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

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – November 24th, 2013 – Part 4​

While we were in Paradise Pier DGM, DM and DD2 wanted to go on the Little Mermaid. My DA and I have no problem going on the LM ride with them since we were in the area. My DA is not a big fan of the LM ride ever since it opened in 2011 but she has no problem riding it with other people like me or other people. The LM ride is one of the rides at DCA that I have ridden a lot ever since it opened in 2011. It almost feels like I have ridden this ride at least once during each trip to the DLR.

I forgot to get FP’s for World of Color: Winter Dreams that morning while we were in DCA that morning when taking advantage of EMH. But since we were close to Grizzly River Run, I sprinted on over to GRR to get the FP’s and hope that the blue 9pm FP’s are still there. I collected everyone’s tickets and AP so I can get the FP’s for WoC Winter Dreams. Since we only need one person to collect the FP’s, I was the FP runner like every other trip.

I got to GRR that morning and gave our tickets and AP’s to the CM’s at GRR and luckily we were able to get the 9pm blue FP’s that day. I was relieved that we were able to get the blue FP’s that morning where we spent most of it at Cars Land.

Then I head on back to front entrance of the Little Mermaid ride in order to go on the ride. They told me that they will wait. I got back shortly getting the FP’s for WoC Winter Dreams for the 9pm show and they were all waiting for me to go on the Little Mermaid ride.

When we approached the entrance to the LM ride, the wait time was only at 5 minutes. There are times during the trip in which the wait time to get on the LM ride was as long as 20 minutes. There are certain times of the day that the ride can be that long to get on it. During that morning, the wait time was not that long which is nice to ride it in the morning or at night. During the afternoon is the busy part of the day in which it can be around 20 minutes to get on the ride.

We all walked on the ride and we are about to go under the sea and see Ariel.

During my picture taking on the Little Mermaid ride with my new DSLR, these are one of the worst pictures that I have taken on the ride. I was still learning all the settings on the camera and they didn’t produce the quality as I have expected. I didn’t set the ISO at 3200 since I used it at 1600 with the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 lens. The pictures were blurry for most part of the ride in which I won’t show all of them, but there were some pictures that were not that bad. So here are pictures from the Little Mermaid ride during that morning.

Scuttle at the beginning of the ride

Ariel

Ursula

Eric and Ariel

I was a little disappointed to see the pictures after the ride that I didn’t get the quality type ones that I wanted on the ride. But everyone else had a fun time riding the Little Mermaid ride. My DA had no problem with going on the ride with DGM, DM and DD2.

After we got off the ride, we started to head on over to our next activity at DCA was Disney Junior-Live on Stage! at Hollywood Land. The last time I have seen Disney Junior-Live on Stage! was back during the January trip with my aunt, her BF and once DD2 now DD3 (we are not talking about DD2 during this trip but the one from the January 2013 trip). They wanted to see the show during the trip and we were planning on seeing the 10:15am show. So we started to walk on over to HL to get in the queue for the 10:15am show.

The park started to get a little busy that Sunday morning.

When we passed by the RSR FP queue, the return time was already at 7:10pm to 8:10pm. This was around 9:30am that morning and to be able to ride RSR is all the way up at that time. I thought about getting in the queue to get FP’s for RSR but we planned on watching the 9pm WoC: Winter Dreams show that night so there isn’t enough time to ride RSR that night.

It was around 9:40am when we got over to Disney Junior-Live on Stage! at HL and we waited in the queue about 30 minutes until it was time for the 10:15am show.

There were about 20 people in front of us with about half an hour until the 10:15am show which is not that bad so we are able to get a nice decent spot to watch the show.

It didn’t took too until we entered the building. DM and DD2 got a ground sitting spot in front of the show while DGM, DA and I got a bench at the back of the building since we didn’t want to sit on the ground.

The show is a little different back in January when they added Sofia the First and Doc McStuffins back in February. It was nice to see the new show when I watched it back in January. I don’t see this show too often since I do other activities at the DLR but it was nice to watch the show.

Pictures from the 10:15am Disney Junior-Live on Stage! show.

