Our 3rd Annual Holiday Trip to DL in November - November 22nd - 25th, 2013 Post #3416

[mvf-m11c]

You are doing great. The first time I took a f/1.8 lens (50 mm, not a 30 mm) to a Disney park was for the October 2010 trip . If you ever have spare time and do wander in there, check out the pictures and compare them against yours. You'll find that you're really really doing great!

Thank you PiO. I will have to go over to your trip reports and look at the pictures.


The next post will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – August 14, 2012– Part 34​

We left off riding It’s a Small World as the last ride of the night for the three of us. It was a nice cruise through IASW that night while there was barely anyone on the ride. As I have said in the last update that I love riding IASW during the Holiday season when it is transform to IASWH. The original one I still like, but I barely ride the regular one during the other parts of the season. I haven’t ridden the original one in almost over a year. I can tell that V really enjoyed going through IASW and they were taking pictures with their cameras. They have taken a few pictures when we were going around the park. I didn’t mention it too much during the trip report in which I mostly do all the picture taking and where we have been at each place. Now let’s get to IASW.

We were in the last scene of IASW which is the finally. It’s always fun to be in the last scene with all the countries all in one at the end.

Now we were back on the outside of IASW

When we got off IASW, it was almost close to 11pm, so we started to head on out of DL and back to the room to call it for the night. This was the first time since my May trip in 2011 where I stayed at the park until closing time. Mostly I get out of the park before the closing time since there will be a lot of people that are exiting the park and going to the stores. This time, I was here with my DB and V while they only had a one day park hopper ticket and want to get the most out of it and they have by staying at the parks until they closed.

My DB and V wanted to do one more thing before we left the park. I had a hunch that it would be shopping at the Emporium or any of the stores in Main Street since they stay open one hour after the park closes. So we started to head on out of the park and over to MS. There were some people in the area around IASW Plaza.

Most of the rides around FL are shut down since the park is now closed.

Now back at the Hub and can see that Astro Orbiter is now closed for the night

We were walking down MS and seeing that most of the guests are now in the area heading on out of the park or doing last second shopping or getting ice cream at Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor.

Carnation Café Sign

They wanted to go to the Emporium to do some last second shopping since they didn’t want to go back to the World of Disney store since we have been there on Monday. While they are looking for something at the Emporium, I was in the store taking some pictures of the light fixtures inside the store. The very interesting thing about the Emporium and the light fixtures is that there are a lot of different light fixtures inside the store which is very interesting.

We were in the Emporium for a while and they finally came up to me with some clothes that V have found that day. There must have been at least three shirts. They told me that they were for her relatives since she wants to get them something from this trip.

We headed on over to the register and tallied all the stuff that she have bought that night and I believed it was around $100 worth of clothing and other merchandise that night. They bought a lot that night while we were in the Emporium. She handed me the money and I used my AP to help her save about over $20 that day. She was very happy and thanked me for the discount. I always try to help out my group with the discount of my AP.

Today, mostly everyone pays with the credit card instead of cash for almost anything. I am one of those people that I still like to use cash for smaller purchases. I did tell my DB and V in advanced before the trip to have plenty of cash with them if they want to buy merchandise at the store. Luckily they didn’t have to use the cash at the restaurants while I have the AP.

When we got the bag of the merchandise, we started to head on out of the park and going back to the room. On the way out, I had to get a couple of more pictures while we were exiting the park. It was nice and quiet around Main Street Town Square. Most of the guests have already left the park and sleeping in the rooms.

When we were about to exit the park, it was already 11:30pm

All the turnstiles at DL were closed and the center gate is opened to let the guests to exit the park.

So we head on out of the park and on back to Best Western Anaheim Inn. We got back to the room around 11:40pm which took about 10 minutes to get from the esplanade to the hotel. We were all glad to get back to the room after a long night at the parks. I was really exhausted and was sweating a lot that night. We took our turns to use the bathroom and I was up for a while until it was around midnight that I finally went to bed. My DB and V stayed up a little bit late that night since they don’t have a ticket for tomorrow. So this concludes our day at the park on Tuesday.

