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

[Belle Ella]

It sounds like such a magical night! DL never disappoints, does it? My brother was whining the night we waited for the fireworks, cause he didn't want to stand there any longer, but by the time they were done he was in complete awe. I was glad I made him stay! It would be so cool to see them on NYE though.

I didn't realize how much detail they put into the holiday version of IASW, but it looks pretty cool. Do they change the music too?

I've never been disappointed no matter how long and dull the waiting was. And we got 2 fireworks shows, both of which were just awesome.

And yes, the music is different too, they sing holiday tunes. Like "Deck the Halls", etc. The Under the Sea portion they even sing "Jingle Shells". It's much easier to listen to than the original. There are even a couple of holiday smells to greet you

 

[klexen]

That was the best New Years I've ever had. And it was mostly because of the awesome company I had. The day wasn't as busy as I had thought it would be. We got on all the rides we cared about without even really waiting long. The coolest part was getting to go on Single Rider Indy twice, and getting to ride with Jessica both times.

The tour was really awesome. I didn't know we were going to get to try that fudge, which was delicious, or the hot chocolate with the cookie. That was just awesome. The girl we had giving the tour was really cool. I also was pretty happy with our great seating for the parade. We sat right in front of IASW, and even got to see it lit for the night. I'm only sad I'd just missed catching it on video. I had recorded the whole parade on my flip... But I had to delete the videos to make room for all the awesome dancing that was done by the characters.

My absolute favorite part of the evening was the music, the dancing, the comedy, and just that amazing energy that you could feel from everyone. We were all having such a great time, it was impossible not to. Everyone was just so happy and excited. I loved the character dancing. They were just amazing... I never expected it! Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto... They were excellent dancers! I was like NO WAYY the whole time. We also got to celebrate the count downs in all the timezones. I thought that was really awesome. Our countdown got kinda messed up though. They countdown on the TV was different from the countdown time the DJ's were following. So that got slightly awkward. But then there were the fantastic fireworks that just awed everyone. They totally went all out on that. It just kept going and going and going, wow..... Awesome, awesome night!

Jessica, all the pictures came out so beautifully! Your new lens is really awesome. I'm really glad I got to share that night with you, as it's going to be a night I'll never forget!

 

[Belle Ella]

So if we want to get all kinds of technical about it if Day 0 was December 30 and Day 1 was December 31 it would make sense that Day 2 was January 1, right? Well sorry, this is BE world and things don't always work out logically like that. Well, they do, but they follow BE-logic which is a whole other thing entirely. So follow with me: Day 1 was New Years Eve spent at Disneyland which lasted well into the morning on New Years Day so it's all connected. Once you factor in that whole sleep thing, January 1 becomes more of Day 1.5 than anything else. Maybe I would call it Day 2 if we had gone to Disneyland again on NYD but we didn't. Instead we went out for a late breakfast and just lounged around for the day watching movies and placing a call in to Disney Dining to look into getting a BB ressie for the next day. Very successful if you ask me! And so now we move on to the real Day 2 which would be January 2.

I have to say, this Disney day almost didn't happen thanks to the weather reports. Anybody who has chatted with me here on the DIS knows how anxious I have been to go to Disneyland in the rain, at least once! Sure a lot of it has to do with my desire to wear my ultra-awesome polka-dot rain boots, but that's besides the point really. Of course there was tons of rain in the forecast and somebody wasn't as keen on the idea of Disneyland in the rain as I was. I guess that's the thing about 'locals' who have AP's, huh? They can look at the bad weather and decide to go on another day. Sure it's turning into a semi-similar situation for me. There wasn't a time deadline that said I had to go this particular day, but something about Disneyland and the rain seems so refreshing to me. I just had to go!!

I wanted to go to Disneyland in the rainey-rain!!

And so we went! We saw. We conquered!! Well, I conquered. Jason played along though, even though I don't think I'll be getting him to go back in the rain anytime soon.