Mickey and the gang are planning a surprise birthday party for Minnie.

Sofia the First scene

Doc McStuffins scene

The bubbles are coming down

Happy Birthday Minnie

The show was very nice and DD2 had a fun time. I thought the show was way better than the one that I saw back in January 2013. Adding Sofia in the show makes it better for the young kids to see their favorite princess.

After getting out of the building, we had some time to kill until we head on over to our next activity that afternoon. The day was nice and I had to get some pictures of HL while we were in the area including more Christmas decorations in the windows.

On the buildings

And everywhere around HL.

Everyone had to use the restroom until we started go to our next activity that day at DCA. But that will be on the next post so stay tune for the next update at DCA.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – November 24th, 2013 – Part 5​

When everyone came out of the restrooms, we started to go to our next activity that afternoon. I won’t get to that just yet until later on this post so I can make it very interesting but since we were still in Hollywood Land, we head on over to the Off the Page store to see all the interesting merchandise in the store. This is one of my favorite stores at DCA in which it has a lot of nice figures, art work, DVD’s, books, etc.

There were quite a lot of Christmas merchandise in the store

After looking around a bit in the Off the Page store, we were now in the Animation building seeing the new HD screens. The new screen are way brighter and very nice to see than ever at the Animation building.

It was time to hear on over to our next activity when we were in the Animation building. But before we left, DM wanted to get a picture of DD2 right next to the exit which had the Once Upon a Time words. DM really loved that picture of DD2 right next to the Once Upon a Time words.

Then we head on out of the Animation building and over to Paradise Pier to have lunch at Ariel’s Grotto. Yes, I am having another meal at AG for the third time in 2013 which I only had it 2 times my whole life. The reason is that DM wanted to have a character meet & greet at AG for DD2. So having it at AG is a nice way to have a M&G with the princesses. So we head on over to PP at AG.

Now you know why DD2 had an Ariel dress that morning since we are having lunch at AG. DD2 had the Minnie dress on Saturday during Minnie and Friends character breakfast at DL and DM wanted to dress DD2 up during lunch at AG. Our meal is at 11:20am which is around the first times to have lunch.

The park started to get a little busy that afternoon but not where it was hard to manage.

We got on over to Paradise Pier to have lunch at AG and it is so nice to see Paradise Pier from the bridge and see Mickey’s Fun Wheel of Doom.

We parked the stroller and head straight on into AG.

There were quite a number of families that are trying to get in the restaurant that afternoon. Luckily we had a reservation so we didn’t have to wait that long to go downstairs.

There was a Christmas tree in the lobby of AG so I had to get another picture of the tree.

We walked down the stairs and there was Ariel greeting the guests. DD2 went straight on over to Ariel and gave a big hug. We can tell that she was so excited to see Ariel that afternoon and you can tell from the picture. DD2 dress matches perfectly as Ariel dress.

When we got a picture of Ariel with DD2, we were seated and we got to eat outside instead of eating inside since most of the seating inside were full. It was a nice afternoon so it was nice to have our meal outside.

A look at the Paradise Pier viewing area where we were seated that afternoon.

Our menu during Ariel’s Disney Princess Celebration lunch! The menu is a little different when I ate at AG back in January and June. There was no antipasti tower what came with the meal but instead we had the choice of a salad or a soup.

We were started with the bread which is always nice to have during a meal.

When we finished ordering our meals, the princesses started to come to our table one by one.

The first one that greeted DD2 was Belle. DD2 came prepared with her autograph book so she can get the princesses autographs.

After that it was Aurora.

But before more princesses arrived, we got our appetizers. My DA and I ordered the soup which is clam chowder. DGM and DM got the salad. It was so weird to get a soup and plated salad instead of getting the antipasti tower when eating at AG. It just shows you that there was changes to the menu and I had no problem starting off with the soup that afternoon.

Then the next princess that showed up to our table was Snow White.

Later on, Cinderella with her winter dress made an appearance.

As expected that we got to meet four Disney princesses during our meal if you do not include Ariel which will be five. I have seen Aurora, Belle, Snow White and Cinderella as the princesses that are there during Ariel’s Princess Celebration meals. I should say during my December trip when my aunt, Silv, MP and I ate at AG for breakfast that we got to see Tiana during the character breakfast which was nice to see a different princess.

