disney at christmas

[KCmike]

Something a little different.

 

[Funball]

Something a little different.

Ohh that is cute.. where is that??

 

[KCmike]

Great shots, Mike! NOS looks very pretty in that second photo, considering DLR has removed more than 50% of the NOS decorations this year and it is nowhere near as illuminated as it once was at night. What was left in NOS is lovely!!

I like seeing crowd photos because I'm very interested in people. I love to look at a big crowd scenes and see who is bundled up for the cold, who is wearing shorts (like that tall guy in the left-center of your photo), who looks like they are a couple as opposed to who is with family, who is wearing a particularly cool Disney shirt, who looks like they are having a bad day, who looks like they are having a great time, etc. There is so much to see in crowd photos!!

I love the crowd shots as well. It's interesting to see people enjoying themselves. On the other hand I could sit in an airport all day and watch people go nuts too!!!

 

[KCmike]

Ohh that is cute.. where is that??

Inside the Santa's Reindeer Roundup area between the reindeer and the BBQ dinner area.

 

[spacepixie2]

I was at BBB on Tuesday... The Tangled makeover was hair and makeup only...no gown...I also don't recall seeing any holiday gowns.

thanks for checking. I bet the hair could be a lot of fun.

 

[Flitterific]

NOOOOO!
He must really be overworking those elves. Hope they get overtime pay.


All of a sudden the Christmas trip crept up on me and I've got nada planned. I was so on top of Halloween but Christmas has totally slipped by me. I don't even have any dining booked and totally forgot about booking the Holiday tour which I might skip now. I have to go back about 100 pages in this thread to get caught up and prepared. I'm just excited Fantasmic will be showing. I haven't seen the new dragon yet.

I'm sure holiday treats have been discussed up and down so what does everone think the #1 Holiday treat not to miss is?

I totally know what you mean! I was super prepared for our Halloween trip in October and then Thanksgiving came and I had nothing! I even forgot to pack the PHs that DBF won, which were supposed to use on our blockout day so we ended up having to pay Definitely start making a list and don't repeat what I did.

As for the night time shows, definitely be prepared for things to go wrong. The first night we had decided to watch the fireworks and it started pouring 45 minutes before the show and continued to until the fireworks ended. The second night, fireworks were canceled and the first showing of F! was out of commission halfway through the show. Luckily, they were able to fix the problem by the second show but geez...talk about Murphy's Law!

Flitterific - Thank you for your beautiful photos! It makes me want to cry with joy! I can hardly wait to be there in a couple of weeks. I haven't been since October and am having serious withdrawals:

Aww...thanks! I just got back on Monday and I'm having some serious withdrawals myself so I totally understand what you mean. Hopefully the boards will keep you sane for the next couple of weeks

Flitterific! I can't believe your holiday trip came and went already. Some folks' trips I can keep up with, and others I lose track of. I totally forgot yours was happening so soon!

I hope you had a wonderful time despite the crowds!! I've mainly heard that the parks do not clear out until after Thanksgiving weekend is over, not right after the holiday itself. I would always expect a 4-day holiday weekend to be busy, but what I've heard is that it supposedly becomes blissfully uncrowded after that weekend ends and everyone goes back to work. So this week I would think would be nice, based on what people have said. And next week may be okay. And then it's busy, busy, busy after that!!

However, it's getting to be that it's more and more crowded at times when it used to not be, while still being super-crowded at times when it's always been crowded. Its very hard to pin down the uncrowded times now. If last year was the busiest holiday season as a whole in 10 years, from November to early January, then the fact that you heard a CM say it was the busiest Thanksgiving in 13 years doesn't sound encouraging as far as crowds overall for 2010. This year will probably be a busier holiday season than 2009's was, when all tolled.

Eventually, people will just get so sick of the crowds and have to stay away from DLR for a while, or go at times of year when it's not as festive. Lord only knows what things will be like when all the work at DCA is complete.

Photobucket hates me, so I understand the issues with loading photos! But when Photobucket starts liking you again, I can't wait to see more of your photos!! These last ones were lovely!!!