We really did quite a lot that Tuesday on August 14th. I got to go to DCA during my Annual Pass Early Entry and I didn’t do too much that morning where Radiator Springs Racers was down. I was hoping that RSR would be running that morning and get a quick ride on it before I got in the queue for the RSR FP when I met up with my DB and V. I did spend an hour that morning to get the FP. The three of us got to do a lot of rides at DCA that morning. I got to do my usual rides at DCA which is Mickey’s Fun Wheel or the DISers would call it Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Doom or Terror. Got to ride Toy Story Midway Mania, Goofy’s Sky School, Little Mermaid Ride, and a lot of other rides that I can go on. I also got to ride the Red Car Trolley which was one of my objectives during the trip and I do plan on riding all the way to the Tower of Terror during my November trip.

The other thing is that we got to go over to DL and we got to ride the updated Matterhorn Mountain, BTMRR which might be down later next year for refurbishment & Star Tours in the afternoon while we head on over to Cars Land to ride Radiator Springs Racers around noon. They like the ride and it lived up to the hype. My DB compared it to Test Track at EPCOT and it was way better than TT. We also got to eat at Flo’s V8 Café. The food was okay, but it wasn’t worth going back to that restaurant in quite some time. While they went back to the room, I did some other things that day by watching Instant Classic and Red Car News Boys shows at DCA. I got to ride the monorail which is something that I always do every time I go to DL.

We ate at Wine Country Trattoria and the food was also good that day. It was great to eat at the WCT since I haven’t ate at that restaurant in ages. Also during that day, we got to see CL with the lights turned on and also later that day. We got to see World of Color that night while my DB and V had a great time watching it.

To finish the night, we went to DL to go on a few rides and closed it off with shopping at the Emporium.

Overall we did quite a number of rides, shows and restaurants that day. It’s been a long time since I have stayed at the parks that long during a trip and did quite a lot in such a short time. Now that this day is over, now is the last part of the day which is always the saddest which is Wednesday. I also have my APEE for DL on Wednesday. So I need to get some rest that Tuesday night and have to get to DL first thing in the morning.

That’s it for this post and I will the next day and see what I did that Wednesday morning.

 

[tksbaskets]

Hi Bret,
You got some really nice pics of DL and Mainstreet at night. I especially like the teacup ride one

You had a busy day. I bet you all slept well that night!

Thanks for sharing.
TK

 

[mvf-m11c]

Hi Bret,
You got some really nice pics of DL and Mainstreet at night. I especially like the teacup ride one

You had a busy day. I bet you all slept well that night!

Thanks for sharing.
TK

Hi TK,

Thank you. The pictures at DL on MS were nice while some of them were blurry. But overall they turned out very nice with the new lens. The tea cup picture was nice.

It was a busy day with so much done in just one day which was crazy. I did slept well that night and was excited to use my APEE at DL the next day. Unfortunately, I won't have an update until next week since I will be gone and doing some business work. I will get back to the trip report asap since I am about less than one month away till my WDW trip.

Thank you for for checking it out.


Also, I might be able to go back to DL in a few months next year. My aunt (not my DA that goes with me to the parks) my dad's sister is considering going to DL in January next year during the off-season. It will be my aunt, her BF and her daughter who is 2 which will be her first time going to DL. She ask me if I am interested in going with them and being their guide. I said that it is a possibility since I have to look at my basketball schedule for January. For now, this is just talk and not reality.

If this do happens and we go in January, it will be exciting to see DL after the Holiday season. I know for a fact that some of the rides will be down after the Holiday season and shorter times. I have done a trip in January back in 2010 when I worked at an Anime show in Bakersfield.

They already asked me a lot of questions of what to do for a 2 year old and what she will like. One thing that she is looking forward to the most is meeting the Disney characters at the park. They also want to do a character breakfast at one of the restaurants. She told me that she wants to meet Minnie. For the character dining restaurants, the one's that might have Minnie are the Plaza Inn Minnie and Friends Breakfast which I have done in the past and I believed the other one is Goofy's Kitchen. Sherry E if you are reading this, have you seen Minnie at GK during your trip from last year? I believed I didn't see any pictures of Minnie at GK during your trip, but I want to make sure 100% if Minnie will be at GK if we dine there. If not, it is most likely that the Plaza Inn Minnie and Friends Breakfast will be the place to have the character breakfast since she wants to see Minnie.

I did look at the Character Meals Super Thread!! on the DL thread and see that Minnie might make an appearance at GK. I want to make sure that it is legit that she will be at GK.

