Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #2 (Closed)

[funatdisney]

Sherry,
I never got to try the your method yet, but, thanks to you, I don't have to bother. I do think it is fun to make the college layouts anyway. I tried making the 8 x 10 with the maximum allowed pictures of 20 or with just 9 pictures. The results are very different, but each had good results. I have experimented with adding a title, choosing a featured photo, and of course the different colors for the borders. It is so fun waiting to see what the layout will look like when the shuffle is done. I am so glad that I can save the results on my hard drive so I wont lose the layouts I like. I think they would be a great way to showcase a Disney vacation or an event.

Thanks for the info on the calendar. I will need it when I get to my calendar, which I will get to probably tomorrow. I am glad that I can have more creative choices with the calendar than with college pics allowed. I am looking forward to it, but I'm still going through the Gallery CD. So far, I have 99 pictures downloaded and I haven't even finished the DL portion of the CD yet!

Would it be possible for you to post the college you saved to your hard drive? It would be fun to see what you made. Maybe on your trip report?

 

[emum]

Thought it was about time I came and did an update on our time in DL this festive season.....

We arrived VERY early at GCH on Christmas Day. Room wasn't ready (we anticipated that), but we took up the option of Concierge add-on, so headed to the Craftsman's Club for breakfast. Had a quick run-down for everything, then made a bee-line for DL. Was sooooooooo excited to be back, and for Christmas Day.

We stayed for four nights, so I'll give a brief synopsis of the stay...

• Loved the GCH. We stayed at and LOVED DLH last time, so I was iffy on the GCH booking, but we equally loved the GCH
• Christmas Day was the bext day of the four to attend. Although crowds were large, they were NOTHING on what the next three days were like
• We will NEVER go back the week following Christmas, and will loudly advocate to anyone who listens not to go those days. It bordered on nightmarish for us.
• We did the holiday tour on the 27th. This was worth every penny we spent on it. Our guide was Colby, he was fabulous, and to have someone steer us through the WALL to WALL people in the park on that day was a sanity saver.
• We did the F! dessert booking. This too was worth every penny to avoid the crowds and the wait. I queued one hour prior to the opening of the seat allocation (thanks to the DIS boards), and got prime view front row seats. My kids LOVED the show, the snow, and some of the desserts.
• Staying at the GCH was also worth every penny. Battling the crowds and then having to hike miles back to a hotel really would have done us in. Having respite so close to the parks was fabulous.
• We were bitterly disappointed in the food at Cafe Orleans this time. The parmesan fries were blergh, having loved them the last time. The beignets were still good, though

We also did WDW and a Disney Cruise this last trip, and whilst I'm very glad for having been to WDW now, I will say that we as a family agree that our hearts are with Disneyland. Every trip back to the US from here in will include a trip to DL. We've become DVC members, so hope to be able to stay in the Villas next time.

Just trying to work out timing for our next trip - hopefully next year for our 20th wedding anniversary.

If anyone has any questions for me, fire away !

Cheers,
Sally

 

[Sherry E]

Sally - Thank you so much for reporting back to us on how your trip went! So often we hear from folks all the way up to when their trips occur...and then never again! Thanks, also, for giving us details on what you found good and bad during your stay.

I, too, would not have advocated going between Christmas and New Year's IF one wants to avoid the possibility of enormous crowds because the crowds are always notoriously heavy during that time. This past holiday season even broke records during that exact week.

However, I am learning that what is perceived as unbearably crowded seems to differ between people. A lot of it is subjective, it seems. There were at least a couple of DIS'ers who went post-Christmas and pre-New Years this past season - or even on New Year's Eve - and said that the crowds were not as bad as expected (which is better than being worse than expected!). And there were still others who, like you, thought it was way too crowded! I think they were mentally prepared for the worst, though, so that helped a lot.

So it seems like crowd tolerance levels vary among folks. For me, personally, I think I will continue to avoid the week between those two holidays as I get very impatient with crowds when I can't get a lot of stuff done (like photo-taking) that I want to do. (The one time I was at DLR for New Year's Eve was a long time ago, but it was enough to make me never want to go on that day again!) But it's good to know that others were able to tolerate it well - and even had a great time!!

Glad to also hear the GCH was a good experience for you, as well as the tour. It sounds like the trip was a big success - with the exception of Cafe Orleans!

Do you have any photos you can share with us here in the thread?

 

[emum]

I have oooodles of photos, Sherry, although I don't have time to post them at the moment. Over the next week I'll post them in dribs and drabs.