Sherry - I can hardly believe Thanksgiving came so quickly as well! Time seriously flew me by and I was super unprepared for my last trip. Despite the fact that not everything went smoothly (i.e. forgetting the one-day PHs, fireworks and F! going wrong), I had a fabulous time as DLR. It was too short IMO though

I didn't really mind the crowds as I usually go during the holidays and long weekends but I was surprised that it was so busy. Perhaps it was also more crowded at DL because everything at DCA seemed to be under construction. I was very sad to see almost everything at DCA behind boards. They are even working at the Greetings from California store...what a way to ruin a perfect picture by the CALIFORNIA letters

Anyway, I am having better luck with Photobucket today so I will definitely post more pictures later

here are a couple photos we took the week of Thanksgiving...

now planning for trips in May and June! =)

d1sneymom - your pictures are gorgeous! Do you mind me asking what kind of camera you used?

More tree quest submissions, from the Parade-

misc. pics-

MattsPrincess - love your pictures too!

 

[specialks]

Things are coming together for our DLR Christmas time visit. I just purchased our 5 day PH on LMT and our new Canon SD1400 IS arrived today. Can't wait to use it on our trip. Thanks again to everyone for all the great photos!

d1sneymom -- did you use an iPhone for those? And if so, did you use an app for the borders? I am wondering if you did a photo app wash on the 2nd picture. Thanks.

 

[Flitterific]

SPOILER ALERT for HMH ride...Here are some pictures form HMH, my favorite ride of all time at Disneyland

I find that the room directly facing the entrance of the HM is better lit so it is easier to take pictures of the paintings in the room that stretches.

Merry Christmas

Scary Christmas

 

[Flitterific]

More HMM pictures...

Love Oogey's Holiday Trick or Treat Wheel:

Look for the ? next time...

 

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice pics of the HMH Flitterific

I'm going to miss the CALIFORNIA letters with the Candy Cane decorations. But here is a pic of the letters without any people.

 

[d1sneymom]

d1sneymom - your pictures are gorgeous! Do you mind me asking what kind of camera you used?

MattsPrincess - love your pictures too!

d1sneymom -- did you use an iPhone for those? And if so, did you use an app for the borders? I am wondering if you did a photo app wash on the 2nd picture. Thanks.

yes the first 2 pictures are from the Hipstamatic app for the Iphone. And I am horrible at using it... so it's my sister who is taking the pics. it's one of the free ones you get with the app though. I haven't bought any of the other film, lenses or flashes. No other photo app. I just like the look of the "old school" Disney!

the other pictures are from my yucky old point and shoot Sony Cybershot. I so do not recommend my camera.... my battery dies quite fast. I wish I still had my Canon.

here are a few more...
HMH Jack, he looks so spooky here...

 

[amamax2]

We are back from our fabulous trip - got home late last night.

Wow - so many more pages here than when I left,

I took about 1000 pictures so will sort download, sort through, and upload the good ones....but today is school day, lots of catching up to do since we were gone most of the week, but will get to them as soon as I can!

We had a great time, full of lots of magical moments. Crowds extremely low Tues and Wed during the day, definitely picked up each evening. Way too crowded for our tastes on Thurs, but there were lots of middle school bands/choral groups there that day.

Fantasyland had a power outage on Thurs - very weird to see that whole area empty.

No Christmas popcorn buckets.

They were setting up for Candlelight Processional - my gosh, it looks GORGEOUS!!! Lucky you who get to see that - I think it would be worth the crowds.

Special Electronica night on Wed, which actually was fun. Electronica will be nightly beginning Dec 10.

OK. gotta get the kids up and get our day started, but will start posting pictures, hopefully, late this afternoon.

PS Forgot to add: we got to see them making the candy canes!!!

And my oldest DS wants me to tell "all the people on your DIS" that he rode TOT 13 times on Wed. So funny, botht my boys kept asking me if I knew things because of the DIS or that I needed to tell the DIS this or that.

 

[tksbaskets]

We are back from our fabulous trip - got home late last night.

Wow - so many more pages here than when I left,

I took about 1000 pictures so will sort download, sort through, and upload the good ones....but today is school day, lots of catching up to do since we were gone most of the week, but will get to them as soon as I can!

We had a great time, full of lots of magical moments. Crowds extremely low Tues and Wed during the day, definitely picked up each evening. Way too crowded for our tastes on Thurs, but there were lots of middle school bands/choral groups there that day.

Fantasyland had a power outage on Thurs - very weird to see that whole area empty.

No Christmas popcorn buckets.

They were setting up for Candlelight Processional - my gosh, it looks GORGEOUS!!! Lucky you who get to see that - I think it would be worth the crowds.

Special Electronica night on Wed, which actually was fun. Electronica will be nightly beginning Dec 10.