DD2 was so happy to be able to meet all the princesses during the lunch.

Our food finally arrived and we were all excited to have lunch that afternoon.

DM and I ordered the Red Oak-Smoked Honey-Whisky BBQ Tri-Tip with thinly sliced mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

DGM ordered the Sauteed Shrimp and Angel Hair Pasta with seasonal vegetables and basil tossed in a tomato broth.

My DA ordered the Citrus-Glazed Chicken Breast with udon noodles and bok choy, edamame and carrots in a light miso broth.

The tri-tip was nice but it wasn’t that much of a big difference when I ate the same thing back in January and June. I still enjoyed the food. My DA didn’t enjoy the chicken as it had looked. DGM and DM enjoyed their meals as well while I didn’t get a picture of the food from DD2.

After finishing our meals, it was time for the dessert where DD2 got her own dessert plate.

The dessert plate which had a variety of different treats. The plate doesn’t look too impressive from the past dining experience at AG.

We finished our meal at AG and we started to exit AG that afternoon. DD2 was so happy to have the character M&G at AG that afternoon. DGM and DM were glad to have lunch at AG that night. Unfortunately, my DA wasn’t that impressed with AG during lunch since she told me later that day that it was not even worth eating at AG. The food that she had was not that good and it was 3 times more if we ate somewhere else like the ESPN Zone which is our favorite sit down restaurant at the DLR. But she did it for DGM, DM and DD2. She told me that she will not want to do another character meal in a long time. I can understand what she said to me that we paid the extra $20 per person just to see the characters along with the meal. The meal was nice but I do agree with my DA that one time at lunch during Ariel’s Princess Celebration meal is enough for me as well. If I ever eat at AG, it would be for the World of Color meal over the character meal. I did eat at AG for breakfast back during the December trip and this will be the last time in a long time until I ever eat at AG.

Now we got the stroller and DGM and DM wanted to get some pictures in front of AG and at the Paradise Pier.

After getting a few pictures of DGM, DM and DD2 at Paradise Pier after our lunch at Ariel’s Grotto. It was around 1pm and it was time for DD2 to take her afternoon nap. So DGM and DM told my DA and I that they are heading back to the GCH to rest up that afternoon and will meet us back at the park later that night so we can watch the 9pm WoC Winter Dreams show.

I wanted to see WoC Winter Dreams during the AP viewing event on Friday night since my DA and I got the FP’s along with the ornaments. Since we decided to be with DGM, DM and DD2 that night and took a chance that didn’t pay off too well when Believe…In Holiday Magic fireworks was canceled that night, we didn’t get to see it on Friday so Sunday night will be the night that we will get to see WoC Winter Dreams.

My DA and I wanted to do one thing before we head on back to our hotel room to rest up that afternoon until we head back to DL that night. So DGM, DM and DD2 went back to the GCH while my DA and I started to head on out of DCA and over to DL. We plan on going to DL to see the 1:45pm show of Mickey and the Magical Map. My DA haven’t seen the new show at DL yet and I have seen it a few times where I can tell that she will like to see it. DGM and DM told us that they will see the show on a Monday when we leave that day and they told us that they did enjoy the show.

So DGM, DM and DD2 went back to the GCH while my DA and I head on out of DCA and over to DL. The day at DCA was quite busy around 1pm when we were exiting the park. So the two of us left PP and went on out of DCA and over back to the Esplanade.

We walked on out of DCA and back at the Esplanade and start to head on over to DL to see the 1:45pm show of Mickey and the Magical Map.

Mostly, my DA and I would head on back to our hotel room to rest up so we can be all ready to go at the parks at night but since we didn’t see MatMM yet, this was the best time to see it since we plan on watching other nighttime shows that night and rest up.

That will be it for this post and I will have more from DL that afternoon.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Catching up.

The pictures of the princesses are adorable. I love that DD was dressed up for the M&G.

