weeks ago, too, and yes, the crowds were a little more substantial than they had been for the last few years in that same general time frame, but I think I expected it this year so I wasn't all that shocked. I took quite a few photos of areas where there were practically no crowds or where the lines for rides were short. The crowds seem to congregate in certain areas at certain points of the day, but if you were to look at my pictures it would seem like the crowds were rather minimal.


Thank you for posting those beautiful pictures. I am afraid I have the Disney blues right now, and your pictures are like a soothing slave. I am hoping that someone who is in the parks this week will post trip reports, too. Oh, I will just have to start planning for next year!

lucysmom --

Thank you for the very kind words!

I was enjoying reading your updates from DLR as the trip was unfolding (and was surprised to see "lucysdad" post here as well!). I can't believe the trip is already over now!

I know what you mean -- I have a bit of the blues too. Usually, by the end of a trip, I am tired and almost ready to go back home -- even if just to check mail and what not. This time I didn't feel like I was ready to end the trip. I was having a great time and I could have easily stayed for another full week on top of the time I already spent. Not only did I not accomplish everything I wanted to accomplish (though I got a lot of it done), I was just so wrapped up in the holiday magic and cheer everywhere I turned and I didn't want to leave it! All of the beautiful Christmas trees everywhere...all of the whimsical wreaths and decorations...all of the stunning lights...all of the festive holiday music...all of the holiday goodies! I loved the view from my PPH room and didn't want to leave that either.

It's tough to come back to reality after being in that cozy Disney holiday bubble for a while, isn't it?



I've got the Disney blues too, but decided to do some retail therapy this morning, and scored some Disney Jim Shore ornaments for 90% off. Am going to start to save for either a WDW or DL trip for the family once I've got the money for the next greyhound addition to the family and have my pics developed finally. The next trip will probably will be to WDW even though it costs us double to vacation there compared to DL. We've never been to WDW, so that's where the family want's to vacation next, but in my heart DL will always be my fav place to go for vacation.

Trish --

90% off is certainly therapeutic, indeed! That's a good score!

Will your eventual WDW trip be a holiday season trip, a Halloween trip or a trip at some other time? I've never been to WDW but if I had only one chance to go I would go during the holidays because those hotel decorations are amazing and because I love what Epcot does for the season! If I had 2 chances to go I would also go during WDW's Halloween season to see the Boo To You parade. And if I had 3 chances to go I would take my 3rd trip during the Flower & Garden Festival!



If it's anything like the freezer at my house, it was probably buried under too many frozen pizzas and chicken nuggets and they just found it! :lmao:

Thank you so much Sherry! It was awesome to get to see you several times during our trips. It just seemed the logical conclusion to this year long journey you helped us take. :santa:

I'm SO glad your photos turned up safe and sound. I love what I have seen you post so far and look forward to seeing so much more. I especially love your composition in those shots of the resort trees. LOVE the fireplace in the background! :thumbsup2 Looks just like home. :goodvibes

Janet --

Thank you so much for all of the very kind words about everything! It was really great to meet you, Kim and Kathy, as well as PHXscuba the following day.

That GCH/fireplace shot was tricky to get, so I am relieved it came out even halfway decently! I'm sure you know (and KCmike knows, and anyone else who is a shutterbug knows) that sometimes you have to stand around and wait to get the photo you want to get, and sometimes it requires acting very quickly.

Well, there I was in the GCH lobby, lurking by the tree (this was on the morning that I met up with you and the other ladies). I was on one side of the tree. People were coming up to pose in front of the tree, and I had to keep stepping back so I didn't get in their shot as I was trying to frame mine. Sometimes the nice people would pause, as if they were waiting for me to hurry up and take a picture, but I knew I would need some time to get everything composed the way I wanted so I would tell them to go ahead and take their photos.

Once all the people posing in front of the GCH tree disappeared for a while, I crouched, stooped and bent down to find the angle/perspective I wanted that would include the chair, the wreath and the hearth in the background, with the portion of the tree in the foreground. Then I had to contend with the parade of people marching past the hearth! Once the hearth passersby vanished for a moment, then another group of people came up to the tree to take photos.

Finally, the moment presented itself in which I could crouch down, get the angle that I wanted, get everything in the foreground and background the way I wanted, and without people marching through the shot. I took a few photos and they were not good, but I managed to get a couple of keepers in the bunch (one of which is the one you saw).

And even after I managed to get a couple of keeper shots of that GCH tree/hearth/wreath scene, I was looking at them and thinking, "Hmmm... if I could just move that chair a few inches inward, so that it's facing the tree a bit more, the picture will look even better!":rotfl2: I almost, almost went over to the chair to turn it ever-so-slightly towards the tree, but I realized that more folks had congregated in front of the tree for photos, and another parade of folks was marching past the hearth, so...I decided to leave well enough alone! Otherwise, I probably would have been there all day!