OK. gotta get the kids up and get our day started, but will start posting pictures, hopefully, late this afternoon.

PS Forgot to add: we got to see them making the candy canes!!!

And my oldest DS wants me to tell "all the people on your DIS" that he rode TOT 13 times on Wed. So funny, botht my boys kept asking me if I knew things because of the DIS or that I needed to tell the DIS this or that.

Tell your DS that he ROCKS! My guys always say similar things "did you find where to stand for the parade in the DIS boards?" They KNOW that is why I take pictures of the food.

Glad you had fun and I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures.

 

[Sherry E]

If you love peppermint, you must try it! I thought it'd be overload...but boy did I enjoy it. I spent a whole evening taking bites and it's the one thing I've been itching to have again this year!!

Heymy - So you think I should give the fudge a try, huh? It's not overkill? I do enjoy peppermint. I've seen it in the past and just didn't stop to really look at it. Maybe I will reconsider. I'll go have another close-up look at it.

Sherry - Thanks for the info on the Photopass Photographers and Santas. We leave a week from tonight flying into SNA. We're getting really excited. Surprisingly, my teenage granddaugthers want to see Santa. Last year, they told me they were too old so they didn't go with Dad when he took the youngest to see Santa and get photos. Last night my oldest granddaughter called and asked if we could get the Santa Hats with the Mickey ears for the photo with Santa. I was shocked. I reminded her that last year she said she was too old. She said they all talked it over and thought it would be cool to get photos with Santa because after all - everyone is a kid at Disneyland - right??? Guess we'll be getting those hats and heading over to see Santa at one of the locations.

Disgram23kids - Keep in mind, things can always change at Disneyland. I think there will be a PhotoPass person at the Round-Up with Santa. I know I have heard of folks getting their PhotoPass pictures taken by a PP person at the Round-Up in the past, but I never trust Disney to stick with certain things. I always expect they will switch things up. If Santa seems to be missing from the Round-Up location, just make sure to catch him over at the GCH in the evenings, where there will, for sure, be a PP person.

You're right - everyone is a kid at Disneyland! It sounds like you have a wonderful, magical trip in store!

Yes I did get one. It is a Santa Mickey mug. It doesn't hold a lot of volume but it is microwavable and dishwasher safe. The hat comes over to make the handle. When I get a chance, I'll get a picture of it (all nice and clean) and post it.

Goofy_Mom - Can't wait to see the photo of the demitasse Santa Mickey!!

here are a couple photos we took the week of Thanksgiving...

now planning for trips in May and June! =)

Cool pictures, d1sneymom! Love the kind of vintage look of the ones with the borders.

More tree quest submissions, from the Parade-

misc. pics-

Excellent Tree Quest entries, MattsPrincess!! And I absolutely adore those last two photos - the one of Mickey in his holiday band gear (it's such a happy photo) and the close-up of the poinsettias with the dew drops sprinkled on them (at least it looks like there might be a couple of dew drops)!! That is just lovely!

Gosh - that's surprising! I would have thought that would be a massive photo thread! I was there for 3 or 4 days just before Christmas in 2004. We actually spent most of our trip going to the different resorts to see their gingerbread houses and decorations and we never did get over to the Wilderness Lodge!

LisaCat - I know!! I would assume there would be one or two or three Christmas-only superthreads on the WDW side of the DIS, but the threads move so fast over there that maybe no one really wants to invest the time? Or maybe there have been threads and I've just missed them? The resorts alone are an attraction during the holidays. Building these threads and making them great sort of takes a bit of nurturing. You need a good core group of people to contribute photos and information from the beginning - even when things are slow and the thread isn't getting that much activity. You have to bump the threads when they start to disappear, and try to sprinkle in photos when you can, but also provide lots of good information in between photos. You kind of have to build a following and get people to see that they can come to the thread to ask questions and get familiar with things. Eventually, people will notice and then the threads take off, and then lots of other folks begin contributing too. I can only guess that this is hard to finesse over in the WDW section because there are just soooo many new threads all the time, pushing all the other threads out of the way every second!

So maybe what it takes to keep a thread going on "the other side" is to have a bunch of DL DISers from "this side" post pictures from any trips we take to WDW. Anyway just a thought.

I think so, Liza. I think it probably requires much more 'work' to keep the threads on the WDW side of the board visible because they disappear FAST. But if anyone is going to be able to get a Christmas-only thread going on that side of the DIS, it would probably have to be any of our DLR DIS'ers who have also been to WDW for the holidays and have photos to share.