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It was already boat loads chilly by the time we got there, parked, and started making our way towards the Trams. It was nice though not so see people crowded along the boarding areas like I normally see. It was the first sign that the rain really did keep people away for the day. Talk about exact opposites from the last time we made this trek!

Now, I can't give the same kind of moment-by-moment run down that I do on occasion. I usually need photos to do that, lol. Let's just say there weren't too many taken this day. I wasn't about to bring my DSLR out in the rain because I just knew we were going to be soaked by days end. I did have the little P&S but I didn't want to pull that out too often. But I do remember that after some wandering and marveling at how light the crowds were we high tailed it over to NOS. We had ressies at BB for 3:40p or something like that and we had plenty of time before we had to check in. But with the lines practically non-existent we squeezed in a couple of ride after we arrived. And by a couple, I mean POTC and HMH! By this time we still had just about an hour before we had to check in for our late lunch and so we decided to hop on board the Disneyland Railroad and make a full circuit around the Park. I haven't done this in a very long time.

Oh, and I decided to take a photo of my beloved rainey-rain boots!

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It was pretty nice and relaxing to tell you the truth! I might have to do this more often. And it worked out perfectly and so once we arrived back at the NOS station we made our way to BB for our late lunch, of course requesting a water side table. How could we do anything else? When we were finally seated I got struck by my mitten-bad-luck again. I lost another pair of mittens!! Well, I take that back, I lost one hand. But I was sitting down at our table and I only had one in the pocket of my coat when I knew I had two on in the lobby. Really?! Well, the good news was that I lost them somewhere between the lobby and our table so I went off to investigate. Luckily one of the CM's had picked it up and stashed it away for safe keeping so I didn't have to spend the entire day with one little mitten. My poor hands would have frozen otherwise. Lunch was delicious, as always. I'm not very adventurous when it comes to my dining selections there, but I blame this on how much I love their Cajun-Spiced Salmon. It didn't disappoint!

Here's me waiting in the lobby to be called to our meal:

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That hat saved my life, it did!

After we finished our lunch we walked over to DCA for some reason I have yet to actually remember. Well, I do know that we had plans to see the Aladdin musical but we had some time before that would be starting. The next stop that I do remember was ducking in to the GCH to grab drinks at the Hearthstone Lounge. Ever since I mentioned this to my family they have been giving me a hard time. I am a Mojito fan. They think I'm crazy and insist I need to expand my horizons. I disagree!

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As we were made out way back in to DCA we decided to stop by Soarin' since once again there was absolutely no wait. I love the rain if it means almost all of the rides are walk-ons!

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By then it was time to head over to the Hyperion Theatre for the Aladdin musical where I got annoyed to no end. I absolutely hate what they have done to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area because of ElecTRONica and I wish it would go away soon. It's not even that I hate ElecTRONica itself (although I'm certainly not jumping for joy over it) but what it transformed that area into when the event itself isn't going on. With all of the scaffolding looking structures and whatnot the area has absolutely no charm during the day. It's not like there is enough construction going on in DCA without adding that to it. Sigh.

But the Aladdin musical? That's something I have only good thins to say about. It was just as amazing as I remember it even though I hadn't seen it since March 2009. I was really missing my DSLR though as I would have loved to get some good photos of the show, so I made a mental not to come back again during the week when I was solo.

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I don't remember what else we did that night, but we did head back over to Disneyland after Aladdin. Even if we didn't do anything else but walk around in the rain, we did stop in front of the Castle for one last photo together for the night before calling it quits.

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On the walk back down Main Street they were making the announcement that due to the weather the fireworks had been canceled for the evening but that in just a few moments they would light the Castle up and there would still be snow on Main Street. This stopped us dead in our tracks. I really wanted to see the lighting and I had really been disappointed in the fact that I had somehow never been around when the snow fell. I really, really, really, really wanted to see the snow. But let me just say this: it doesn't work when it's raining!! It just turns to slush with the rest of the rain. You could hear the machines so you knew something was supposed to happen, but alas there was no snow. It was kind of a downer to be honest. But the good news was that we were talking about coming the next day as well. We were coming down to the very end of the Holiday season and I wanted a few more decoration photos. But that would have to depend on the weather.

