Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #3!- HOLIDAYS BEGIN 11/12/13!!

[pattyduke34]

I found a few...

 

[crystal1313]

Pretty sure this was replaced by the giant snowman in IASW:

And the Candy Cane letters (and can see GG Bridge in background too!)

 

[mvf-m11c]

Here are mine.

New Orleans Square Light Canopy

NOS Ornament lights on the 2nd floor railing which are now gone

Former Hollywood Pictures Backlot entrance

Former Paradise Pier Christmas tree

The PP Christmas tree along with the former Golden Dreams Movie building where the Little Mermaid ride is now located.

Former Golden Gate Bridge with the Holiday decorations

CALIFORNIA Holiday letters with Candy Cane colors inside along with Mickey and Goofy.

Mickey on the C letter

Goofy on the A letter

The Magic, The Memories & You! show with the Holiday segment which is not playing anymore

Santa’s Reindeer Round-Up

The original Christmas tree at Minnie’s House in Towntown until it was replaced with the plastic tree that came from the former Mickey’s Toontown Fair at the MK in WDW

The original Christmas tree at Mickey’s House in Towntown until it was replaced with the plastic tree that came from the former Mickey’s Toontown Fair at the MK in WDW

The original Mickey’s Toontown Christmas tree in Towntown until it was replaced with the plastic tree that came from former Mickey’s Toontown Fair at the MK in WDW

 

[PHXscuba]

Sherry -- So do no-longer-there Halloween pictures count for this topic since you posted some? I think I have more of Halloween than of Christmas!

You have the best collection of old Christmas photos!

PHXscuba

 

[Sherry E]

Lucrezia -- Thank you for the compliment. I knew you would enjoy this theme!

TK, pattyduke34, crystal1313 and Bret -- Everyone has another entry into the random draw, and good job for thinking outside the box! Crystal, you're right -- the tree was replaced by the giant snowman!


ashnjam -- A group photo would be fun! A lot of us will be there at the same time, or roughly at the same time!

Sherry -- So do no-longer-there Halloween pictures count for this topic since you posted some? I think I have more of Halloween than of Christmas!

You have the best collection of old Christmas photos!

PHXscuba

I guess so. It's Halloween week. Why not live on the edge and post some no-longer-there Halloween pictures? If this were a thread hosted by someone who was anti-Halloween it might be a different story, but I embrace all of the holidays!

Thanks! I was trying to figure out what happened to a couple of specific DLH tree photos from 2001 -- because that tree was very cool and it is gone forever -- but I couldn't find them in the album in which I thought I had stored them earlier this morning, so I had to go ahead and post without them. Of course, later on I found the photos I was looking for so I will have to post them sometime this week (in between the onslaught of mini-daily theme photos that will be coming tomorrow through Sunday).

 

[ksromack]

I had the great fortune to be able to watch a folklorico dance rehearsal of the new Viva Navidad coming to CA this November. It was fantastic!!! The group is doing several fun dances with Micky, Minnie and the 3 Caballeros. They are working very hard to present a show that is beautiful, skilled and impressive. I cant wait to see it and want to make sure that all of you know about it. Show begin 11/15/13 at the Paradise Garden throughout the day.

From the Disney Parks Blog:
The infectious mix of Mariachi and Samba musicians, folklórico and carnaval dancers, 12-foot-tall mojiganga puppets and those ambassadors of holiday cheer, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, will really get the crowd going, as Santa and Mrs. Claus join in to cheer and celebrate ¡Viva Navidad!

I'm very excited for this! I think that's why I love Epcot at Christmastime so much.....I love native dance/music especially when it comes to the holidays.....

Does anyone know why they got rid of the CALIFORNIA letters? I'm pretty sure hubby took a picture of that on his very first business trip to Anaheim which had to have been almost 9-10 years ago. I love that look.....and I've really enjoyed the pictures posted thus far for this week. I have a thing for nostalgia!

 

[Mickeybell]

I am not sure of everything that has changed but I do know the California letters are gone!


And my Halloween contribution!

 

[Sherry E]

Mickeybell --

The letters and the candy corn are gone, indeed! Another entry into the random draw for you!

​

Does anyone know why they got rid of the CALIFORNIA letters? I'm pretty sure hubby took a picture of that on his very first business trip to Anaheim which had to have been almost 9-10 years ago. I love that look.....and I've really enjoyed the pictures posted thus far for this week. I have a thing for nostalgia!

Kathy--

The original California Adventure entrance was set up and designed to look like a postcard from California at a distance, and the CALIFORNIA letters would have been the lettering on that postcard. When the decision was made to build Buena Vista Street, not only did the whole design and theme of the entrance change, but the configuration of the entrance changed too. The new turnstiles and entry basically had to be moved out to where the CALIFORNIA letters had previously been situated to allow for extra space to build BVS.

The old CALIFORNIA letters were fun because they occasionally changed theme. You've seen the candy cane-striped versions for the holidays today. There was also a candy corn version of the letters that was in place for a couple of Halloween seasons. There was also a colorful version for the debut of World of Color. There was at least one more special version too, but I am forgetting what it was.

