I had just finished my last round of replies and saw that more posts came in as I was typing, so let me quickly add:
mrsw94 -- Ghirardelli is expensive. I don't think they give samples at the chalet, but they hand out free samples at the Ghirardelli shop in DCA, so be sure to stop in and get a free piece of yummy peppermint bark!
twinky - I just noticed the Quinoia error this morning, as I was going back over some pictures!
I hadn't paid attention to the sign when I first took that photo, oddly. I hadn't really read it. It's not as horrible as Tinkle Bell or Strom Troppers, but it's still a mistake and Disney should be checking these things more carefully!
Jenny -- I was pleasantly surprised by the Winter Village. I think you'll like it. It's very cute. Stay tuned -- I have treat photos, merchandise photos and some general decor photos coming up!
pixiepowers -- You're very welcome!
Part of the reason I do this sort of 'photo highlight reel' thing is for folks like you, who have to wait a while before their trips begin. While some folks don't like to spoil the surprise for themselves, others like to know what to expect or look out for so they don't miss anything special. If they can see photos before they go, they can get a sense of what to make time for and what to kind of ignore. I know that I have had trips in which I didn't know about a particular thing (treat/souvenir/hidden gem) until I got home and was disappointed that I missed it. This way, people can be prepared.
And now to the post that I was originally going to submit, with the other replies!....
Thank you all for the kind and lovely comments -- about the photos, the updates, about my work on this thread in general, etc. I may not always have time to reply -- or to reply in depth -- but I read all of the comments and posts here and I really, really appreciate it.
As I've said before, I'm glad that this thread can help as well as entertain the followers. That was/is my goal -- to provide good information and planning help; to discuss breaking news/rumors/speculation about the holiday season; and to provide a place for everyone to exchange their own experiences and tips -- while also being
fun and festive!
Before I jump into sharing the Treats/Merchandise/Decor pictures, let me fire off some replies to just the last series of comments that have come in (and I know I have skipped a lot of them in the last few days due to being busy)...
I just watched "
Snow Bride" and "
A Very Merry Mix-Up." I wasn't a big fan of the Mix-Up movie, but I really enjoyed the Bride!! I thought it was super cute, even if predictable, and I found myself smiling throughout!
I have "
12 Men of Christmas" recorded, but I have seen it before and love it! I am also looking forward to seeing "
The Mistle-Tones" again!
Of course, I can't leave out "
The Santa Clause" trilogy or "
A Very Brady Christmas" (a guilty pleasure!).
pudinhd --
I agree -- I wanted to love "
A Very Merry Mix-Up" and didn't! It was okay but not great. I watched another new one last night -- "
The Christmas Ornament." It wasn't a breezy romantic holiday comedy as much as it was a romantic drama-ish movie (sort of). It wasn't too serious and downbeat but it wasn't light and upbeat either. It was pretty good.
Major BOO to Dreyers for not giving
Disneyland their peppermint. After the whole not-finding-it-in-stores debacle for many, are they trying to sabotage one of their best flavors completely? I can just see some anti-peppermint guy high up in the company ...
I am glad to hear the Christmas Village in DTD is much nicer. The photos I had seen of the rink looked much more festive already. I hadn't planned to spend much time in DTD, but maybe we'll walk one way to the hotels to see the decorations, and take the monorail back instead of both ways.
PHXscuba
PHX -
The interesting thing is that Dreyer's sells DLR the properly sized cartons in other flavors (all of the ice cream at DLR is from them), but they wouldn't do it for the peppermint this year.
The other very interesting thing is that DLR was selling the peppermint ice cream back in July, when they did their Christmas in July Limited Time Magic thing for one week. Apparently Dreyer's could get it together to send the correct sizes of peppermint ice cream in the summer...but just not during the holiday season when people are actually looking for it!
I chuckled at your "I can just see some anti-peppermint guy high up in the company ..." comment! I would believe it. There is probably a conspiracy to stop all peppermint ice cream sales or, at the very least, to replace all of the "good" ice cream with the impostor Slow Churned ice cream.
On a side note, however, you'll be happy to know that I -- once again -- dared to eat at Earl of Sandwich on Friday...and they finally got my order right!
