BE's Never Ending TR -- That kind of ... Ended? Or did it?

[Belle Ella]

Look Michele, you were post #100. It feels so strange to be only at 100. Oh well.

I just edited photos from Monday (6th). Tuesday's will take longer since that was the day I took my DLSR. But I think I will start my TR either tonight or tomorrow afternoon when I get off work if anyone is interested, lol.

I have a book to read that I have been waiting a very long time for!!

 

[kaoden39]

Look Michele, you were post #100. It feels so strange to be only at 100. Oh well.

I just edited photos from Monday (6th). Tuesday's will take longer since that was the day I took my DLSR. But I think I will start my TR either tonight or tomorrow afternoon when I get off work if anyone is interested, lol.

I have a book to read that I have been waiting a very long time for!!

Too bad you weren't there through today. Family Force 5 is playing at HOB in DTD and they are in Disneyland today. Wouldn't that be a kick?

 

[Belle Ella]

That it would be!

 

[kaoden39]

That it would be!

Nadaddy and Crouton are posting pictures on twitter on DCA.

 

[wvnative]

LADIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know, I know. lol

Jazz, so glad you got to go again. We're hoping to go again in March when I plan to get us AP's as well so we can go again in November.

 

[kaoden39]

LADIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know, I know. lol

Jazz, so glad you got to go again. We're hoping to go again in March when I plan to get us AP's as well so we can go again in November.

Hi there stranger!!

 

[Belle Ella]

LADIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know, I know. lol

Jazz, so glad you got to go again. We're hoping to go again in March when I plan to get us AP's as well so we can go again in November.

Hey, hey! Good to see you again 'round these parts. It's so awesome to see us all getting AP's lately. Makes me all giddy inside.

OK, when I come home from work I shall begin with my brand new TR!!

 

[where's_my_prince]

Hey, hey! Good to see you again 'round these parts. It's so awesome to see us all getting AP's lately. Makes me all giddy inside.

OK, when I come home from work I shall begin with my brand new TR!!

 

[Belle Ella]

Psst ... Before I begin the new TR I have a secret to share. Look at my signature!!

 

[Sherry E]

Psst ... Before I begin the new TR I have a secret to share. Look at my signature!!

I can see it but it's half cut off. I noticed that with the last ticker you had too. Does it look that way on your screen, where you can only see half of it?

Anyway, woo hoo! Jazz's Rockin' Eve is coming to a town near you!!

 

[Belle Ella]

I can see it but it's half cut off. I noticed that with the last ticker you had too. Does it look that way on your screen, where you can only see half of it?

Anyway, woo hoo! Jazz's Rockin' Eve is coming to a town near you!!

Ack. It's doing that for you? Boo. It did for me until I cut a line of text out. I guess I'll take out Mr. Wizard smiley and that should do the trick. We've got a line limit to our signatures, right?

I love the names you come up with. That will probably make the final cut! But I officially got the time off approved today, and I think the plan is to drive down on the 30th and drive home on the 4th. I know NYE will be insane, but if I prepare myself for it all should be well right? I told Jason that I really want to see the fireworks at DLR for NYE. Even if it means doing nothing but sitting on Main Street all day and doing nothing else.

 

[Sherry E]

Ack. It's doing that for you? Boo. It did for me until I cut a line of text out. I guess I'll take out Mr. Wizard smiley and that should do the trick. We've got a line limit to our signatures, right?

I love the names you come up with. That will probably make the final cut! But I officially got the time off approved today, and I think the plan is to drive down on the 30th and drive home on the 4th. I know NYE will be insane, but if I prepare myself for it all should be well right? I told Jason that I really want to see the fireworks at DLR for NYE. Even if it means doing nothing but sitting on Main Street all day and doing nothing else.

Yes - I only see the top half of the ticker, going horizontally across. I think there is a limit to the signatures, but I'm not sure what it is. I know that every now and then I see things in people's signatures that are half-cut off too, so it happens a lot.

Strangely, I tend to come up with better titles or slogans for other people's TR's than for my own! I have no clue why, but sometimes I just look at a TR and something pops into mind right away. And that was the first thing I thought - "Jazz's Rockin' Eve." I will be honored if it makes the final cut!!

I think that as far as NYE goes, knowledge is a huge part of the battle. Many people probably go in with blinders on, not having any clue what they are in for. At least you've heard the stories of what to expect - so if it doesn't turn out to be as bad as what you've heard, that'll be awesome!! And if it does turn out to be a hideous, scary mess, you'll have Jason with you and you guys will be able to escape somewhere where it isn't as bad (like my friend and I sought refuge in Tomorrowland when we finally escaped Main Street). Quite possibly, DCA won't be as bad as DL is on NYE. And if it is, you can lounge around the hotels. I think there are more options nowadays of what to do on NYE at DLR than there were back when I did NYE. That's not to say that it won't still be a madhouse, but at least you will go in expecting the madhouse.

