Nothing to See Here...

[azdisneylover]

Finally made it back! I am going to go back to the beginning of your last trip and reread it because I have forgotten it! Things have been pretty hectic here. Hubby has been working out of town for weeks at a time, only to come home to say hello, get clean clothes, home cooked meals, some hugs and kisses, then back up to the snow and work. He came home last night, and he is working today in town. He's going back out of town tomorrow, and I need to get him to get things finalized with his family. We are supposed to spread his parents' ashes in Sequoia this June with his siblings and their families, and make a vacation out of it.They only want to go to Disneyland for ONE DAY!!! To say I am starting to have a bit of a temper tantrum is an understatement. Long story, shortened, yesterday I booked a package through Costco with 5 day park hopper tickets! Hubby's family is the 'let's wait and see what is going to happen, what we feel like doing' kind of people. Anyhoo, I apologize for not posting sooner, I have been stressing here a bit. It is under 100 days and we will begin this road trip and I am no where near ready! The one day for Disneyland is a Wednesday. I have penciled in Friday and Saturday as 'do overs' for my family.
Sorry this is so long. I didn't abandon your thread, there is so much going on, especially with hubby's family and trying to get everyone on the same page about things.

 

[mariezp]

Hi Sherry! I'm here again! I can hardly believe that I made it back before your final installment. I was sure you would have been long done by now. Boo to Photobucket for causing you so many problems. Seems very familiar. Must be some sort of conspiracy among picture hosting sites to see just how many headaches they can give their users.




So.... starting WAY back since I last posted….

So funny that you noticed and pointed out the lack of butt decorations on the horses. I have seen them before and thought they were a nice little touch.

Jealous that you got to see the Buena Vista Street Bell Ringers. They were on my list but alas I missed them on our last trip.

How fun having a celebrity sighting. I am so out of touch with modern day stars I probably would not know one if they were standing right next to me. As for your question of whether married couples stay together or walk far away from each other, in my case one of us is usually “assigned” to one of the kids and keeping each of them happy. Since they have younger kids it might just be that she is “assigned” to keep an eye on one and he covers the other and sorta brings up the rear guard.

Sounds like Cannonballs! were quite a hit this trip. Nice that EOS made the effort to make up for the errors of their employees. Hope the coupons don’t expire before you get a chance to use them…. Hopefully, on your next trip to the park.

Sad that you missed Goofy’s Kitchen but I thought your character pictures were great from the Surf’s Up meal. Being a Pooh bear fan I gotta say that I loved Liza’s Christmas shirt!

Glad you were able to find some shirts you liked to spend that gift card on. I will have to be sure to check out WOD to see if they have more when I get there. I like the black tees too.

I am also sad that your buddies let you down again but am so glad that it sounds like the majority of your trip was so much better than last year. I hope you never have one like that again!

At the rate I am going it does not look like a trip report is going to materialize for our trip, at least not anytime soon. I just can’t find the motivation especially after my own Webshots fiasco. I have never even gotten around to loading all the pictures to Smugmug. Since I recently just realized our BIG Europe/Germany 2014 trip is only 18 months away I am pretty sure all my focus will be on that trip. Sounds like I need to look up NewbieMouse to see if she can offer any tips on travel in Europe!

As for this year’s Disneyland trip we are booked Nov. 1 – 15. I did not end up cutting back after all which is probably really no surprise. I think since we will be skipping 2014 I must have felt the need to get in all the time I can. We will of course be stopping off at DLP for a day.. or two... on that trip since we will just happen to be in the area…. sorta. Going to splurge and stay in the Disneyland Hotel. Praying that we have your luck in the upgrade department and get a room with an amazing view of the park. BTW, your sunrise photos were beautiful.

 

[azdisneylover]

Sherry,
I LOVE the pictures of the flowers around Disneyland, especially the red roses. They are stunning! I would suggest you put the pics of the flowers on a couple of those sites where people pay to use the picture.

Today we are going to be right around 80 and a peppermint ice cream cone would be wonderful, but, all we have is vanilla ice cream.

Your trip reports are always so informative and entertaining! I wish you had another trip coming up so we can have another installment to read.

 

[Sherry E]

Hello, folks!​

I saw that recent posts had come in and wanted to let you know I read them.

I am kind of mentally exhausted, between dealing with Photobucket's madness (which has put a big crimp in my plans to get through the Wrap-Up portion of this TR thread), the usual computer problems and the very recent issue of Yahoo losing 11 years of stored/saved e-mail.

I feel like all I have been doing lately is jumping from one site to the next to 'back things up' because I can't trust certain other sites to keep my files and photos protected. I saved some things in my e-mail after my PC crashed a couple of years back (you all will remember that nightmare), as my e-mail had always been reliable...that is, until all of my e-mail vanished this past weekend.

Everything that has been created - whether it be a document or a photo - since my PC crash in 2011 has been backed up somewhere, but I have things spread around on different sites or on different flash/thumb drives. My e-mails are not backed up, though. So if I don't get them back I just have to let them go.

Anyway, enough of that mess. I don't want to dwell on it. I need to get back into the mind frame to finish the Wrap-Up.










I have a fun idea for how I am going to wrap up the December 2012 TR....and that is to wrap up the thread itself. In other words, this thread has been around for a long time (since October of 2008). I have posted a lot of photos from many trips in it. There have been some wacky things that have taken place along the way. I've also shared many, many, many, many vintage photos of childhood DLR trips and DLR trips from 20 or 30 years ago.

So, rather than just pick my favorite photos from my recent December 2012 trip, to bid farewell to this TR thread and close it out in a proper way we are going to do a TR thread Retrospective. We are going to look back on some noteworthy trips - such as the first Halloween Time trip; the first PhotoPass experience; the first visit to DCA; my very first glimpse of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street; my first meal at the Critter Breakfast and my first meal at Goofy's Kitchen, etc. A lot of 'firsts' will be covered.

We will also look back on some things that are no longer with us, which I have posted photos of throughout this thread, such as Candy Corn Acres, the Golden Gate Bridge, the CALIFORNIA letters, Candy Cane Lane, the 'old' Disneyland Hotel, etc. We will revisit "The Thumbs Up Trip" from 2009.

We will analyze my different efforts in trying to come up with 'unique' Disneyland Resort images that are less commonly seen, such as my black & white experiments of 2008; my "Shadow Mickey" of 2011; my upward perspective of the Sorcerer's Hat between DTD and the DLH in 2010 (which was unique at that time, but now is not), etc.

I'm not going to post multiple photos of each one of these things but, rather, just some select ones here and there to tell the tale. Every picture tells a story, as the saying goes.

However, much of this Trip Report Thread Retrospective depends on my being able to transfer some photos from one Photobucket account to another, and due to their lack of upload size options and other massive problems, it seems a daunting task at the moment.


Just for kicks, take a look at what I had to deal with when I was recently trying to make small, 150 x 200 photos on Photobucket to add to the first several posts on Page 1 of my "Disneyland at Christmas Time/Holiday Season Superthread":

This is the normal size I use for posting photos in my TR and my Superthreads (this is 480 x 640)....

So, when I tried to make it 150 x 200 and put a border on it, it came out like this...

