Ok-I get it now.
I went to the Halloween party (7 yrs?) ago at DCA...it was awesome. When I went again (3 yrs?) ago at DL , I did not like it. I will not be doing that again. So I'm not sure they could sell me on a Chirstmas party.
Thanks for sharing your info. I will keep an eye out for dates. I am trying to be patient and see when the official holiday start date is. I'm trying to hit it early and stay away from Thanksgiving craziness
The LTM thing could cancel out the debut of a DLR party this year, and postpone it until next year. Maybe. But then there would likely be some other new holiday 'thing' happening that was part of LTM, and I'm not sure what it could be. (I'm just thinking and speculating aloud!
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!!!! My family and I will be there dec 1-6 and I can not wait!!!! Cheshirecatty said:
DarthMole said:
We are spending Christmas and New Years in the parks 
, 4 Character Meals (Yup 4), Lunch at BB on Christmas Day, and so much more. It is gonna be the ultimate trip for me and my son 
....I may be a tad excited 
We are having a garage sale this summer and he is selling a bunch of toys, I always let him get the money for those to help encourage getting rid of stuff we dont need or want and he is putting half of his earnings towards our trip. Last garage sale he made $200. And he is getting rid of some good stuff this year Such a sweet boy!!! I think our last day was the official start of the season, we got to ride the Christmas rides and see the decorations but we didnt get to see the entertainment cause our flight time. And the filming was done the day before we got there, almost a week before the season offical started so not sure if that is always how it is but atleast it was that way last year. Any questions just ask 
OK.......Level 2 here, with great tendencies toward Level 1 at times. I did find Christmas cds in my Hubbies truck the other day (which I thought were put away), so he's basically been listening to Christmas music behind my back--he's naughty!
We were in the Parks on Christmas morning this past December, and loved it. It was not crazy busy like we had been led to believe it would be, however, the Wednesday AFTER Christmas was obscene!!!
Sherry, thanks for posting the picture of the PPH Christmas tree--it is so beautiful--can't wait to see it this year--we'll be arriving Dec. 22nd.
I'm watching this thread with bated breath to find out if we're going to HAVE to deal with a hard ticket Christmas party event this year, and hoping NOT
Too funny! It just seems like every year I hear more and more people grumbling about dreading Christmas, and saying "Why can't all of the Christmas stuff show up after Thanksgiving," etc....which really means, in my mind, "Why do we have to deal with Christmas at all" (because delaying the appearance of decorations and merchandise is not going to make it any less stressful!). 
What wonderful info. Thanks so much!! I have a lot of reading to do
I was there Nov 2012 4-9th and remember a little bit of Christmas being there when we first got there and then boom on our last day the big tree was up. It literally felt like stuff appeared out of thin air....BOOM...Christmas
Christmas and New Year's at DLR! Character meals! The Holiday tour! You'll have an amazing time. This will truly be a wonderful trip to remember.
) and I enjoy it. It's colorful, lively, Christmas-y, and all of that good stuff. There are adorable snowmen with chubby cheeks waddling along, and gingerbread men with flat bottoms moseying down the parade route. The song will stick in your head for a while after you see it, too! I think that's very much what it would be like -- at the very least, a mass revolt in terms of DLR getting bombarded with mail, e-mail and angry comments under the Parks Blogs!
mom2rtk -
It is a really cute, festive parade. I think you'll like it. I'm not big on parades in general, but I have seen the Christmas Fantasy Parade a few times (sometimes it seems like I can't escape it, even when I try!
I had to giggle at the "mass revolt" reference.
I know that a lot of folks think that if DLR were to suddenly introduce a Christmas party in Disneyland, and include the Christmas Fantasy Parade, Believe in Holiday Magic Fireworks and snow as exclusives of that party for the bulk of the season, it would be the same situation as it was when DLR first started making the Halloween Screams fireworks a Halloween party exclusive.
But that's not entirely true. The Halloween Screams fireworks were literally only available to the general, park-visiting public for one year, or one Halloween Time season (2009). That's it. They were new to all of us at Disneyland in 2009 (and the Halloween party was still being held in DCA in 2009), and in 2010 the fireworks were suddenly part of the party, which had moved to DL.
Basically, the 2009 Halloween Screams run was a way of getting people interested enough in them to want to pay extra to see them the following year. BUT since Halloween Screams only had that one-season run in 2009, it's not like they had worn out their welcome and become "old." The Halloween fireworks had not become traditions for anyone in only one season's time. A lot of people were not able to see those fireworks in 2009, and so their only chance at seeing them post-2009 was to buy tickets to the Halloween Party.
So I can totally understand that Halloween party exclusive scenario as far as the fireworks are concerned. Also, Halloween Time as a season is not as big of a deal at DLR as the holiday season is, so lots of people will skip Halloween Time in general anyway.
In the case of the Christmas Fantasy Parade, Believe in Holiday Magic fireworks and the snow on Main Street, etc., these are longstanding, long-existing traditions. It's not like these events have only been around for one holiday season and that's it. Far from it. There are many, many, many people who have seen them -- and not just locals. There are plenty of people who travel out here just for the holiday season every year, from other states and countries, and they've all seen the parade and fireworks. Sure, of course there are people who have not seen the parade and fireworks (like you!), but it's not the same situation as the Halloween Screams fireworks.
So, based on those facts, I think that having a party and throwing in only the longstanding traditions could, quite possibly, alienate a lot of the yearly holiday visitors and cause them to not want to buy tickets for things they have already seen several times. That plan could backfire on DLR.