The pictures you've shared inside LM are fine. Just remember - you are shooting with a new lens and it can take a while to work out the best settings for you, camera and lens. I'll bet the next time you went in the pictures were better.

 

[tksbaskets]

Love the pictures with the little one and the princesses! The food does look better than what we had a couple of years ago with the WOC dinner. Looks like you had a very nice day.

I was impressed with the new screens at the Annimation exibit too. We always go there to see the Toy Story Zoetrope.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Catching up.

The pictures of the princesses are adorable. I love that DD was dressed up for the M&G.

The pictures you've shared inside LM are fine. Just remember - you are shooting with a new lens and it can take a while to work out the best settings for you, camera and lens. I'll bet the next time you went in the pictures were better.

DD2 was all dressed up very nicely in order to meet the princesses that afternoon at AG. It will be a long time until I eat at AG again during the character meals. The meals are nice but for the price is quite expensive. If I do ever spend that much money at AG, it would be for the WoC FP's at the preferred viewing area. But I will always choose the blue section over the preferred viewing area.

You are absolutely correct about that PiO. If was my first time shooting with a new lens and body. I remember my first time taking pictures of the dark rides and they were so blurry. I have learned over time and just need to re-learn everything again. When I took pictures from the LM ride back in December, I used the 35mm f/1.8 instead of the Tamrom 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. I should have used the Tamrom but the extra aperture on the 35mm makes more sense for the dark rides.

Love the pictures with the little one and the princesses! The food does look better than what we had a couple of years ago with the WOC dinner. Looks like you had a very nice day.

I was impressed with the new screens at the Annimation exibit too. We always go there to see the Toy Story Zoetrope.

DD2 had a great time meeting all the princesses during the character m&g. The food looks appetizing but for some reason my DA didn't enjoy her dish.

It was nice that the Animation Building had updated its screens where it is now in high definition and clear to see. That is neat that you were able to see the Toy Story Zoetrope. It is nice to see it once in awhile when in the Animation Building.


The next post will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – November 24th, 2013 – Part 6​

My DA and I head on over to DL that day in order to see the 1:45pm Mickey and the Magical Map show. She has not seen this show yet and she wanted to see how good this show is after I have been telling it about it to her since the show debut this past summer.

DGM, DM and DD2 went back to the GCH to give DD2 a nap during the middle of the afternoon since we have been in DCA for most of the morning to noon. This would be around the same time for my DA and I to take a break in the afternoon after a day in the parks but we decided to see MatMM at that time since other times of the day won’t do well for us since we plan on doing a lot of different night activities at DL and DCA.

DL was not that bad when heading on over to the turnstiles where it can be quite busy during anytime during the day.

Just making our way to the Fantasyland Theatre.

It was about 10 minutes to go until the 1:45pm show of MatMM started. We were close to the back of the theatre but this is a good thing about the FL Theatre that there are a lot of great spots to watch the show even from the back.

The last time I have seen MatMM was back in September with PiO and Alison group when we were in front of the stage. I enjoyed watching it up close that time and it was nice to get soe up close pictures of the show. This time since we were coming late, we had no problem watching it from the back.

I just used my DSLR to take pictures of the show without using the video camera. I have videotaped this show ever since the summer and it is a very nice show to watch when you are at DL.

Here is my video of Mickey and the Magical Map Full Show 9/15/13 from the September 2013 trip which we were up close to the front of the stage.

Here are pictures from the 1:45pm MatMM show on Sunday.

Yen Sid

Apprentice Mickey

Talking King Louie

Pocahontas

Mulan

Rapunzel and Flynn

During the Lilo and Stitch scene, there was a new addition to the show and it was Stitch. When I have watched MatMM ever since this summer, Stitch never made an appearance during this scene of the show. It was so neat to see Stitch in the show which made perfect sense.

Mickey and Yen Sid

Tiana at the end of the show

Also a new addition to the show which isn’t a new addition is Mickey. I know that Mickey is at the end of the show but his costume is different from the old version. During the old one, Mickey was wearing his Sorcerer outfit while he is dressed up as the other actors and actresses during the show which make sense for the end of the show.