One more try to get it sized down to 150 x 200, and it came out like this...

Um...yeah, that's a little TOO large. One final try...Third time's the charm!

I had similar experiences with other photos, too. This is the way I wanted it to look...

But first it was this size...

Normal...

Gigantic...

Finally, the size I wanted...

Yikes!

Much better!

​

As you can see, these issues - among many others - have made using Photobucket nightmare for me. I can't even find half of my photos in my albums because the order of them is so messed up, so it's hard to post what I want to post.


On to replies...

Sherry

Your welcome Sherry. Before I went with Flickr fully, I have heard about Photobucket from other people and I thought that this would be a good site to use over Flickr for uploading pictures and showing them on the threads. But since I use Yahoo mail so much, I went with Flickr which is part of the Yahoo company. Even paying $25 a month for the Flickr Pro, it is a good investment for someone who uploads a lot of pictures and videos and show them to the people.

Switching from one site to another is a lot of work and finding the links for those pictures on Photobucket will be hard where you have posted a lot of pictures on the threads. You can always leave the old pictures on Photobucket and put all the new photos on Flickr which will be easy. Also you can post some of your favorite photos to Flickr so you won't have to worry about them.

Even though I haven't use the full settings on Flickr, it is a really good investment in my opinion and you can select the size of the picture.

As you already know that I do appreciate all the hard work you have done on the Superthreads that give valuable information about the two season at the DLR which is so fun to go to. Hope everything goes well with you on the threads.

TK

Flickr is running smoothly for me TK. As I have said to Sherry that I use Flickr to store all my photos online so you and other people can enjoy them. I should be setting the pictures up in galleries and sets. But I just like to upload them to Flickr and look for them shortly. This does take a long time to look for them but I know where they are located on the site.

I have over 26,000 pictures uploaded on my Flickr ever since 2009 which is a lot of pictures.

Bret -

Again, thank you for all the great info about Flickr. Photobucket keeps saying they are going to add certain features back in that they took away, but that may not happen any time soon. Despite the furious customers who have bombarded them with complaints, they are taking their time in getting the site fixed. They basically forced many people into a site that was only half-finished and didn't have the functionality of the old Photobucket site. There would be no way I could load a large batch of new photos there with the current mess they have in place. I will end up with gigantic photos and they will all be out of order in the albums. I have to find an alternative, and a lot of folks seem to like Fllickr.

Thank you for the kind words, as always. I'm glad to be appreciated!

Finally made it back! I am going to go back to the beginning of your last trip and reread it because I have forgotten it! Things have been pretty hectic here. Hubby has been working out of town for weeks at a time, only to come home to say hello, get clean clothes, home cooked meals, some hugs and kisses, then back up to the snow and work. He came home last night, and he is working today in town. He's going back out of town tomorrow, and I need to get him to get things finalized with his family. We are supposed to spread his parents' ashes in Sequoia this June with his siblings and their families, and make a vacation out of it.They only want to go to Disneyland for ONE DAY!!! To say I am starting to have a bit of a temper tantrum is an understatement. Long story, shortened, yesterday I booked a package through Costco with 5 day park hopper tickets! Hubby's family is the 'let's wait and see what is going to happen, what we feel like doing' kind of people. Anyhoo, I apologize for not posting sooner, I have been stressing here a bit. It is under 100 days and we will begin this road trip and I am no where near ready! The one day for Disneyland is a Wednesday. I have penciled in Friday and Saturday as 'do overs' for my family.
Sorry this is so long. I didn't abandon your thread, there is so much going on, especially with hubby's family and trying to get everyone on the same page about things.

Linda -

No worries. This thread will be closed very soon so I'm glad you came back before it comes to an end.

Oddly, a lot of people still view Disneyland as just Disneyland (instead of two parks and a whole resort), and they think of it as the Disneyland from the Stone Ages -- where you could go for just a day and it would be fine. That's the old Disneyland, where you took the tram out to wherever your car was parked in the giant lot and then tried to find it! In those days, Disneyland was a one-day park. I think a lot of folks are still kind of stuck in that picture of what Disneyland was then, instead of what it is now, and they don't realize that more days are needed!

You still have 3 months - don't panic! You have plenty of time to prepare.

Hi Sherry! I'm here again! I can hardly believe that I made it back before your final installment. I was sure you would have been long done by now. Boo to Photobucket for causing you so many problems. Seems very familiar. Must be some sort of conspiracy among picture hosting sites to see just how many headaches they can give their users.


So.... starting WAY back since I last posted….

So funny that you noticed and pointed out the lack of butt decorations on the horses. I have seen them before and thought they were a nice little touch.

Jealous that you got to see the Buena Vista Street Bell Ringers. They were on my list but alas I missed them on our last trip.

How fun having a celebrity sighting. I am so out of touch with modern day stars I probably would not know one if they were standing right next to me. As for your question of whether married couples stay together or walk far away from each other, in my case one of us is usually “assigned” to one of the kids and keeping each of them happy. Since they have younger kids it might just be that she is “assigned” to keep an eye on one and he covers the other and sorta brings up the rear guard.

Sounds like Cannonballs! were quite a hit this trip. Nice that EOS made the effort to make up for the errors of their employees. Hope the coupons don’t expire before you get a chance to use them…. Hopefully, on your next trip to the park.

Sad that you missed Goofy’s Kitchen but I thought your character pictures were great from the Surf’s Up meal. Being a Pooh bear fan I gotta say that I loved Liza’s Christmas shirt!

Glad you were able to find some shirts you liked to spend that gift card on. I will have to be sure to check out WOD to see if they have more when I get there. I like the black tees too.

I am also sad that your buddies let you down again but am so glad that it sounds like the majority of your trip was so much better than last year. I hope you never have one like that again!

At the rate I am going it does not look like a trip report is going to materialize for our trip, at least not anytime soon. I just can’t find the motivation especially after my own Webshots fiasco. I have never even gotten around to loading all the pictures to Smugmug. Since I recently just realized our BIG Europe/Germany 2014 trip is only 18 months away I am pretty sure all my focus will be on that trip. Sounds like I need to look up NewbieMouse to see if she can offer any tips on travel in Europe!

As for this year’s Disneyland trip we are booked Nov. 1 – 15. I did not end up cutting back after all which is probably really no surprise. I think since we will be skipping 2014 I must have felt the need to get in all the time I can. We will of course be stopping off at DLP for a day.. or two... on that trip since we will just happen to be in the area…. sorta. Going to splurge and stay in the Disneyland Hotel. Praying that we have your luck in the upgrade department and get a room with an amazing view of the park. BTW, your sunrise photos were beautiful.

Hi, Marie!

Thank you for the compliment. I thought that the round of sunrise photos from 2012 came out pretty well. I was surprised!

I had to laugh at your comment - I think you're right! There is some sort of conspiracy among the photo-hosting sites. I don't know if it's a conspiracy to give us all a nervous breakdown, or to simply drive all of our business away...whatever the case, it's madness-inducing.

Yes, the horses' butt decor seemed to be minimal, from what I could tell. Disney amped up the decor in California Adventure and cut back the butt bows.

