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

[Sherry E]

It's Tuesday, which means it's time for the rapid fire Daily Countdown to the holiday season!!!!

...14 Days Until the
Holiday Season Begins at Disneyland Resort!!!! ​

Each day this week -- from today through Sunday, November 3rd -- there will be a new Disneyland Resort holiday mini-theme!! Unlike the weekly themes, the photos for the daily mini-themes may only be posted on the days the themes go up in order to earn entries into the random draw to win the $25 Disney gift card. If you don't have photos to fit the daily themes, check back on the following day as there will be a new theme posted every morning (times may differ).

The weekly theme -- which is currently Disneyland Resort - Holidays Gone By -- is still active and open for photos from now through Sunday, November 3, 2013.

I know of at least one person in this thread who has photos to fit today's theme! But will he/she be able to post them in time to earn an entry? Let's see if everyone can rise to the challenge and get their photos for the daily themes in on time. The code word for today is: tiny. Muahahahahahahaha! Anyone who can get his/her photos in on the days the mini-daily themes go up [by 11:59 p.m., Pacific Standard Time] will receive TWO entries for each entry / contribution!!


So...what will be our fourteenth overall theme (and first daily theme) of 2013?

In the Spotlight Today...

THE CANDLELIGHT CEREMONY AND PROCESSIONAL!!!​

Disneyland's Candlelight Ceremony and Processional (commonly referred to as "the CP" on DISboards) has been an annual holiday tradition since the late 1950s, usually taking place over the first weekend in December in Town Square (with some rare exceptions). Celebrity guest narrators (one per night) tell the story of the first Christmas, but some of the most haunting moments of the Ceremony are punctuated by the twinkling lights and beautiful Christmas music, which is sung by different choirs and conducted by the great Nancy Sulahian. One particularly poignant, moving and goose bump-inducing moment comes when a soloist and guitarist take center stage to perform "Silent Night," both in Spanish and in English, ultimately inviting the audience to sing along.


I posted detailed thoughts and observations about my 2012 CP experience in this post last year: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=46919110&postcount=3677

The performance...



Monday, December 10, 2012 (from a 4th row/center seat)

Look! They're forming a tree!

Lou Diamond Phillips...

These singers had wonderful voices...

This is the fellow who moved us all to tears with his angelic voice while singing "Silent Night," and then asking us to sing along with him...

The seats were very close together...

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 (from a seat on the right side of the stage, close to the narrator's podium)

Good ol' Lou, back for another night...

This was at the end of the ceremony, when Lou was talking about his friend, Jenni Rivera, who had just passed away several days earlier, and about praying for the troops, being kind to each other year round, etc.

​

Please feel free to post your Candlelight Ceremony and Processional photos today only. A new daily mini-theme will go up tomorrow, Wednesday, October 30, 2013.

 

[jessicaerv]

Oh no! Did I miss the theme? Oh well, I have to test out how to insert the photos anyway, so here goes.

 

[crystal1313]

For the mini theme:

Edward James Olmos

 

[tksbaskets]

Mini-theme days begin. This deserves a...

 

[Sherry E]

Elk Grove Chris -- Very clever, posting the photo of the NOS tree! I didn't want to include that tree in my intro to the theme because I wasn't sure what the status of the tree would be this year. But we know that it won't be in that specific location in NOS again, so I guess it is safe to say that it is part of Holidays Gone By in one way or another! You've got another entry into the random draw!



I think I mentioned that Jamie has another entry, but in case I didn't now I have! Lol.




jessicaerv --

Welcome! I'm glad you came out of lurkdom to join in.

You didn't miss the theme! As I explained in my above Candlelight post, the "Holidays Gone By" theme is good all week, through Sunday, November 3rd. You can post photos of that theme anytime between now and Sunday.

In fact, you earned an entry into the random draw to win the $25 Disney gift card for posting your great Theme Week pictures!

However, as an extra challenge, I am throwing in mini-daily themes (which I did last year as well) each day, today through Sunday, and the people who post photos for the daily themes have to do it on the actual day the theme goes up (as crystal1313 just did).

​

Speaking of which, crystal1313, you were the one to whom I was referring in my mini-theme post earlier. I knew you had Candlelight photos, and I hoped you'd get them in on time! You have earned TWO entries into the random draw for your mini-daily theme contribution. Anyone who posts photos for any of the daily mini-themes on the day they go up will receive TWO entries!!

 

[ddwlms]

I was gonna say "lurker here" but I haven't even had time to lurk lately! I am so not caught up with this thread. I did go back a little bit and absolutely loved the pictures of the DCA letters. Thanx to everyone who posted them. We were in Sacramento a couple weekends ago and I had to twist arms to get our group to detour to see the letters. (Pathetic Disney fans, my friends are.)

