Aloha, Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas

[PrincessInOz]

I'm doing a little catch-up here too.

Love the Christmas decorations and it looks like you got a lot done this day.
Hope that you get that D&B purse!

Lush is still operating in Australia.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I'm doing a little catch-up here too.

Welcome back. I still have not found the time to check out your latest trip report, but this will be my treat for this afternoon.

Love the Christmas decorations and it looks like you got a lot done this day.

The Christmas decorations blew my mind. Looking at the photos, I am surprised just how much I got done in a morning.

Hope that you get that D&B purse!

I did. I brought 7 new Disney Dooneys home.

Lush is still operating in Australia.

We have Lush, too. My home town has three Lush shops. The problem is that here in the UK they pretty aggressively discontinue products and often they are my favourite ones. In the USA they are not quite so quick to discontinue products.

Corinna

 

[Pinkocto]

The links are fixed, you're right, the Bugsland decorations are great!

I thought I had finally found a DCL Dooney while on the Magic, but it was a backpack with straps too short. I was so disappointed. I'm back on the Fantasy in January, where my quest will continue. I love the length of the one you're wearing.

 

[dolphingirl47]

The links are fixed, you're right, the Bugsland decorations are great!

I loved how all the decorations were perfectly themed to the land they were in. This is something where Disneyland goes all out.

I thought I had finally found a DCL Dooney while on the Magic, but it was a backpack with straps too short. I was so disappointed. I'm back on the Fantasy in January, where my quest will continue. I love the length of the one you're wearing.

What a shame. I hope that you will find the perfect purse. I have a whole collection of Disney Dooney and Bourke pouchettes now, but only the DCL Waves and 2015 Princess Half-Marathon pouchettes have this length of strap. I love this length, too. The others are all shorter even when fully extended. A friend in Florida picked up the Haunted Mansion pouchette for me yesterday and this looks like it may have the longer length strap, too.

Corinna

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 18

Although we both had a busy day ahead of us, neither of us was in a particular rush. I did not need to be anywhere until 9:45 and Graham was not on a firm timetable either. We got up at around 8:30 and I made some coffee. Graham had his cheesecake, but as I had a reservation for breakfast, I kept mine for a different time. Graham was going to take to the busses that day so we walked towards Disneyland together before going our separate ways.

I had misjudged things a little. The bag check points where quite busy and although I got into the shortest line, I ended up with families with buggies and multiple bags in front of me so this took a while. I ended up power walking the length of Downtown Disney. I made it to the check in desk for Goofy's Kitchen about 5 minutes past my reservation time. Normally check in is very quick there even if it is very busy, but for some reason that morning it was very slow. There were not that many people there, but check in seemed to take forever. By the time I was finally checked in, it was 15 minutes past my reservation time. I was directed to meet Chef Goofy and have a photo taken with him. Strange enough, he had nobody with him. I went to get my photo taken with Goofy and then was asked to go and sit down in the area opposite the restaurant. At the time all the seats were taken so I wandered around in the vicinity and took some photos of the Christmas decorations.















Once I had taken my photos, I spotted a seat and sat down. Goofy was still at a loose end and actually came out from his kitchen to mingle. I had another wander myself to take some more photos and then my name was called. I was amused when I was directed to our usual area. We had a number of meals at Goofy’s Kitchen over the years and there are multiple areas in this restaurant, but we only have sat in one of them and more often than not even at the same table. Shortly after I was seated, my server appeared to take my drinks order. I was not in the mood for coffee or juice so I ordered a Coke. Once I had ordered my drink, I went to explore the buffet.



This was my first experience of Goofy's Kitchen at breakfast. Previously we were always there for dinner. I am not really a breakfast person. However, that day, I had a tour booked that started at 12:00 so I needed to eat something before. Apart from the fact that I have always enjoyed Goofy's Kitchen anyway, what drew me to this is that it is advertised as a brunch. Well, it did not disappoint. I actually pretty much stuck to the children's area. For my first plate I had some chicken nuggets, macaroni cheese, hot dog sausage and macaroni cheese pizza. I was curious on how this would work out. Macaroni cheese is probably my favourite dish in the world. I also love pizza, but I never would have thought to combine the two. It was actually surprisingly tasty. Once I had finished this, I went back for another plate of hot food. I had a made to order omelette with chorizo, pancetta, mushrooms and black olives and an old favourite of mine: Goofy's Peanut Butter and Jelly Pizza. Then it was time for something sweet. I figured I was on holiday and that was a good enough excuse to have ice cream for breakfast. I had vanilla and chocolate swirl soft-serve ice cream topped with mini peanut butter cups and a sugar cookie on the side. This went down a treat.