There will be a lot of questions of what to do with a 2 year old since I haven't been with a young child in almost in ages. I was in a group that had a young kid in our group from my trip in June last year and he had a great time of going on a lot of rides. This time will be different with a young child and will be challenging of what rides she will want to go on. We'll wait and see how it goes.

Thank you for your help.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Bret - I'm loving your pictures with that lens. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Sherry E]

You can also always ask me a question in my own TR or in PM if you want to know something about Goofy's - just in case I don't happen to get to this thread for a few days!

Yes, I saw Minnie at Goofy's this past December - for dinner, though. Not breakfast. She was there when my group had that fiasco of a dinner with all the confusion when we checked in (the fiasco was because of my friends and not because of the restaurant). She is in the pictures. But I don't think she was there at breakfast a few days later. We didn't get any photos of her at breakfast and I don't think I saw her in other areas of the restaurant.

That's how it usually goes for me - at the times I eat breakfast there, which are generally really early, I don't see Minnie at Goofy's Kitchen. She may very well show up a bit later in the brunch shift, though.

However, I kind of have a feeling that Minnie is probably at Goofy's for dinner more than breakfast. She is probably there often for dinner. Since her own breakfast is over and Minnie & Friends does not offer dinner, if people see her at Goofy's for dinner it won't 'spoil the illusion.' If she appears too often at Goofy's Kitchen during breakfast, then it gives people a bit less of a reason to eat at Minnie & Friends. Know what I mean?

So I have a feeling you'd be safe eating dinner at Goofy's and seeing Minnie, not to mention the fact that the adults will have a wide variety of food to choose from.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret - I'm loving your pictures with that lens. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you PiO. I did check your pics from the Oct. 2010 trip and they were really nice. I still have a lot to learn of taking pictures with my DSLR camera.

Thank you PiO and I do like your pics from your 2010 trip.

You can also always ask me a question in my own TR or in PM if you want to know something about Goofy's - just in case I don't happen to get to this thread for a few days!

Yes, I saw Minnie at Goofy's this past December - for dinner, though. Not breakfast. She was there when my group had that fiasco of a dinner with all the confusion when we checked in (the fiasco was because of my friends and not because of the restaurant). She is in the pictures. But I don't think she was there at breakfast a few days later. We didn't get any photos of her at breakfast and I don't think I saw her in other areas of the restaurant.

That's how it usually goes for me - at the times I eat breakfast there, which are generally really early, I don't see Minnie at Goofy's Kitchen. She may very well show up a bit later in the brunch shift, though.

However, I kind of have a feeling that Minnie is probably at Goofy's for dinner more than breakfast. She is probably there often for dinner. Since her own breakfast is over and Minnie & Friends does not offer dinner, if people see her at Goofy's for dinner it won't 'spoil the illusion.' If she appears too often at Goofy's Kitchen during breakfast, then it gives people a bit less of a reason to eat at Minnie & Friends. Know what I mean?

So I have a feeling you'd be safe eating dinner at Goofy's and seeing Minnie, not to mention the fact that the adults will have a wide variety of food to choose from.

I was about to PM you or write on your TR. But I don't want to hog your trip report and I also wanted to hear from other DISers about their experience at GK or Plaza Inn. But it looks like that no one commented about it except for you and I do appreciate it.

I thought that Minnie was only at GK until dinner time while she is at the Plaza Inn for breakfast. It did make sense at first that she would be at the Plaza Inn during breakfast and later during lunch/dinner at GK.

My aunt told me that her BF daughter wants to meet Minnie and Cinderella during a character breakfast. But I when I read the Character Superthread that Cinderella will only be at Ariel's Grotto and she wasn't too excited about the food selection at AG. So AG is out of the question and the two choices are GK or Plaza Inn. But they want to have breakfast during a character meal. So it might be Plaza Inn or GK during dinner. I will find out until later to see what they want to do. But I do have two more months of planning to decide of what they want to do.

Thank you for your insight about GK Sherry.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thank you PiO. I did check your pics from the Oct. 2010 trip and they were really nice. I still have a lot to learn of taking pictures with my DSLR camera.

Thank you PiO and I do like your pics from your 2010 trip.

Thanks Bret. You're very kind!

 

[Sherry E]

I was about to PM you or write on your TR. But I don't want to hog your trip report and I also wanted to hear from other DISers about their experience at GK or Plaza Inn. But it looks like that no one commented about it except for you and I do appreciate it.