At least you'll be able to say you did NYE at DLR. You'll have that experience. You'll be able to directly compare the pre-Christmas crowds with the post-Christmas crowds. And even if the lines are so abysmal that you can't get on any rides (worst case scenario), at least you did plenty of rides on your pre-holiday trip and back in September!!

Make sure to take advantage of all the hungover guests who are sleeping in on January 1st and head to the parks in the morning!! That's quiet time! Then about noon-ish, the sleeping giants come to life!!

 

[klexen]

I know NYE will be insane, but if I prepare myself for it all should be well right? I told Jason that I really want to see the fireworks at DLR for NYE. Even if it means doing nothing but sitting on Main Street all day and doing nothing else.

Sounds like a plan to me. I don't care if we have to wait on Main Street all day for a good spot. I think it's going to be worth it. We'll just have to go in that day knowing we're there for one purpose, and that's all we need to worry about it. We'll have all the other days to do whatever we want to do. I'm soooo excited!

 

[Belle Ella]

Guess who's back at it again?

Well, if you guessed Jiminy Cricket you would be wrong, so I sure hope that your guess was little old me because I'm actually here to do something I didn't think I would get to do anytime within the next 5 years (or more) and it's actually twofold! I officially get to write a Holiday TR and write it as a Premium AP holder to boot. If that's not exciting (and I fully recognize that it's probably more exciting for me) then I don't know what is. What I do know is that I finally got to really enjoy the Holiday season at Disneyland, not that sour-faced brat tainted trip I took back in 2003 where I was too put off by my parents to really do anything but lounge around the GCH.

But this trip wasn't just about Disney, but about taking advantage of my days off to go see my boyfriend, Jason. I just can't complain about the proximity to the Happiest Place on Earth and always plan to take advantage of it when I can. I've sure got my priorities straight, huh?

So ... let's get down to DIS-ness!

Technically Day 1 (or departure day) isn't one worth mentioning. I take that back, it's not completely true, it's just not the focus of my Trip Report because DLR wasn't involved and therefore I'll keep it to myself. But I can say this: it was a long day! I had to work overnight Saturday on no sleep and got off at 6a on Sunday, December 5 with the intentions of taking as long of a nap as I dared before loading the rental car (my stolen car drama is a tale for another day if you haven't already heard it) and hitting the road. I was thinking I would probably be leaving sometime around noon but as it turns out I was too excited to sleep. I was awake no later than 8:30a and very antsy to hit the road. I'm pretty sure I was on the freeway no later than 9:30a and ready for a long drive. A very long, and a very boring drive. But the good news is that boring means uneventful and uneventful means I got there in one piece, barring my extreme exhaustion. But for the most part I was too tired to care. All we did was relax, eat, watch Aladdin and some TV shows before I was ready to completely pass out for the night which is not as easy as I would like it to be when I am exhausted. The plan for the next morning was simple: relax and get ready for our one and only Disney day together whenever we felt like it. I didn't know if I could do it, but I was going to try my hardest not to stress out about getting everywhere right on time (or better yet, early) for the first time.

Again, easier said than done.

I started off Day 2 much earlier than I intended. As exhausted as I was and as early as I fell asleep I was in for a restless night. I wanted to wake up no later than 7:30a simply for the fact that I needed to get used to being awake during the day again, but I woke up on my own sometime between 4 and 5a and I could not fall back asleep. Eventually the sun would rise and the slow morning would continue with the best breakfast ever (brown sugar pop tarts and orange juice) and getting ready. I can't tell you how strange it was when Park opening rolled around and I wasn't already at the gates waiting to enter. I have no idea what time we actually left, but my best guess was that it was around 9 or 9:30a. Might I also add that for the first time since splurging on my wonderful and trusty worthy Nikon back in 2008 I would be leaving the DSLR behind and taking on a day at Disneyland with nothing but my small little Nikon L22 P&S? I didn't think it would even be possible, but I did! I like to think I was successful with the whole 'taking it easy' aspect to begin the day, but I might be biased. Eventually one thing would then lead to another, we hit the road and at 10:11a I was about ready to jump out of my seat in the car when I saw this ...

home sweet home at last​

This was my first time parking in the Mickey & Friends structure and I am so confused by how they actually direct people where to go. The layout makes no sense to me but I just know that it works and even I can get in and get out (but that's another story for another day). I just remember that we parked in Goofy's level and before I knew it we were off to hop on a tram and go to DISNEYLAND!! Nope, I wasn't excited at all! After getting through the bag check quickly we hoped into a very short line and entered the park. I was already getting excited from what decorations I could see before entering and after that magical little whistle of entrance I was definitely in my happiest place.