Although I had thoroughly enjoyed the food, this was not the only reason why I had chosen Goofy's Kitchen. The characters were a big draw. A couple of months before we left for this trip, I became aware of some discussion that the character interaction at Goofy's Kitchen had changed. Chef Goofy and Sous Chef Pluto had always been around, but they were joined by an assortment of random characters including some of the princesses, Peter Pan, Alice, the Mad Hatter and an assortment of furry characters. This had now changed. The random characters have gone. Chef Goofy and Sous Chef Pluto are now joined by Pastry Chef Minnie and Server Chip and Dale. I actually prefer this and at some stage, they all came by to visit. Most of them came by more than once. Only Dale was playing hard to get. I was ready to give up on him when he finally came to visit. Once I had seen Dale, I was ready to leave. I flagged down a Photopass photographer to get my photo package that was included with Photopass+. I did not have to wait long for this and then I made tracks.









On the way through, I took a photo of the Christmas tree and Olaf at Downtown Disney. I decided to take the monorail into the park. There was virtually nobody at the bag check and I did not have long to wait for the monorail either. I thought my luck was in. I love the monorail and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. When I arrived at Tomorrowland, I started to doubt that decision. The world and its dog seemed to be at Tomorrowland at that time and seemed to take an eternity to make my way through and onto Main Street. With hindsight, I should just have hopped on the train. Once I got to Main Street, it was plain sailing. There did not seem to be many people around at all and I made it to Tour Gardens in plenty of time. I got checked in and took a seat.

 

[dolphingirl47]

While I was waiting, I noticed that somebody was waiving at me. It was Cassie, who had been our guide for the A Walk In Walt's Footsteps tour. She came over and gave me a hug. I had not expected to see her again as she had told us that she had jury service during Thanksgiving week. Apparently her services were not required. It was nice to see her again. Soon our guide for this tour came to introduce herself. We had Maria from Puerto Rico for this tour. We were issued with our audio devices and the headset and after a sound check we got going. This group was much bigger and we had a lot of families with very small children on the tour, which got interesting later on.

We first headed over to California Adventure. Maria directed us to a gate to the left of the turnstiles. There were some other tour guides waiting for us there. Maria told us that there would be a number of cast members helping us during the tour and she asked us that every time that this happens, we wish them Happy Holidays. This was actually really nice. When we were all inside, she gathered us together and told us a bit about Buena Vista Street in general. She then explained the role that Buena Vista Street plays in the holiday celebrations at Disneyland resort. Our next stop was a shop window that had a number of Christmas decorations on display. This had caught my eye the previous day and I had assumed that they were "Disney authentic". I was wrong. All the decorations displayed there were actually from the 1930s. Apparently the Imagineers went through some trouble to find those.

We then pushed on towards the Christmas tree at the end of Buena Vista Street. On the way, Maria told us about some of the holiday entertainment on Buena Vista Street like the bell ringers and the daily tree lighting ceremony. Once we got to the tree, Maria pointed out various decorations that have links to Disney history like Walt Disney's train barn. She shared with us that Imagineers went through the attics of relatives to find Christmas decorations from the 1930s. The decorations on the tree are replicas as they could not find decorations from that period of time that were big enough, but they were all scale copies of the decorations found in various attics. One thing that I had not noticed before is that the characters that were included looked very different from what I am used to. Again, they were replicas of the characters how they looked in the 1930s.

We had one last stop at California Adventure. The tour includes a number of treats and we were about to get our first one. We stopped at Trolley Treats and after a hearty Happy Holiday to the cast members there, we were given a special version of the holiday marshmallow wand that they make for the holiday tours. They sell the full size version at Trolley Treats. Ours were the size of a normal marshmallow and this was more than enough for me. There is no way I could have eaten a full sized one. Our treat consisted of marshmallow, mint, caramel, chocolate and sprinkles. It was delicious, but very rich.



