Day-1 of 5

[garate55]

This is going to take a while so hang with me. I got about 2200 photos but I will whitle those down to about 2000 so you will get a majority of them as I got alot of photos that look similar.


Day 1 On our way to the park Thursday morning.

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Walking through Downtown Disney on the way to Disneyland.

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This one is an obvious one; we got in on EE @ 9:00

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Walking down Main Street going to the rope drop. Got fruit (breakfast) on the way down.

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More Main Street

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First ride was Matterhorn. My 2YO sons first roller coaster.

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Off to Small World, hardly anyone there. This ride is very photographic, but there are some similar shots.

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Back by the Matterhorn on our way to Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain.

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Caught the Monorail passing by at the right time.

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Matterhorn from inside the Space Mountain queue, not a really awe inspiring photo but thought I would share, it is better in person, come to think of it all of these photos would be better in person huh?

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Inside Space Mountain, only a 5min wait(awesome) but turned into a 10min wait cause somebody got sick right underneath us.

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Back to Fantasyland to check on Nemo, still the lines were not to our liking so we went to Buzz’s Astroblasters. Here are a few from Fantasyland while we were there.

More to come......

 

[CardinalsFan]

Nice! I'm liking the Christmas decorations!

 

[garate55]

Still day1 but part 2
Tomorrowland’s iconic mountain.

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Off to see Buzz………….

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My son really took a liking to Sully in the Little Green Men Store, while we were there we got our lanyards and pins.

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Back out to Main Street to cut over to Adventureland.

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Had to get this shot, would have been better if the horse drawn trolley was in it too.

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I love the Fire Truck I think the horn is the sound that lets me know I am HOME. Or would love to live here.

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You will see a ton of the Matterhorn, I couldn’t believe how many I really took of that Mountain.

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The bridge to Frontierland, I tried to get it with nobody on it but my wife wouldn’t wait.

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Some of the Adventureland buildings I have more of these later.

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Aladdin’s lamp in one of the stores here.

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Jungle Cruise, We did ride this and Indiana Jones as we passed by, just no big deal…….very happy to be here.

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We headed over to ride Pirates of the Carribbean. With a few shots of the River in there as well.

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I love to hang out in New Orleans Square, I didn’t get to do enough of it this trip.

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More shots of the River, I got lots of these also.

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The French Market we ate here later in our trip.

 

[garate55]

Still day1 but part 3
Haunted Mansion dressed in it’s best, of course I like the inside when it is normal.

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And while we were there we might as well hit Critter Country and Splash Mountain.

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Looking out the Splash Mountain queue what a great layout this park is almost anywhere you look, there is the potential for a great photo.

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More of Splash Mountain queue.

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Pooh Corner….Tigger was here, then he left(this happened to us last time) but then he came back out with Pooh.

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More Mark Twain photos I got lots of these, those boats are beautiful, can’t get enough.

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The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh- honey pots

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Disneyland RR over Critter Country and part of Pirates lair.

Lots more to come later……………….

 

[BecBennett]

Wow, you have some great photos. Keep them coming, I love looking at Disneyland photos!!

 

[garate55]

Day1 Part 4
We went back through New Orleans Square to the Railroad Station, I think we were going back to
the hotel room cause the girls got soaked at Splash Mountain.

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My wife snapped off a shot of Toontown as we went by…headed to Main Street.

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I tried to get some shots of the Matterhorn as we went by(from the train) but the trees kept getting in the way.

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We finally arrived at Main Street. I tried to get some photos of the dioramas but you do not want to see those.

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Cruella de Vil…..you have to see her if you haven’t already she is gooooood!

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I love the Disneyland bands…. They have got some really good, talented musicians.

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The castle looks really cluttered from this distance.
They had something going on later that night but I will get to that later.

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Mickey and Minnie were on hand at the Plaza Inn for Birthday parties

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The Dapper Dans are really good too. I missed the Carolers this year or I would have pulled out the video camera for them they are funny.

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Here are some more shots of Main Street with the Holiday decorations.

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Belle, Aurora and Snow White were here for a short photo stint, caught them at the end. Funny thing is
Cruella de Vil followed them around and said that Belle looked like a giant banana.

