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

[crystal1313]

^Tree and Windows are SO super cute!!!!

Just got my first gingerbread latte of the season! Mmm, Christmas in a cup!!! It's even more magical then I remember =) Baristas told me new sauce and spiced whip cream this year! To die for (And FYI, I hardly ever drink coffee, I usually drink tea)

 

[Sherry E]

Sherry, it was the clerk a the register who made the comment. It was tongue in cheek, and all good fun, but yes, it was in HIS store.

We've brought trees a couple times. I have a small pink tree I bought one year after Christmas for $3. I intended to gift it to someone on my way out but ended up keeping it since it folded down so small in my suitcase. It wasn't prelit though and the lights I didn't like how the lights looked in daylight so I liked the idea of the fiber optic tree where I wouldn't need to add lights. I got a $10 Wal-Mart gift card for using Ebates so I used it on the $15 tree.

I think it will do OK in the suitcase, but if it doesn't, it's not the end of the world. And if it fits, we'll bring it back home. If it doesn't, no big loss.

Here's our tree from 2010:


IMG_6340-1 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

We have really enjoyed decorating our window at WDW too, but are sad PPH doesn't lend itself well to that. We still might put some lights in the window but probably will pass on anything else. Here are a couple of our prior windows:


IMG_6338-1 by mom2rtk, on Flickr


IMG_9961 by mom2rtk, on Flickr


IMG_9810a by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Janet --

That tree from 2010 is the one you packed in your suitcase? That's much bigger than I was imagining, for some reason. It looks really nice, though, and it doesn't look as though it suffered any obvious travel wear and tear.

I love all of the window decorations you put up! Those are great! That's so festive. As you can imagine, I love any and all holiday displays -- in windows, on doors, on porches, in yards, on rooftops -- wherever they can fit!

I'd heard through the years that the holiday visitors at WDW often go all out and decorate their doors and windows at the hotels. I'm not even sure if it is frowned upon at our DLR hotels because I've never tried to do that. It just doesn't seem to be something that a lot of guests think of doing when they stay at the GCH, DLH or PPH, though I would love to see it happen!

I suppose the set-up at each of the 3 DLR hotels is probably not as conducive to decorating as it is at some of the WDW hotels, but I don't know what the actual DLR hotels' stance on the issue is. Hmmm... that's something to inquire about and look into for future reference.

 

[mom2rtk]

^Tree and Windows are SO super cute!!!!

Just got my first gingerbread latte of the season! Mmm, Christmas in a cup!!! It's even more magical then I remember =) Baristas told me new sauce and spiced whip cream this year! To die for (And FYI, I hardly ever drink coffee, I usually drink tea)

Thanks! I can't wait to sample some Christmas goodies soon too!

Janet --

That tree from 2010 is the one you packed in your suitcase? That's much bigger than I was imagining, for some reason. It looks really nice, though, and it doesn't look as though it suffered any obvious travel wear and tear.

I love all of the window decorations you put up! Those are great! That's so festive. As you can imagine, I love any and all holiday displays -- in windows, on doors, on porches, in yards, on rooftops -- wherever they can fit!

I'd heard through the years that the holiday visitors at WDW often go all out and decorate their doors and windows at the hotels. I'm not even sure if it is frowned upon at our DLR hotels because I've never tried to do that. It just doesn't seem to be something that a lot of guests think of doing when they stay at the GCH, DLH or PPH, though I would love to see it happen!

I suppose the set-up at each of the 3 DLR hotels is probably not as conducive to decorating as it is at some of the WDW hotels, but I don't know what the actual DLR hotels' stance on the issue is. Hmmm... that's something to inquire about and look into for future reference.

Thanks Sherry, isn't it amazing what $3 will buy after Christmas? It really held up well to travel and would look as good as new (with a little shaping) if we took that one again> I haven't opened the new one yet. I hope it does as well. Planning our little displays gives us something to focus on while we wait for our one shot at Disney for the year.

I think WDW lends itself to decorating because people tend to stay longer, and because so many of the resorts have outside hallways. I just LOVE walking up to our room at the end of the night with the light shining in the dark at us.