And so we bade goodnight to the Happiest Place on Earth, rain or shine.

 

[Belle Ella]

That was the best New Years I've ever had. And it was mostly because of the awesome company I had. The day wasn't as busy as I had thought it would be. We got on all the rides we cared about without even really waiting long. The coolest part was getting to go on Single Rider Indy twice, and getting to ride with Jessica both times.

The tour was really awesome. I didn't know we were going to get to try that fudge, which was delicious, or the hot chocolate with the cookie. That was just awesome. The girl we had giving the tour was really cool. I also was pretty happy with our great seating for the parade. We sat right in front of IASW, and even got to see it lit for the night. I'm only sad I'd just missed catching it on video. I had recorded the whole parade on my flip... But I had to delete the videos to make room for all the awesome dancing that was done by the characters.

My absolute favorite part of the evening was the music, the dancing, the comedy, and just that amazing energy that you could feel from everyone. We were all having such a great time, it was impossible not to. Everyone was just so happy and excited. I loved the character dancing. They were just amazing... I never expected it! Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto... They were excellent dancers! I was like NO WAYY the whole time. We also got to celebrate the count downs in all the timezones. I thought that was really awesome. Our countdown got kinda messed up though. They countdown on the TV was different from the countdown time the DJ's were following. So that got slightly awkward. But then there were the fantastic fireworks that just awed everyone. They totally went all out on that. It just kept going and going and going, wow..... Awesome, awesome night!

Jessica, all the pictures came out so beautifully! Your new lens is really awesome. I'm really glad I got to share that night with you, as it's going to be a night I'll never forget!

It really wasn't that crowded, huh? At least not anywhere near what I had built it up in my mind. I swear I've felt more claustrophobic during the summer.

And I totally forgot about the disconnect in the countdown. But oh well! It was still a blast anyway.

 

[DisneyStitch626]

Great update, although I am sad that you didn't get to see the snow. Even I want to see it, even though we have about 4 feet of it here right now. But the way they do it sounds pretty magical. Hope you got to see it the next day.

 

[tdashgirl]

 

[Belle Ella]

Great update, although I am sad that you didn't get to see the snow. Even I want to see it, even though we have about 4 feet of it here right now. But the way they do it sounds pretty magical. Hope you got to see it the next day.

Thanks Andrea

I wont spoil it for you and tell you right now if I got to see the snow or not. I like to leave an air of mystery every now and again

I better get cracking on editing photos from January 3, huh?

 

[kaoden39]

 

[Belle Ella]

Thanks for still tuning in, ladies!!

 

[kaoden39]

Thanks for still tuning in, ladies!!

I am always here. I just may not comment. Which is kind of scary when you think of how gabby I am.

 

[Belle Ella]

I am always here. I just may not comment. Which is kind of scary when you think of how gabby I am.

Haha!! Yeah, what's up with that lady?

I don't know what's up with me lately but I'm having trouble writing the TR posts themselves. Here's to hoping I can do Day 3 justice. I'm loving the photos I took, that's for sure.

 

[kaoden39]

Haha!! Yeah, what's up with that lady?

I don't know what's up with me lately but I'm having trouble writing the TR posts themselves. Here's to hoping I can do Day 3 justice. I'm loving the photos I took, that's for sure.

I haven't had anything that I thought would contribute to the trip report to say. I think this cold has addled my brain.