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I like City Hall, I think this and the Emporium have the best architectural features of all the Disney buildings on Main Street.

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And here is the Emporium with it’s grand architecture and home like feeling.

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The fire station is part of City Hall so it gets to be one of my favorites too.

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Part 5 will take off right where I left off here.

 

[garate55]

Day1 Part 5
The Emporium again, with Goofy in front, what could be better.

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The “older” son getting Goofy to sign for our meal, thanks Goofy, had to see him before we left.

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The Main “live” Christmas tree, I guess a lot of people don’t think they are real.

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I really love the Railroad, my grandpa got me hooked, as a small boy, with trains. This is my parting shot of Disneyland before we went to the room to change clothes.

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Came back after our change of clothes and a short nap to California Adventure, here is the new home for Mater and Lightning McQueen

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My son found the gas and air(airhead)

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Grizzly River Run is a cool ride but I think for how big it is, it should be longer.

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This is one of those shots that I have tons of, I think every time I passed this I snapped some photos.

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This is one of the other “live” Christmas trees of the Disneyland resort. This one happens to be near Paradise Pier.

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Paradise Pier bet you haven’t seen this shot before………ok well maybe you have, but not this one.

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Pacific Wharf area(I guess it’s technically not an area but it is separated), I really like the background music of this area/land……whatever it is.

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Paradise Pier attractions: Golden Zephyr and Orange Stinger.

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More Pacific Wharf…..

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More Paradise Pier…..

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Tower of Terror looming over Pacific Wharf.

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We were walking back to Grizzly River Run when we stopped to knock on some doors to do some caroling,
good thing nobody answered because we can’t sing.

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Another shot of the Grizzly River Run lift at another angle.

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Redwood Creek Challenge tree this thing is cool, wish I would have gotten a picture of the boy by it, cause it is big.

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The Grand Californian Hotel hiding behind the trees.

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Part 6 will take off right where I left off here.

 

[garate55]

Day1 Part 6
This is the Redwood Creek Challenge,……..creek?

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This is some construction going on between the Grand Californian and Paradise Pier, pretty big area, I almost got a good shot of it the first day walking in, the gate was wide open.

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Grizzly Peak……twice.

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This is the place to get Mr. Potato head stuff, EnginEars Toys, it’s the toy store on the right hand corner when you first enter California Adventure.

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Condor Flats signage I’m surprised this is the only photo we have of this.

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It was getting late for California Adventure, early closing @6:00. So we went to ride Screamin’ again and left for Disneyland.

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OK, getting back into Disneyland Who doesn’t take a picture of this everytime you pass……………well OK I really like to take pictures.
Wish I knew how to take better ones.

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The castle in all of it’s Holiday glory.

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Big Thunder Mountain.

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One of the many nicely decorated trees. These pictures don’t do this stuff justice.

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Snow White’s Scary Adventure.

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I have seen photos of these that look really good, I didn’t really capture the color of them.

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Food of Tomorrowland.

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Tomorrowland.

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Plaza Inn.

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Partners statue

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Not quite lit up all the way. You will see it later. I thought this was it for the night it was near 8:00

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There will be more……a lot more

 

[momto2nenas]

This is my favorite trip report ever! Nothing but glorious pictures! You are doing an awesome job and thanks so much for sharing! I am almost positive we need to go to Disneyland for Christmas next year!

Maybe I missed it but what were the days you were there? It doesn't seem to be crowded at all!

Can't wait to see more!

 

[garate55]

We were there Nov 15-19 beware this is our first day and it wasn't crowded at all. But you will see in the later installments that the crowds grew to pretty good sizes. Nov 16 (Friday) was the first day of the fireworks and parades that night was a nightmare.

 

[ctamama]

Agreed about the Friday night crowds. We were there Nov. 12-16. Your photos are fantastic!!! They are just taking me right back to our trip!!! Keep 'em coming!!!

 

[Hound 109]

Great report & fabulous pictures.

(i especially liked hearing that Cruella is talking smack on the girly princesses.... If she would stay away from the puppies, she'd be my kind of girl. )

Looking forward to reading & seeing more.

 

[garate55]

Day1 Part 7
This is the parting (or so I thought) of the castle for the night.

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A couple characters from around the Hub.