Actually, I was really prepared for the week - I'd watched this thread closely, and knew to expect park-closure level crowds. I'd warned Dh and the kids, but nothing could have prepared me for 3+ hour waits for rides (and people not even knowing if they were in the right queue for certain rides - infact not even Colby could be sure as he was taking us around !). The power outages didn't help, either.

It wasn't just the crowd levels, either - we encountered so many rude individuals that it left us very disheartened

I guess it's possible that things died down a little on the 29th onwards (I'm sure the rain would have helped - it was pouring the morning we left).

Never mind - like we said, even this experience didn't dampen our love for all things Disney - it just means we'll stick to less busy times from herein.

Cheers,
Sally

 

[Sherry E]

I wanted to wish a happy Valentine's Day to my Christmas/holiday peeps!

Yes, yes, many folks hate this day because they are either reminded that they are single and unattached OR they feel forced to have to buy things for their partners. Others say, "It's a made-up holiday. Why not celebrate love all year-round and buy flowers every day?"

Well, yes, those are great points. But in our busy lives, sometimes we forget to celebrate love of all kinds, meaning for friends and family as well as our significant others (and if you want to see a movie that celebrates all types of love, see "Love Actually"). So...what's wrong with celebrating love for one day - in your own way? What's wrong with devoting a day to love and honoring it when you may forget it every other day?

Why not celebrate Valentine's Day? Buy a single rose. Write a lovely message in a card (guys, that sort of written thing goes a looooooong way with women!). If you're alone, buy some chocolate or Valentine cupcakes for yourself. Spot the people who are wearing pink, read and white. Go out and take some interesting/unique photos of heart-shaped decor and designs. I love the abundance of color that appears on this day.


I chose to celebrate Valentine's Day today by combing through my Disneyland resort holiday photos (See? You like how I tied this all back to Christmas in the Christmas Superthread! Dang, I'm clever!) and finding some that, while taken during Christmas Time at DLR, have a definite Valentinian flair, either in color or subject. They may not be Valentine-specific, but they are Valentine-esque!

Here is my homage to Valentine's Day, by way of the Christmas season at Disneyland!!

Minnie’s weather vane is heart-shaped, though you can’t see it in this shot! Somewhere I have a better photo of it, but I couldn't find it. LOL!

And so this brings me to my next idea for a QUEST!!!!!!! I am always wracking my brain for Quest ideas (even though I have not gotten to half of the Quests I've planned to do in the last 2 years). In keeping with the Valentine theme, I am suggesting a new Quest for future DLR trips. Heart Quest!!!!!!!

What Heart Quest will entail is very simple: NOT counting Valentine's Day 'season,' which, I guess would be February (because that's just TOO easy), find something heart-shaped in every land around DL and in DCA and photograph it, all year-long. That's it! You may see very clear, obvious heart shapes. You may see shapes that are vaguely heart-shaped and not deliberate (accidental hearts). You may see hearts in decor or in the shops (merchandise that's not specifically Valentine merchandise).

The challenge will be...how many heart shapes can you find around DLR (and this can include the hotels and DTD, as well) during the 11 months of the year that are not Valentine's Day-specific? Can you find, for example, Christmas merchandise items that are heart-shaped? Can you find Halloween items or decor that has a heart on it somewhere? St. Patrick's Day hearts? Can you find something heart-shaped in Adventureland or Frontierland? They don't have to be typical red hearts or even pink hearts. They can be any color.

Seeing that the heart is the universal symbol of love, I would bet that this quest will be both challenging and also a bit easier than we might expect! Hearts abound everywhere!!!!!

Oh, and seeing that Heart Quest is not going to directly pertain to the holiday season at DLR (unless, that is, you find holiday decor with hearts in it or on it, in which case it will be relevant to this thread), I think a separate thread for Heart Quest will be necessary when and IF anyone actually participates in Heart Quest.

So go out there and join the Quest for LOVE!!

 

[mvf-m11c]

First of all I like to say Happy Valentines Day to everyone.

That is a very interesting quest Sherry that you just started. Those heart photos & colors from the Holiday season were very nice and that is a good quest to do. It is challenging to find any heart shapes or valentine day colors around the resort. Maybe I should do that on my trip this coming week.

 

[goldies 5]

I have been away for a while with extended morning sickness. Just checking back in and I obviously have a lot of catching up to do. Will eventually get around to uploading and posting some photos from our late November early December trip. Now I need to catch up on the post.
Kim

 

[tksbaskets]

Thought it was about time I came and did an update on our time in DL this festive season.....