 

[Belle Ella]

When Day 3 arrived it was kind of a lazy morning with no definite idea of what to do for the day. It was a Monday morning and Jason's last day of vacation before he had to go back to work and of course there were a few errands he needed to take care of. The subject of Disneyland came up as well. It was the last day of the official Holiday season at Disneyland and I know I really wanted to say goodbye to all of the decorations since I had no idea what would be in store come Tuesday morning. But of course when someone checked the forecast he saw rain mentioned and was not interested in going in the rain again. I still don't know what he was thinking since when I checked the forecast I saw partly sunny. But it was what it was. I ended up getting myself ready for a few hours at Disneyland alone, another reason being that I wanted to fit in another showing of Aladdin and watch Billy Hill and the Hillbillies again sometime before I left and the best way to do that was to spread everything out including a few hours on Monday. So in the end I got myself ready to go solo so he could get caught up on whatever he needed to do and we'd meet back up later in the evening for dinner and a movie or something.

Good plan, I thought.

You could just tell during the drive that the weather was going to be nothing shy of perfect. The sun was out, the sky was a perfect blue, and I was getting even more excited. I would actually be able to get photos! The drive was nothing short of boring, but before I knew it I was parked (had to make a note that it was Mickey Mouse 6F so I could find my car later) and walking out to the trams. Oh, and of course I had to text Jason about how it was totally not going to be raining.

Now I have to be a little guilty for a second, although in the scheme of things it's not so bad. There were quite a few people waiting around the boarding area for the Trams and I'm sure the crowds had something to do with the previous day's rain and the wonderful weather on this bright and sunny Monday. The problem is that there are tons and tons of families and large groups and I'm only one small individual by her lonesome. I didn't have to worry about getting my whole party onto one tram so I kind of snuck around and jumped on the tram that was waiting and just about to depart because I saw enough room for me on a bench! This is the closes to line jumping I will ever get to.

There, I feel so much better now, getting that off my chest!

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As soon as I hit the Esplanade the first thing that I noticed was that the California letters were completely and utterly back to normal. So long Christmas!! It was kind of sad as I never really got to get a photo of them, let alone with them. Note to self: when you want a photo of something, don't procrastinate!! In hindsight, this should have been a big clue that construction was set to begin on taking them down very, very soon! But of course, this was the last thing on my mind at the moment. But I did get a photo of the snowflakes adorning the Disneyland gates for the final time. I still really wish they would come up with something else to decorate the turnstiles.

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I was so excited to get my day started that I went back to my old standby of skipping towards Main Street as soon as I entered (and can I just add that one thing I love about having an AP is when the CM who scans me in says "Welcome back, Jessica!"). I would have kept skipping right down Main Street if I didn't get sidetracked by my old pal Donald Duck, who looked a little lonely! I have never seen a character line as short as it was at that moment so of course I stopped. Once again, reminded why I love the weekdays at Disneyland.

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And you'd better bet I wore my rainey-rain boots again! Even if I was sure there would be no rain. I was just too excited to put them away in favor of real shoes. I did say I would wear them, even if there was no rain in sight!

As it was my last official day to get some holiday decoration photos I started my walk down Main Street taking a few occasional photos of the window displays if I thought I could get a good angle. So for the moment, no more skipping!

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Just before 1p I made my way back to Frontierland for none other than BTMRR. I'm really starting to think that this ride is my current all time favorite. It's slowly, and I do means slowly, starting to completely eclipse my love to IJ. We shall see if I change my mind at all in the coming months. I was kind of disappointed this time though because the FP distribution machines weren't up! Oh, the horror! FP's play a vital role in the way I do rides. OK, not really, but they are important even on days that aren't super busy. But I guess I could live. When asked, one of the CM's mentioned they would be down all day. Well alrighty then! I would just have to go stand-by for the day. So I hopped in line at 12:59a with a 20 minute wait posted and I only ended up waiting for about 15 minutes in row 7. No harm, no fail. It gave me time to really play around with my camera and take photos in the queue area. And for the first time in my experience (which is somewhat shocking when I hear other people get asked this more frequently -- I'm thinking of our beloved Sherry, of course) I had someone ask me what I was taking photos and why. At first it was a family behind me in the queue talking amongst themselves about what I was doing. I didn't say anything because nobody had spoken directly to me and I kind of feel like that falls into the eavesdropping category but it wasn't as though they were whispering and I was desperately trying to listen in. Eventually they did speak up and ask me what on earth I was doing. It kind of took me aback. Is it really so hard to understand that a person with a camera and who is using so camera is taking photographs? And why wouldn't I be taking photographs? Sure, not everybody loves the small details around Disneyland but I really think some people just take for granted how much has gone into the Park that we love. Mind you I didn't say this. I'm too polite, lol. And that's not even to say it really bothered me, because it didn't. I just find it a little funny. So I said something along the line of "taking photos to take home" and then kept on taking photos. I felt like I had eyes on me the whole time afterward though. It was kind of weird.