Also caught that Sherry will be at the parks on 12/8 and 12/9. We will be there those days. Would love to run into you. I'll be with a large group, so I don't know how feasible it would be to hook up if there is a planned meet and greet, but if you see 2 40-something year old average looking white parents, with 2 adorable Chinese girls (no bias here) (ages 9 and 11) please say hi. I would love to thank you personally for all the effort you go to helping us addicts get our Disneyland fix.

39 more days!!!

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

First theme I can't participate in

But in good news, I booked the Holiday Tour & Discover the Magic Tours today! For those who were asking, at least during Thanksgiving week, the tour times (for the Holiday Tour) are 11:45am & 3pm.

 

[Pinup Mommy]

Everyone's pictures are great!!! They are really helping in building the excitement!!!

Christmas is so close, was at the park this weekend and there is snow on Sleeping Beauty's Castle and some of the holiday merchandise is out, and I have to add I am loving the current weather here in SoCal

 

[beckykarstetter]

More awesome holiday magic!

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...its-a-small-world-holiday-at-disneyland-park/

 

[mom2rtk]

So a quick question. I see some December hours posted. It shows the parade at 5:30 some days, but on Sunday the 8th it is listed at 1 and 3:30. I had hoped to do the tour that day. Anyone have an idea what the timing would be on that? I'm sort of bummed because I wanted an evening parade after our tour, but I really wanted to do the tour that day when I expect the park to be really busy. I might need to rethink this.

 

[mrsw94]

That looks so cool!! I've NEVER been at Christmas. I can't wait!!!

I'm pretty sure that is the Candlelight Processsional night, but I could be wrong. I think because there is so much set-up, they do the parade early...

 

[figment_jii]

I'm pretty sure that is the Candlelight Processsional night, but I could be wrong. I think because there is so much set-up, they do the parade early...

I concur...CP is slated for the 8th and 9th. It'll tie up much of Main Street, especially in the hub area, so I suspect they run the parade early, then get set up for CP.

 

[Sherry E]

1. I just added the dates for the Gingerbread Workshop at the Jazz Kitchen to page 1 (in both post #2 and in the post for Downtown Disney/Hotels of the Disneyland Resort). Thanks to DIS'er Morgan M for finding it out and mentioning it in another thread. I am subscribed to the general Ralph Brennan's newsletter but had not yet received anything with dates for the Gingerbread Workshop. They haven't made the announcement yet, but they answered Morgan's question about the Workshop on Facebook and listed the 4 dates.


2. I am so excited that the Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas begins in a few days! (TK, that is most definitely dancing banana-worthy!) I have talked about this Countdown almost as much as I've talked about Dreyer's Peppermint Ice Cream! My holiday season just wouldn't be complete without that 2-month marathon! It will start on Friday afternoon, and then all day Saturday and Sunday (for two months!!!) there will be random Hallmark holiday movies running, with a new movie debuting every Saturday night and on some Sunday nights. I think there may even be some movies on during the week too. Some of my favorites, such as "Most Wonderful Time of Year," "Farewell, Mr. Kringle," "Mrs. Miracle" and "Trading Christmas," will be airing at some point.

The movies are all predictable, corny and good-natured (some are romantic comedy-type holiday movies, while others are more serious in nature, but all have a happy ending), but turning on the channel and leaving it on as background noise is like enveloping myself in a cozy, warm Christmas blanket!

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

blue888 --

I never use the pool at the hotel but when I have peeked at the pools in the past, a good number of people seemed to be swimming. I'm sure the pools are heated nicely, so as long as it's not raining or as long as it's not 30 degrees or something I would expect that there will be people in the pools.

I have experienced very warm December days at DLR -- I remember one day that was 90 degrees and other days have been in the 70s or 80's. On the other hand, I have also experienced days in the 50's, with a strong wind chill factor so it felt colder than in the 50s (I love that weather!). There have been other times when it has been raining for days on end.

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!

Janet --

You, Kathy and I will all be at the same place! We should all meet by the tree in the lobby for a group picture or something. I'm not sure where ashnjam and ddwlms are staying but they'll be there on 12/8 too.

egritz and Lucrezia are there the next day.

I was gonna say "lurker here" but I haven't even had time to lurk lately! I am so not caught up with this thread. I did go back a little bit and absolutely loved the pictures of the DCA letters. Thanx to everyone who posted them. We were in Sacramento a couple weekends ago and I had to twist arms to get our group to detour to see the letters. (Pathetic Disney fans, my friends are.)