Something a little different.

Love that picture! That's one of those little hidden details/gems that many people most likely overlook. Wow - I know it's been said before, but you covered a lot of ground in your short holiday trip to DLR, Mike!! You must have been snapping away the whole time.

I love the crowd shots as well. It's interesting to see people enjoying themselves. On the other hand I could sit in an airport all day and watch people go nuts too!!!

Oh yes - definitely, Mike. It can be equally entertaining to see people having great fun, and going nuts, panicking or being ridiculous too!! The one thing I don't like is to see sad people. I don't mind watching angry people or obnoxious people (from afar,as long as they stay away from me), but I hate hate hate seeing people who look sad, whether it be kids or senior citizens or anyone in between. I hate seeing people sad and I hate seeing them cry. I feel like I want to go up and hug them!!

Sherry - I can hardly believe Thanksgiving came so quickly as well! Time seriously flew me by and I was super unprepared for my last trip. Despite the fact that not everything went smoothly (i.e. forgetting the one-day PHs, fireworks and F! going wrong), I had a fabulous time as DLR. It was too short IMO though

I didn't really mind the crowds as I usually go during the holidays and long weekends but I was surprised that it was so busy. Perhaps it was also more crowded at DL because everything at DCA seemed to be under construction. I was very sad to see almost everything at DCA behind boards. They are even working at the Greetings from California store...what a way to ruin a perfect picture by the CALIFORNIA letters

Anyway, I am having better luck with Photobucket today so I will definitely post more pictures later

Flitterific - you're right. This is the last chance ever to get photos of the candy cane CALIFORNIA letters, and yet the picture is ruined by the big mess at Greetings! I will still go into DCA because I can't miss TSMM, Soarin' or Monsters, Inc. Also, I want to visit A Bug's Land. But I am bracing myself for the construction everywhere. It's a small park to begin with, so when they undergo these massive projects, it eats up major sections of that park.

I'm looking forward to seeing the next batch of photos.

Very nice pics of the HMH Flitterific

I'm going to miss the CALIFORNIA letters with the Candy Cane decorations. But here is a pic of the letters without any people.

I love that picture, Bret. I love the rain-soaked ground and the empty Esplanade, and the candy cane letters. The only thing I could do without is that stupid tarp or plastic covering over the construction in the background!!

We are back from our fabulous trip - got home late last night.

Wow - so many more pages here than when I left,

I took about 1000 pictures so will sort download, sort through, and upload the good ones....but today is school day, lots of catching up to do since we were gone most of the week, but will get to them as soon as I can!

We had a great time, full of lots of magical moments. Crowds extremely low Tues and Wed during the day, definitely picked up each evening. Way too crowded for our tastes on Thurs, but there were lots of middle school bands/choral groups there that day.

Fantasyland had a power outage on Thurs - very weird to see that whole area empty.

No Christmas popcorn buckets.

They were setting up for Candlelight Processional - my gosh, it looks GORGEOUS!!! Lucky you who get to see that - I think it would be worth the crowds.

Special Electronica night on Wed, which actually was fun. Electronica will be nightly beginning Dec 10.

OK. gotta get the kids up and get our day started, but will start posting pictures, hopefully, late this afternoon.

PS Forgot to add: we got to see them making the candy canes!!!

And my oldest DS wants me to tell "all the people on your DIS" that he rode TOT 13 times on Wed. So funny, botht my boys kept asking me if I knew things because of the DIS or that I needed to tell the DIS this or that.

amamax2 - Yay! You're back!! I know that means we can all hunker down and get ready for some Tree Quest and Wreath Quest entries!!

Your DS rode ToT 13 times in one day? Yikes!! I'm not even sure if I could ride one of my favorites 13 times in one day. Wow! That takes some determination!!

I bet the Candlelight Processional is gorgeous and moving and all of that. I would like to see it at some point, despite the crowds. I think it would especially nice against the backdrop of Main Street. I don't think it will be as nice if the CP moves to DCA.

Sounds like it was an awesome trip!! It didn't seem like you were missing from this thread for that long - time really flies!!

 

[Goofy_Mom]

During Thanksgiving week there was a photopass guy with Santa. I'll share as soon as my CD comes in.

 

[mvf-m11c]

We are back from our fabulous trip - got home late last night.