I thought that Minnie was only at GK until dinner time while she is at the Plaza Inn for breakfast. It did make sense at first that she would be at the Plaza Inn during breakfast and later during lunch/dinner at GK.

My aunt told me that her BF daughter wants to meet Minnie and Cinderella during a character breakfast. But I when I read the Character Superthread that Cinderella will only be at Ariel's Grotto and she wasn't too excited about the food selection at AG. So AG is out of the question and the two choices are GK or Plaza Inn. But they want to have breakfast during a character meal. So it might be Plaza Inn or GK during dinner. I will find out until later to see what they want to do. But I do have two more months of planning to decide of what they want to do.

Thank you for your insight about GK Sherry.

Bret -

It's likely that no one else commented about Goofy's because your quote was, "Sherry E if you are reading this, have you seen Minnie at GK during your trip from last year? I believed I didn't see any pictures of Minnie at GK during your trip, but I want to make sure 100% if Minnie will be at GK if we dine there."

It sounded like you were asking me specifically, and referring to pictures from my trip, in which case I responded and said to be sure to post the question in my own TR or send me a PM, because it's not a guarantee that I am going to come back to this thread every day. I might only be able to pop in every few days.

If you want to know something about Goofy's or Minnie & Friends, you can't be sure that the people who know about them will be following your TR. The best thing to do is just post the questions in the Character Meal Superthread. There are plenty of other people who have eaten there more recently than December too (which is when I was last there).

Anyway, Cinderella was also as my Goofy's Kitchen dinner in December, along with Minnie.

Good luck figuring it all out!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I was about to PM you or write on your TR. But I don't want to hog your trip report and I also wanted to hear from other DISers about their experience at GK or Plaza Inn. But it looks like that no one commented about it except for you and I do appreciate it.

I thought that Minnie was only at GK until dinner time while she is at the Plaza Inn for breakfast. It did make sense at first that she would be at the Plaza Inn during breakfast and later during lunch/dinner at GK.

My aunt told me that her BF daughter wants to meet Minnie and Cinderella during a character breakfast. But I when I read the Character Superthread that Cinderella will only be at Ariel's Grotto and she wasn't too excited about the food selection at AG. So AG is out of the question and the two choices are GK or Plaza Inn. But they want to have breakfast during a character meal. So it might be Plaza Inn or GK during dinner. I will find out until later to see what they want to do. But I do have two more months of planning to decide of what they want to do.

Thank you for your insight about GK Sherry.

Bret - I didn't comment because I thought you were directing this to Sherry. In any event, I haven't done a character meal at DLR in YEARS! Lately, I've just been doing flying visits to DLR and doing the park in one or two days..and going commando. Not really enough time to add a character meal to it. (*hangs head in shame*)

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret -

It's likely that no one else commented about Goofy's because your quote was, "Sherry E if you are reading this, have you seen Minnie at GK during your trip from last year? I believed I didn't see any pictures of Minnie at GK during your trip, but I want to make sure 100% if Minnie will be at GK if we dine there."

It sounded like you were asking me specifically, and referring to pictures from my trip, in which case I responded and said to be sure to post the question in my own TR or send me a PM, because it's not a guarantee that I am going to come back to this thread every day. I might only be able to pop in every few days.

If you want to know something about Goofy's or Minnie & Friends, you can't be sure that the people who know about them will be following your TR. The best thing to do is just post the questions in the Character Meal Superthread. There are plenty of other people who have eaten there more recently than December too (which is when I was last there).

Anyway, Cinderella was also as my Goofy's Kitchen dinner in December, along with Minnie.

Good luck figuring it all out!

I understand and the next time when I ask a question, I will go to the Character Meal Superthread and asked the other DISers about it. When I read your comment I should have said to everyone.

Glad to hear that Minnie and Cinderella were at GK during your dinner last year.

Thank you for your help.

I will go to the superthread and ask the DISers about it.