There's an entire thread somewhere here on the DIS dedicated to guest decorated windows! That's sort of where I got the idea.

 

[ksromack]

I've never packed a small tree, though I adore the idea of having one in the room (if only those darn trees offered by the Vacation Planning/Disney Gifts folks weren't so expensive). I think that if and when I ever stay at DLR over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I will have to have some kind of tiny tree.

I bought my tree last year at Walmart and had it delivered to our resort....i left it there, though, for someone else because I did not have room in my suitcase. I'm still trying hard to figure out if I can pack something to bring with us for the room. I do have a skinny tree, about 3' I may be able to pack and these are the ornaments I made for that tree:



And here's the actual tree I had in our room:

Thanks Sherry, isn't it amazing what $3 will buy after Christmas? It really held up well to travel and would look as good as new (with a little shaping) if we took that one again> I haven't opened the new one yet. I hope it does as well. Planning our little displays gives us something to focus on while we wait for our one shot at Disney for the year.

I think WDW lends itself to decorating because people tend to stay longer, and because so many of the resorts have outside hallways. I just LOVE walking up to our room at the end of the night with the light shining in the dark at us.

There's an entire thread somewhere here on the DIS dedicated to guest decorated windows! That's sort of where I got the idea.

I love your decorations Janet! I never found the cute window clings anywhere but one of my coworkers did give me a cute Tinkerbell lighted thing I put in our window at Port Orleans. Are you going to put lights on the outside of your window? I think we have a regular view at PPH....I didn't even think about putting lights up there.

 

[mom2rtk]

I bought my tree last year at Walmart and had it delivered to our resort....i left it there, though, for someone else because I did not have room in my suitcase. I'm still trying hard to figure out if I can pack something to bring with us for the room. I do have a skinny tree, about 3' I may be able to pack and these are the ornaments I made for that tree:



And here's the actual tree I had in our room:





I love your decorations Janet! I never found the cute window clings anywhere but one of my coworkers did give me a cute Tinkerbell lighted thing I put in our window at Port Orleans. Are you going to put lights on the outside of your window? I think we have a regular view at PPH....I didn't even think about putting lights up there.

CUTE ornaments Kathy!

Great idea to have Wal-Mart ship to your resort! I really didn't have trouble fitting ours in once I took it out of the box. I figured I could just leave it behind later if needed and free up more room for souvenirs.

All the clings we have used I found on Ebay. I haven't seen any good Disney ones recently.

As for the lights, I plan on just hanging them inside the window with suction cups.

The only deal with decorating at Disney is that you pretty much have to be able to do it all with suction cups.

 

[Phoenixrising]

First off I have certain ethics when taking pics, and #1 in the case of the pics I took this morning, I didn't take any of the couple who got burned out of their house. It's bad enough that they are suffering the loss of their home. It's another insult to take their pic in their time off loss and give it to a local paper. I view this as invasion of privacy, and while it makes for great print, it's not or ever will be my style of photography. I strictly took pics of the house up in flames, and the smoke billowing out from it. I beat the media by 20 mins, not that I really care, although I did get a chuckle out of it. I'm printing the pics from the fire off on my mini photo printer that I rarely use, and have uploaded the pics into my computer. Once I uploaded the pics into my computer I emailed them to the editor. So I should have it all figured out by the end of the weekend. The fire was the result of a dryer repair gone wrong and was electrical in nature. They did lose 3 of their cats in the fire, which is a shame. By the looks of the fire they've lost everything, so if you think you are having a bad day, think of them and appreciate what you've got.

 

[ksromack]

The fire was the result of a dryer repair gone wrong and was electrical in nature. They did lose 3 of their cats in the fire, which is a shame. By the looks of the fire they've lost everything, so if you think you are having a bad day, think of them and appreciate what you've got.

I cannot imagine having a house fire. My house would go up quickly judging from the amount of scrapbook paper I have. And to lose their cats too.....I find that hearing stories like this (and they happen every day, every where) certainly makes me appreciate what I have.

 

[pattyduke34]

for todays mini theme...

 

[Sherry E]

pattyduke34 --

Another 2 entries into the random draw for your mini-theme contribution!