You might be on to something about Gwen Stefani and her husband, Gavin. Maybe each one was assigned to a child. That's very possible. They did have a nanny-ish person with them, as well as some older random man, so I got the feeling they brought those people along to help out with the kids. Whatever the case, Gwen was in charge of where they were going. You could tell she was making the decisions!

I was very pleased (and surprised) with Earl of Sandwich for handling things the way they did after I got home. Their employees - while being friendly - didn't seem to be all that concerned about making things right, so I am glad that the corporate folks stepped up to the plate. Hopefully they fixed the situation to where the people preparing the sandwiches are a little more careful and not making mistakes. You just know that if there were two mistakes in 3 of my visits, they must have been making mistakes on other people's orders too.

I was very sad to not have a Goofy's meal this time around, but even sadder that Shawn just inexplicably stopped communicating (after she had said she would come to see me) and couldn't pop over to see me for a few minutes even though she lives 5 minutes away.

Liza's shirt is very festive!

There were probably about 4 or 5 good black T-shirts in WoD or elsewhere in one of the parks that I would have loved to have. However, even after the AP discount, spending roughly $43 on two thin shirts seemed expensive to me. So it's hard to justify buying even more shirts for me when those two will probably not last long.

By the time you get to DLR again, there will likely be a whole new crop of shirts!

The trip to Europe sounds fantastic! Yes, I can see how a 2014 DLR trip would not be in the cards after the huge European vacation. You have to get in as much time as you can. You MUST do a TR for the Europe trip...somewhere. It can't be here in the DL TR section, I suppose, but wherever the DLP trip reports go! And you must share with all of us where to find it!

Wait - you're splurging and staying at the Disneyland Hotel for your 2-week trip in November this year? Or did you mean that you're staying at DLP's version of the hotel when you're in France? If you're staying at the hotel in France, be sure to get lots and lots of photos!

Sherry,
I LOVE the pictures of the flowers around Disneyland, especially the red roses. They are stunning! I would suggest you put the pics of the flowers on a couple of those sites where people pay to use the picture.

Today we are going to be right around 80 and a peppermint ice cream cone would be wonderful, but, all we have is vanilla ice cream.

Your trip reports are always so informative and entertaining! I wish you had another trip coming up so we can have another installment to read.

Linda -

Thank you, as always, for the compliments and kind words. Do you mean the red roses (with the green and white flowers) at the Candlelight Processional stage, or the red roses in front of the blue fountain on Buena Vista Street? I loved the CP flowers, but as you can tell from my nighttime CP photos, the flowers cannot be seen in the dark.

I like the flower photos, but I really like most of the Mardi Gras mask photos and the assorted sunrise photos best, I think. I also like the Adventureland pictures because I don't normally take pictures there.

The only 'real' peppermint ice cream I ate last year was actually in Disneyland, in November and in December. I don't count the lesser peppermint ice cream that Dreyer's calls "Slow Churned." I ate some Slow Churned at the end of December, but it did not compare to the actual Peppermint Stick Ice Cream I ate in the park.

Did you get to the part with Gwen Stefani and her husband, or to the part with my meal at Surf's Up?

 

[azdisneylover]

((Big hugs))
Yikes! Computer problems are the worst. I hope you can get things sorted out soon. No one needs that kind of stress.

The roses I am talking about are in post number 3532. There are three pictures of red roses. The third picture is of one rose, I believe. It is an amazing picture. The colors are fantastic. I can stare at it for a long time because it is like looking at the blooms on my rose bushes. Just awesome!

I got to the part of Surf's Up. I am reading it all tonight and will go through it again to enjoy the pictures because I informed the in-laws or by-laws the day they want everyone to go to DL is a Grand Nite day. I let them know everything I knew and researched about it and how it will work and all they said was, we are only planning on going to DL so it won't affect us! By-laws (in-laws) ugh, it is going to be one challenging day! All I know is I will be park hopping, with or without the in-laws and it will be for more than one day, actually, me and the kids! Hubby can be with his siblings argueing, I mean deciding what to do while we are having fun at DL and DCA!

I am looking forward to your retrospect! Sounds really neat. Your pictures are always amazing. Good luck, again with the computer.

 

[deejdigsdis]

WAIT FOR ME!!!! DON'T CLOSE THE THREAD YET! I can't believe it's been over 3 months since I've logged in, or read your TR. I can't believe it's drawing to a close soon. I just PM'ed you. I should be able to slowly start catching up. I'm sad the thread will most likely be closed by the time I am able to comment, though.

Off to round up those tips I mentioned...

 

[Sherry E]

I had just begun to post my reply to Linda below (and, coincidentally, I mentioned something about deejdigsdis in my reply)....and just as I was about to click and send it, I noticed that DEEJDIGSDIS reappeared!!!!


Deej -

I'm so glad you made it back before this thread comes to a sad end, as you've been with me here for a long time. I still have to do the official Wrap-Up/Retrospective in my remaining posts between here and page 250 (or on Page 250). I ended the actual December 2012 trip posts, but I didn't top the whole thing off with a Wrap-Up.

I'm just glad to see you back, even if only for a moment! I was beginning to worry about you and was hoping everything was okay!

​

((Big hugs))
Yikes! Computer problems are the worst. I hope you can get things sorted out soon. No one needs that kind of stress.

The roses I am talking about are in post number 3532. There are three pictures of red roses. The third picture is of one rose, I believe. It is an amazing picture. The colors are fantastic. I can stare at it for a long time because it is like looking at the blooms on my rose bushes. Just awesome!

I got to the part of Surf's Up. I am reading it all tonight and will go through it again to enjoy the pictures because I informed the in-laws or by-laws the day they want everyone to go to DL is a Grand Nite day. I let them know everything I knew and researched about it and how it will work and all they said was, we are only planning on going to DL so it won't affect us! By-laws (in-laws) ugh, it is going to be one challenging day! All I know is I will be park hopping, with or without the in-laws and it will be for more than one day, actually, me and the kids! Hubby can be with his siblings argueing, I mean deciding what to do while we are having fun at DL and DCA!

I am looking forward to your retrospect! Sounds really neat. Your pictures are always amazing. Good luck, again with the computer.

Linda -

I don't blame you - you park hop whether anyone goes with you or not!

I can understand that a lot of people don't want to be there for more than one day - as I mentioned yesterday, there are folks who are still stuck in that mindset of the "old Disneyland," when it was easily a one-day park. And many people only feel like being there for a few hours if they are not major, major Disney fans.

But, with all of the new stuff that has been added in, I'm not sure how anyone wouldn't at least want to poke their head in California Adventure and see it!

I remember, back in 2007, my friend Shawn said (after my client gave me free tickets to Disneyland), "Why would we go in there?" (She was referring to DCA because I had suggested going in for the first time ever.) At that time, DCA was largely thought of as a place with only thrill rides and that's it. She was only interested in Disneyland.

I recall saying, "Well, how are we going to know what's in there unless we actually go in and check it out? Maybe we'll find something we like."

I don't think Shawn was that impressed with DCA on our first or second visit, but when they added in Toy Story Midway Mania she had a higher opinion of it.