Bret - I didn't comment because I thought you were directing this to Sherry. In any event, I haven't done a character meal at DLR in YEARS! Lately, I've just been doing flying visits to DLR and doing the park in one or two days..and going commando. Not really enough time to add a character meal to it. (*hangs head in shame*)

I should have said to all the DISers. So I will have to remind myself of what I say on the threads. I have done a few character breakfasts at the DLR, but that is only at the Plaza Inn the last two years. My aunt, her BF and daughter want to see Minnie during breakfast or possibly dinner if they change their minds. Are you considering doing a character breakfast during your trip next year with your family? I think you should do one.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I should have said to all the DISers. So I will have to remind myself of what I say on the threads. I have done a few character breakfasts at the DLR, but that is only at the Plaza Inn the last two years. My aunt, her BF and daughter want to see Minnie during breakfast or possibly dinner if they change their minds. Are you considering doing a character breakfast during your trip next year with your family? I think you should do one.

The last couple of trips, we've been doing character meals at WDW instead of DLR lately. We tend to hit DLR just after we've arrived in the US and we treat Anaheim as a short stop to get over the jetlag.

We'll definitely book in for a character breakfast at WDW....DH and I really liked Tusker House and the breakfast at Cape May is good as well. We don't enjoy Chef Mickey and I'd like to try 'OHanas.
I might consider one at DLR as well; depending on how much time we end up staying in Anaheim. I think DS will LOVE Carsland so I might have to factor in an extra day or so.

 

[mvf-m11c]

The last couple of trips, we've been doing character meals at WDW instead of DLR lately. We tend to hit DLR just after we've arrived in the US and we treat Anaheim as a short stop to get over the jetlag.

We'll definitely book in for a character breakfast at WDW....DH and I really liked Tusker House and the breakfast at Cape May is good as well. We don't enjoy Chef Mickey and I'd like to try 'OHanas.
I might consider one at DLR as well; depending on how much time we end up staying in Anaheim. I think DS will LOVE Carsland so I might have to factor in an extra day or so.

That does make sense after coming all the way from Australia to the US.

I haven't done a character breakfast at WDW in years. I remember the last time I had a character breakfast at WDW was at Chef Mickey at the Contemporary. It must have been over 10 years since I have done one. It would be nice to do one at WDW one day, but the people that I go with are not into character dining. Your DS will love Cars Land during your trip. Hopefully the wait time for RSR won't be that long like this summertime.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – August 15, 2012– Part 1​

After being away from the trip report the last few days, I now have some free time to go and restart the rest of my trip report back in August. I still have less than one month away till my WDW trip with my relatives, my DB and his GF. So I will try to get everything done before we get to the trip report. This has been a long trip report since we were at the parks a lot on Tuesday August 14th. Now it’s time to finish the rest of the trip report with the saddest part of the trip which is the last day.

We left off getting back to Best Western Anaheim Inn on Tuesday night where we did a lot of rides, restaurant s and shows that night at the DLR. Now it is the last day of the trip report which is the saddest part of the trip. It is always sad to go home on the last day of the trip, but I was also looking forward to getting home so I can check out the videos and pictures from the trip. It has been a long time since I have been at the park for that long in one day. It was like 14 hours that I was in the park that Tuesday and it was exhausting. But I somehow survived that day and now it’s time to get the last part of the day.

I had to get up early that Wednesday morning to take advantage of my Annual Pass Early Entry to Disneyland on Wednesday. I used my APEE at DCA on Tuesday and it was semi worth it since I didn’t go on Radiator Springs Racers that morning since it was down. Now I am about to go to DL that Wednesday morning. This was the first time in 2 years since I have done a MM at DL since I stayed at the GCH back in October of 2010. Since I have an AP and stay off-site, I rarely go to MM at DL. So I am planning to take full advantage of it.

Unfortunately, I overslept that Wednesday morning since I was sore and tired from the other day. So I got up around 7am and I got dressed and took a shower that morning. When I was ready, my DB and his GF were still sleeping in the room. I wasn’t going to wake them since they don’t have a park ticket that day and they wanted to sleep in after Tuesday day at the parks. So I just head on over to DL that morning and hope that it won’t be that busy.

I left around 7:20am from BWAI and heading on over to the esplanade. I would assume that it would be that busy at the turnstiles and there will be a turnstile at DL that will allow the MM/APEE into the park that day. I can’t believe that I lost about half an hour that day during APEE/MM at DL. But I needed that extra sleep and rest after a long day on Tuesday.

I got to the turnstiles at DL 7:30am and the regular guests were waiting to get into the park that morning. Luckily, the turnstile for the APEE/MM was still open and I got into the park around 7:30am.