When the show was over, we packed all of our stuff and head on out of the FL Theatre and we started to walk on out of DL and back to our room to rest up that night. My DA was impressed with MatMM show that it is a nice addition to DL. Even though the show is still the same, they added some new additions to the show with Stitch and the different costume Mickey which makes the show even better.

We walked on out of FL and towards the castle since the parade route is busy with guests waiting for the parade.

Just as we are leaving around MS Hub area, there were a lot of guests waiting for the 2:30pm “A Christmas Fantasy” parade. We plan on seeing the parade later that night at 5:30pm since we plan on going back to the room to rest up that night and see the parade and WoC Winter Dreams.

The two of us headed on out of DL around 2:30pm just before the 2:30pm “A Christmas Fantasy” parade started at It’s a Small World Plaza. Luckily the first parade starts at IASW Plaza and head on towards MS Town Square. And later that night for the second parade will be from MS TS to IASW Plaza.

We all are planning on watching the 5:30pm parade at MS TS where the parade is coming out right next to the Mad Hatter store right next to Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. I have seen the parade from this spot in the past and I knew that DD2 will love to watch the parade from MS TS. But first my DA and I head back to our hotel room to rest up that day and come back in a couple of hours to get a spot for the 5:30pm parade.

That will be it for this post and I will have more from DL that Sunday night.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great pics from MatMM. And it does look busy at DL that day.

 

[tksbaskets]

We really enjoyed MatMM. I told my family you really liked it so it was on our list of 'must dos'. We were glad we went. Great pictures as always!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Great pics from MatMM. And it does look busy at DL that day.

Thank you PiO. It was a little busy at DL that day where DCA wasn't that bad. There were a lot of people waiting for the first parade at 2:30pm.

We really enjoyed MatMM. I told my family you really liked it so it was on our list of 'must dos'. We were glad we went. Great pictures as always!

I'm glad to hear that you were able to see MatMM during your trip last month and enjoyed it. Thank you TK.


The next post will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – November 24th, 2013 – Part 7​

My DA and I went back to our room at Best Western Anaheim Inn to rest up so we can get ready for the nighttime at the DLR. We plan on watching the 7:45pm World of Color Winter Dreams at Disney California Adventure while we plan on going to DL that night to watch the 5:30pm “A Christmas Fantasy” parade. We had a fun morning and afternoon at DCA and DL and it was time for the best part of the day of watching the parade at DL and watching WoC Winter Dreams.

We plan on meeting back up with DGM, DM and DD2 at DL around 4:30pm one hour until the parade starts at Main Street Town Square where the second parade starts where the first one starts at IASW Plaza to MS TS. We didn’t plan on watching the first parade that day since DD2 had to take her afternoon nap and she will be all ready to go that night at DL and DCA.

It was around 4pm when we were about to leave our room to head back to DL. We only rested about one and a half hours in the room until we left our room and back to DL that day. I brought my tripod along with all my other equipment for the nighttime. We always bring a blanket so we can mark our territory for the parade and fireworks. Since there are five people in our group, the blanket will make a big difference.

My DA and I got back to the Esplanade around 4:20pm and we waited until DGM, DM and DD2 arrived from the GCH. They got here around 4:30pm which was good time so we have to wait an hour for the 5:30pm parade.

When we got to MS TS, there were spots available for the parade at 5:30pm. It was also a very nice night where it wasn’t that cold and the lights on the Christmas tree haven’t been turned on just yet. The Flag Retreat already passed a while ago. I have seen the parade from this spot during the second one of the day. If you are watching it from this spot during the first one, it won’t be that good since the parade is coming from the opposite direction.

A look at where the parade starts at MS Town Square right next to the Mad Hatter store in MS.

It was almost time for the Christmas tree at Town Square to turn on which is so nice to see at night. The tree at Town Square is amazing along with DCA Buena Vista Street Christmas tree.

The lights are now turn on

While we were waiting for the parade to start at 5:30pm, there was something weird going that night. There wasn’t a lot of CM’s getting ready around Town Square for the parade at 5:30pm. I was wondering what was going on if the parade was going to start on time. It wasn’t raining or anything that would cause the parade to be canceled.