We enjoyed our treats while we were walking back to the exit. We crossed back over to Disneyland. We stopped at the Christmas tree at Town Square. Maria told us that all the trees around the Disneyland resort today are artificial trees. She asked if anybody knew why this was. There were a number of theories ranging from aesthetic reasons to struggling to find trees that are big enough. The real reason is more serious. Maria shared with us that one year cast members were decorating the tree on Town Square the night before the holiday season was due to start. They were just finishing off putting the last decorations on the tree when somebody noticed that the top of the tree was on fire. Even though everybody reacted quickly, they lost the tree and most of the decorations. After this, the decision was made to only use artificial trees around the resort. There was a happy ending to this story though. Disney being Disney, they managed to source replacements for the tree and the decorations on very short notice. By the time Disneyland opened to the guests the next morning, there was a beautifully decorated tree and nobody was any the wiser of what happened during the night.

We moved up Main Street a little way and stopped by a doorway. Maria pointed out that the mezuzah mounted on the doorpost designates the premises as Jewish. She pointed out the hanukkiah in the upstairs window and explained some of the traditions around Hanukkah. We then moved on towards the hub and Maria explained some elements of the holiday seasons of the past. She told us about the Monsanto House of the Future, which was near the entrance of Tomorrowland roughly where Pixie Hollow is now. This was decorated to look like a Christmas present every year for the holiday season. She also told us about the huge star on top of the Matterhorn. I know there are rumours that this will be brought back this year, but time will tell.

We then crossed over into Adventureland to ride the first attraction that is part of the tour. This was the second year that Jungle Cruise was transformed into Jingle Cruise for the holiday season at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. I had been rather excited about this in 2013, but when I got to experience this at Walt Disney World, it had left me rather disappointed. There were minimal Christmas touches. For the most part there were just Christmas themed jokes that were somewhat cheesy and were delivered half-heartedly. So I was not actually looking forward to this part of the tour. When we got to Jingle Cruise, they were not quite ready for us. We were directed to an area nearby to wait and we stayed there for about 15 minutes before Maria came for us. The area had some shade and as it was another very hot day, the downtime was welcome. When Maria came back for us, she took us through the exit and we got a boat just for our tour group.

I was very positively surprised by this year’s version. Right from the beginning, it was obvious that a lot more time and effort had been spent on the Christmas decorations this time round. This was not the only thing that had changed. There were a range of visual gags. There was a different storyline than the one that Jungle Cruise normally has and in this context, the jokes actually made sense and some of them were actually rather funny. I have since heard that they also used smells on this ride, but I had not noticed this. What a difference a year makes. This had gone from something that felt like it had been half-heartedly cobbled together in 2013 to something well thought out and put together with great attention to detail in 2014. The 2014 version was a great addition to the holiday season.



























Once we had completed our trip around the jungle, we headed over to New Orleans Square. Maria pointed out some of the decorations to us and then we headed over to Haunted Mansion Holiday. This was the point where the group was effectively split in two. All of the younger kids started to cry and some of the slightly older kids refused to go on the ride. So various parents had to sit this out with their kids. Maria told them where to meet us and the rest of us went to enjoy the ride. This time we were lucky and we walked straight into the stretching room. We managed to keep the group pretty much together. The ride did a fair bit of stopping and starting this time so I had plenty of opportunity to take some photos.



















When we finished the ride, we waited for a bit until everybody was back together and then we walked through Frontierland. Maria pointed out how different areas in Frontierland represent different periods of time and how this is reflected in the decorations. I found this very interesting. We then walked past the Jingle Jangle Jamboree and once we crossed over into Fantasyland, Maria announced that we would have a comfort break. I got myself an orange soda and then headed back over to where we had been told that we would have a break and chatted to some other people on the tour who had the same idea. I was a bit surprised that we did not have the break at the Jingle Jangle Jamboree.