​

We ended up heading towards Adventureland as our first destination, determined to hit Indiana Jones first thing but of course as luck would have it the ride was down and we decided to go for my new favorite ride ever, BTMRR after grabbing a couple of fast passes for HMH knowing that we would need them later in the day. The line was already insane so we would come back later when we could skip the madness. Things weren't starting off with a bang at this point because as we got to Frontierland we found that BTMRR was also down! Just our luck. It wasn't the end of the world but I had been so excited for those two rides before anything else. We decided then to 'settle' for POTC, as if this were really such a hard thing to stomach!

​

A five minute wait it definitely was not, but I suppose they can't fit the word "walk on" in that little wait time display, can they? I did learn something new about POTC, something that (a) I didn't know was completely possible and (b) I feel rather idiotic for not noticing before, but at the very end of the ride when the pirates are shooting at one another I did not realize that the very last guy who aims his gun at you shoots water! How it is possible in all my years of experiencing this ride I did not notice this little fact just boggles my mind. And it was something I would learn first hand more than once over this 3-day span.

After POTC we decided it was worth checking to see if we could make a reservation for BB later that day. Have I mentioned in the past how much I love, love, love BB? While Jason inquired about seating I decided to just look at the decorations in NOS and grab a couple of not-so fantastic photos with my P&S.

I love this color scheme in particular, one guess as to why



​

I've always had a little trouble making same-day reservations at BB but we were in luck and we would get to have a delicious lunch at my favorite restaurant ever at 2:15p. In the meantime we made our way back to IJ to see if we would have any luck this time or if the ride was still down. Thankfully it was not and we even hard a pretty short wait. I even got to drive. If that doesn't scare anyone off, nothing ever will!

​

I'm sure we all have our favorite 'door' when it comes to IJ. For me, I just love trying to guess which one it will be. I really like the purple gate simply because that chamber is the one that has the 'stars' above. I still find it fascinating that wall movements and lighting tricks can make that single track and single chamber feel like 3 completely different ones.

... to be continued ...​

 

[Sherry E]

Off to a rollicking start!!

I wish you wouldn't say that your photos with the P&S are not-so-fantastic. I think you are too hard on yourself. To begin with, if you didn't say anything like that first, I guarantee that none of us reading your TR would even think of it. It wouldn't even cross our minds, i.e., "Gee, that Jazz is really slipping. Her photos are not so fantastic this time." We probably wouldn't even give it a second thought that you used a P&S. And secondly, if you think your P&S photos are not so fantastic, what does that say about the rest of us and our photos?

From what I have seen so far, your photos are great - the colors and composition are lovely!

I wonder if you agree - as magically enchanting as DLR is during the holidays (why did I just feel the need to say "magically enchanting" in a Lucky Charms leprechaun 'magically delicious' kind of way to myself?), I actually like what they do over the turnstiles for Halloween much better. Overall, as a whole, of course, I love the holidays at DLR beyond reason and certainly more than I love Halloween Time. But if we are only talking above-turnstile decor, I think the character pumpkins are much more clever and interesting to look at than the snowflake motif they've got going now, which I find kind of lackluster. Does that make any sense?

I'm so glad to hear you got in another Blue Bayou meal!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice pics Jazz.

 

[Belle Ella]

Off to a rollicking start!!

I wish you wouldn't say that your photos with the P&S are not-so-fantastic. I think you are too hard on yourself. To begin with, if you didn't say anything like that first, I guarantee that none of us reading your TR would even think of it. It wouldn't even cross our minds, i.e., "Gee, that Jazz is really slipping. Her photos are not so fantastic this time." We probably wouldn't even give it a second thought that you used a P&S. And secondly, if you think your P&S photos are not so fantastic, what does that say about the rest of us and our photos?

From what I have seen so far, your photos are great - the colors and composition are lovely!

I wonder if you agree - as magically enchanting as DLR is during the holidays (why did I just feel the need to say "magically enchanting" in a Lucky Charms leprechaun 'magically delicious' kind of way to myself?), I actually like what they do over the turnstiles for Halloween much better. Overall, as a whole, of course, I love the holidays at DLR beyond reason and certainly more than I love Halloween Time. But if we are only talking above-turnstile decor, I think the character pumpkins are much more clever and interesting to look at than the snowflake motif they've got going now, which I find kind of lackluster. Does that make any sense?