I talked to a CM about the time for the 5:30pm parade and they told us that the parade is starting from IASW Plaza. I was completely surprised to hear that the parade is not starting from MS TS but instead at IASW Plaza. They told us that the parade had some technical difficulties during the 2:30pm and it was canceled. So the parade will be starting from IASW Plaza to MS TS. I was not pleased to hear that the parade is starting at IASW Plaza instead of MS TS during the 2nd parade since I plan on seeing the parade start from MS TS to IASW Plaza. But since the first parade was canceled that day, we will have to watch it come from IASW Plaza.

That was not the worse part, since we are planning on watching World of Color Winter Dreams at 7:45pm (since there were three showings of WoC Winter Dreams one at 7:45pm, 9pm and 10:15pm). The parade will take about 10 to 15 minutes to get from IASW Plaza to MS TS and we might not get our spot to watch the 7:45pm WoC Winter Dreams. If I said 9pm on my earlier posts for WoC, it was actually 7:45pm since there were three showings. Talk about an early time for WoC Winter Dreams but since it was during Thanksgiving break and the parks were a little busy, it was a good idea to add a third show.

So we had to watch the parade on our right hand side where it circled MS TS.

Before we got to watch the parade at 5:30pm, I have read from other reviews that “A Christmas Fantasy” parade has gone through some changes. The floats are mostly the same during the parade but they took out a lot of characters that are part of the parade. I was a little sad to see that Disney changed the parade instead of the usual but I will let the pictures tell you instead of my words if you have ever seen “A Christmas Fantasy” parade at DL during the Christmas season.

I used my tripod to videotape the parade and I had my camera in my hand to take pictures. Here are pictures from the 5:30pm “A Christmas Fantasy” parade.

The lead float has the ballerina and a stuff teddy bear. It was nice to see the stuff teddy bear on the lead float which originally had Duffy. But you will see Duffy shortly on another float.

Toy Soldiers

Mrs. Claus float. Duffy was on the first float the last few years and this year he is on top of the float instead of Pluto. I don’t like Duffy on this float which I am use to seeing Pluto on top.

Daisy

Mrs. Claus

The snowflake performers

Welcome to a Winter Wonderland unit

Now it was Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore with their sleighs along with skiers which is new to the show.

Eeyore mostly is at the end of the Ice Skating float with Mickey and Minnie but he is with Pooh and Tigger with the skiers.

The snowy Christmas tree is still there during the parade

And we can’t forget about the snowpeople.

That’s it for this post and I will have more from “A Christmas Fantasy” parade that night.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Love the pictures of the Christmas Tree at MS.

SHame that the parade didn't start the way you expected. I wonder if that happens a lot. Looking forward to seeing more of the parade.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Love the pictures of the Christmas Tree at MS.

SHame that the parade didn't start the way you expected. I wonder if that happens a lot. Looking forward to seeing more of the parade.

It was a shame that the parade started from IASW Plaza to MS Town Square where originally the 2nd parade starts from MS TS to IASW Plaza. But there was a technical issue during the 2:30pm parade that DL canceled it and started from IASW Plaza. This was the first time out of my experience seeing the parade at DL that the 2nd parade started at IASW Plaza instead of MS TS. When there is one parade a day instead of two, the parade that starts at IASW Plaza to MS TS will start at MS TS on the next day.


The next post will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – November 24th, 2013 – Part 8​

Now with more pictures from the 5:30pm “A Christmas Fantasy” parade that Sunday night at DL. I always enjoy watching “A Christmas Fantasy” parade at DL during the holiday season which is my favorite parade. This one was a little different from the past where the floats are mostly the same except that they took out some characters and replaced them with others or taken out completely.

DD2 was so happy to see the parade that night even though we were watching the parade came from IASW Plaza to MS Town Square where originally it was supposed to come from MS TS to IASW Plaza but the first parade at 2:30pm was cancelled due to technical issues. So we had to watch the parade start at IASW Plaza where it changed my picture and videotaping.

The Ice Rink float is next with Mickey and Minnie.