Once the break was over, we headed over to It’s A Small World Holiday. We headed to the exit and there were a number of cast members in the area making sure that this went as smoothly as possible. We all were on a boat very quickly and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride again.

 

[dolphingirl47]

When we finished with the ride, our tour was nearly over, but there was one last highlight to come. The tour comes with reserved seating for the A Christmas Fantasy Parade. We were escorted to our seating area and then we were given a gingerbread Mickey, some hot chocolate in a souvenir mug and a special pin. I ended up with a front row seat. While we were waiting, Maria came around with a book about the history of the holiday season at Disneyland. She advised that this is not available for purchase, but that it is part of their archives. I think Disney is missing a trick there. I would have been tempted to buy it and I am sure I am not the only one either. Soon the parade started. I am not normally into parades, but this had me absolutely spellbound.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Once the parade was over, I said goodbye to Maria and thanked her and headed towards the front of the park. I got some photos in front of the castle. Then I decided to check out Fantasy Faire. This area was still being built on 2012 and since it opened, I had not had the chance to check this out. When I got there, I noticed that there was an advertised waiting time to see the princesses of only 10 minutes. Even that was exaggerated. I was able to walk straight up to the door of Royal Hall and was escorted to see Ariel as soon as I got there. The other princesses in residence that day were Cinderella and Snow White. I was able to see all three with no wait at all.





















As I got lucky with the princesses, I figured if my luck would carry over to the fairies. So I headed over to Pixie Hollow. The cast member at the entrance thought that the waiting time was between 15 and 20 minutes and that was good enough for me. In the end, it was at the lower end of the estimate. I got to see Tinkerbell and Iridessa.









When I had said goodbye to the fairies, I headed back to Fantasy Faire. Before I went to see the princesses, I had spotted Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder out and about. There line was closed at the time, but I figured that they may be back again. A short line had started to form and the cast member in the area confirmed that Rapunzel and Flynn Ryder were about to come out. They came out shortly afterwards and were really great. They took time with each of their visitors.









I still had not had the chance to check out Jingle Jangle Jamboree and decided to put this right. By then the sun was going down and this did not help things. I did not really get that area at all. To do it credit, I discovered some hidden gems when I revisited this later in the trip during daylight hours. For the time being, there was a comedy show that was mildly amusing, all kinds of games, kiosks with merchandise and food and drink and roaming characters in holiday costumes. I managed to get a few photos and then we were told that the area was about to close.







I headed over to Fantasyland as I wanted to take some photos of the facade of It's A Small World Holiday all lit up. I succeeded with this and then headed back to Main Street. I have to admit; by that stage I was done. This had been another long and busy day. However, I still had an hour until my dinner reservation at the Carnation Cafe. I headed towards Town Square and ended up seeing most of the parade for the second time that day. Before I booked the Holiday Tour, I had agonized over whether to book the lunchtime tour, which meant I got to see the parade during daylight or the mid-afternoon tour, which meant that I would see the parade after dark with it all lit up. In the end I decided that I wanted to take photos and therefore would be better off with the daytime parade. Having seen both versions, I was glad that I had the reserved seating for the daytime parade. My vision is not wonderful after dark and I got to appreciate it during daylight a lot more.











Once the parade had finished and the crowds had dispersed, I headed over to the Carnation Cafe. I was hoping that I may be able to get seated a little earlier, but it looked packed and there were a lot of people waiting to be seated. They still checked me in and gave me a pager. I was told that this would work anywhere along Main Street and up to the hub. So I took my pager and browsed in the shops a little and took some photos. Then I headed back to Carnation Cafe and took a seat in the lobby. By then it was nearly time for my reservation. In the end I was seated about 15 minutes past my reservation time and then only because I agreed to sit outside. After the experience at Naples and now this, I think they just massively overbooked reservations during the Thanksgiving week.





Dinner was nice, but I think I was too tired to properly enjoy it. I had some orange soda and the Homemade Meatloaf with ketchup glaze, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy and seasonal vegetables. Once I finished my dinner, I paid and headed back to the hotel. On the walk back, I realised what the main drawback is to staying offsite at Disneyland. Just as soon as I was off Disney property, there were beggars everywhere. I started to feel quite uncomfortable out and about by myself. I still made it back to the hotel without any problems. Graham was still out so I just relaxed and read for a bit. Once Graham got back, we got ready for bed.