​

Linda, thank you again for all the kind words and for sticking with this TR thread until the bitter end! I think the Thread Retrospective will be fun, once I can actually locate things in my messed up Photobucket account and resize some of the photos that are bound to turn out gigantic. I will have to do the retrospective one post at a time!


Actually, I think that Day 2 of the December 2012 trip was the most rewarding day for me, photo-wise and otherwise. I was pretty pleased with a lot of the shots I got on Day 2, from Toon Town, from Adventureland, from New Orleans Square, from Critter Country, from IASW Holiday and the Winter Castle at night, etc. And Day 3 was fun because I saw Gwen Stefani and her husband! My favorite flower shots of the December 2012 trip were most definitely the vibrant arrangement in front of the Candlelight Processional/Ceremony stage. Those roses were just gorgeous next to the green and snowy white flowers!

But I do like this photo below, from Day 1, featuring the the roses you were talking about (from the Carthay Circle area of Buena Vista Street) - I'm glad you like it too!:

I should explain some things about the photo above. A while back I was mentioning to Molly/bumbershoot that it can be harder than it looks to get good flower photos, and that some of them have more depth than others and are more effective.

Well, that particular photo of the red roses against the backdrop of the pale blue fountain was more involved than it appears, on several levels! There are a lot of factors that go into taking certain photos, and I think that sometimes the Point & Shoot photographers are not given enough credit for their efforts (like deejdigsdis, for example, who takes amazing P&S photos)!! But a good eye is a good eye, no matter what kind of equipment we use!

When you are seriously interested in photography, amateur or professional, and you want to create some pretty images or interesting images, sometimes you find subjects 'accidentally' as you move through daily life, and sometimes you actually envision what you want a photo to look like and how you want to compose it. It's planned out, more or less. Sometimes you are in a perpetual state of looking around for possible photo opportunities, and nothing presents itself at all!

Sometimes I stumble upon photo subjects accidentally, and sometimes I take a lot of time to compose the shot just the way I want it, and I keep trying over and over again to get the shot I want to get.

In the case of this particular photo above, it wasn't like I was just wandering through Buena Vista Street and thought, on a whim, "Hey, there are some roses in front of the fountain! I'll get a photo!"

Quite the contrary. I was walking along, and the fountain was on my left-hand side, while the roses were on my right. I was between them. I noticed the blue of the fountain and the crimson shade of the roses and I thought, "What an interesting juxtaposition of colors. Pale blue and deep red. Too bad they're not close to each other or I could get them in the same frame."

So, with that initial thought in my mind I decided to see if I could stand in a vantage point from which I could frame the red flowers in the foreground, against the backdrop of the blue fountain.

I walked around behind the roses and found some that were in fairly good shape (some of them were a little wilted and I tried to avoid those), but still in a good spot to where I could capture the fountain in the background.

I had to then try several attempts at getting a photo I was even partially satisfied with. Since I was above the flowers, I crouched down so that the roses would rise up to a certain point in the frame and not be 'too short' or too low. I waited until people walked by and got out of my shot. I had to be sure that the people in the far background were blurred out. I had to make sure that the roses were mostly in focus while the fountain was mostly out of focus -- and yet still clear enough to be able to tell it was the fountain! Getting the depth right -- or even close to being right -- can be very hard with a P&S camera.

The photo that ended up being my favorite of the series I took was the first one, oddly enough, which is the one above.

Also, the fact that it was an overcast day lent itself to the paleness of the blue in the fountain, and in turn it lent itself to the great contrast between the red and the blue. If it had been bright and sunny and clear outside, the photo would have looked entirely different -- maybe it would been better or maybe it would have been worse. But the entire color contrast of the photo would have had a different impact if it had been a sunny day.

So, anyway, my point is that there are a lot of photos I take just for the sake of taking a lot of photos (like if I need to get a bunch of them for the Superthread or whatever), and there are some that I put a great deal of thought into as far as composition, cropping, colors, etc. The end result may be successful and it may not be, but I think a lot about photos and what would make interesting subjects as I wander around.

Ever since my grandmother handed me her ancient Kodak camera when were were eating at the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle in Seattle, way back when I was a tiny tot, and let me take a photo of the city below (because I was begging to take a photo, I'm sure), I was hooked!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Can't believe we are almost at the end of your wonderful thread. As you already know that I have enjoyed all of your trip reports ever since 2008 before I joined the DIS Boards in 2009. Thank you for all those amazing trip reports that you have written over the years.

Hoping that you will be able to resolve the computer issues.

 

[tksbaskets]

I second Bret! I've spent countless enjoyable hours with you on your thread. Looking forward to more adventures ahead

Hi Deej!

 

[PlutoRocks]

Hey Sherry!

Count me in I love the idea of a thread retrospective - it sounds like fun to revisit highlights of the whole thread!

I'm sorry about the computer issues - I have absolutely no patience for computer problems - it should do what I want it to do when I hit the button - no questions! My IT guys don't like me much and get frustrated with me - but that's ok that's what they get paid for right?? I tell them - consider it job security

I was glad to see your posts - I hadn't seen you posting for what seemed like a couple weeks and I was starting to get worried. I tried to send you a PM but with my aforementioned technical inabilities I'm pretty sure I did it wrong. Oh well... Hope everything is going well (aside from the computer and photobucket and yahoo issues)

My students are on Spring Break next week that means it should be quiet in here.

Have a great weekend!

 

[deejdigsdis]

I had just begun to post my reply to Linda below (and, coincidentally, I mentioned something about deejdigsdis in my reply)....and just as I was about to click and send it, I noticed that DEEJDIGSDIS reappeared!!!!


Deej -

I'm so glad you made it back before this thread comes to a sad end, as you've been with me here for a long time. I still have to do the official Wrap-Up/Retrospective in my remaining posts between here and page 250 (or on Page 250). I ended the actual December 2012 trip posts, but I didn't top the whole thing off with a Wrap-Up.

I'm just glad to see you back, even if only for a moment! I was beginning to worry about you and was hoping everything was okay!

!

I'm glad I made it back before the closing of the thread as well. I would have been so sad if I finally made it back on here only to find the thread locked tight.

When I just quoted your post above and deleted the extra stuff before posting myself... I noticed that I accidentally left a random "!" behind. I decided to leave it in honor of Cannonballs!

I second Bret! I've spent countless enjoyable hours with you on your thread. Looking forward to more adventures ahead

Hi Deej!

Hello TK! Did you happen to do a TR for your holiday WDW trip? I didn't notice anything in your signature.

OK. On to some comments about what I've read so far... (I'm still only on Day 1, but I wanted to make sure I had at least one chance to comment on the actual TR before this thread draws to an end.)

First of all...I JUST NOW got a text from my sister. She is currently riding the horse-drawn trolley thing down Main Street after eating breakfast at Jolly Holiday Bakery. She is on a solo trip. Yesterday she texted me a picture of the Sewing Machine Window Display. It's looking very Springy, as to be expected. Between reading your TR (while listening to Christmas music on Pandora, of course) and getting consistent live updates from CB Jamboree... I am really missing Disneyland right now.

On to the comments for real this time.