Wow - so many more pages here than when I left,

I took about 1000 pictures so will sort download, sort through, and upload the good ones....but today is school day, lots of catching up to do since we were gone most of the week, but will get to them as soon as I can!

We had a great time, full of lots of magical moments. Crowds extremely low Tues and Wed during the day, definitely picked up each evening. Way too crowded for our tastes on Thurs, but there were lots of middle school bands/choral groups there that day.

Fantasyland had a power outage on Thurs - very weird to see that whole area empty.

No Christmas popcorn buckets.

They were setting up for Candlelight Processional - my gosh, it looks GORGEOUS!!! Lucky you who get to see that - I think it would be worth the crowds.

Special Electronica night on Wed, which actually was fun. Electronica will be nightly beginning Dec 10.

OK. gotta get the kids up and get our day started, but will start posting pictures, hopefully, late this afternoon.

PS Forgot to add: we got to see them making the candy canes!!!

And my oldest DS wants me to tell "all the people on your DIS" that he rode TOT 13 times on Wed. So funny, botht my boys kept asking me if I knew things because of the DIS or that I needed to tell the DIS this or that.

Looks like you had a great time amamax2. Can't wait to see your pictures during your trip.

Wow, your DS rode ToT 13 times. That is crazy, but with a shorter line and different ride experience on ToT it does make sense.

 

[funatdisney]

Bret, I love your shot of the Candy Cane Californian letters, too. What a great time to take it when it is raining (it is raining right?) Doesn't rain very often here.

We leave tonight. I can't believe that I'm going to be on IASW tonight. We will arrive at DL at about 10pm to close it down. It will be nice to arrive at the park at night. Nothing like DL at Christmas at night.

I'll take more pictures and hopefully get some of the shots I missed last week. Checked the weather and looks like no rain. Yeah!

Liza

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret, I love your shot of the Candy Cane Californian letters, too. What a great time to take it when it is raining (it is raining right?) Doesn't rain very often here.

We leave tonight. I can't believe that I'm going to be on IASW tonight. We will arrive at DL at about 10pm to close it down. It will be nice to arrive at the park at night. Nothing like DL at Christmas at night.

I'll take more pictures and hopefully get some of the shots I missed last week.

Liza

When I was there in November, it was on Saturday morning Nov. 19 at 7:00am in the morning when I was having my character breakfast at Minnie and Friends. It was raining in the morning and there were barely any people right by the candy cane letters.

Have a great time tonight at DL. Hope the line is short for IASWH.

Can't wait to see more pics.

 

[Flitterific]

yes the first 2 pictures are from the Hipstamatic app for the Iphone. And I am horrible at using it... so it's my sister who is taking the pics. it's one of the free ones you get with the app though. I haven't bought any of the other film, lenses or flashes. No other photo app. I just like the look of the "old school" Disney!

the other pictures are from my yucky old point and shoot Sony Cybershot. I so do not recommend my camera.... my battery dies quite fast. I wish I still had my Canon.

here are a few more...
HMH Jack, he looks so spooky here...

Wow...I don't have an iPhone (I have a HTC Hero) and the pictures can be hit or miss. I also have an app that allows me to take pictures with various frames and photo effects but I haven't experimented much with it. Anyway, what an awesome picture of Jack you have there!

Very nice pics of the HMH Flitterific

I'm going to miss the CALIFORNIA letters with the Candy Cane decorations. But here is a pic of the letters without any people.

Thanks Bret! I also love your picture of the CALIFORNIA letters. I was never up early enough to get one of the letters with no one around but I was able to capture the letters at night when it was relatively empty there (I will look for the picture later and share it )

We are back from our fabulous trip - got home late last night.

Wow - so many more pages here than when I left,

I took about 1000 pictures so will sort download, sort through, and upload the good ones....but today is school day, lots of catching up to do since we were gone most of the week, but will get to them as soon as I can!

We had a great time, full of lots of magical moments. Crowds extremely low Tues and Wed during the day, definitely picked up each evening. Way too crowded for our tastes on Thurs, but there were lots of middle school bands/choral groups there that day.

Welcome back, amamax! I am glad to hear that you had an awesome time and cannot wait to see your pictures!

 

[marts35]

I may have missed a post, but I'm sure someone here knows because you are all so DisneySmart What day or days do the hand-made Candy Canes get made? Where do you go to get them? How early do you have to be there? I don't know how I have missed them on past trips, but it may just be because I'm new to the Boards and didn't have all this wonderful info
Thanks in advance!