There are only 2 mini-themes left, and then Monday is the big Holiday Cornucopia final theme (but there won't be a rush to post in it -- you'll have all week). And then it will be time for me to !

​

In other news...

While today/tonight may be the beginning of the onslaught of holiday ads and TV shows/movies, I saw another Halloween commercial today?? I don't think I've ever seen a Halloween ad past October 31st. I have definitely seen holiday ads past Christmas, leading up to New Year's, but never a Halloween ad on November 1st. All of the Halloween TV programming (on the Travel Channel, etc.) is gone from the listings now too.

 

[blue888]

Love the room decoration photos!

Phoenixrising - That is so sad about the house fire.

 

[Phoenixrising]

It's sad about what happened, but you never know life is going to make a drastic change for the better or worse and its how you handle it that's the most important thing. With the high price of land in our city I can see them eventually selling the land and another mega home being built on the property. Land here is insanely expensive with a one third of an acre going for over $one.three mil ouch!

 

[Alohagirl73]

Sherry-

I too saw a Halloween commercial today too. I thought it was off.

Can't wait for my peppermint mocha!!! That starts the Christmas season for me.

 

[mrs.ariel]

Today I had my first eggnog latte of the season and I paid in full our Disneyland trip for next month!!!

I even added a day to our parkhoppers to go into the parks on our arrival day
Can't wait!!!!!!

I love Halloween, but I'm glad it is over so we can focus on the real holiday season and our first trip to DL for the holidays

 

[rentayenta]

Bugs Land is so cute and well themed during the holidays. I love it and thank you to those that posted photos. Brought a smile to my face after what was a pretty craptastic day.

 

[figment_jii]

The latest D23 email announced the Brennan's Jazz Kitchen Gingerbread House workshop for Dec 22 from noon to 2 pm. It says tickets will go on sale on Nov 18...nothing about the other dates.

https://d23.com/d23-events/holiday-...kitchen/?CMP=EMC-eml&att=20131101_D23_FanFare

 

[Sherry E]

mrs.ariel & Alohagirl73 --

My goodness! All of this talk of gingerbread (crystal1313 mentioned her drink), eggnog and peppermint beverages makes me realize...WE ARE REALLY IN NOVEMBER!!! It just seems like we've all been hanging out here for months, discussing news items as they came in (like when the 2-night Candlelight info first came out 6+ months ago), helping each other plan trips and talking about a holiday season that seemed oh so far away. And now it's here!!!! Some of our thread followers will be at DLR within the next week or week and a half!!

Alohagirl73 -- The Halloween ad on 11/1 was so odd! I mean I love love love Halloween and I feel like the overall celebration and 'season' of it zips by so quickly that there is hardly time to really immerse myself in it. Yes, the Halloween Time season at DLR begins in mid-September, which I enjoy, but let's face it -- if it is 90 degrees outside and the sun is beating down on us, it's hard to really get into "Fall mode." By the time the weather finally starts to cool off, Halloween is over. Even when I went to the Fall Festival or whatever it is called at Farmers Market a couple of weeks ago, it was hot. It started out at 50-something degrees in the morning, and then jumped to 80-something degrees. I couldn't get in full Halloween mode because of it.

mrs. ariel -- I think it's a good idea to add a day to the Hoppers whenever it can be done! It's hard to be in DTD or in the Esplanade between the two parks and see glimpses of holiday magic taking place in either park and not be able to go in and enjoy it. While I do love visiting the GCH lobby in the late afternoon or early evening to listen to carolers and see Santa, and while DTD kind of has its own holiday "vibe" happening, there is a time and place to enjoy those things -- and it's usually not on the first night of your first-ever DLR holiday trip!


Jenny -- I'm glad you're still hanging in there with us. I am working on today's mini-theme (which will be up in the next 2 or 3 hours) and then we have one more mini-theme tomorrow. And then, the final Holiday Cornucopia theme on Monday. So I hope we can help lessen the craptastic-ness of it all for you!

​

Oh I am so excited!!! I cannot wait to get a glimpse of those wonderful Christmas trees, gingerbread houses and Mardi Gras masks again! I wonder if there will be a Christmas tree anywhere in New Orleans Square, now that the Court of Angels is closing?? Where else could a tree fit or be set up nicely? That spot was really perfect for it. I can't think of another spot in NOS that would accommodate a tree well.