Ok, time for me to dummy up. :faint:

I liked the Jingle Jungle Cruise. I love the Jungle Cruise. If it returns next year, I would love to see more holiday decor. Nothing over the top, after all it is a jungle out there! And it isn't like the skips can go out to the five n dime to buy, well really anything. Maybe though between friends and relatives of the western crew and Trader Sam's connections, a bit more decor will find its way to this tropical outpost; Christmas lights, post cards, letters from home, maybe a real Christmas tree freshly boated and or flown in, hand made ornaments and some gifties from and to the crew and island natives. I liked the native tree et al.
Ok, so if I could work on this theming and decorating, it would make my day! :)
I made it a point to see Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, holiday version.
I cannot compare it to the non holiday version for I would always end up missing it. Anyway, I really enjoyed their performance. It would have been especially nice if their act had been a bit longer.
Indy does need a big time out. The first day I was there, Indy was down before the park even opened. And although I am not able to visit as often as many, all the same, I have not seen it like that before. It did not open until 7:45 p.m. then went back down before closing. Wow! And Mara's eyes never did shine upon you.
I had thought about trying the famous peppermint Wonderland ice cream, but did not have enough room for it. But...back on the old homestead, while doing some last minute shopping at Target, I spied one container of this minty delight and thought I better get it, while the getting is good. I looked for more, but no, that was the last carton period. The store was if not short on ice cream, was clean out of various flavors. This limited edition Dryers Grand Ice Cream is totally yummy delicious! I might add a bit of homemade chocolate syrup. :)
When I actually make it. Lol
My only grievance about my visit to the land, is my last day there, because it was my last day there. For if I had my druthers, I would still be there.

Gisele --

I totally agree. My only problem with my trip was my last day at DLR, because it was my last day. I could have lingered on there for quite a while longer.

I'm glad you nabbed the last carton of Peppermint Wonderland at Target! Honestly, you probably got a better overall deal/value by getting that whole carton than if you had just gotten a cone or a cup of ice cream at DLR. I was totally shocked to see several cartons of Grand Peppermint Wonderland at CVS the other day -- not just one or two, but at least 5 of them! They were not there the last time I checked -- well the Slow Churned had been there but the Grand version was not. All of a sudden, there it was.

I agree about Jingle Cruise -- I like it, but think it needs a bit more decor next year, and not just in the queue. They don't have to do a whole elaborate holiday overlay of the actual jungle scenes, but there are ways they could incorporate more holiday 'touches' into some of those scenes. And they've got to figure out a way to let people see the upstairs part of the queue even if the line is not long. I missed the decorations upstairs because I got in a short line! They also need to sell or give away more of those mini-Jingle Cruise posters that they gave away for maybe 2 days this year.



Merry Christmas Disers!!

Woohoo for getting the ice cream at Gibson girl, glad some of you are still in the parks enjoying some holiday magic!!

I'm sorry for those who were harassed about the passes and the 2 year olds age. Such a frustration. I'm sure a lot of parents lie about their kids age to save some money. Not sure how they could enforce that rule? Maybe require copies of birth certificates? In fact, I'm surprised they don't, given how thoroughly they enforce the multi day tickets.

Hope the new year's holiday isn't as crowded for those still gearing up for their visit... Enjoy the parks!!

Belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year to you, Julie!
 
Belated Merry Christmas, Jamie! (That reminds me -- I have about 7 non-urgent PMs waiting for me to get to them, and yours is one of them! I haven't had any time, it seems, so I am woefully behind on all of that.) Anyway, I can totally understand wanting to extend the trip to cover Thanksgiving -- and not just because it's always fun to squeeze in more Disney time when possible, and it's probably extra fun to be at DLR over a holiday! For me, the reason to extend the trip would be that if I were coming home on 11/25, I would not only be exhausted when I got home but I wouldn't feel truly settled back in for at least a few days -- and trying to either prepare a Thanksgiving meal on 11/27 or help someone else prepare it would be tough to tackle. It would be too soon. Some folks who are used to taking a lot of trips for business or pleasure can bounce back much more easily into their normal routines when they return, so maybe snapping right into Thanksgiving mode would be easy for your family to do if you ended your trip on 11/25. But, if you are anything like I am, it would take at least a few days to get back into a routine after DLR -- and Thanksgiving would be too much to deal with on top of that! It's easier (albeit, more expensive) to just stay at DLR over the holiday. I hope you're able to extend the trip to the day after Thanksgiving, but it will be a wonderful holiday trip even if you don't.