This may have been in part due to the fact that when I placed my order I specifically said to the girl at the counter, "Can you make sure it has Parmesan and mozzarella on it? It's supposed to have those, correct?" She seemed disinterested in what I was saying but the order came out exactly as it should -- with the right amount of sauce and cheese.
Thank you Sherry!!!!
I got my gift card. Love the card and the cute Lighting McQueen gift card! We are going to definitely buy something special with it!
Thank you again!!!!!!!!!
Mickeybell --
Yay!
You'e very welcome I'm glad that you (and
Kathy too) received your gift card. Congratulations on your other win as well -- winning a trip is a big deal!
I think that if you are going to play the lottery, now would be the time to do it!
I wasn't sure that the two holiday-themed gift cards would get to me in time to send them out to anyone else. If they hadn't gotten to me in time I would have had to send you and Kathy the basic non-holiday themed gift cards. They would still work, of course, but they just wouldn't have festive holiday pictures on them!
Sherry
We unfortunately don't have the Hallmark channel in Canada (or not in Calgary at least) but I have found a few of the Hallmark Christmas movies on Lifetime and Showcase so I have set them up to record (much to DH's chagrin)!
I have seen The Christmas Heart and a few others posted so far and have a bunch more coming up including Trading Christmas the description of which got me very excited for the Hallmark movies in the first place!
TinkLoverSam --
I've never checked on Hallmark's site but I am assuming they do not make the movies available online? Or if they do, it's probably just certain ones and not the newer movies. That's a shame. Even though there are plenty of other holiday movies to watch -- on the Lifetime channel or on ABC Family or any of the classics that we all grew up with -- there is something cool about the sweet simplicity of these Hallmark movies. It's like a 2 month-long holiday hug!
I love "
Trading Christmas" and that whole people-swapping-houses-and-finding-love plot. I don't know that the actors necessarily have chemistry, but it's a cute story.
There is an upcoming Hallmark movie coming on in mid-December called "
Finding Christmas," and it sounds like it has the same basic plot -- two guys swap houses and find love.
Apparently
Liza/funatdisney is the newest Hallmark Channel viewer! She has gotten into watching some of these Hallmark movies too (in her free time, when she is not running around doing 1000 things), and she sees what I have been talking about -- they are addictive in a way!
They are all predictable but they provide a really good dose of holiday spirit and/or a really nice kind of holiday backdrop when you're doing other things at home.
Your photos prove it - the village looks SO much nicer
Good job Disney.
Love the basketballs on the ESPNZone wreath!
Tania -
I agree -- Disney did a much better job on the Village this time around. Last year it seemed very poorly executed, and they removed the giant tree too. At least this year it seems like they made more of an effort!
These pictures are amazing, thank you for putting them up... I can't wait to see this for myself. What are the opening hours for the winter village?
the_princess --
Thank you! I think that the Village hours are supposed to be 3 p.m. - 10 p.m. on most days. The ice rink was not open when I was there two days ago but the little chalets with treats and souvenirs were open. I think that something must have delayed the opening of the rink.
Sherry, thankyou so much for making the time to put those pictures up! I've just woken up from my first night in San Francisco (flew in from Australia yesterday) and just cannot wait until Thursday when I head to Disneyland - your pictures have made me even more excited! The first store I went to after dropping off my bags was the
Disney store, it's been nearly 3 years since I was last in SFC but I knew exactly where it was and headed straight there for some instant Disney Christmas. Today is my designated shopping day so no doubt I'll head back there as they had some great ornaments, then I'll head to the Disney Family Museum on one of my other days.
I've only bought my p&s on this trip as it's so short but I find I take a lot more photos with it rather than the dslr as it's so easy to grab out of my purse and snap away - watch out next years theme weeks!
Luisa --
You're welcome! I look forward to seeing what you come up with for next year's Theme Week Countdown!
Have a great time on your trip!
Sherry - thanks for taking the time to go through your pics and posting. I'm an avid photographer too and know the energy required to do what you did. Great photos and such helpful information is contained in them. I've been a long time lurker on the board and your photos are always great
momtothreeinfinity --
Thank you for the kind words!