As excited as I am about the holidays approaching -- or really, being here already -- I still feel like they got here so fast and that a chunk of the year went missing. It seems like months of the year disappeared somewhere along the line, and we fast forwarded through Halloween. I think that this holiday season will seem very short when it's all said and done. That's what I really don't like. I am all for the holiday season being here now, but I think it will zip by just like Halloween did and the merriment of it won't last long enough for me.

Right now, the December DLR visitors are thinking their trips are far away, but in no time you will be home, coming back here to tell us about the trips and how they went!

Oh well, enough yapping from me right now. I must reply to figment_jii and then get back to preparing today's mini-theme for the Countdown (all the while, enjoying the Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas marathon that is running in the background! I just stocked up on hot cocoa the other day too. If only it were a cold day, I would pour myself a cup. However, it's supposed to be hovering around 80 degrees today. Brrrrrrrrr! Yeah...not quite as chilly as I'd prefer...

The latest D23 email announced the Brennan's Jazz Kitchen Gingerbread House workshop for Dec 22 from noon to 2 pm. It says tickets will go on sale on Nov 18...nothing about the other dates.

https://d23.com/d23-events/holiday-...kitchen/?CMP=EMC-eml&att=20131101_D23_FanFare

figment_jii --

Thank you so much for coming here to post the link and let people know. I know that it was mentioned in another thread yesterday...but that's not the Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread!!!!

I got the same D23 email yesterday and read about it, but hadn't updated the first page of the thread with it yet or even mentioned it. Sometimes I like to accumulate maybe 2 or 3 new articles/Parks Blogs and update Page 1 with all of them at one time, and sometimes I will update one link here, one link there, etc. (In fact, I was trying to figure out why there was a picture of IASWH in the email but I didn't see any mention of IASWH in the story it was supposedly connected to, and then I just gave up reading it after a while!)

I expect that we will begin to see a lot of holiday-related articles, blogs and Press Releases coming in the next few weeks, and they will probably be spread around in different places. I try to keep an eye on certain 'hot zones' (where I think an article will pop up) but I may miss something on the day it appears, or there may be an article in a completely different spot that I don't see.

So it definitely helps me when I know that others are on the lookout for info/news too, and will come here to alert us to new information! I really appreciate it. Just based on the categories I have broken down on Page 1 of this thread, I look for:

- General holiday season info;

- Holiday food/treats/dining info;

- Holiday merchandise/shopping info;

- Holiday happenings in DTD or at the 3 DLR hotels;

- Particular dates -- such as the dates that the popular candy canes are being made;

- Obviously any info about decorations or overlays;

- Seasonal events; and also,

- Any info that anyone sees/reads about Knott's Merry Farm 2013 or Grinchmas at Universal Studios 2013 would be helpful as well, so I can add that into the "Other Things to Do" post on page 1.

​

 

[blue888]

The latest D23 email announced the Brennan's Jazz Kitchen Gingerbread House workshop for Dec 22 from noon to 2 pm. It says tickets will go on sale on Nov 18...nothing about the other dates.

https://d23.com/d23-events/holiday-...kitchen/?CMP=EMC-eml&att=20131101_D23_FanFare

Aw, that is the day I arrive. Wish my flight was coming in earlier. I think we might bring our own kit and put it together in the room as a fun activity.

 

[mrs.ariel]

Sherry E: We'll be there the weekend of the CP so I'm sure we'll take some downtime from the parks when it gets really busy....that will be the perfect time to wander through DTD and the hotels! We are staying offsite- just can't justify the price difference....plus the $$ we save, we can use to upgrade to 5 day hoppers and souvenirs and snacks

Thanks for all this wonderful info....now that we are getting closer, I will need to review the first page

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I have MIA this week - Halloween with 4 kids is exhausting! But I did have my first red cup drink yesterday - Gingerbread Latte while my girls were at Nutcracker rehearsal. Their new recipe is wonderful!

 

[Jeslynb]

Subbing - heading to WDW the first week in December. It will be our first MVMCP and we're excited.