The next one was “A Recipe for Gingerbread Treats” unit

The Candy Bakers

Clarabelle Cow and some Gingerbread Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies and the Candy Bakers

Here is the Gingerbread float that had Goofy and Pluto. Originally, Pluto was on top of the Mrs. Claus float where Duffy was on top during this year’s parade. Originally the character was on top was Max and the soundtrack was a little different without Max.

Drizella, Anastasia, & Lady Tremaine

Candlelight Christmas Ball unit

Snow White and her Price

Candlelight Ball float. This year, Tiana and Prince Naveen are added to the float along with Princess Aurora, Prince Philip, Belle, Beast, Ariel, Prince Eric, Cinderella, and Prince Charming.

Santa’s Toyland Unit

Chip and Dale in the Humdinger

Woody on a rocking horse on top of a toy block float

The Toy Factory Elves

The giant Toy Factory float with Geppetto, Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio.

Buzz Lightyear in a spaceship on top of a Toy Block float.

That’s it for this post and I will have more from “A Christmas Fantasy” parade that night.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Nice pictures, Bret.


Are you happy with them?

 

[tksbaskets]

Great parade pics Bret. Nice vantage point. Are you by the Christmas tree on Mainstreet?

I can hear the music in my head now

 

[mvf-m11c]

Nice pictures, Bret.


Are you happy with them?

Thank you PiO.

Some of the pictures were ok. But most of them were in the light from the towers so they showed some blur. Overall they were ok. I really wanted to get pictures when the parade came out of MS TS but I had to settle when the parade started at IASW Plaza to MS TS.

Great parade pics Bret. Nice vantage point. Are you by the Christmas tree on Mainstreet?

I can hear the music in my head now

Thank you TK. The spot that I have took pictures that night was suppose to be when the parade came out from MS TS. I had to change the angle since the parade was coming from IASW Plaza to MS TS. We were not directly next to the tree but close to the tree just across the street from Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

I can still hear the song every time I talk about "A Christmas Fantasy" parade during the holiday season. Did you and your family get to see "A Christmas Fantasy" parade during your trip in December?

Here are my videos of "A Christmas Fantasy" parade from MS TS on youtube that the parade started from MS TS to IASW Plaza and you could understand why we stake out a spot in that area. This parade was back in 2011 and you can tell when you watch the videos and see my pictures from the parade during the trip that the parade is a little different with the characters. A Christmas Fantasy Parade 11/19/11 5:30 Show Part 1 & A Christmas Fantasy Parade 11/19/11 5:30 Show Part 2

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – November 24th, 2013 – Part 9​

Now with more pictures from the 5:30pm “A Christmas Fantasy” parade that Sunday night at DL. I always enjoy watching “A Christmas Fantasy” parade at DL during the holiday season.

It is almost at the end of the parade which is Santa’s Finale. This one has changed a lot during the parade which was kind of sad to see. The biggest change of the parade is this scene of the parade where the Seven Dwarfs were taken out of the parade this year. In the past, the Seven Dwarfs are part of the end of the parade and DL took them out this year which is so disappointing.

8 Finale Dancers

Another Christmas tree

Santa’s 8 reindeers

Then of course you can have a Christmas parade without Santa

Then the parade was over around 6:20pm and we packed all of our stuff around Main Street Town Square. DD2 was so excited to see the parade and DM told us that it was worth the one hour wait to see the parade that night.

It would have been better if the parade started from MS TS to IASW Plaza. But it didn’t that day since the 1st parade didn’t perform that afternoon due to technical issues. But in the end, we got to see the parade that night.

Then we headed on out of DL and back to the Esplanade so we can head on over to Disney California Adventure to see the 7:45pm show of World of Color Winter Dreams.

When we were at the Esplanade, there were a lot of people heading on over to DCA that night and we had about over an hour until the 1st show of WoC Winter Dreams started at 7:45pm. Originally there was only 2 shows scheduled that night on the calendar but that day, they added one more WoC show that day due to the high crowds during Thanksgiving break.