One of the DLRR trains was at the MS station. It was the C.K. Holliday Engine #1 with Holiday 2 car set.

Also when I entered the park, the CM at the turnstile handed me this paper which was the DL Early Entry Guest sheet which will get me past the rope drop area at MS Hub area. Good thing I got this or I would have to wait on the outside of the rope drop to enter the park that morning.

When I entered DL that morning, it was quite and the regular guests are not in the park right now. When I was walking down MS, I got a few pictures on the way in.

Most of MS was quite since it was only the early entry guests

Just passed 7:30am

The rope drop area was at the Hub right around in the area of the Plaza Inn and Jolly Holiday Bakery Café. I handed the early entry sheet and was allowed to enter DL that morning. DL lands that are opened during MM is Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. So I am wondering what I will do first.

I decided to head on over to Fantasyland and possibly go on a few rides since I am going in that direction I was fortunate to get a picture of the Matterhorn without any people in the picture.

One of the light fixture on the route of going to FL from the MS Hub.

It was quiet around FL and hopefully that it won’t be that bad when I try to go on some rides.

I thought about going on over to Peter Pan, but I wanted to go on the Matterhorn again after riding it on Tuesday. I knew that the Matterhorn shouldn’t be that crowded that morning so I head on over there. But when I looked at Storybook Land Canal Boats, it was not running that morning.

When I got over to the Matterhorn, the wait time was less than 5 minutes so it was a walk on that morning. I went through the Fantasyland side since I have ridden the Tomorrowland side the other day.

Just like the Tomorrowland side, the new bobsleds were not that comfortable and I had to bend my legs in the front of the bobsleds. I have said in my time when I rode the Matterhorn on Tuesday that it isn’t that comfortable riding in the bobsleds with a bag especially a backpack. I barely had enough room to put my bag between my legs. If you do plan on riding the Matterhorn and you have a bag, have someone hold it so you won’t feel that uncomfortable riding it.

The FL side of the Matterhorn is just like the same where it isn’t that fast than the TL side, but it was just as bumpy riding in the new cars just like the TL side. I have said this in the trip report and I will say it again that the new bobsleds are not that comfortable to ride in and I really missed the old bobsleds where they were more comfortable.

As I got off the Matterhorn, I started to walk around the FL and see how busy it is that day. I mostly do this all the time I go to DL in the morning where I just roamed around and don’t go on any rides. I know that I should be taking advantage of the MM at DL, but this is who I am and I like to roam around and get great pictures of the park.

Another light fixture in FL

Most of the rides at FL were walk-ons or a short wait time

When I looked at PP it was a walk-on, so I head on over to PP and rode it that morning. It was nice that PP had barely any people in the queue. Every time I go on this ride at DL, I like this one way better than the one at WDW. I was at first not planning on riding PP but since the wait time was short, I hhad to go on it that morning.

I got to ride PP that morning and I exited the ride. It was nice to ride PP that morning with a short wait time. Now I was still in FL and taking pictures around the area.

A look at Pinocchio’s Daring Journey

Another light fixture

It was quite around FL that morning

That is it for this post and I will have more from that morning at DL. What will I do next that morning?

 

[ACDSNY]

Another nice set of pics Brett. I love when I'm able to get pics without people in them around the parks. I'm really looking forward to going back in May.

 

[PrincessInOz]

I love seeing DL in the early morning light. It just seems to glow.

Great set of pics! Looking forward to seeing where you went next!

 

[Sherry E]

Bret -

I posted about this on the DIS earlier today, but have you had a chance to read this blog about the holidays from the Disney Parks Blog?:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...-resort-coming-november-12-through-january-6/

Of course, we already knew what the dates for the season were going to be months ago, so I'm not sure why they think they are telling us something we don't already know!

What struck me as interesting is, specifically, the mention of the Cars Land decorations. Do you notice how they seem to only refer to 4 locations along Route 66? (I just knew that the Tower of Tires in front of Luigi's would be used for Christmas lights!)

We already expected there to be decorations in Cars Land and on BVS (which the Parks Blog confirms), but it's interesting that they don't say that Cars Land will be fully decorated. They only mention those certain locations. Interesting. I wonder if the shops and other spots in Cars Land will not be decorated?