We arrived VERY early at GCH on Christmas Day. Room wasn't ready (we anticipated that), but we took up the option of Concierge add-on, so headed to the Craftsman's Club for breakfast. Had a quick run-down for everything, then made a bee-line for DL. Was sooooooooo excited to be back, and for Christmas Day.

We stayed for four nights, so I'll give a brief synopsis of the stay...

• Loved the GCH. We stayed at and LOVED DLH last time, so I was iffy on the GCH booking, but we equally loved the GCH
• Christmas Day was the bext day of the four to attend. Although crowds were large, they were NOTHING on what the next three days were like
• We will NEVER go back the week following Christmas, and will loudly advocate to anyone who listens not to go those days. It bordered on nightmarish for us.
• We did the holiday tour on the 27th. This was worth every penny we spent on it. Our guide was Colby, he was fabulous, and to have someone steer us through the WALL to WALL people in the park on that day was a sanity saver.
• We did the F! dessert booking. This too was worth every penny to avoid the crowds and the wait. I queued one hour prior to the opening of the seat allocation (thanks to the DIS boards), and got prime view front row seats. My kids LOVED the show, the snow, and some of the desserts.
• Staying at the GCH was also worth every penny. Battling the crowds and then having to hike miles back to a hotel really would have done us in. Having respite so close to the parks was fabulous.
• We were bitterly disappointed in the food at Cafe Orleans this time. The parmesan fries were blergh, having loved them the last time. The beignets were still good, though

We also did WDW and a Disney Cruise this last trip, and whilst I'm very glad for having been to WDW now, I will say that we as a family agree that our hearts are with Disneyland. Every trip back to the US from here in will include a trip to DL. We've become DVC members, so hope to be able to stay in the Villas next time.

Just trying to work out timing for our next trip - hopefully next year for our 20th wedding anniversary.

If anyone has any questions for me, fire away !

Cheers,
Sally

Thanks for the report. Could you share what you were privy to with the Concierge add-on? Sounds like fun!

We love the CGH but may be staying at PPH or DLH this year if we can't get into the villas. Our DVC home resort is at WDW at the Boardwalk so we have to wait until the 7 month mark to book. When the villas weren't at GCH we could book a regular room on points.

Looking forward to your pictures when you get a change to post them.

TK

 

[Sherry E]

I already posted all the photos of my first free Snapfish Disney Parks calendar, which I made from my holiday photos taken at DLR in December (I think those pictures are on the last page or the page before that - can't recall). So this is free calendar #2 - I still think I like #1 better because the photos are showcased better, but #2 is okay.

Cover:

March 2011:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

January 2012:

February 2012:

Thumbnail page:

Back Cover:

I paid $13.14 shipping and tax for 2 large, good quality calendars - that just happened to be Disney Parks calendars. I think it's a really good bargain - and Snapfish's free offer is only good for 10 more days. So if you are going to get a calendar, don't wait!!

 

[funatdisney]

Very nice calendar, Sherry! I like the way they are so colorful and the pictures cover every aspect of Christmas in DL. How nice to be reminded of a DL Christmas all year long. Still working on mine. I have 5 more months to finish.

Oh, according to my ticker, I have exactly 10 months (9 months 4 weeks??) til my Christmas Holiday at DL!

 

[Sherry E]

Very nice calendar, Sherry! I like the way they are so colorful and the pictures cover every aspect of Christmas in DL. How nice to be reminded of a DL Christmas all year long. Still working on mine. I have 5 more months to finish.

Oh, according to my ticker, I have exactly 10 months (9 months 4 weeks??) til my Christmas Holiday at DL!

Thanks, Liza! I see you're a fan of my second calendar more than the first! I still think I'm partial to the first one because of how it looks in person (the photos really do look so much better in larger form than in smaller form), but I suppose the second calendar was a better bargain because I squeeze tons of photos in it.

Hurry and get your DLR Christmas calendar done and ordered! You've got 8 days left, and we want to see it here!!

I must get more Halloween photos to make an all-Halloween calendar, and then I have to find other holiday things at DLR this upcoming season to make a new one with! It's an ongoing quest!!

Nine or ten months sounds like a super-long time, but time flies so fast these days. Before you know it, you will be heading over to DLR for Christmas again. And in December, we will probably be saying, "Wow, I can't believe how fast time flew by this year."

 

[funatdisney]

Well my calendar has evolved into four season calendar. So it is not an all Christmas calendar. I really didn't have lots of great photos from Christmas and I had lots of good photos from Halloween Time. My inventory of pictures was exactly the opposite of yours. Also, I had some great photos from the character meets during the Family Fun weekends and a large number of photos from the Gallery CD, giving me more options for a four season calendar. In addition, I didn't like the Disney Parks layouts. I ended up using the other types of backrounds instead. I think I will try to keep the Disney Parks layout for Nov (the next one I am working on), but I found it difficult for me to use the Disney Parks layouts for my taste. Oh well, leave it to me to not follow instructions.