 

[Pinkocto]

Oh my goodness, what an amazing tour!!!! I've thought about doing the holiday one at WDW several times. And you're right, they should put that book out to buy, people love that sort of thing.

Breakfast looked delicious!!! Mac/cheese pizza!

Tons of beautuful pictures and lots of fantastic characters. Flynn Rider looked tall!

 

[jedijill]

That tour looked like a lot of fun! I love the holidays at the parks...I have to make it to DL for the holidays some of these days!

Jill in CO

 

[dgbg100106]

That was a wonderful tour, and sounds like you had a grand time!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Oh my goodness, what an amazing tour!!!!

It truly was. I would not hesitate to do this again if the opportunity arose.

I've thought about doing the holiday one at WDW several times.

I think the one at Disneyland comes with significantly less of a price tag then the Walt Disney World version.and the DVC discount made this even sweeter.

Mac/cheese pizza!

I loved it.

Tons of beautuful pictures and lots of fantastic characters.

Thank you.

I have to make it to DL for the holidays some of these days!

I definitely would recommend it.

That was a wonderful tour, and sounds like you had a grand time!

It was and I did.

Corinna

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Really enjoying update so far. Shame about the bobsleigh change I adored this ride too. It must be amazing to hsve a VIP guide! I bet that made the day as smooth as custard. You scored so many great rides! I love them all themed for the holidays. How cool its a small world. The hotel looked amazing. Looks like tonight you are in for a treat and great that the group hit it off.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Your breakfast at Goofys kitchen looked like fun. Oh my I adored that PB & J pizza at Chef Mickey's but they stopped doing it! That tour looks fabulous. You get so much. No way could you fit all that in tpuring yourself what a bonus. Glad your day was special.

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Oh wow, Mickey in his red suit looks great!

 

[franandaj]

You had a great day around the park exploring the Christmas decorations! I loved your shots and everything you saw. I need to get out there any really enjoy the decorations and not just run around the parks on tours and stuff!

 

[franandaj]

The other tours looked like great fun. I' m glad you got to meet up with so may characters as well!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Really enjoying update so far.

I am glad you are enjoying it.

Shame about the bobsleigh change I adored this ride too.

Disney does not always have the best track record when they start "improving" rides or attractions. I am still planning to do this again in September as I am curious about some of the special effects they added.

It must be amazing to hsve a VIP guide! I bet that made the day as smooth as custard.

It was and this was probably the busiest day of all the days I was at Disneyland so having a human Fastpass was very sweet indeed.

How cool its a small world.

I know. I am sure that will be another ride where it will feel strange to ride the normal version now. I feel like this about Haunted Mansion as I adore Haunted Mansion Holiday so much.

Looks like tonight you are in for a treat and great that the group hit it off.

It was a treat indeed and it filled me with considerable relief that everybody got on. It looks like that the group minus Graham will be reunited in September at least once and I can't wait.

Oh my I adored that PB & J pizza at Chef Mickey's but they stopped doing it!

I did not know that they used to do this at Chef Mickey's. I have to admit that this is a powerful motivation to make a reservation at Goofy's Kitchen.

That tour looks fabulous.

It truly was.

Oh wow, Mickey in his red suit looks great!

I thought he looked very fetching.

You had a great day around the park exploring the Christmas decorations!

I really enjoyed this. I did the same with the resorts and Disneyland later in the trip.

I need to get out there any really enjoy the decorations and not just run around the parks on tours and stuff!

I can definitely recommend this. Since I have started to just get annual passes, I often just to three or four rides per day and spend the rest enjoying all the clever detail.

I' m glad you got to meet up with so may characters as well!

I really enjoyed this and I got to meet a few unusual ones, too this trip.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

That tour sounds amazing. I had a friend who did it a few years ago I believe. I would love to do that one some day....of course I need to get back there first.

 

[PrincessInOz]

What a great day with breakfast, the tour and all those characters. Shame about the beggars being out and about. Glad you got back to the hotel safe and sound.

Love all the christmas decorations. I wonder if it'll be bigger and better this year too.