Also, I kind of wondered if they would do with Cars Land what they do in Toon Town - play Christmas songs sung by the characters. The music in Cars Land is so integral to the whole experience, so I wonder if it will be the same songs they usually play or holiday music.

Another thing about this Blog - do you notice that, under "Returning Favorites" for Disneyland, they don't mention the themed decorations in Toon Town or in New Orleans Square? They also don't mention the reindeer at the newly named "Holly Jolly Jamboree."

I posted a comment to the Blog much, much earlier today (hours and hours ago), saying that I hope the "Returning Favorites" include Toon Town and New Orleans Square's decor, and that DCA needs decorations in every land because it always pales in comparison to DL.

Hours later, my comment has still not appeared under the Comments section of the blog. And yet, they always, always post comments from that "Fred" guy! I see Fred's comments on the Blog all the time!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Another nice set of pics Brett. I love when I'm able to get pics without people in them around the parks. I'm really looking forward to going back in May.

Thank you Angela. It is so fun going to DL during MM. I barely do it anymore since I have an AP and I don't stay on-site. So I try to take advantage of MM at DL that day and I didn't do that since I got up late. It was alright that I didn't get up earlier since I was exhausted the other day.

That is very nice news to hear that you will be heading back to the DLR in May. When are your dates for your May trip?

I love seeing DL in the early morning light. It just seems to glow.

Great set of pics! Looking forward to seeing where you went next!

It very nice to see the park partially empty where you do see some people in the park when the park opens. MM are always fun to go since they are less crowded and short wait times.

Thank you PiO. The next post will be up tomorrow morning.

Bret -

I posted about this on the DIS earlier today, but have you had a chance to read this blog about the holidays from the Disney Parks Blog?:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...-resort-coming-november-12-through-january-6/

Of course, we already knew what the dates for the season were going to be months ago, so I'm not sure why they think they are telling us something we don't already know!

What struck me as interesting is, specifically, the mention of the Cars Land decorations. Do you notice how they seem to only refer to 4 locations along Route 66? (I just knew that the Tower of Tires in front of Luigi's would be used for Christmas lights!)

We already expected there to be decorations in Cars Land and on BVS (which the Parks Blog confirms), but it's interesting that they don't say that Cars Land will be fully decorated. They only mention those certain locations. Interesting. I wonder if the shops and other spots in Cars Land will not be decorated?

Also, I kind of wondered if they would do with Cars Land what they do in Toon Town - play Christmas songs sung by the characters. The music in Cars Land is so integral to the whole experience, so I wonder if it will be the same songs they usually play or holiday music.

Another thing about this Blog - do you notice that, under "Returning Favorites" for Disneyland, they don't mention the themed decorations in Toon Town or in New Orleans Square? They also don't mention the reindeer at the newly named "Holly Jolly Jamboree."

I posted a comment to the Blog much, much earlier today (hours and hours ago), saying that I hope the "Returning Favorites" include Toon Town and New Orleans Square's decor, and that DCA needs decorations in every land because it always pales in comparison to DL.

Hours later, my comment has still not appeared under the Comments section of the blog. And yet, they always, always post comments from that "Fred" guy! I see Fred's comments on the Blog all the time!

I got to read the Disney blog tonight. Thank you for posting the link Sherry.

We already knew that there would be decorations at Cars Land and Buena Vista Street but I was surprised to read that only four locations will be decorated. We knew that Luigi's Casa Della Tires location will be decorated with the Leaning Tower of Tires. I thought that they would add decorations for Lizzie's Curios Shop, Ramone's, Sarge's, Mater, etc. just like the other four locations. Maybe they will add decorations to the shops and other buildings at CL and just want to make it interesting.

It will be nice to hear Christmas songs for Cars Land, but I also don't want that to happen since I like the songs at Cars Land right now. But we'll just wait and see when we get closer to the dates.

I was surprised to read that they didn't mention anything about Mickey's Toon Town or New Orleans Square. Those two lands are decorated at DL every year and I will be surprised if they don't add the Holiday decorations. That is part of the Christmas season at DL and it will be very disappointing if they don't have them up this year. They change the Reindeer Round-Up to Holly Jolly Jamboree. I don't like the name change and I would guess that they will use the Festival Arena for the Holly Jolly Jamboree like they did with the Halloween Carnival. I don't like how they changes to the Halloween season this year and DL and hope they won't do too much to BTR this year.