I recognized the "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" as your 1st and last even before you mentioned it. One of my very favorites!

I was shocked to read your list of "No's". No Goofy's Kitchen? No PP pics? No GCH Carolers? ... and the most shocking for me, because you know how much I love it... No Main Street Snow?!? I can't tell yet how this trip is shaping up "fulfillment-wise" for you. If the re-do needs a re-do, so to speak.

{Live Update: CB just sent a picture of the horse that pulled her down Main Street. Her name is Holly and she's been working in Disneyland for 6 years now. }

And no Twilight Lady. Maybe next year (or later this year)?

You started out with a GREAT picture. The picture of the PPH tree through the window. I LOVED it! I've never seen that done before. It reminded me of an old-fashioned holiday card. Well-done my friend!

Are the MFW lights on all night long? I was surprised to see them on so early in the morning, but maybe they are left on all night.

Path with the plants in the middle...near the bench where you put on your make-up... is that a real path that people walk on? Or is it just ornamental? I've never seen that before. It doesn't look wide enough for people to walk on it without tromping on the plants.

GCH Tree... Those lantern ornaments are my very favorite. I've yet to see that tree, or the lobby for that matter, in person. You did a great job capturing the glow of the lanterns.

Is it just me, or does the GCH Santa Chair look HUGE? Notice the guy in the background of that photo. He is just dwarfed by that chair. (It reminded me of Lilly Tomlin on Electric Company!)

Gingerbread Houses... Not sure which year I like best. I really like the dripping, icicle look. There is more of that in the 2012 gingerbread house. I like the detail of the windows and the chocolate rock columns. Is that black licorice on the roof of the 2011 tree? My favorite things about this tree are the clean, shingle look and the candy canes lining the path.

-- How funny. Gene Autry's "Frosty the Snowman" came on just as I started reading your post that also started with "Frosty the Snowman." --

I noticed the GRR building looked completely different before you mentioned anything. I had to check the window placements to make sure it was indeed the same building! Very interesting.

I really like the pictures the Little Mermaid CM took of you with CS and MFW in the background. You look very happy in those photos. You would never know you had a sleepless night the night before.

The nautical-themed wreaths... My favorite element is the starfish. Because the star shape is a Christmas shape as well. Looks good!

I LOVE that tree on the Pier. In general I am a traditional-looking tree lover. This one fits that bill for me. It doesn't look like there's room to put on another ornament!

NO TSMM?!? I bet TK was shocked to read that, as was I. I haven't gotten to the part where you mention the rides you went on...just that there were 3. I'm going to guess IASWH was one. (Wait...I read that Bob suggested going on Soarin'...but I can't remember if you actually did.)

I loved the red flower pics in front of the BVS fountain. I like the red against the aqua and yellow.

OK, does anyone actually buy/eat those $12.99 Christmas Gourmet Apples?

I liked the B&W pics of the Buena Vista Bugle newspaper. Were they copies that people could take as a souvenir, or were they just some kind of prop? Either way, they sure seemed to fit the time period. Embrace the old newspapers!

Cannonballs! I noticed the (TM) next to the sandwich title on the menu. I wonder if it's from something else, or if they just trademarked the Cannonballs! for themselves. Interesting. I find myself saying it louder than other words in my mind as I type it.

{Live Update: Just got a picture of a long line of (cheerleaders?) in line for RSR, all wearing Minnie ears. CB is in the Single Rider line. Standby is 90 minutes and FPs are gone for the day.}

Just finished reading DAY 2!

I don't want to hog all the space that is left in this thread, but I want you to know that I am finally catching up.

OK. Let's start with that DAY 2 sunrise. That is really beautiful! What a great way to start the day, peeking out the window and having that as your view. What a great attitude you had as well -- deciding it was going to be a better day.

Interesting about the DVC lady commenting on how you'd make a good DL employee. I've always thought you'd be great working for Disney in a position outside the parks as well. I would love to see that happen someday. I think you have a lot to offer the company.

That's great about the $50 gift card. Did you scratch off the magnetic strip to reveal the supposed PIN like my parents did? I haven't reached the destiny of that gift card in my TR yet. (I still plan to finish it. I have 1 more day to go.) Suffice it to say that the unusable $200 Disney gift card is sitting on my kitchen counter at this very moment. How I could spend nearly an hour at City Hall working with their "top computer guy" and walk out of City Hall with that same unusable gift card and a few FastPasses for my time is beyond me. Why couldn't they just cancel it and issue me a completely new card? That is the burning question. OK, I'm starting to get riled up again so I better move on...

The Mickey Nutcrackers! Those are so cute.

I got quite a chuckle from this comment, which I just copied and pasted since it was faster:

I have been known to wildly wave my winter scarves around and injure small children just by quietly sitting in a chair, after all. Of course the security folks would want to be extra sure that I wasn’t up to shenanigans!

That first sentence would make a great tag!

I was surprised to read that you've never taken a picture of the "Here You Leave Today..." plaque. (And "Hello!" right back at you...2 1/2 months later!)

The Candlelight Processional area looks beautiful. Wow, those flowers are so pretty. I wonder if they make it through several nights worth of shows, or if they were only good for one night. I loved your Town Square poinsettias pictures as well. I love sitting in that area at Christmas-time and enjoying the vibrant red while listening to Christmas music.

This trip's ice cream incident... Yeah, that was weird. I would think they would say, "Do you mind if we join you?" if their intention was to park it right there. It sounded like her intention was to move the chairs somewhere else, though, so it would have been surprising to have them sit right there. (It sounds like "your" Market House chair is the equivalent of "my" Front Porch. ) Why does ice cream melt faster at Disneyland? I think we've had this conversation before, but I can't remember our conclusions. I remember eating an ice cream cone during the 5pm hour in January and I couldn't believe how quickly the ice cream was melting. You would have thought it was a warm summer afternoon or something. At any rate, I can see how that wasn't a very relaxing table situation.

I see the Valentine flowers have made another holiday appearance!

Am I the only one that is scared of the masks? I did look at all the pictures, though. (Maybe with my eyes a little squinty since I think they are scary.) Did you ever see that "Little House on the Prairie" episode when that guy was wearing a similar mask (although simpler) and attacked a girl? I associate those masks with regular people trying to get away with evil things, I suppose. You asked the question, "Is it weird that I want to take all of the masks home with me and hang them on the walls?" I answer with a resounding YES. I wouldn't be able to rest easy at night!

Critter Country... I never realized those were paws either! (Signs pointing the way.) Very clever. I also never noticed the honey-covered ornaments on the lampposts. I've seen them inside Pooh Corner, but never noticed them outside. Those are so cute.

I think the cupcakes are cute, but they just don't taste good. I love cupcakes, but I wonder how Disney can get them so wrong taste-wise. There's one at Village Haus that I've yet to try that looks really good.

Those bright yellow flowers in Critter Country reminded me of the yellow flowers I've noticed at the BTMR exit. Very pretty.

Adventureland... Great photos! I didn't realize this was a new photo-taking spot for you.

Ahhh...you got a clock photo on the back side of the Castle! I noticed the time was set to 5:05. I've seen it set to a couple of different times, but 5:05 is the most common.

