disney at christmas

[tksbaskets]

we went to disneyland for christmas in 2007. it was wonderful. then we went to disneyworld in december 2009. it was also wonderful.

i think i like disneyland better for christmas. although the street of america in disneyworld was breathtaking.

i have to share a funny story....

driving home from starbucks today (after getting my free coffee in my 2 go mug!) my 7 year old says to me...if we promise to eat healthy til disneyland can we eat crap when we get there? i have been showing her all the food pics. her favorite is a tigger tail. she can't wait to try it.

i told her that we can have a special 'crap' treat 1 per day while we are away. as long as we all eat healthy til then.

she seemed satisfied. funny part is...all i kept thinking was...man, i don't know about that. i can eat healthy til then...but while i am there i want to try 1 of everything 'crap' wise!

You crack me up! We absolutely LOVE Disney Land at Christmas. We made the decision that we'd go to WDW this year because we haven't been in two years (Because we love DL so much now!) Time to 'ride the bus'. I do like Hollywood Studios for the Osborn lights...

TK

 

[Sherry E]

we went to disneyland for christmas in 2007. it was wonderful. then we went to disneyworld in december 2009. it was also wonderful.

i think i like disneyland better for christmas. although the street of america in disneyworld was breathtaking.

i have to share a funny story....

driving home from starbucks today (after getting my free coffee in my 2 go mug!) my 7 year old says to me...if we promise to eat healthy til disneyland can we eat crap when we get there? i have been showing her all the food pics. her favorite is a tigger tail. she can't wait to try it.

i told her that we can have a special 'crap' treat 1 per day while we are away. as long as we all eat healthy til then.

she seemed satisfied. funny part is...all i kept thinking was...man, i don't know about that. i can eat healthy til then...but while i am there i want to try 1 of everything 'crap' wise!

Plenty of 'crap' to be had during the holidays. The gingerbread men cookies with Mickey ears are particularly chewy, hefty and yummy. There are also peppermint cupcakes, peppermint bark, peppermint fudge, peppermint ice cream, peppermint pot cake...

(Before I start to sound like Bubba Gump and his many ways to cook shrimp, I had better stop...)

You crack me up! We absolutely LOVE Disney Land at Christmas. We made the decision that we'd go to WDW this year because we haven't been in two years (Because we love DL so much now!) Time to 'ride the bus'. I do like Hollywood Studios for the Osborn lights...

TK

Tksbaskets - were those carolers in that one photo you posted a while back (right above the photo of the tree at WWS)? They look so differently attired from the carolers I saw at the GCH. Where were they?

 

[tksbaskets]

Tksbaskets - were those carolers in that one photo you posted a while back (right above the photo of the tree at WWS)? They look so differently attired from the carolers I saw at the GCH. Where were they?

Whoops - forgot to answer that one Yes, they were at the Grand Californian Hotel past the lobby in the hallway on the way to the conference center and Downtown Disney. If I could figure out how to post a short video I would....

TK

 

[Sherry E]

Whoops - forgot to answer that one Yes, they were at the Grand Californian Hotel past the lobby in the hallway on the way to the conference center and Downtown Disney. If I could figure out how to post a short video I would....

TK

Wow! They look so different - well, specifically, the ladies in your picture are wearing such different outfits from the ones I saw (I know I posted a picture somewhere in this thread but can't recall which page!). At least they look different at a glance, from what I could tell. I would say your carolers look a bit more festively dressed, maybe more colorful and lively. The ones I saw in 2007 and 2008 (by the tree, in the GCH lobby) were more like out of a Dickens story or something like that, I would say. More old-fashioned-y carolers!

Yes, I know exactly the hallway you are talking about that passes the conference center en route to DTD. In fact, during the holidays, there is a hidden Christmas tree in one of the rooms off of that hallway (probably the conference center room). I saw it as we were rapidly passing by last year and the year before. (I was on a tree hunt, you know, so my tree antenna was up!!)

 

[bumbershoot]

No, you don't have any photos in this thread!

What???? What is wrong with me?????


These are from '08.

Brrrr..

DS, then 4, in Santa's empty chair at PPH's decorated tree.

Before the BBQ started in the Roundup area, while decorating gingerbread cookies (with Nutella, as DS can't have the stuff they provide).

Note the strings of lights...

You certainly don't see that sort of sky in December in Tacoma!

PPH tree again.

(I'm trying to get that one to rotate, b/c it's just not right, but it isn't "taking" the change!)

 

[Sherry E]

Yay! I'm so glad you posted your wonderful pictures, Molly!! A thread just isn't a thread without your contributions! Thank you!! I just love those ornament photos of the PPH tree, and E holding court in Santa's chair is so cute!!! I love the picture from the Reindeer Round-Up. But that nighttime photo from DCA - that's spectacular! Why don't I remember that photo from your TR? Was that 'enhanced' or was that the natural color of the sky? I love the lighting of that photo, and the combo of the palm trees, the neon lights and the holiday wreaths/garland against that sky is awesome!!