Of course, the current entrance to DCA will look (to you) exactly like the entrance of DHS at WDW looks, but in actuality the design for DHS and DCA is a direct copy of the old Pan Pacific Theater here in L.A., which burned down in the '80s (I saw that fire as it was happening!) and stopped functioning as an entertainment venue in the early 1970's or so, if I recall. I went to the old PPA with my grandmother when I was very little, to see the Ice Capades and some other event, as well as go to rummage sales or whatever they held there after it closed. You can imagine my shock when I saw that the familiar, unusual Pan Pacific design and color that I recognized from childhood had become integrated into the entrance of DHS, and later DCA! If my grandmother had lived to see the PPA design as part of the DCA entrance, she would have found it very strange, I think!

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Mine are all from Dec 2006 & Dec 2007

(Electrical Parade - which I wish would come back home so badly!)


(DCA letters)



(Old Toontown Tree)

 

[splashtastic!]

Has anyone heard if Santa's Reindeer will be back this year?

 

[ttig34]

I saw the CALIFORNIA letters at the California State Fair in Sacramento this summer. It was strange seeing them there instead of at DCA.

 

[Pesky]

Here's what's sad -- the last time I was at DL for Christmas, it was around the time of most of Sherry's pictures! It's more crazy to me that it's all changed. Fake trees? Different wreaths? new IASW facade? What is the world coming to?

Got my PP+ package today! DH asked what that was and then asked if we REALLY needed it. Look, buddy, if you don't want to be involved in the planning, just trust me on this stuff. Had to do the math so he understood. He still seems doubtful but figuring once he sees the prices and the pictures, he'll get it. He honestly thinks he's lugging around a DSLR everywhere (and mind you he's NOT a keen photographer and often forgets to take pictures). Oh, newbie....

 

[Sherry E]

Jamie has another entry into the random draw! I agree -- I wish the Electrical Parade would come back!

Pesky -- Hopefully your DH will realize that it was money well spent once he sees all of the photos. At the very least, he needs to just leave the planning in your hands!

ttig34 -- I don't think I can even picture the CALIFORNIA letters in any other setting than in front of DCA, and they might just seem like totally different letters to me if I saw them in another location.

Has anyone heard if Santa's Reindeer will be back this year?

splashtastic!

As far as I know, the reindeer are gone. Last year they were gone and the former Reindeer Round-Up had become the Jingle Jangle Jamboree. I can't imagine that they would be back this year.

I think that the CMs had problems with people trying to pet them (reindeer are not friendly!) or climb over the barriers to get to them. Also, I always noticed that the reindeer breathed very rapidly, like they were not getting enough oxygen or they were not acclimating to the temperatures or different altitude or whatever. I always worried for their well being. Maybe they breathe that way anywhere they go, but if that rapid, shallow breathing was in any way exacerbated by living at the Round-Up, I'd rather they go back to where they are comfortable. I would hate to think that they were in any kind of distress by being on display.

 

[tdashgirl]

I know they don't go with the re-theming of DCA but seeing these photos sure makes me miss those letters.

 

[lucysmom]

On the holiday tour last year they told us that they don't have a real tree at the end of Main Street anymore because it caught on fire. Well, it would be hard to keep a live tree fresh for all those weeks, and can you imagine the needles dropping? My trees barely last from Thanksgiving to New Years.

 

[mom2rtk]

Now, refresh my memory...who here is going to be at DLR on Sunday, December 8th?? I know that some of the folks in this thread are going to be there over that time frame (Kathy is one of them). egritz? czmom? Janet?

I just want to know who I might possibly run into as I am lurking around the PPH Christmas tree or any other Christmas tree around DLR!

​

OK Sherry, I finally came up for air!

We're staying at PPH and will be in DL on Sunday the 8th! I'd love to get a chance to meet you! Right now I'm hoping we can schedule the tour and Fantasmic Dessert seating that day, but I'm sure we can fight our way through the crowds to find you at some point!

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

Not sure if this is gone forever, but I know I won't ever see it again:

 

[blue888]

Loving all these photos! I should really look through my photos from the last time I was at DL. I think it was in 2002? Is it bad I don't remember the year, lol.


It is so exciting that everyone's travel dates are getting closer and closer!


Do you guys find you use the pools a lot in December? I remember it being quite warm when I was there last time. We will be coming from freezing winter temps, so I'm guessing it will feel really warm to us

 

[mom2rtk]

The pictures are all awesome, but am I the only one sad because we are going to DLR and won't get to see all these cool things?

NOS in those old photos looks amazing. I sure hope it's still really festive!

 

[jessicaerv]

I've been luuuurkiiiing (in my spooky voice)... hey! It's still Halloween time, so spooky voices are allowed!

I haven't been to DLR for the Holiday Season since 2010, and realized that I have a couple photos that fit this week's theme! Off to Flickr to open an account and figure out how to upload...