No rush on the PM - just something I thought might interest you :)

The original dates for our 2014 trip were picked because of when our current APs will expire and so that my brother & his family might be able to join us, as they go away for Thanksgiving, but if we renew the passes, the dates aren't such a big issue. This year (and what will happen next year with a late Thanksgiving) is that we can home Sat, had Sun off and went straight into Nutcracker week for my older girls (and the rest of us really). And added in is my son's birthday on Dec. 4th - so a lot. That entire week is late nights (9:30-11pm), so when you add it post vacation letdown & school it is a lot for any child to take. My girls handled it well, but I'd like a little more time at home, so they have a few days to rest. However, the more we thought about it, and after dealing with "too many cooks in the kitchen" with Christmas Eve, we realized we LIKE being gone for Thanksgiving. We don't have to worry about where we're going or hosting or any of that. My mom lost both of her parents last year (divorced) and due to some long standing family drama, a traditional Thanksgiving is not what she wants to be a part of. I agree our trip will be amazing in any case and if we come home as scheduled, it will be with the idea that everybody assumes we're gone as usual and it will be a low key day for us! Hoping of course that extending will work!

On a semi-side note, 3 years ago we did commit to hosting a sit down Thanksgiving for 30 (yes we're crazy and had folding tables every where). About two weeks before Thanksgiving, I got news that my last pregnancy had become high risk and we weren't sure the fate of the pregnancy/baby. There was nothing I could do but wait and it was driving me crazy, so we planned a last minute trip from Fri-Tues - and then came home and hosted our dinner 2 days later. I don't know how we did it (must have been those crazy pregnancy hormones), but we survived it. However, NEVER again! And that baby turned out to be just fine and will be turning 3 on Valentine's Day :)

I saw you missed Christmas in the City. I'm watching it now :) So far, it's cute.
 
Sherry, we would plan WDW probably the last 2 weeks of August. The family doesn't do large crowds well, and because of this, and the kids school, the last two weeks of Aug works best for us. Am planning on to find work in the coming months, so hopefully I'll find work soon. I've got extensive office experience, but have been a stay at home mom for the past 11 years. Time to get back to work so I can save for another trip for the family. Kids are bugging us to get another greyhound, but we are undecided, as it depends if we can get 3 large dog crates in the back of the van. We crate our dogs when travelling in case of an accident. We would also add a side trip to Baltimore, as we've got good friends there we would like to visit. Lot's of money to start saving.
 
Hi guys and gals!

I have a question for you all. I am not sure your will know but maybe you will. We are going to be there 1/5-1/10. I am curious as to what will still be left for the 5th and the 6th? Also will we leave Winter wonderland on Monday to come back to "naked" Disneyland the next day?
 
Michele --

Take a peek at the second post on page 1 of this thread -- the Dates/Events to Remember post. That might give you an idea of what is still happening on 1/5 and 1/6.

Basically, I think the only things that will not be in place on 1/5 and 1/6 are Santa -- he will be gone from all of his posts; the Carolers in Disneyland or at the hotels; and the 3 hotels' decorations. Otherwise, the Jingle Jangle Jamboree, HMH, IASWH, Jingle Cruise, Winter Dreams, Viva Navidad, the Christmas Fantasy Parade and the Believe in Holiday Magic fireworks will all still be happening. The Castle will still light up in icicles on 1/5 and 1/6 too.

Also, remember that you will get the added bonus of the Three Kings Day festivities on 1/5 and 1/6 (see more about TKD in the Seasonal Entertainment/Events/Activities post on page 1, which is a couple of posts after the Dates to Remember, if I recall correctly).

I think that the decorations come down a little at a time after 1/6. A lot of them will disappear in the days post 1/6 until they are all gone.

IASWH, of course, will be open until sometime later in January and a good portion of the decor in NOS will stay up through Mardi Gras 'season.'

I hope that helps!
 
Michele --

Take a peek at the second post on page 1 of this thread -- the Dates/Events to Remember post. That might give you an idea of what is still happening on 1/5 and 1/6.

Basically, I think the only things that will not be in place on 1/5 and 1/6 are Santa -- he will be gone from all of his posts; the Carolers in Disneyland or at the hotels; and the 3 hotels' decorations. Otherwise, the Jingle Jangle Jamboree, HMH, IASWH, Jingle Cruise, Viva Navidad, the Christmas Fantasy Parade and the Believe in Holiday Magic fireworks will all still be happening. The Castle will still light up in icicles on 1/5 and 1/6 too.

Also, remember that you will get the added bonus of the Three Kings Day festivities on 1/5 and 1/6 (see more about TKD in the Seasonal Entertainment/Events/Activities post on page 1, which is a couple of posts after the Dates to Remember, if I recall correctly).