I get the feeling that the way this thread is working is that, aside from us "Disney at Christmas" thread stalwarts who have been here since the beginning, a lot of newer people are checking in and only looking at the last page or two - maybe some are staying tuned in for info and to ask questions and things like that, but I think they mainly pop in to see if there are any recent new pictures, and the pictures are what keep them coming back in search of more pictures and info to help plan their trips - and so that's why it is always important to keep the pictures coming. Even though we can all share our DLR/holiday info here too, of course, it's the bursts of color that I think are keeping people coming back and tuning in for the info!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks, Sherry!

The DCA shot is exactly how it looked that night...I don't even own photoshop (actually we have a disc, but it was given to DH secondhand, and the guy didn't give us the "key" code to it, so we've never tried to install it).

My way of taking pictures is "ooh that's a pretty scene, I'll snap it and hope it comes through the camera in the way it was seen by my eyeballs!" I love neon, too....it can make for lovely pictures.

 

[tksbaskets]

Molly thanks for posting your great pictures. I didn't see a tree in the PPH. Perhaps I needed to go further than the gift shop??


TK

 

[specialks]

Great pics Molly. Love the reference to the sky in Tacoma. Here I thought we passed through a great grey cloud in space during the winter months. You mean there really is still a blue sky???

 

[bumbershoot]

Molly thanks for posting your great pictures. I didn't see a tree in the PPH. Perhaps I needed to go further than the gift shop??


TK

And now I'm going to say..."there's a gift shop in PPH????" We all have such different perspectives!

Great pics Molly. Love the reference to the sky in Tacoma. Here I thought we passed through a great grey cloud in space during the winter months. You mean there really is still a blue sky???

OMG did you get out at all today? GORGEOUS! I think I got a little pink through my sunscreen! That or I have a bit of a fever, LOL.

 

[jessicaerv]

I've been lurking and admiring the pictures for several days now (I can only read a few pages at a time). I have been begging my husband to take me to DLR for the holidays for a few years, but the timing has never worked out.

HOWEVER, I think this is the year!! I've asked again and he has capitulated!!

I think when I told him that our baby girl (who will be 6 months tomorrow) will be just over a year old at the time of the trip and will be able to appreciate the lights, that threw him over. He can't say no to the BOTH of us!

I'm soooo excited, and have already started planning. I would loooooove to stay at GCH, but its a little pricey. The good news is I just bought gift certificates for House of Blues ($25) for $3 each, so I know where I'll be eating a few times!

Thanks for all the inspiration, DISers. I hope to be able to contribute in 7 months...

 

[Sherry E]

I've been lurking and admiring the pictures for several days now (I can only read a few pages at a time). I have been begging my husband to take me to DLR for the holidays for a few years, but the timing has never worked out.

HOWEVER, I think this is the year!! I've asked again and he has capitulated!!

I think when I told him that our baby girl (who will be 6 months tomorrow) will be just over a year old at the time of the trip and will be able to appreciate the lights, that threw him over. He can't say no to the BOTH of us!

I'm soooo excited, and have already started planning. I would loooooove to stay at GCH, but its a little pricey. The good news is I just bought gift certificates for House of Blues ($25) for $3 each, so I know where I'll be eating a few times!

Thanks for all the inspiration, DISers. I hope to be able to contribute in 7 months...

Yay! We got another one!! (Meaning we helped to inspire a DLR holiday trip and bring another lurker out of the shadows!) Welcome to the thread! You know, one thing you can do - if you haven't done it already - is if you don't have time to read through all the information/posts on each page, you can just go back to the first page of the thread and start looking at all the pictures only, or start and the end and work your way backward - a much faster process and very fun to see the different DLR holiday perspectives captured on camera by various DIS-ers. And then you can always read the actual questions/answers/planning info about the holidays more when you have time. Thank you for staying tuned in to this thread and for hanging in there with us in between waves of pictures!!

I am so glad for you that it looks as though you will get to make your DLR holiday trip this year!!! (Good thinking about your husband not being able to turn both you and your daughter down!!) It will be wonderful and magical for you! I can't wait to hear the plans as they come together and see the pictures when you return.



Well, I have been regularly bumping/monitoring this Disney at Christmas thread as well as the Halloween at DL thread - and this one, by far, is the most popular. The numbers (in terms of viewers) are not even close. In fact, about 3 weeks ago, I looked at the number of views to this thread, and it was at something like 16,427. Now, we have grown to well over 19,000 views and rapidly approaching 20,000!!!