I did not see your comment on the blog about Toon Town and New Orleans Square. I was surprised to hear and not see your comment on the blog. Hopefully that they will add your comment and they will respond to it. For DL veterans of the Holiday season like you and me, it will be very disappointing to not see any Holiday decorations at MTT and NOS. There is no question that DCA needs more decorations and with the price increase, they better added more decorations and not less decorations.

We'll just have to wait and hear from them about the decorations at MTT and NOS. But after reading it, I am getting nervous and will be disappointed if they do that to MTT and NOS.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – August 15, 2012– Part 2​

I left off at Disneyland during Annual Pass Early Entry or Magic Morning which we call it. I was disappointed that I got up late that morning for my APEE/MM at DL. But after a long day at the park on Tuesday with my DB and his GF, I knew that I was wiped out from the other night and trying to push myself to go to DL during the MM. So I am in the park that morning going on a few rides and taking pictures of a partial empty park like I normally do but half less than a typical morning at DL. Time is so different now that DL and DCA are opened at the same time while DL is the first park for the guests to enter while you have to enter DCA later on. That morning during the first 15 minutes, I got to ride the Matterhorn and Peter Pan. Mostly those two rides are 30+ minute wait times in the afternoon and glad that I got to ride them that morning. Now I am in FL getting some pictures until it was time to open the park officially at 8am. Let’s get back to the trip report.

While DL is not opened yet officially at 8am, I was in FL going on some rides until the park was open. I just finished riding Peter Pan and now taking some random pictures around the park that morning.

When I saw Dumbo, I thought about going on it but I do plan on riding it with my DA one day since she wants to go on it.

I left FL and now head on over to Tomorrowland to go on one of my favorite rides at TL which is Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters or BLAB. I always have to go on BLAB every time I am at DL just like the Monorail and the DLRR which are the ones that I go on. So I head on over to TL from FL.

A few more different pictures on the way over to TL

Monorail Blue or Mandy is now in the park

I entered TL and it was still quiet since the park is still during APEE/MM. So the people who are in TL and FL had a few more moments until the regular guests are allowed in the other lands.

I thought about going to Space Mountain, but my backpack would be a problem since I had problems with it on the Matterhorn. The wait time was about 5 minutes that morning which is great to go on during MM.

Now heading on over to BLAB

The wait time was only 5 minutes which was great

I am looking forward to getting back on BLAB since I haven’t done well lately on BLAB. I know TK that you would love to have my scores on BLAB, but I haven’t hit the 999,999+ score in a long time and maybe this time will happen. Getting 999,999+ is possible if you are in certain areas of the ride and hit the targets like the Zurg secret target where the points is 100,000.

My score for BLAB was 542,100 which is not that bad, but not the score that I would like to get on BLAB. Mostly during that ride, the triangle and diamond targets didn’t light up and I didn’t hit the secret target and was wondering if the secret target will light up if I am riding it in the afternoon. Sometimes it just me puzzled why the targets don’t work in morning like in the afternoon.

After I got off BLAB, the park I snow officially opened at 8am and most of the guests are now in the park. I decided to head on over to Adventureland to get a FP for Indy. So I started to head on over to Indy.
Over at Star Tours, the wait time was only 5 minutes which was great to go on ST. I was considering going on ST that morning, but I wanted to do other things than just by going on rides like taking pictures.

More guests are now coming in the park

Now entering Adventureland

There were quite a number of people in Adventureland and mostly heading on over to Indy.

It only said 10 minutes which takes that long to get through the queue of Indy. So I wasn’t planning on going on Indy that morning and just got a FP which the return time was 8:40am to 9:40am.

Now I passed by Tarzan’s Treehouse

Over at the RoA, it was quiet while the park opened and it will be busy later on that day.

Now I am just walking around the RoA and NOS to get some pictures while the park was not that crowded. Every time in the morning, NOS and Critter Country is always quiet while most of the guests are at FL & TL in the morning.

A picture of the flowers in the direction of the River of America

I head on over to the NOS RR station to get some pics of the flowers right by the station.

That’s it for this post and I will have more from Disneyland that Wednesday morning.

 

[PrincessInOz]

What a lovely morning! I love that you have such short wait times and get to experience the park with low crowds. If only we were all that blessed every time we went!

Thanks for sharing.