When we got in DCA, we headed straight on over to Paradise Pier to get in the queue for WoC that night. But we didn’t have dinner just yet so when we got over to PP, my DA, DGM and DD2 would be in the queue and get our usual spot in the blue section of the viewing area. For the regulars that have followed my trip reports in the past, you know what I am talking about. But for the new followers, I have watched WoC in a specific spot in the blue section which is the green fire hydrant spot which is a great spot to watch the show with little wait time. Even if I do come early for WoC, I would still get this spot no matter what since it is a good spot to watch the show and the other reason is that the video camera/DSLR camera would not get wet when close to the lagoon at PP. DM and I would head on over to Lucky Fortune Cookery to have dinner. It is a quick counter Asian food which had rice bowls. My DA and I mostly eat at LCF every time we are at DCA during our visit.

My DA, DGM and DD2 got in the blue queue right next to the light tower while DM and I head on over to the Pacific Wharf to get our dinner that night.

DM and I got over to LCF and it was kind of busy around that time since it was dinner time but it didn’t took too long to get the food that night. We ordered four Asian Rice Bowl and I got the Spicy Korean Beef bowl which if one of my favorites bowls at LCF. I forgot what everyone else got but they got different types then my. I always enjoy eating at LCF at DCA before WoC as well as my DA. DGM, DM and DD2 enjoyed their bowls as well.

When DM and I got the food, we head on over to PP to meet up with the other party members. Just as expected, we were able to get our favorite spot for WoC that night in front of the green fire hydrant in the blue section. It was a little empty in the area that we were watching since most of the people in the blue section headed straight on down closer to the lagoon or chose the bridge area.

We were now waiting for an hour until the 7:45pm WoC Winter Dreams show started. I was so excited to see a new variation of WoC. I have read reviews before the trip that some people love the show while some others don’t like it when you compare it to the original. No matter what, My DA and I were so excited to see WoC Winter Dreams that night. If we didn’t have lunch at Club 33 during the trip, this would be the highlight of the trip. But you can say that this is the highlight when we were at DCA.

My DA and I have seen WoC ever since the show debut in 2010 and have seen it every time during our trips. There were a few times that we have not seen the show since we were here for other events in SoCal (D23 Expo and Walt Disney Studios). We have seen a lot of variations of the show from different segments and this new show Winter Dreams is a completely different where it is only for the holiday season.

For the show, I put the video camera on top of my new MeFoto Roadtrip tripod so I can have the video not wobbling. I had my DSLR camera in my hands so I can get different angles of the show where if I put it on the tripod, I could change the angles of the pictures.

Now it was time for the 7:45pm WoC Winter Dreams show which I was so excited to see that night. Here is my video of World of Color Winter Dreams 11/24/13 Full Show that I have videotaped that night.

World of Color: Winter Dreams is hosted Olaf

That’s it for this post and I will have more from World of Color: Winter Dreams that night at DCA.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Nice pics, Bret.

A shame the parade didn't start out in the normal route; but I guess there's always the odd-curve ball every now and again.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of your WoC pics.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Nice pics, Bret.

A shame the parade didn't start out in the normal route; but I guess there's always the odd-curve ball every now and again.

Looking forward to seeing the rest of your WoC pics.

Thank you PiO.

It was a shame that the parade didn't start out at Main Street Town Square like usually when there are two parades at DL in one day. There always could be something wrong with the parade when it is not working or not running due to bad weather. When we left that afternoon on Sunday, there were people waiting for the 1st parade at 2:30pm and I would assume that it was going to run that afternoon and the 2nd parade would start from MS TS.


The next post will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – November 24th, 2013 – Part 10​

Back with more pictures from the 7:45pm World of Color: Winter Dreams show that Sunday night. I was so excited to see WoC Winter Dreams that night which is a new show instead of the usual WoC with new segments added to the show ever since the show debut in 2010. It was completely different than watching the original WoC show and the Prep and Landing segment that is added during the holiday season the last couple of years.

The first few scenes of the new WoC Winter Dreams show was very nice and back to more pictures from WoC Winter Dreams show that night.

Bambi scene

Frozen scene and it showed a scene from the movie. I have seen on youtube before the trip that the Frozen scene of WoC Winter Dreams was deleted since the movie wasn’t out yet during our visit.

Olaf

That’s it for this post and I will have