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Main Street is very calming at night even with the bright lights glaring.

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We were doing the last hour in the park doing some Christmas/ general gift shopping.

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I got a photo of this sign right before we heard the announcement that this radio station was celebrating their 25th anniversary.
We were told they would be celebrating at the Castle, so we went.

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The celebration was for KOST 103.5 a southern California contemporary station. Here are some of their DJ’s

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OK, right after all of their introductions they announced that the park would be open for an additional 5hrs. How cool is that?
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We went straight for Nemo but the line was already at an hour, 5min after the announcement. So my wife and son hit Star Tours.

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They had these plastered everywhere in the park.

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We wasted some time shopping too. I got to talking to one of the guys working in the Star Tours shop, and he asked how we won tickets?????
I guess it was an invitation only event, so he told us that if anyone asks tell them you are here with a group that won tickets.
The Rocket……………

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We waited in line for what seemed like an hour waiting to ride Autopia.

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Here is an old Jr. Autopia car statue. These were cool old cars and I would love to get my hands on one.

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“Hot Rusted Nuts” that’s hilarious.

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My son insisted he drive by himself again this year and had trouble reaching the pedals.

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Don’t know how, where or why I took this but it looks ok….

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Cheshire Cat

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Ariel looks kinda rusty, she needs to get out of the water……..looks like she’s trying.

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There will be more……a lot more

 

[garate55]

Day1 Part 8

King Triton looks better than Ariel and he is older, go figure.

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Tomorrowland at night ooooooooooooooh ahhhhhh.

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Matterhorn with its KOST 103.5 badge on.

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Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters obviously.

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Adventureland at night when it’s not crowded is a treat. We should have spent the rest of the night there and New Orleans Square.

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Shrunken Ned

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Chief of Frontierland

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Speaks for itself.

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Pluto, Mickey, Minnie and Donald were out signing and getting pictures taken.

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More Main Street……I don’t think you can ever get enough Main Street, it’s kind of like cowbell you know.

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Walt’s father…..without him, no Disneyland. Still don’t know what the 1895 symbolizes. Anyone know?

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Train Station.

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Train.

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Almost the flawless photo……

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Downtown Disney on the way home to the hotel.

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Grand Californian Hotel front doors…..beautiful. Good night …..stay with me for Day 2.

 

[PrincessKell]

Wow those are some awesome pictures! I can't wait for the rest of the trip.

 

[ctamama]

How, oh HOW did you get that great shot of "CALIFORNIA" facing DCA??? What time did you take that pic with NO people in it??? That is a really stunning shot!

 

[Carpool Candy]

This was done at about midnight on the special night they had for the radio station I mentioned. I don't know how many people stayed for the whole deal but when we left I believe there was 1 more hour before the park actually closed. Luckily there was nobody in the esplanade. So I decided to snap a few photos and this was the one that turned out.

Sorry posted with my wifes login.

 

[Dolce27]

Awesome pictures. What type of camera do you use? I only bring a point and shoot camera when I go to Disney parks but I'm considering bringing my 35mm with me on my 14 day WDW trip next year so that I can actually take some nice photos for once.

Oh, and cool that you got to see Cruella de Vil. She was the one face character that I wanted to see but never saw.

I heard about the after hours party (on the 15th) while waiting to be seated for my Fantasmic package. The CM told us that it was a special invite party only but the CM's could not kick you out if you just decided to remain in the park without the invite.

 

[ctamama]

well, dang.....I was there that night, and didn't even know about the little 'ol private party

I figured it was really late or really early to get a shot like that. Beautiful photos! Can't wait to see more!

 

[garate55]

Dolce27: I use a Nikon D40, I really like it. It's my first digital SLR camera and I am still getting used to it. I was looking through some of the other days photos and I had to get rid of quite a few so the rest of the days won't have as many photos. I will try to leave as many as I can though.

ctamama: We were walking under the sign over Main Street when they made the announcement and we almost didn't go back to the castle cause it was a radio station I didn't know.

I will post more photos(different days) in a different thread so you don't have to scroll through lots of photos to get to the new ones.

By the way thanks for all the nice words about the photos, I am not a pro by any means, like I said it is my first real camera and I will get better(hopefully).