I'll post the November and December months, since I'm planning on using my Christmas photos for those two months.

My experience tells me that the months will fly by, but it still doesn't feel that way. I have lots of adventures ahead of me, too. Tenn this week, and maybe a camping trip this summer. Thank goodness I have DL trips in July and October, but Christmas time is special. The Dec trip is the one I look forward to the most. Hurry up ticker!!!

 

[tksbaskets]

Thanks to Sherry my free calendar has been ordered! Yours looks great!

 

[Sherry E]

Well my calendar has evolved into four season calendar. So it is not an all Christmas calendar. I really didn't have lots of great photos from Christmas and I had lots of good photos from Halloween Time. My inventory of pictures was exactly the opposite of yours. Also, I had some great photos from the character meets during the Family Fun weekends and a large number of photos from the Gallery CD, giving me more options for a four season calendar. In addition, I didn't like the Disney Parks layouts. I ended up using the other types of backrounds instead. I think I will try to keep the Disney Parks layout for Nov (the next one I am working on), but I found it difficult for me to use the Disney Parks layouts for my taste. Oh well, leave it to me to not follow instructions.

I'll post the November and December months, since I'm planning on using my Christmas photos for those two months.

My experience tells me that the months will fly by, but it still doesn't feel that way. I have lots of adventures ahead of me, too. Tenn this week, and maybe a camping trip this summer. Thank goodness I have DL trips in July and October, but Christmas time is special. The Dec trip is the one I look forward to the most. Hurry up ticker!!!

I think the four-season themed calendar sounds like a great idea, Liza (especially if you didn't feel you had enough photos you liked for a holiday calendar)!! Very clever. I'll be very interested to see what the non-Disney Parks layout looks like in your finished product. So you liked the actual shuffling layouts of the non-Disney 12x12 calendars better than the options allowed in the Disney calendars? Well, the good thing is that the Free code works for the non-Disney calendars too, as long as they are the 12x12 size!

It does sound like you have lots of adventures ahead this year. It will be a fun-filled 2011 for you, I think.

Thanks to Sherry my free calendar has been ordered! Yours looks great!

Woo hoo! Thank you, TK! Did you do a holiday-oriented calendar (WDW or DLR), or some other theme? And did you do more of a collage type of calendar with lots of photos per page (like my second one) or a 'showcase the photos' calendar with only one or two photos per page (like my first one)? I have a hunch most people are going for the 'collage/squeeze as many photos onto the page as you can' layouts.

Okay, I've lured Liza and TK into getting the free calendar. I think I also talked deejdigsdis into getting one as well. I think I also inspired Mariezp to get one when I first mentioned it.

Anyone else out there making a free Snapfish calendar with their DLR or WDW holiday photos (Disney Parks version of the calendar or otherwise)? You only have until February 28!! Hurry hurry!! They are good quality calendars and I was very impressed with Snapfish!! It's a great deal for only the cost of shipping and tax ($6.57).

 

[funatdisney]

I think the four-season themed calendar sounds like a great idea, Liza (especially if you didn't feel you had enough photos you liked for a holiday calendar)!! Very clever. I'll be very interested to see what the non-Disney Parks layout looks like in your finished product. So you liked the actual shuffling layouts of the non-Disney 12x12 calendars better than the options allowed in the Disney calendars? Well, the good thing is that the Free code works for the non-Disney calendars too, as long as they are the 12x12 size!

I sure am glad to hear that the free calendar isn't limited to the Disney Parks calendar. I figured that they would tell me with a warning window if i couldn't apply the code. It would not have mattered anyway. All the time and work I have put into this calendar, I would have paid any amount of money to get it.

I found myself either not liking the pictures Disney provided, where they placed on the page or the pictures didn't apply to my theme of the month. For some Disney backrounds, I like them for a particular month, but there would be one picture that just didn't fit (like a Halloween pic in February). I started to look at the other backrounds and decided to use them instead. I didn't stick to one type of backround, but used many different backrounds that fit the theme I wanted. There are a quite of them to choose from. I have two more months to go!

The question is: where would you like for me to post my calendar? It isn't a Christmas calendar, so not here. I don't have a TR thread (I am thinking of starting one though) How many folks got the calendar? Should there be a "Post your snapfish calendar here thread"?