I'm so glad to hear you got in another Blue Bayou meal!

I am so, so, so hard on myself with my photos. I wonder if the other DSLR owners feel the same way when it comes to using a P&S. I just can't help but look at the photos and think just what I would have done differently if I was using my DSLR be it in the shutter speed or aperture or even the focus. And not being able to go in and fine tune everything while editing just drives me bananas. I suppose I'm a little OCD that way. I do like the convenience, but I don't think I want to try the leave the big camera at home thing very often in the future. I'll mention it more later on in the TR but I had so many of those moments where I was just kicking myself for not bringing it with me because I could have gotten a shot that I would have died for.

But thank you, Sherry!!

And I do agree with you about the decorations at the entrance. While I don't have anything against the snowflake design it feels a little disjointed to me from the decorations you see once you've entered and it seems a little ... I dunno what word I'm looking for. But it doesn't feel cohesive for me in the way that the pumpkins did for Halloween. The orange was everywhere. During the Holidays you don't really have that snowy/icy white/blue color scheme very many places. Once you've entered and when you're on main street it's all reds and greens, garlands, wreaths and lights. I think I'd love it even more if they did something similar at the entrance.

I'm glad I got another BB meal in as well! Although we both came to the conclusion it will probably be better to do dinner next time. We never finish everything we order and I would lave to take it with me but that's not really practical when you've still got hours and hours of Park time left.

Very nice pics Jazz.

Thank you!!

 

[Belle Ella]

After a ride through IJ we made our way across DL to Fantasyland and towards IASWH. I had never, ever, ever seen the Holiday version of IASW before and I really wanted to at least one. I was sure it would be busier than I would be willing to get in line for more than once but I did have to at least once. My one condition though was that we had to go into Fantasyland from the Castle! I absolutely love to see SBC decorated for the holidays. It is absolutely beautiful, even in the daytime. I especially love the snow.

​

Walking through Fantasyland was as wonderful as always, even if it was as crowded as always minus the fact that Mr. Toad's Wild Ride was down. Here was something that I forgot to check in all the last minute packing and planing of getting this trip together: ride closures! Go figure, right? But that's alright. Other than IASWH it was pretty much an unspoken rule that we wouldn't be hitting up any of the Fantasyland attractions.

​

But on to IASWH. I think I really like it more than the regular IASW. I think it may have something to do with the Christmas songs sung as well as the "It's a small world after all..." that give my parents nightmares. I think my favorite part was definitely the underwater scene where the "Jingle bells..." becomes "Jingle shells...". That was just too cute. The holiday version is so colorful and I loved the decorations and lights. The holiday version just makes IASW so much better for me. Very nice. The only thing that ruined the ride (and yes, I am exaggerating) was not having my DSLR with me. I really wanted some better shots from inside the ride but had to settle for what I had with me while making a mental note to come back on either Tuesday or Wednesday and make sure I got some then.

i spy with my little eye ... an elephant pretending to be a bear





​

After that we went back to Frontierland to finally get on BTMRR. Well, first we grabbed FP's for it and then hopped into the standby queue for the heck of it. It was a short wait (shorter than the 15 minutes posted) and well worth it. We were both a little saddened to see that the waterfall at the top of the first hill was shut off. Sure, it was a chilly day, but half of the fun for us is getting our hands full of as much water as possible and trying to soak one another. Oh well. It was still fun regardless. This would be the first of many (OK, only 6) rides on BTMRR and we kept track of every row we sat in. It always ends up working that we get one particular row a couple of times. Chance. Let's see ... we got 15, 8, 10, 10, 9 and 7. I don't really like the very last row very much. It felt much more subdued back there to me, but I'm pretty sure that's because you're the tail end to go up the hills and so it just feels slower. Or am I just crazy?

​

After BTMRR we used our FP's for HMH before going on another favorite of mine -- strictly for the corny jokes. That's right, the infamous Jungle Cruise! As sad as I am to say it though, this was probably my worst experience on JC ever. It started out well enough. While we were getting into the boat I randomly quoted one of the jokes out loud ("...watch your head and mind your step. and if you miss your step and hit your head, please mind your language. Disneyland is a family place...") and the CM helping me in got a little chuckle out of that. Too bad our skipper was the most boring skipper in the universe. I really wanted to fall asleep. I have never wanted to fall asleep on JC ever. But the worst part? I got another lesson in spraying water that I didn't know about. I have never actually seen the baby elephant at the end of the ride with Trader Sam spray water before. Well, not only did I see it this time, I was sprayed full force in my back. GOLLY! That water was cold. I got pretty wet. I'm very glad I turned around at that second, otherwise my camera would have gotten a shower and that would have sucked. There has to be a first time for everything and this was the first time I couldn't wait to get off of that darn boat!