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Something I should also mention for the day is that I didn't bring my camera bag for once. How's that for being sure there would be no rain! I had my camera with me and a light purse. It actually felt a little freeing, especially when I got a locker for said purse. The question then was what to do with it while on rides. Normally she gets safely stowed in my camera bag and then put into the safeholdings for possesions until the ride was over. Not this time! This time, I would be holding it in my hand. But this also meant that I had an excuse to try and get some on-ride photos. It wasn't easy, but I got a couple that actually worked.

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After BTMRR is was back to my old love, IJ. I guess I still feel a little guilty about ditching one ride for another. Then again, it's just a fun one that I can get in and out of fairly quickly. Like always I bypassed the FP and the 20 minute stand-by line to go SRL. Interestingly enough it was one of those rare times when the SRL was a little backed up between us single riders and the GAC guests. Even so I only waited about 10 minutes and got to spend a little more time taking photos in our small little queue area.

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After BTMRR I went back over to NOS to continue where I had left off in my own Mask Quest. I couldn't get good angles that I liked on many of them, especially those up high, with my fixed focal length lens. But I did what I could. Have I said before, how much I love these?

... to be continued ...​

 

[Sherry E]

Aha! So I'm not the only one who got questioned about my photo-taking! It is interesting to consider that the people who are asking are probably the ones who simply go to DLR because it's a fun place to ride some rides and spent a whole heap o' cash. I don't think those are the people who are really into the details, and as you said, all that goes into this park/Resort that we love. I know if I'm walking by a person who happens to be photographing plants or inanimate objects, I'm thinking, "Yeah...they get it."

Well, at least it's like we're sort of in our own little secret society or something, which is cool.

As you know, I 100% agree that there should be something more interesting than that darn snowflake motif above the turnstiles.

I had no clue that the Christmas CALIFORNIA letters were already down on January 3rd! I thought that since the letters were being removed on 1/4 anyway, supposedly, they would just leave the candy cane-striped versions up until then.

 

[kaoden39]

I am so sad about the letters and the bridge. I am so glad that I had Scotty take my picture at the F this year.

 

[tdashgirl]

 

[Belle Ella]

I had plans to hit the 2:20p showing of "Aladdin - A Musical Spectacular" over at DCA for the final time this trip. I think a big part of me had completely forgotten how amazing and truly spectacular the show is in the year+ since I had seen it last. I mean, really, I had not seen it since March 2009 when this whole Disney-spiral towards and AP really started with my first Frick and Frack adventure! Even with last year's announcement that Aladdin would be departing to make way for a Toy Story musical and it's subsequent retraction I wasn't able to fit it in during my birthday/Halloween trip in September or any little side/AP trip I have taken since. And I always tell myself I'm going to go because I love it so. Let's just say I wanted to make up for some lost time. The new lens and wanting to see what kind of photos I could get of the show certainly didn't hurt either.

I had accidentally left my Aladdin Priority Seating vouchers at home in a moment of me acting like the true blonde that I am (I mean, I left Duffy at home too) but the great news is that you can still get amazing seats with a minimal wait during the off season -- I'm sure they are a little more useful during more crowded times. We hadn't had any trouble getting good Orchestra seats the night before so I had no reason to doubt that I would this time either. I probably arrived about 10 to 15 minutes before the let us enter into the Hyperion Theatre to find our seats and although I wasn't in the front of the pack I did check out the very front row to see if I could find one single seat between other parties that I could stake out and I managed to get one almost at dead center stage!