 

[Sherry E]

I sure am glad to hear that the free calendar isn't limited to the Disney Parks calendar. I figured that they would tell me with a warning window if i couldn't apply the code. It would not have mattered anyway. All the time and work I have put into this calendar, I would have paid any amount of money to get it.

I found myself either not liking the pictures Disney provided, where they placed on the page or the pictures didn't apply to my theme of the month. For some Disney backrounds, I like them for a particular month, but there would be one picture that just didn't fit (like a Halloween pic in February). I started to look at the other backrounds and decided to use them instead. I didn't stick to one type of backround, but used many different backrounds that fit the theme I wanted. There are a quite of them to choose from. I have two more months to go!

The question is: where would you like for me to post my calendar? It isn't a Christmas calendar, so not here. I don't have a TR thread (I am thinking of starting one though) How many folks got the calendar? Should there be a "Post your snapfish calendar here thread"?

I don't think enough folks got the calendar or will get it to warrant a whole thread for it. If you don't start your own TR thread, then probably somewhere in the Community section is the best place for it. I don't think anyone would mind seeing it here because you will have some holiday photos and they can still get an idea of what to do with their own holiday photos.

Yeah, the Disney stock photos will end up in odd months if you start the calendar on any month other than January. Because I started my calendars with February and March, the Mickey Pumpkin ended up in weird months!! Otherwise, I think they have them set so that the standard January-December calendar will feature the right photos in the right places.

 

[funatdisney]

Yeah, the Disney stock photos will end up in odd months if you start the calendar on any month other than January. Because I started my calendars with February and March, the Mickey Pumpkin ended up in weird months!! Otherwise, I think they have them set so that the standard January-December calendar will feature the right photos in the right places.

Yep, that is what happened with mine. I started it in March. I know I should have started it in April, but I have already got going with it when I realized my mistake.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

10 months to go

Scrolling through e boards I found awesome pictures of milk and cookies from vacation planning at gch and I thought Santa will love these on Christmas eve.

 

[tksbaskets]

Woo hoo! Thank you, TK! Did you do a holiday-oriented calendar (WDW or DLR), or some other theme? And did you do more of a collage type of calendar with lots of photos per page (like my second one) or a 'showcase the photos' calendar with onloy one or two photos per page (like my first one)? I have a hunch most people are going for the 'collage/squeeze as many photos onto the page as you can' layouts.

Okay, I've lured Liza and TK into getting the free calendar. I think I also talked deejdigsdis into getting one as well. I think I also inspired Mariezp to get one when I first mentioned it.

Anyone else out there making a free Snapfish calendar with their DLR or WDW holiday photos (Disney Parks version of the calendar or otherwise)? You only have until February 28!! Hurry hurry!! They are good quality calendars and I was very impressed with Snapfish!! It's a great deal for only the cost of shipping and tax ($6.57).

I gathered my favorite photos from our Christmas trip this year to WDW. I let the pics 'auto-fill' for the most part and then moved a few of them around. I liked the stock photos added to the page by snapfish.

What took the longest was adding birthdays, anniversaries, etc when I discovered you can add a picture. Then began the quest to find a picture to go with the event. Finally I told myself I had to stop somewhere.

Snapfish is very smart. Doing this free calendar got me thinking of making calendars for Christmas gifts!

Thanks for the tip Sherry!!

 

[Sherry E]

I'm having a heck of a time trying to get onto the DIS today. Either I can't log in because the page takes forever to load, or if I am able to log in, I can't get to the Disneyland forum for the same reason - the pages take forever to load (and when I say "forever," I mean like 4 minutes and counting, which is just not right). I had to access this Christmas thread through a link in my e-mail subscription alert!

Anyway, I have a request for my fellow holiday peeps out there - I wonder if anyone might have this info stashed away somewhere...

One of our wonder DIS'ers - fronkfam - raised a question to me about the holiday entertainment schedule last year, specifically for the first week in December.

In Post #3 of this thread, I would like to put a link to a page (or maybe even another thread here on the DIS?) in which the Entertainment schedule for November and December of last year is mentioned. This would include the schedule for Believe...In Holiday Magic fireworks, A Christmas Fantasy Parade, maybe the Winter Castle Lighting ceremony, and, of course, World of Color and any other show times from the holiday season.

I have searched the Internet. I found a schedule for December of last year - but in this schedule, the show times begin on December 10th or 11th and continue from there. I couldn't find anything that gives me the Entertainment Schedule for the first week of December 2010 or from November.

Does anyone else have this information saved from last year? I mean, I could refer to my park maps that I got in December on my trip (12/12-12/15), but that was not the first week of December, nor was it November. Would the times listed in my maps be the same for the entire season?