The Halloween at DL superthread is struggling in the 4,000 - 5,000 views range, even though we have had some fantastic contributions from DIS-ers in that thread as well. I think that gives a really good indication of what I have felt all along - the holiday/yuletime season at DLR is so much more immersive and all-encompassing, from one corner of one park to the one corner of the other park, to all 3 hotels, DTD, all the restaurants, all the shops, etc. Everything is holiday-ized. Halloweentime is growing at DLR and becoming more popular, but it is not as thorough. You could walk for long stretches in DL or DCA and not really know what time of year it is in October...but in late November - early January...there is no question of what time of year it is, wherever you go, because you will see decorations, hear holiday music done in some sort of themed style, see cute merchandise in the shops, smell the gingerbread, cinnamon, peppermint aromas wafting around.... it is an intensive sensory experience, I think. And Halloweentime hasn't reached that kind of level yet (hence, not as many things to take photos of to post in our Halloween thread!).

 

[Sherry E]

And a happy, good Sunday morning to you all! Here is our bump for the day.

The link to this thread (along with the "Halloween at DL" thread) will be added into the main DLR info sticky at the top of the page, with a heading of something like "Holiday Planning," so if it gets lost in the archives somewhere, we can refer people up to that sticky. But, in order to make sure this thread stays in full view and people continue to share info and photos, we have to keep it active!!

I may have to pull out the big guns - I may have to post...the peppermint ice cream photo!!! I put it in my TR, but I don't think I have posted it here yet (how is it that I can recall what others have posted, but not what I have posted?). Desperate times call for desperate measures, and peppermint ice cream is needed!!

 

[tksbaskets]

And a happy, good Sunday morning to you all! Here is our bump for the day.

The link to this thread (along with the "Halloween at DL" thread) will be added into the main DLR info sticky at the top of the page, with a heading of something like "Holiday Planning," so if it gets lost in the archives somewhere, we can refer people up to that sticky. But, in order to make sure this thread stays in full view and people continue to share info and photos, we have to keep it active!!

I may have to pull out the big guns - I may have to post...the peppermint ice cream photo!!! I put it in my TR, but I don't think I have posted it here yet (how is it that I can recall what others have posted, but not what I have posted?). Desperate times call for desperate measures, and peppermint ice cream is needed!!

YUMMMMM!!!

 

[Christina-B-Na]

First time posting photos so here goes.....These are from our trip last November.

 

[Sherry E]

First time posting photos so here goes.....These are from our trip last November.

Those photos are absolutely amazing, Christina-B-Na!!! Thank you so much for posting here.

I absolutely adore that close-up of the Mickey wreath/garland. It came out so clear. I almost feel like I can reach up and grab it and hang it on my door!!

And I love the Churro Cart! See, this is what I mean - no matter how much we have all seen of DLR at Christmastime, there are always things left to see! Every thing is decorated in some way or another, so the photo opportunities are practically endless!!

Great shot of the Winter Castle, too - that angle really brings out the purple coloring. So pretty!

I can look at a million photos of the IASW Holiday nighttime facade and never get tired of it. I wanted to get photos of it last year, but there were just too many people in front of it to get back there. Did you take that photo right before closing?

I love the poinsettias around the Partners statue!!

 

[Sherry E]

Okey dokey. I don't have anything quite as stunning as Molly's and Christina-B-Na's pictures to post here - and, in fact, I could have sworn I posted some of these already. I think I must have posted similar ones in this thread (but not exactly the same shots), and then I posted the other ones in other threads (like the GCH Super Thread and my own Trip Report, as well as the Halloween at DL thread) and thought I posted them here. In any case, I wanted to make another contribution, even if some of them are dark and yucky!!

At the GCH:

This is dark, but I love the twinkling trees!

In DTD:

In DL:

More fun with Christmas Pooh:

Random crowd shots:

YUM!!! Peppermint Ice Cream!!!!

In DCA:

In DL:

A very dark, getting-close-to-midnight shot:

 

[Christina-B-Na]

Thank you Sherry!
The Small World one was close to closing time. It's really difficult to get a decent picture without a ton of people.

Your photos are fantastic as well!! I especially love the dark one with the sparkly lights! Awesome!!!
I'll have to get some of that peppermint icecream! Yummm!
Such a cute pic with pooh!!!!

This thread is getting me so excited!!!

I am planning another trip this year for 12/1- 12/3 so hopefully I'll be able to get some more good shots this year. Although after looking through this thread I am a little worried about crowds now. We are planning to go on Wednesday and Thursday so I am hoping those days won't be too bad.!?!

Anyway, now that I have gotten the hang of this posting pics thing...here's a few more.

I love the reflection in this one.

Inside IASW

Toontown

Holiday parade

 

[bumbershoot]

I absolutely adore that close-up of the Mickey wreath/garland. It came out so clear. I almost feel like I can reach up and grab it and hang it on my door!!

Am now picturing Sherry taking that picture into a photo-poster place....

 

[tksbaskets]

Christina-B-Na I love your pictures. The one of the train station is most excellent. Thanks for sharing!