At first it seemed like DLR was prepping the Candlelight Ceremony (last year) to be a potential addition to a future Christmas party by running it for 20 nights straight. That seemed very much like another "Halloween Screams scenario" to me -- where they run something every night for a block of time to get people interested enough in the event to want to pay extra for it the following year.
But, once I saw the Candlelight Ceremony a couple of times (and absolutely loved it!) I felt like it might be too religious and intimate to throw into a fun Christmas party, if that makes sense. Now I think that, if anything, the 20-night run of the Candlelight Ceremony last year was DLR's way of getting people interested enough in it to want to buy dinner packages for it if the Ceremony is moved to a new location this year. I think that is what the 20 nights were all about.
I definitely agree with you that IF a Christmas party is to be held in Disneyland, then to make it more palatable to all of those people that DLR could alienate they'd likely have to soup it up and add in a bunch of new extras -- not just stuff that thousands and thousands of people have already seen for years -- to entice us all to buy tickets. They can't only rely on newcomers to the holiday festivities to buy party tickets. They have to tap into that "longtime holiday visitor well" too. If they created an all-new holiday parade or an all-new holiday fireworks show, those would serve as good "bait" to reel everyone in. There would have to be something totally new and different. I don't think they could get away with only using the existing holiday parade and fireworks as party bait without looking totally Scrooge-like and greedy all at once.
Or, as I've thought all along, a great idea to introduce a Christmas party would be to start it in DCA for the first year -- just like the Halloween Party used to be held in DCA before all of the major construction walls went -- and really draw attention to the fun Cars Land and Buena Vista Street decor, add in an all-holiday World of Color as the selling point and throw in some other extras too.
So those are the only two ways I can see a Christmas party being fully accepted by most people -- adding in totally new things to be the selling points for a Disneyland party, or starting the party in the "re-imagined" California Adventure so it will have a bit more novelty to it.
Otherwise, expect the mass revolt!
And if a party appears in Disneyland, expect the Candlelight Ceremony to head across the Esplanade to DCA. I don't think they would both co-exist in one park.
Thanks so much can't wait for the countdown!!!!!!!Sherry E said:Cheshirecatty -
I had to laugh about your hubby listening to Christmas songs behind your back!
I suppose I expect most people to be in that Level 2 category of Christmas appreciation, and I really expected more Level 3s than the ones who have come forth!
I think that more and more people are getting so stressed out over Christmas that they may change from Level 2 to Level 3 over time!
I just love the fact that the PPH tree is easy to see from outside the PPH. So we can peek in and get a glimpse of its beauty before stepping into the lobby. At the GCH we can't see the tree until we go inside, and the DLH has a tree in every tower but those trees are not towering, majestic trees so we can't see them from afar.
I agree - I am not keen on a hard ticket event either, and I hope that DLR can find reasons to delay it once again. I don't really see how a hard ticket event will benefit anyone but Disney. The crowds would not be light. The entertainment schedule for the non-party guests would be affected. The tickets will probably cost a pretty penny. The only thing that would make me jump on board for a party is if there is some added highlight to it that I haven't seen before. I would not buy a ticket just for the parade and fireworks because I've seen those. However, if DLR rolls out new holiday events and throws them in a party that would be a different story!
Stay tuned for discussion as news breaks, and also stay tuned for the annual Theme Week Countdown to the start of the season (with a few new and/or revised themes), coming this summer!!!
sunshinex7 -
Welcome!
There is a lot of info in the first 9 posts on Page 1, and you will find many great, helpful posts from people throughout this thread. Plus, in late July or early August we will begin our annual Theme Week Countdown to the holiday season, which will take us right up to November. Every week we will focus on a different theme (I add an intro to the theme to set it up), and everyone will be encouraged to share their photos from those themes if they have been to DLR during the holidays. Every year we have some amazing contributors to the Theme Week Countdowns, and the variety and quality of photos is astounding. Theme Week Countdowns are a good way to focus the spotlight on different aspects of the season that get overlooked, or to learn about things that are often skipped over.
You are going in early December, which is my preferred time frame. That's my favorite time to go - the holiday season is in full swing but the crowds are lighter than they would be later in December.
aidensmom31 -
Wow! It sounds like you have an absolutely incredible trip in the works!
How sweet that your son wants to help pay for the trip! What a great son! And what a great way to help encourage him to get rid of toys and things.
Last year the season officially started on Mon., November 12th - that was the date published in all of Disney's press and Blogs, etc. The year before it began on Mon., 11/14. The season used to officially begin on Fridays pre-2011. I think that Disney tries to get as much stuff up and running by the weekend leading up to that date as they can, but nothing is absolutely guaranteed to be running until the official season start date. IASW Holiday typically soft opens a few days early.
But even despite an early or mid-November season start date, some things don't get going until closer to Thanksgiving...or even not until December. Certain merchandise and food items will not hit the parks until early December (like the Nutcracker Mickeys of last year - they did not appear until later in the season). The hotels don't get their decor until closer to Thanksgiving. Santa doesn't appear at the hotels until the hotels are decorated. Downtown Disney doesn't start playing Christmas music until December. Even the Jingle Jangle Jamboree was more decorated last year in December than it was in November! I don't think that the teeny tiny decorations in the Storybook Land boat ride show up until later in November. The Candlelight Ceremony doesn't start until December.
I wish everything would just start at the same time - it would be easier to keep track of that way!
I'd love to be there on Christmas day one of these years, so I am envious of you!
Tomorrow is the 7 month mark for our *fingers crossed* Disneyland trip. I get to try and book our GC Villa. Wish me luck
!! We've never seen Carsland or BVS.