... to be continued ...​

 

[Belle Ella]

By then we decided it was time to walk over to NOS to check in for our 2:15p lunch at BB. We did stop for a PhotoPass picture in front of the castle, something we also wanted to do again at night, but had to do during the day as well. It's one of the few photos that we got together. And maybe I'll share it later down the road when we get the PhotoPass CD. I can't wait to see them all. But as for BB, we checked in and asked for a waterside table which we were perfectly OK to wait for. The CM didn't even give us the standard 45 minute wait I hear all the time. We got 15-30 minutes and a party sitting next to us got 45-60 minutes but they had a very large party. When we were finally taken to our table we seated next to another large party right at the water. There had to be over 7 people. I had always thought they wouldn't accommodate parties larger than 4 by the water, but it was nice to be proven wrong if it were ever something I wanted to consider. What more can I say about our lunch at BB. It was wonderful as always, especially because I ordered my absolute favorite: the cajun blackened salmon and gumbo to start. Delicious! Too bad I scarfed down a lot of bread before our food arrived because once again I only hate about half of it. There was too much food! I have come to the conclusion that I would rather eat at BB as the last thing I do before I leave so I can take home some leftovers. Jason seemed to agree with me as he didn't finish his Monte Cristo sandwich either. I like to think I have somewhat bright ideas on occasion, lol.

​

Back to the rides we went after BB and we ended up going over to IJ to use our FP's from earlier. We also went back on BTMRR a couple of times for good measure. But by this point the weather was really starting to bite! Well, I only mean that it was getting colder and our sweaters were still in Jason's car because we hadn't felt like renting a locker. We were going to need them soon. So we decided to walk back towards the trams and the car to get them before continuing on for the night. We had plans to watch the fireworks, although we had yet to decide where from, and we wanted to try and fit in the parade as well. Of course, by this time people were already lined up along Main Street for the parade and there wasn't a lot of sitting room left on the curb. I ended up staying to stake out a good spot for us while he went off to go get our sweaters. It seemed like a good plan to me. To keep myself busy while he was gone I chatted with the people sitting near me and took photos of what I could while staying seated while it continued to get darker and colder.

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I loved actually being on Main Street to watch all of the lights come on as they happened. We also got to watch the Main Street Marching Band go by as the went by for the Flag Retreat ceremony which I have yet to ever take the time to watch. But, really, Main Street is gorgeous when all lit up on any day of the year, but the holidays just make it that much more breathtaking. As for me ... well, my wait got a little lonely but it was OK. He was gone for what seemed like forever, but he made it back before the parade would start with the added bonus of my sweater! I really need it by that point because I was fuh-reeeeee-zing! And I was told that I might end up having to sit in the back seat on the drive home because he had to give someone a ride. Uh ... what?! But that was really the last he mentioned of it and we settled in to watch the parade which I was so excited to see! It's been a very long time since I got to sit and watch a parade at Disneyland, seeing as I never had any desire to do any more than listen to Celebrate! as I walked by. And the Christmas Fantasy Parade did not disappoint. But once again I was left longing for my DSLR. It was a shame I decided to leave it behind on the only day I would be there at night!

But here are some photos anyway!

... to be continued ...​

 

[Sherry E]

I only have a quick second to pop in. I'm going to start the Christmas thread, Part 2, really quickly (in case Part 1 reaches its limit while I am gone, and it might because the pages are moving faster and it's getting closer to that 250-page mark) and post something in my TR, and then I won't have time to get back onto the DIS until I get back home later in the week (either late on Wednesday or possibly Thursday, but we'll see).

I just wanted to say that "disjointed" is a good word for the snowflake turnstile decor. I certainly think that 'flakes have their place in any kind of Christmasy, wintry overlay, but you're right. The coloring is a bit disconnected from what's going on elsewhere in the park. It doesn't match Main Street. It doesn't match NOS. It doesn't match ToonTown. It almost feels to me like they didn't want to do anything character-oriented in that spot for the holidays, so they just stuck the snowflakes there so it didn't look empty.

But if they could do such clever, interesting character pumpkins for Halloween Time and put those above the turnstiles, I don't see why they couldn't do character snowmen - or snow people. That way they could keep the snow theme, but it would be much more interesting to look at.

I love those portly snowmen in the parade!!