Also caught that Sherry will be at the parks on 12/8 and 12/9. We will be there those days. Would love to run into you. I'll be with a large group, so I don't know how feasible it would be to hook up if there is a planned meet and greet, but if you see 2 40-something year old average looking white parents, with 2 adorable Chinese girls (no bias here) (ages 9 and 11) please say hi. I would love to thank you personally for all the effort you go to helping us addicts get our Disneyland fix.

39 more days!!!

Hi, DebraDi!

Welcome!

I haven't seen you around the board in a while. Did you know that I deleted my TR thread? (I mention that only because I know you were subscribed to it at one point.)

Thank you for the kind words. That's very sweet of you. I have a feeling -- now that I see how many of my Superthread people are going to be there at the same time -- I will end up running into someone. I have seen other DIS'ers coming to or from the PPH in the past, even though I didn't stop them to ask them if they were who I knew they were! I think that fellow DIS'er Escape2Disney said she saw me last year as well.

I don't know yet if I will be solo on 12/8, but I will be with 3 other DIS'ers for a couple of hours on 12/9, in the mid-to-late afternoon.

First theme I can't participate in

But in good news, I booked the Holiday Tour & Discover the Magic Tours today! For those who were asking, at least during Thanksgiving week, the tour times (for the Holiday Tour) are 11:45am & 3pm.

Jamie --

I finally stumped you with a theme! There are more mini-themes coming up every day through Sunday, and I am positive you will have photos for at least a few of them.

Are you doing both tours on the same day, or did you break them up over a couple of days?

Everyone's pictures are great!!! They are really helping in building the excitement!!!

Christmas is so close, was at the park this weekend and there is snow on Sleeping Beauty's Castle and some of the holiday merchandise is out, and I have to add I am loving the current weather here in SoCal

Pinup Mommy --

Christmas is really coming up at warp speed. It is crazy to think about how quickly time has passed this year alone. I can remember back to when we first saw the holiday and Halloween Time dates in the Annual Pass Backstage Pass newsletter. And now, here we are, about to go into November. It is not an exaggeration to say that December 25th will seem like it is here in the blink of an eye.

I don't know if you saw it but last week I mentioned having a long chat with a CM on the phone at DLR, and we talked about the snow being on the Castle. She was saying that it is necessary for DLR to start putting up some of the holiday stuff even before Halloween Time ends, just because of the level of work and detail that has to go into the decorating process.

So they try to do it in a way that makes sense. Rather than sticking Christmas trees up in random places before 10/31, they try to do things that will not impact the actual Halloween Time decor too much. One thing they do is put the snow on the Castle, to kind of signal that the seasons and weather are about to change and hint at the magical holidays to come. She also pointed out that there is snow in certain parts of the U.S. and Europe at this time of year, so it is not unheard of to see snow appearing here and there. The problem is that people see the snow and their minds instantly go to "December 25th." They don't think "The seasons are changing," they think "Why are there Christmas decorations up when the holiday is not until 12/25?"

I've been loving the days that are in the 60-degree range! There are still too many days that are in the 80s or so, and that doesn't feel right for this time of year -- well, it feels like it feels in SoCal, but it doesn't feel like it should feel in late October.

However, at least I am not about to faint from the heat like I was last month and a couple of months ago. I am hoping that at some point before the year is out, we get a nice 50-degree day here and there, with some wind.

 

[crystal1313]

Speaking of which, crystal1313, you were the one to whom I was referring in my mini-theme post earlier. I knew you had Candlelight photos, and I hoped you'd get them in on time! You have earned TWO entries into the random draw for your mini-daily theme contribution. Anyone who posts photos for any of the daily mini-themes on the day they go up will receive TWO entries!!

Thank you Sherry!!

 

[Sherry E]

I concur...CP is slated for the 8th and 9th. It'll tie up much of Main Street, especially in the hub area, so I suspect they run the parade early, then get set up for CP.

The CP is on 12/7 and 12/8 -- not on 12/9. I know that was a mistake, but all it takes is one incorrect date posted to send folks into a panic, leaving me to step in and be the voice of reason and do damage control!

I have all of the pertinent holiday season-related dates (that I am aware of thus far) listed in post #2 on page 1 of this thread.

 

[mom2rtk]

Well, crud. It's just starting to dawn on me why no evening parade on the 8th. Main Street will be tied up with the CP. Which totally kills the plan I've had in my mind from day 1. I wanted to do the tour that day when the park was so crowded, then have reserved seating for the parade. Now it appears that if I want the reserved seating in front of Small World all lit up I'll have to choose another day. And I just don't know if I want to give up time on a slower crowd day to do the tour.