Candlelight Processional/Ceremony... The whole thing sounds beautiful. I know it is something I would really enjoy. Attending something like that could fill my Christmas needs for the season -- forget about all the Santa stuff. That's amazing that you walked up and got such great seats. Hooray for Jay! The choir in the Christmas tree formation was very clever. I liked the trumpeters up top. My 13 year old son is a trumpeter, so that was especially fun for me to see. (He had a concert this week. Someone that had been in the audience emailed the band teacher and said, "I don't know who that first chair trumpet player was, but he was amazing and has such a gift. I hope he keeps it up." The band teacher shared it with my son the next day and it really made him feel good. We thought it was quite a compliment to have some random stranger go out of his way to email the band teacher and share his comments/thoughts. Such a simple thing, yet it made my son's day. )

The guy that was part of the "What Child Is This?" duet... is he one of the Dapper Dans? It was hard to tell without his hat on, but I looked at your pic against some of my pics of the Dapper Dans singing and it kind of looks like it could be him.

It sounds like it was an amazing show and I'm so glad you not only got to attend, but that you had a great seat and you were able to share the experience with others that really appreciated the opportunity to be there.

Seeing the remnants of snow on the ground made me smile. Yeah, not quite as magical when you look at the foam on the sidewalk.

You got some great shots of IASWH and the Castle at night. I enjoyed all that you posted.

I caught a glimpse of the conversation between you and TK, referring to the Hallmark Movies. I have about 10 on the DVR that I still need to watch. There just wasn't time during the Christmas season. I saw a couple during the season, but I didn't nearly get my fix. Just tonight my husband asked, "Do you want me to delete some of these Christmas movies?" NO. At least not yet. I also recorded a couple of Valentine's movies that I haven't watched yet. I can't remember if they were on Hallmark or one of the other channels. I hope to get to them next week.

OK, that's it for now. Off to read about DAY 3!

It's so fun seeing DeeJ's comments - it is bring back fond memories of the whole trip report again. I had to laugh - I still have Christmas and Valentines movies on my DVR that DH keeps threatening to delete. I will watch them soon (I hope). Life does intrude.

Too bad we can't watch the movies together!

Did you do a TR for your Christmas trip, TK?

-------------------------------------------------------------

Well who would've guessed?!? I made it through the whole Dec. 2012 TR before the closing of the thread. It's funny that I was MIA in your thread...then I started commenting again...and now you're MIA in your own thread!

I read DAY 3 and DAY 4 since my last round of comments.

Once again, gorgeous sunrise pictures. Seriously, what a great way to start the day. So quiet and calm. It reminded me of the "A Day At Disneyland" VHS tape I have. The tape starts out with the sun rising and the park all shiny and clean, ready for a new day.

Your cold holiday sandwich... For me, that would definitely be a "must eat warm" sandwich because of the stuffing and gravy. It sounds really good.

How cute that the little boy wanted to show you his Buzz. I let out a huge laugh when you commented that you probably wouldn't have reacted the same way had a grown man approached you in the store with a "This is my Buzz Lightyear." It just struck me as so funny...just picturing that.

What is up with the Floral Mickey? You'd think it was March instead of December!

I really liked the black-and-white "Main Street Station Entrance" sign. The font looked very 60s-ish to me. Maybe it reminded me of the "Bewitched" font? Anyway, I loved that picture. It definitely lends itself to a black and white look.

It was nice to see the CP set-up in the daylight. I honestly don't think I've ever noticed that snowman-ish topiary in Town Square. It doesn't look familiar at all.

Yay for Sewing Machine Display pictures! I wonder if it has an Americana look in July? So far I've seen Halloween, Christmas, Spring and Valentine's (in January).

I also love that sign with the little girl kissing Santa -- maybe an ad for candy canes? So cute.

Those poor horses...no butt decor! That is something I would have noticed as well. It can't cost too much to adorn the horse butts. I wonder what was up with that one?

The Bell Ringers... I would have loved to see them! Thanks for all the pictures. I loved their clothing/hairstyles.

Gavin and Gwen... Wow! How fun to spot these two. I had to laugh at your quickly taking a picture of a wreath instead of Gavin, and risk being caught. It kind of reminded me of when I was standing in line for Casey Jr. (I believe) back in 1987. A really cute guy was getting an ice cream from one of the carts. I casually and nonchalantly put my Le Clic camera up and took a quick picture. (Yes, creepy when you think about it...) I didn't even put my eye up to the camera. I made the mistake of leaving the flash on. My sister and her friend were quick to ask, "What did you just take a picture of? We saw you take a picture.... that wasn't an accident...that was on purpose..." Anyway, I was found out by them, but not by the cute guy as far as I know. Le Clic's weren't the best cameras around, so the picture is horrible but I still have it for memory's sake.

As far as married couples walking together... Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. I felt like we were quite stretched out this time, with our group of 14. I was kind of in the middle of the pack, keeping track of kids. My husband was always bringing up the rear.

I loved your daytime pics of the Castle, bridge, flowers... I was thinking of that little duck family as I looked at the pics, before I read the mentioning of them. Thanks for the shout-out!

I'm with you - I like the statuettes with the Christmas decorations in the background.

That's great that you were able to get seats a second time for CP! Was the show EXACTLY the same? Same choirs and songs and everything?

I'm sorry you didn't have a better experience at Surf's Up. I know it wasn't horrible or anything like that, but I'm sure you couldn't help but compare it to your tried and true GK. I'm glad you got to enjoy breakfast with Liza and have a chance to visit with Laurie for a bit.

I love the T-shirts! Especially Hipster Mickey. What a hip shirt! Too bad it's thinner than you'd like.

Thanks for the shout-out on my pictures! You know, I haven't visited my Photobucket account lately. I should see what's going on over there. I only use it for pics that I post on the DIS. I don't put anything private in that account. How awful that they feel entitled to post people's private pictures wherever/whenever they are so inclined.

Any word from Shawn since you've been back from your trip?

Thanks again for another wonderful Trip Report! I'm so glad I made it back before it came to an end -- the thread, that is. I'm looking forward to the Retrospective. Great idea. The closing of this thread will definitely leave a bit of a void in the TR section.

 

[tksbaskets]

It's so fun seeing DeeJ's comments - it is bring back fond memories of the whole trip report again. I had to laugh - I still have Christmas and Valentines movies on my DVR that DH keeps threatening to delete I will watch them soon (I hope). Life does intrude.

 

[Sherry E]

Deej -

I'm not missing from the thread so much as I have been quiet so I could reserve my final posts for the Retrospective portion to end this thread! We are literally just about to flip the page to 250 (maybe even with this post). I figured you would pop back in after finishing Days 3 & 4, so I was eager to read your comments before I close up shop! I think I enjoy reading your replies to the posts more than I enjoy actually putting together the posts themselves!

Thank you so, so much for replying in detail, and I'm glad you caught some of the things I threw in there (like the scarf-waving comment, the incident with the people at "my" table as I was eating ice cream and the little boy and his Buzz Lightyear, as well as how I would have reacted differently if it had been a grown man introducing his Buzz Lightyear)! You're good about catching the little kooky comments I throw in here and there, which can easily be overlooked!