That's very nice of you to say. Sometimes I have more time to actually wander around and try to come up with interesting photos (just for my own creative purposes) and sometimes I am more focused on getting a large quantity of photos to bring back to this thread (or whichever thread I'm dealing with) for those who are still planning trips.
This recent day trip on Friday was an info-gathering mission in which I was focusing more on getting a lot of photos instead of trying to channel my creative side. So I am always shocked if anything comes out decently when I am running around, snapping away like a madwoman, going for quantity!
And yes, you're right -- it takes a lot of time dealing with photos, doesn't it? It's not just a matter of taking them in the first place, but managing them after the fact -- backing them up, putting them on a photo hosting site (if you plan to share them anywhere), organizing, editing (for those who edit or post-process), etc. The folks who go on multi-day trips and also are avid shutterbugs have huge tasks ahead of them when they return home, just trying to deal with their photos!
Do you find that if you happen to take a whole bunch of so-so photos, or photos that are neither great nor terrible, and you come up with one or two gems that are really good it makes the whole thing worthwhile?
I've noticed that about my own efforts. I might be skimming through hundreds or thousands of photos that I took and not seeing anything all that interesting for a long stretch of time. All of a sudden I will find one, maybe two, maybe 10 pictures that I really like a lot -- or photos that came out much better than I expected them to -- and those good shots will make all of the wasted time spent on the mediocre shots okay!
Wow the Winter Village looks so much better than last year.
Unfortunately we don't have a trip planned to DL this Christmas so had avoided this thread this year but Im glad I decided to have a look. I'll be looking regularly now to see more photos.
We are from UK and are fortunate to have been for the last 2 yrs in early December but this year are just having a few days in DLP instead - Im looking forward to that though as Ive not been for several years (Ive been to DL 3 times since I last went there). However Im avoiding looking at any pics from there until Ive been so I can enjoy all the Christmas stuff first hand.
A Small World -
From the photos that Orbitron posted during our Holiday Cornucopia Theme Week (11/4 - 11/11), it looks as though DLP is magical during the holidays...with real snow!
The Winter Village is sooo much better this year, isn't it? As I mentioned on Friday night, it's not exactly a cozy Alpine hamlet nestled in a forest or at the base of a mountainside, but it is much, much better than last year's sorry attempt at a Village!
Sheri, hope your feeling better!
Did they have the Winter Village last year? We were there for Halloween last year.We leave on Friday and will be there till Monday.
So Excited!!
Our schedules were so busy last year we didnt get a real vacation and so even DH is ready to go!(He prefers
DCL!)
As always, your photos are beautiful!
Rita -
Thank you!
Last year there was a pitiful attempt at a Village in Downtown Disney, in conjunction with the "
Secret of the Wings" movie. Other than the ice rink I saw nothing terribly wintry or village-y about it. In fact, there was no giant Christmas tree in DTD last year, because they had to make room for the rink. This year's Village is a vast improvement and the giant tree is back, in the center of the rink. The only issue is that I suppose Disney underestimated how long it would take to get the rink up and running, so they first said the Village would be open on 11/11...and then 11/14...and then on 11/15 the rink was still not open! Next year -- if they do the Village again -- hopefully they will plan it out a bit better.
What I noticed is that all of the decorations that used to sit at the base of the DTD Christmas tree pre-2012 have now been re-purposed and worked into the decor of the Winter Village! All of those soldiers you see (and the drum) were part of the old decor under the tree prior to last year. At least Disney is making use of these old decorations and doing something with them.
Does anyone know if they are offering an AP discount for ice skating? I know last year they had a BOGO kinda thing.
Thanks in advance!
letitsnow -
The rink was not open when I was there 2 days ago, so we'll have to find out from someone who has been there since it opened (assuming that it opened in time for the weekend). I would imagine that if there was an AP deal last year there might be one this year too, but it's anyone's guess.
When I was there on Friday, there were literally men hammering away at the rink under a big white covering/tarp. They were on their hands and knees as they furiously tried to get this rink together.
Last year I bought a larger Mickey and Minnie and brought them with us to WDW....I suppose they would be lonely if I were to leave them at home this trip. 