This is what I absolutely hate about them not releasing park hours until the last minute.

 

[siskaren]

I forgot to mention that I saw my first holiday commercial today! I could swear that I didn't see any holiday ads until 10/31 last year, but Petco (or was it Pet Smart?) got a jump start on the holiday ads! Wheeeeeee! The holidays are coming up fast! Ho ho ho!!

I saw my first one yesterday for Best Buy.

 

[crystal1313]

So DH and I are seriously considering a trip in December (seriously considering=more then likely, we will go). This is our situation. We don't want to pull DS5 out of school. And DH doesn't have a lot of vacation hours. He works at a college and is off the 2 weeks of Christmas and New Years. We also have DS4. So here is my question to all of you:

Would you go to DL for one day on the 14th?

or

Would you brave the crazy crowds and go more then one day, Dec 21-23.

We go a lot, so I'm not terrible concerned about the crowds. I just don't want to feel like I will lose my kids in a huge grid lock mess (i.e. the villains event on 9/13) We have gone every year since DS5 was born so I really don't want to give up the tradition.......Can't wait to hear all your opinions!

 

[Sherry E]

beckykarstetter --

Thank you so much for posting the link to the new IASWH Parks Blog. I have added it to the Seasonal Events post on page 1. As I've been saying recently, every time I think I've got the first page all updated for at least a few days, along comes another Blog or piece of info to add.

While the new little show on the IASWH facade every 15 minutes looks very cool, I am hoping that this show is not going to replace the beautiful colored lights. Last year those lights seemed brighter and more vivid than ever -- almost as if the bulbs had been replaced -- but I would hate to lose any of that 'wow' factor for the show that looks to be made up of projections.

IASWH usually soft opens a few days before the season begins, but the Parks Blog said that this new show was starting on 11/12. I wonder if maybe the ride (and hopefully the colored lights) will begin on 11/8 while the show won't start until 11/12?? I am just thinking aloud...

I saw my first one yesterday for Best Buy.

siskaren --

I think I may have just seen that one too, earlier today. And then there was yet another holiday ad -- for some store I wouldn't have associated with holiday ads but I can't recall which store it was -- that I saw after the first one I saw the other day.

So DH and I are seriously considering a trip in December (seriously considering=more then likely, we will go). This is our situation. We don't want to pull DS5 out of school. And DH doesn't have a lot of vacation hours. He works at a college and is off the 2 weeks of Christmas and New Years. We also have DS4. So here is my question to all of you:

Would you go to DL for one day on the 14th?

or

Would you brave the crazy crowds and go more then one day, Dec 21-23.

We go a lot, so I'm not terrible concerned about the crowds. I just don't want to feel like I will lose my kids in a huge grid lock mess (i.e. the villains event on 9/13) We have gone every year since DS5 was born so I really don't want to give up the tradition.......Can't wait to hear all your opinions!

crystal1313 --

Hmmm... Well, like you, I wouldn't want to give up the tradition -- especially at a time of year that is so beautiful and filled with things to see and do at DLR.

I tend to think that more days are always going to be better than just one day. December 14th is a Saturday, so it will be crowded anyway, I think. December 21-23 is always going to be crowded and busy because it's so close to Christmas, and because it's a weekend when people are arriving in droves, but you'll still get 2.5 or 3 days out of it.

I'd be interested to hear what others say. I know that I stopped going on the weekend before Christmas after my 2009 experience, because it was just too crowded for my liking (and I just wasn't expecting it to be after the previous years' experiences, so I was not prepared). However, one day only is not to my liking either -- especially when all of this stuff is happening in DCA and in DL.

I think I will lean towards 12/21 - 12/23, even though it will be crowded. I don't think it will be Unleash the Villains-level crazy, but it will be very, very busy!

 

[julieheyer]

Woohoo!! It's getting closer!! 39 days? Really?!! Yay!!!


Sherry-we will probably in the parks that Sunday too! We're talking about coming a few days early so dh can enjoy Sun and Mon in the parks with us, then we get a few more days after he flies home .

Not sure if we're doing DL or DCA the 8th, but if you set a time/place I can try to say hello too!! It'd be fun to meet Disers in real life!!

I've got some outdated Halloween time pics, do they count? I need to go find them to post them.

I only have CP pics from WDW. I doubt we'll be able to see it this year either, too crowded for me, I get a bit agitated in crowds . And the fam won't hang in there for it either...maybe we can hear some of it from down main St?