Kandace/kandyk -
Hello! First of all, I'm so glad for you that you get to experience the parks (and don't forget to visit the 3 hotels too) at Christmas time again - this year is sure to be even more special because of the new decorations that are expected in California Adventure.
You asked about the Theme Week Countdown. I don't know if everyone else is excited for it, but I'm doing it anyway!
Last year - in late August - I began a countdown in this thread to the start of the holiday season at
Disneyland. Last year the season began on 11/14. So from late August to November 14, the countdown picked up steam. What would happen is that every Monday I would announce a new "theme" or specific highlight of the holiday season at DLR (with a bit of a description/summary about the theme), and everyone in the thread was welcome to share their photos within that same theme. The themes were surprises in 2011, but this year I will use most of the same ones and just switch up the order of them to keep it fairly unpredictable! Or I may tweak a theme or two, to include or blend with something else.
So, for example, one week's theme might be Haunted Mansion Holiday. Anyone who has photos of HMH is encouraged to dig them up and share. Another theme week would be something like "It's a Small World Holiday." Same idea. It's kind of interesting to see everyone's photos grouped together in one collection or package, at the same time.
Basically this is a fun way to build excitement and anticipation for the start of the season, get everyone to participate in showcasing their photos, as well as shine a spotlight on some aspects of Disneyland Resort's holiday season that may be unknown, or previously overlooked by certain visitors. This countdown also encourages people to get out there and notice the details all around the resort and take more photos!
This year, we will start the Theme Week Countdown on Monday, August 27. There will be a new theme every Monday, all the way through November 5th, and then we will switch to a daily countdown of "mini-themes" from 11/6 through 11/11. The final theme will be a sort of "Miscellaneous/catchall/post your favorites of the bunch" on 11/12.
It will be easy to follow when we get into it!
Currently I have a Theme Week Countdown happening in the Halloween Superthread as well. (Lots of
great contributions from DIS'ers so far!) It began last Friday with Haunted Mansion Holiday, and there will be a new theme every Friday through September 14.
ducky_love -
I'm 99.9% positive that the holiday tour will begin on 11/12. Last year it began on 11/14, which was the season's start date. So unless things have been drastically altered, I think it should be business as usual!
I am a little worried about crowds since we are used to almost empty parks when we go to WDW (we did do fine during Halloweentime at DL last year). I am hoping with longer park hours and more crowds the lines will feel the same 
