Day 1 November 16, 2012 Part 1
After three months from my last DL trip and just got back a couple of weeks from Orlando during the Halloween season and the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival which was amazing, it is now time to head on back to the DLR to go during the Holiday season which is our favorite time of the year to go to the DLR. This trip is one of my favorite times of the year to go to the DLR. I love going during the summertime and Halloween season, but the Holiday season is the best in my opinion since the resort is all decorated with Christmas decorations. This trip is also special since Buena Vista Street and Cars Land will be decorated for the first Holiday season.
My DA is also looking forward to the trip as just as me since it will be decorated. This will be the 2nd time we will be heading on over to the DLR during the Holiday season in November. Mostly we always go in December for my birthday but the last three years I have been going in November due to the WDW trips in December in 2010 and 2011 and my basketball season is in full effect in December so I dont want to miss any games. So we decided to go again in November which is very nice to go during the Holiday season.
We didnt leave on Thursday the 15th since my DA was working and I also had a basketball game that night. We drove in my DA white Honda Civic since she is so comfortable driving her car and not my TSX. So we left Sacramento Friday morning around 7am and head on over to my grandmothers house in Livingston which is about 10 minutes away from Merced. It takes an hour and a half to drive to my grandmothers house. I always go to my grandmothers house in Livingston on the way over to SoCal. The town is right on highway 99. Sometimes I have gone on highway 5 to SoCal, but I like to drive on 99 since I am used to driving down on that highway than highway 5. I know that highway 5 is way faster than 99, but there are more towns on the way from 99 than 5.
We stopped in for a short visit and left around 9am and on our way to SoCal. But before we head straight to Anaheim, we had to make one stop to LA to my dads friend office. I am talking about my dads friend who he and his family went with my family to WDW last year. My dad asked me to drop off some stuff for him so we had to make on stop before we got to Anaheim.
My DA and I switched off a couple of times during the trip down to SoCal so we wont have any accidents. I could have driven straight to LA if I wanted too, but it was easier if we just switch off while we are fresh.
We stopped a couple of times during the trip to SoCal since we werent able to get to the Costco gas station in Burbank. We had to stop a couple of times to Burbank since we didnt have enough gas so it took a little longer to get to SoCal than usual. Also it was partially raining that day so it did affect part of the driving down to SoCal.
After fueling at Costo, we head on down I-5 to Anaheim. As usual the traffic on I-5 to Anaheim was busy as usual and it took about 1 hour to get to Anaheim.
We got to in Anaheim around 3pm and the day was kind of cloudy which means rain. But we are hoping that it wont rain that day since I will be taking pictures of Believe
In Holiday Magic fireworks. We were staying at BWAI which I have stayed a lot of times in the past with my DA. I just recently stayed at BWAI during my August trip with my DB and his GF. I would prefer to stay at BWPPI as my choice of hotel instead of the DLR hotels, but the price was just not there and we stayed at BWAI for under $100 with tax. Not a bad price to be staying at BWAI during the Holiday season in November.
Our room was ready when we got check-in around 3pm. Lucky for us we were on the bottom floor and we were a few rooms away from the lobby. I was happy that our room was close to Harbor Blvd than those other times that we had to walk a long ways to Harbor Blvd.
When we dropped all of our stuff in the room, my DA wasnt ready to go to the parks until later tonight when we see Believe
In Holiday Magic fireworks. We were also planning on eating at the ESPN Zone to watch basketball games that night so I had to get to the ESPN Zone to have dinner with her.
I brought all my equipment with me including my tripod and video camera since I wasnt planning on going back to the room until later that night. So I carried everything and I didnt want my DA to carry my tripod with her to the ESPN Zone in DTD.
I left the room around 4pm and head on over to the DLR. When I left the hotel and over to the DLR, it was a little cloudy that night and it might rain since it was forecast on the weather channel. But I always carry a poncho and umbrella just in case if it rains that day.
Walking down the bus loading area
When I passed the security gate and in the Esplanade, I head on over to DCA first before DL since I want to see the Holiday decorations at BVS and CL. Luckily it wasnt that at DCA turnstiles. Just like last year, there were Holiday garlands over the DCA turnstiles which was nice to see and I was excited to see the Holiday decorations at DCA.
Now I was in DCA and in BVS, it did felt like Christmas in DCA. This was way better than I have though in DCA. It is time for the Christmas Quests that I have been doing these last couple of years. As always Sherry, the quests make it more exciting to do at the DLR during the Holiday season.
The first picture of the wreath quest is the Oswald Gas station
Over on the right hand side of DCA, there were a media area with a lot of CMs and I was wondering what they were filming that day. I did mention on my other posts that the CMs were filming something that day and I still havent found out what they have filmed that day.
After that, I just went around BVS to look for any Holiday decorations. Most of the buildings around BVS were all decorated with garlands and wreaths. It was very interesting to get a lot of different pictures of the building with the Holiday decorations.
Chambers of Commerce
Los Feliz Five & Dime store
When I looked up, there were some CMs filming something right on the left hand side.
Here are flower pictures for you Deej right by the locker area
A look at the filming area
Here is one of my first tree pictures in the window display on BVS
A look at the Carthay Circle Theater and part of the BVS Christmas tree
There was quite a lot of garlands and wreaths on BVS which is something that you want to see. Just like DL MS where they have a lot of trees, wreaths and garlands when you enter the park. Disney really got it right with the decorations at BVS.
Thats it for now on this post and I will have more from BVS during the Holiday season. I still am working on my WDW trip which is not done yet and I still have a lot to do. I will get as much done as I can during my time off from basketball.