I think that the decorations come down a little at a time after 1/6. A lot of them will disappear in the days post 1/6 until they are all gone.

IASWH, of course, will be open until sometime later in January and a good portion of the decor in NOS will stay up through Mardi Gras 'season.'

I hope that helps!


Oh yes Sherry!! Thank you!! That is wonderful to know. I can hardly wait!
 
Merry Christmas Disers!! Woohoo for getting the ice cream at Gibson girl, glad some of you are still in the parks enjoying some holiday magic!! I'm sorry for those who were harassed about the passes and the 2 year olds age. Such a frustration. I'm sure a lot of parents lie about their kids age to save some money. Not sure how they could enforce that rule? Maybe require copies of birth certificates? In fact, I'm surprised they don't, given how thoroughly they enforce the multi day tickets. Hope the new year's holiday isn't as crowded for those still gearing up for their visit... Enjoy the parks!!

How odd about the 2 year old experiences. We had the opposite. We have a very small almost 4 year old who we have purchased a ticket for ever since it was necessary. We have had to argue with more than one CM at the front that she needed a ticket and needed to be scanned and photographed because they thought she was younger which took time at the stiles backing everything up. It made us feel like we would have been better off being dishonest ( which we would not do) just to make things smoother.
 
:cool1::woohoo: << That's the Peppermint Wonderland dance!

I am expecting a Vons grocery delivery today, and those are always stressful because I am never sure exactly what they will bring me. Sometimes there are things that are out of stock (that I really need), or the shoppers make substitutions of items that are crazy (like giving me white bread when I ordered whole grain or 100% whole wheat or something). More often than not something that I ordered and paid for won't be included in the order when it arrives, or I get an item that someone else ordered, or something was damaged in the truck on the way over. Rarely do these orders go off without a hitch.

In any case, Dreyer's ice cream is on sale at Vons this week ($3.00), and there was an online coupon for $1.00 off a carton as well, making it $2.00. Peppermint Wonderland is not even listed in the online grocery options, so I ordered Cookies & Cream. I put a note on the order that said to substitute Grand Peppermint Wonderland for Cookies & Cream if C&C is out of stock. Again, Peppermint Wonderland is not even listed in the online options anywhere, so I figured it was a shot in the dark that it would even be in the store -- especially now, 3 days before the end of the year.

Lo and behold, I called Vons today to find out what was out of stock or substituted in my order so I will know what to expect when the delivery guy gets here in a few hours. It turns out the Cookies & Cream was not in stock and they substituted it with something noted as "Limited Edition" on my online receipt.

So...it sounds like the shopper actually paid attention and grabbed me some Peppermint Wonderland (how weird is it that Cookies & Cream was out of stock but Peppermint Wonderland was in stock?)!:cool1::cool1: At least, I am hoping that's what the "Limited Edition" reference on the receipt means. Let's hope it's not Egg Nog ice cream or the special "Superbowl" flavor of ice cream (whatever it is called) that comes out by January.

Oh...and let's hope the shopper grabbed the "real" Peppermint Wonderland ice cream and not the impostor Slow Churned stuff. I will find out in a few hours! I'm just shocked that it would even still be in stock! They have botched so many previous orders that I fully expect to see a tub of cream cheese instead of a carton of ice cream. If the order is correct, then I got Peppermint Wonderland for $2.00 (which is loads better than the lofty $5.79 it was selling for at CVS the other day)!
 
So I have a question for all the veterans and locals :

AP friend called and said she wants to put us up close by so we can visit the parks again from Jan. 3rd-Jan 5th. Not worried about the holiday stuff but curious..any clue how crowds may pan out ?

We are expecting the worst but having NEVER gone during these dates and a complete last minute trip were curious if anyone had previous feedback ;)
 
So I have a question for all the veterans and locals : AP friend called and said she wants to put us up close by so we can visit the parks again from Jan. 3rd-Jan 5th. Not worried about the holiday stuff but curious..any clue how crowds may pan out ? We are expecting the worst but having NEVER gone during these dates and a complete last minute trip were curious if anyone had previous feedback ;)

From what I can tell...it's gonna be crazy crowded. There's the Rose Bowl on the 1st and the BCS (I think) on the 6th, so that's thousands of extra people in town for those events. Needless to say, lots of those people will be going to Disneyland for a day or 2, and I think it's going to be a lot of people in the parks everyday next week!
 
Thanks for the info. We aren't too worried as we are all AP holders this is just a bonus trip and since we were just there a few weeks ago we will just have fun no matter what. We shall see and any day at Disneyland is awesome!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts

Top