The show was just as amazing as it had been the previous night, and maybe even better. The Genie (same one) had a lot more material than I remember from the night before and sitting so close to the stage was so, so, so much fun. I enjoyed getting to see it from the Mezzanine section my first time to see the parade that comes through the audience in whole, but actually having them stop in front of you and being able to see the expressions in the actors faces was kind of priceless too!

So the rest of this post is just going to be sharing some of the photos I took from the show. Enjoy!

... to be continued ...​

 

[Belle Ella]

As I left the Hyperion Theatre to hit the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area on my way out of DCA (I wanted to check out Off the Page) I ran into a fun fuzzy character I hadn't seen in quite some time. I'm guessing this has something to do with how little time I spend in DCA on my trips. Note to self: we need to remedy this. But Stitch is so much fun!! He was just wandering about without a set location and line and I had a little chit chat with his handler as I waited for a moment to jump in for a photo in between some very excited little ones.

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So after my little photo op I said goodbye to DCA as I wasn't 100% sure I would be back again, even though I still had a few more days to spend getting my DLR-fix. I took my time walking down Main Street, taking in what was left of the Holiday window displays and looking for CM's with pin lanyards for some trading.

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As soon as I was starting to get that ride-itch again I made my way back to Frontierland for another shot on BTMRR and was still a little saddened to see that the FP machines were non-operational for the day. I probably would have ridden it a few more times if it hadn't been for that. But that's alright, that's OK, I still had fun anyway. And of course I took a few more photos of the queue area. I want to have the whole area documented. So far, so good. I got in the stand by line at 3:31p with a 15m wait posted and was in row 10 by 3:52p.

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I was getting prepared to leave for the day by this point to go have non-DLR fun but I couldn't leave without another stop by IJ on my way out. The stand by time was 20 minutes but the SRL was my good friend again and I was on in no more than 5 minutes. Somehow I even got the whole back row to myself. That was interesting, but awesome!

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It was a great way to end the afternoon. I do still love that ride. I wasn't exactly ready to leave, but I didn't want to spend the entire day by myself. So I called it a day, but I did have to say goodbye to some friends before I officially left the park. And so I'll leave you for the day with Aladdin and Jasmine!

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[tdashgirl]

 

[Belle Ella]

I am so sad about the letters and the bridge. I am so glad that I had Scotty take my picture at the F this year.

I wish I had remembered to do so. Both with the Christmas letters and with the regular ones since I got to see them one final time. I'm hoping that they do end up reusing them in the nearer future and not ages down the road. I'm curious to see what they'll do with them.

Aha! So I'm not the only one who got questioned about my photo-taking! It is interesting to consider that the people who are asking are probably the ones who simply go to DLR because it's a fun place to ride some rides and spent a whole heap o' cash. I don't think those are the people who are really into the details, and as you said, all that goes into this park/Resort that we love. I know if I'm walking by a person who happens to be photographing plants or inanimate objects, I'm thinking, "Yeah...they get it."

Well, at least it's like we're sort of in our own little secret society or something, which is cool.

As you know, I 100% agree that there should be something more interesting than that darn snowflake motif above the turnstiles.

I had no clue that the Christmas CALIFORNIA letters were already down on January 3rd! I thought that since the letters were being removed on 1/4 anyway, supposedly, they would just leave the candy cane-striped versions up until then.

Nope, you're not alone at all! Which is too funny. I'm not kidding when I say it was the very first time that has happened to me. I always kind of scoffed when you would mention it and think to myself what am I doing wrong? Because apparently it's all the rage these days to take photos when nobody else knows why you would be inclined to. I do have my days where I don't want to stop and notice all the details, but there's just something so calming about taking everything in at DLR, especially on a busy day when I might otherwise be feeling lousy. Or not. We're a special breed, we are.