I will have to come back to revise this post and reply in more depth later - I am rushing to get something finished at the moment. I just wanted you - and Dawn, Bret, TK and everyone - to know that I am here, I have read everything, and I appreciate all the good vibes and nice comments!

​

Dawn -

I never got a private message from you, but rest assured I am here and have not vanished! I have been posting over in the new Christmas Superthread today and in a couple of other threads. It's just this darn TR Retrospective that is taking me a while to plow through because Photobucket has made it impossible to find things, load things , and basically do anything with my photos!

 

[tksbaskets]

Deej - no trip report this year. I was really ill for 3/4 of the trip and didn't have the energy to post. We did have a really good time despite my 102 temp and my leaving the park at 3 pm on Christmas Eve. Perhaps my men enjoyed a week where I couldn't talk above a whisper? Want to keep it short so Sherry can do her wrap up.

 

[kmedina]

It has been a while. You are almost to 250 now. Looking forward to catching up. I love the garland on the cones. Cannot wait to see that in person. May need to squeeze in a short weekend trip this Christmas or next.

 

[PlutoRocks]

Hi Sherry!

Long time no "see"! I was worried about you vanishing and then I vanished...what can I say - it's been that kind of month around here.

I hope all is well - I keep checking in to see how things are going.

Have a great week!

 

[PHXscuba]

OK Sherry, we made it to page 250!! Time to finish it all up before someone else (like me) uses up all the posts!

PHXscuba

 

[mariezp]

Patiently waiting for the grand finale!

 

[Sherry E]

I'm here, I'm here, I'm here, Marie and PHX! I sent Dawn/PlutoRocks a PM yesterday (Dawn, check your mail here - look for the notification in the upper right corner!) so she would know I read her message and was not ignoring her. And I posted in Kim/kmedina's thread the other day for the same reason. I still have to answer some of the questions that deejdigsdis asked when she got caught up on the TR, too (I combined all of her comment posts into one!), because there were a few specific ones that stood out that I wanted to address.

Yes, I'm on page 250 now. This is the point at which threads are usually closed. I've closed many a thread when it hit that golden '250' mark, or even just shy of that mark. The DIS won't blow up or have a terrible technical malfunction if anyone goes a page or two over that number (like if something - a game or whatever - is just about to finish and has to stretch past 250 to do that), but because the threads will have to be closed anyway we usually just close them at 250.

I've been purposely silent and inactive here because I didn't want to post until I had all of my "Retrospective" installments in order and could place them here one after another before I close the thread. I was/am afraid that one of my co-mods or one of the webmasters will swoop in and close the thread before I get those posted! I don't know how many posts I will need just yet- it could be 3 posts, could be 5, could be 10. I have quite a few things I am adding in that I had not originally planned on adding in.

Each page of a thread typically has about 15 posts on it before it flips to the next page (although some folks have different settings that make the number of posts per page different), so I still have some space left here on page 250 to do my "Retrospective," but not much. (Keep that '15 post' thing in mind if ever you are about to put something in one of your threads that you do not want to be buried at the very end of a page, where it will likely be overlooked!)

As expected, I have encountered one problem after another in trying to complete my thread Retrospective - browser issues, general computer issues and Photobucket operational issues (how did the storage usage in my Pro account just jump from 39% to 64% within one week -- even though I have not loaded a single photo -- and then miraculously land back at 39% this morning? Seriously, Photobucket -- if you're out there, this nonsense related to the transition to the new website is getting old and ridiculous. Get your act together because I am tired of your shenanigans. No one wants to be old and ridiculous.).

And there has been massive work done on the apartment above me for the last few weeks, as the former tenant moved out and I guess the apartment is being prepped and upgraded for new tenants. That has caused a virtual assault of noise, day in and day out. Sometimes the noise is right above my head. This is a 45-year-old building, with paper-thin walls, floors and ceilings, so you can imagine the fun I've been having trying to drown it all out. This deafening construction work has, at times, prevented me from doing anything on the PC, sleeping and even watching TV. I have not been able to concentrate....or hear.

I can't even open my windows most of the time because the noise is louder when I do. Plus, some fool is smoking upstairs (when I thought this was a smoke-free building) which sends the the smoke wafting into my apartment.

Oh, the joy of it all.

​

Anyway, one bit of good news is that, on July 21st, I will be headed across the ocean once again! That's right! Another seafaring adventure awaits me, courtesy of Catalina Express' Free Birthday Boat Ride renewal!!

For the third consecutive year, Catalina Express is running its free birthday boat offer. As you may recall, I was not able to take advantage of it in the first year (2011) but last year I did (see the blue link in my signature below for that TR, which is in a different forum). Because this is apparently the town of Avalon's 100th anniversary, the offer has been extended one more time. I think this will be the last time, to be honest. I don't see how the Express could possibly keep handing out free (normally expensive) boat rides without losing money somewhere along the line. Maybe they will come back with a different kind of offer -- a revised offer with a lesser value -- but I can't see where it is very cost effective to keep giving away entirely free rides that would normally cost $70-ish, round-trip.

But, surely I'm not complaining. (For some reason I just heard the late, great Leslie Nielsen's voice in my head saying, "And don't call me Shirley...", a reference that may be lost on some folks.) I will happily take advantage of this free offer a second year in a row and hop on that early, early (like pre-dawn) boat, scanning the vast ocean for signs of marine life.

I will once again explore the tiny streets and scenic nooks of beachy Avalon, camera at the ready.

I will once again rent a golf cart and clumsily attempt to navigate it around the hills and narrow paths.

I will once again visit the vaguely creepy Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden to face a most formidable foe -- the Endless Steps of Terror -- in the blistering summer heat.

I will once again take photos of lovely flowers playfully dancing in the breeze.

I will once again sneak past the ominous 'do not walk past this point' and 'beware of falling rocks' signs to visit my "thinking spot" along Pebbly Beach and beyond Lovers Cove. I will stare pensively out at the crashing waves as I try to unravel life's great mysteries.

I will once again stake out a prime spot on the Green Pleasure Pier, from which I will watch the fish below as they jockey for food, and from which I will eavesdrop on other visitors' chats as they try to determine if it is, indeed, a blob of kelp or a menacing stingray mingling with the fish.

So, I am looking forward to that. Let's hope there will not be any freakish heatwaves (beyond a normal summer day in SoCal) on July 21.

​

And...I've got some other Disneyland plans in the works too (informally - nothing has been finalized, and no dates have been set). You can bet that, as usual, a Halloween Time visit will be on the agenda. I think I'll even do one of the parties this year (I don't need to go to the actual party every year - I can skip it here and there - but I think I'd like to do it this time around if possible). I need to take more photos for my Halloween Time at DLR Superthread.


But -- as any of you who have followed this thread for a while will know -- what I look forward to all year long is, of course, the Holiday Season (cue the harps and Christmas songs!). The brisk chill of the mornings. The Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas marathon that starts on the first weekend in November. The peppermint-flavored goodies. The excuse to sip hot cocoa. The Rankin-Bass clay puppet TV specials. The music. The lights. The trees. The colors. The whimsical Santas and snowmen adorning the rooftops and lawns of houses around the neighborhood. The overall cheery feeling and friendly vibe in the air. (I wish I could say "the snow" but we don't have that in the Los Angeles basin.) And...Disneyland, of course!

My Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread has been unexpectedly hoppin' in the last couple of days. That seems to happen every year -- when the Superthread picks up at a random time that is nowhere the actual season. So I will once again lead the charge in the Theme Week Countdown (to the start of DLR's holiday season), beginning in early August, which is always a fun way to get people excited and intrigued about what DLR has to offer in terms of Yuletide merriment. But -- I will admit -- the Theme Week Countdown is also a good way to build up my own anticipation of the season! It's become one of my holiday traditions, I guess you could say.

​

So, that's the scoop on what's been happening lately, why I've been absent from this thread and what could be coming up. The cacophony of construction is starting up again so that is my cue to step away from the PC.

I will be back soon (meaning, not in months but within the next couple of weeks) with the Retrospective installments -- remember, I am trying to put them together and post them all at once to use up the rest of Page 250, so it won't be a 'one post at a time' kind of thing.

And then, THE MOST VIEWED TRIP REPORT IN THE DISNEYLAND TR FORUM will come to an end (now cue the violins). Hee hee! Sorry -- I just had to get that in! I don't normally 'own' that title in the way I should, and I make multiple excuses for why and how I got to be the Most Viewed TR in the DLR TR forum so as not to detract from the other wonderful TR achievements by so many other DIS'ers. One has to retain a scintilla of humbleness, after all. But, just for today, I will own it and proudly wear the crown! Lol.



Thank you, everyone, for sticking with me and for checking in on me!

 

[Sherry E]

I just had to check in and see if my TR thread was still the most viewed of all TRs in this particular forum...and it is!!! I thought Bret/mvf-m11c would have surpassed me by now with his gazillion gorgeous photos and many, many DLR trips, but not quite yet. He is closing in at warp speed! He will catch up very soon, deservedly so. Right now, though, I am still in the lead!!

​

Wow. Has it really been 4 months since I last posted? How time flies, whether or not you are having fun. I had not intended for such a long break to occur!

I hope you all haven't forgotten about me. Many of you (my longtime TR followers) have encountered me in other areas of this board, or even on Facebook once in a very blue moon, so you know I am alive and kicking. (I've been on Facebook more often in the last 2 weeks because my cable company went to war with CBS and I have had to join the angry masses in hurling complaints at them on their FB page.)

I've been very active in my "Halloween at DLR Superthread" (Halloween Time begins next month) and in my "Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread" (in fact, we are currently in the middle of the 3rd Annual Theme Week Countdown in the latter thread, and this week is New Orleans Square/Haunted Mansion Holiday week. Last week was Christmas Trees/Wreaths week).

Last month I went to Catalina again via another free birthday boat ride. I got my free cup o' coffee and my free ice cream cone. And I may have also eaten a decadent brownie with chocolate chips on top...and a cinnamon roll...and a chili burger...maybe. It was a long day.

I have thus far posted a total of 5 Catalina teaser photos on the last page of my existing Catalina TR thread (see blue link in signature below), but I have been holding off on doing a TR yet because...I think I'm going to be doing a blog here about Catalina.. (I'll keep you all posted on that.) However, when I finally do the Catalina TR from this past July 21st, it will be called something along the lines of...wait for it...

"Wild Woman in Golf Cart -- On the Loose!" or "Woman in Golf Cart Gone Mad" or some such thing.

Who is the wild woman gone mad in the golf cart? Why, not moi, of course. I wouldn't possibly be careening around sharp turns up in the remote hills in a golf cart I can barely drive, would I?

What else? Oh yes! I shall be returning to DLR for my second favorite season on 9/13, to see what this Limited Time Magic/Unleash the Villains/13th Hour madness is about...and just because I want to experience yet another Halloween Time opening day! I think that Liza/funatdisney will be with me for that.

Also, I plan to attend Mickey's Halloween Party on 9/27 -- something I have not done in a couple of years. I will be solo, on a photo mission.

You all know that I am no fan of Summer. Summer is not my friend. So I know you know that I am anxiously awaiting that glorious day when Summer turns into Fall...which is right around the corner. From there, the holidays are but a stone's throw away.

As for the holidays and Disneyland? Well, for a while it seemed like the season was far, far away. Now, of course, it is inching ever closer. I intend to be at DLR in early December for at least a day or two (as always, depending on money) -- and I should be meeting up with a few other familiar DIS'ers for a few hours on one of those days! But I will leave you in suspense as to the details and specifics of that! Muahahahahaha!!

As expected, I am eagerly awaiting the return of the Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas marathon that begins in early November! It's a 2-month long bonanza of predictably sugary Christmas movies and I love it!!

And, on a personal note, I have been growing increasingly distant from my group of "friends" (the ones you all have read about in previous TRs). I felt like they became distant first, either by not replying to messages or not showing up or whatever. And then I followed suit. I am barely ever on Facebook outside of this issue with my cable company, but when I am there I don't really interact with them -- nor they with me -- anymore.

I just got tired of being taken for granted, I suppose, or putting forth effort where it is not returned. I've been busy with a lot of things, trying to make money and be creative and get involved in all sorts of endeavors -- and I just don't have time for nonsense. I actually think this will be the first year in many years that I won't be contacting any of them to join me at DLR for the holidays. None of them.

I think it will be a totally solo DLR holiday trip this year, aside from meeting up with the other DIS'ers who shall not be named at the moment -- which I am fine with, for the most part. It is sad because, as you all know, I don't have any family and my friends were sort of my default family. But I also like my solo time, and I like it even more when I'm dealing with people who either can't be bothered to return messages or show up to see me! So, onward and upward!

Don't even get me started on the harmonica-playing fool who moved into my apartment building, and the annoying group of young whippersnappers who moved in above me. It is basically noise, noise, noise all day long, all week long and I'm at my wit's end.

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Anyway...I just wanted to touch base and let you know that I am still here.

I am going to temporarily re-close this thread, just so that I can preserve the final posts on this final page for my eventual Wrap-Up...which I vowed would not take months to complete -- and yet it has taken months to complete.

Now that I have been fishing around in Photobucket for photos to post in my Theme Week Countdown for the Christmas Superthread, I should be able to round up those Thread Retrospective/Recap photos with ease. Photobucket has ironed out some of the hideous mistakes they made when changing their format earlier this year, so once again I can at least work with my photos and find my photos in a sea of thousands and thousands.

In the meantime, though, until I get this Wrap-Up complete for you all, keep an eye out in this TR forum because I will be starting an all new TR thread in the near future, which will be kicked off by the Halloween Time report. It may be an actual TR. It may just be a "photo report" (which means a "Sherry doesn't have time to write anything" report). It will be a report of some kind.

And, of course, you can find me in the Halloween Time Superthread on the main Disneyland planning forum, in the Disneyland at Christmas Superthread and in my Catalina TR thread in the California & The West forum.


I bid you all goodnight! I hope you all are well and happy! I shall return to finish off this thread soon (famous last words... but, no...really). !