Julie, pixleyyy and Elk Grove Chris -- Everyone's got another entry into the random draw! What gorgeous pictures everyone has posted!
Thanks
I am going to try emailing and see.
blue888 --
Let us know what you find out! I think that by the end of next week, someone in Dining should have a list because that's when the booking windows open for Christmas.
It would be good to get a comprehensive list of the special Christmas Eve/Day meals, like the Parks Blog did for the Thanksgiving meals last year. Even if they don't put out a new list every year, having one list to sort of use as a guideline for a couple of years would be good (and I could put it on page 1 of this thread, in the Food/Dining post).
I don't doubt that the Parks Blog will do a piece about holiday treats & goodies -- they seem to have finally picked up on the fact that people like reading about goodies all year -- but doing a specific article about Christmas Eve/Day meals would be very handy. And I know the people in Disney's Social Media departments occasionally peek in on this thread, so hopefully they will get the hint!
I've been lurking on this thread for awhile now but thought I might as well start posting. It looks like we get to go to the parks for a quick trip! I'm super excited. I can't wait to see the decorations again! We went a couple years ago at Christmas time and I loved it. I'm most looking forward to the parade and the fireworks/snow. And I've got a giant list of all the treats I need to eat in a day and a half! We'll be in the parks the Saturday and Sunday before Thanksgiving so I know crowds will be growing. But thats ok by me! I'm just glad we get to go and I can get the kids's picture with Santa!
Welcome,
kirstie101!
I'm so glad you decided to join in!
I think that if a quick trip is in the works, the holiday season is the best time to do it because you can get a lot of Christmas merriment packed into a day and a half!
I also think it's good that you'll be seeing the parade, fireworks and snow on this trip. If an official Christmas party begins next year or the year after, who knows what the fate of the existing holiday parade and fireworks will be? Those longstanding events could become part of a paid party, or Disney could replace them with an all new holiday parade and fireworks show.
You went a couple of years ago -- so you haven't seen the Buena Vista Street decorations or Cars Land decorations in person yet? You have a lot to look forward to! Even the Jingle Jangle Jamboree in
Disneyland is new -- even though it is basically an expanded version of the old Reindeer Round-Up. California Adventure feels like it is more involved in the seasonal festivities now. It often felt like it was lacking a little bit of holiday decor in the past (once you got past the entrance), but last year was different.
Yes, crowds will be starting to build on the weekend you're there (with people who are arriving early for their Thanksgiving celebrations) but I think that as long as you prepare for it and expect it, that's half the battle!
Besides, we can never totally predict what will happen -- sometimes, when we think it's going to be really crowded, it's not that bad. And when we think it won't be crowded, it is very crowded (as many of the current Halloween Time/MHP visitors are finding out!). At this rate, I am expecting the first 2 weeks of December to be more crowded than they have been in recent years, just because it seems like a lot of people are going during that time to avoid larger crowds a couple of weeks later!
You will definitely have at least 2 Santas to get the kids' photos with -- the DCA/Elias and Company Santa and the Jingle Jangle Jamboree Santa.
Sherry, I'm sorry to report back to you...my Safeway in Roseville, CA (near Sacramento) has the full fat version (in addition to the Slow Churned) of your Peppermint Ice Cream
egritz --
Okay, now you're all just taunting and torturing me.
And again I say...madness!
Thanks Bret and Sherry. I have read a bit from the first page and am a little nervous about our dates now. Since the processional will only take place that weekend, I bet crowds will flock. I would love to see it, but like Fantasmic, I just do not like how long it would take out of my day. DisneyWorld makes everything easier.
Our dates are not flexible, since we have Thanksgiving plans the weekend before and Xander's birthday party booked the weekend after. The following weekend is prime time meaning more crowds and the requirement to upgrade APs.
Kim --
I think that Saturday of your December weekend will be the worse day in terms of Candlelight crowds, because reports always seem to indicate that the Saturday crowds are worse on that weekend. Sunday will probably be the less crowded of the two days, especially in the first half of the day.
I find that what happens is that a lot of the crowds and gridlock around Town Square are caused by people trying to leave...so they can avoid crowds!
The crowds are sometimes caused by people trying to avoid crowds! So if you just avoid Town Square and Main Street later in the day and don't try to join the mass exodus of people thinking they are escaping huge crowds, you might not have too much of an issue. You can always head to DCA or take a break in DTD, or in the lovely, comfortable GCH lobby!
The best thing is that you're prepared. If you expect horrible crowds, then the reality will probably not end up being what you imagined. I think it's much better to prepare for the worst and end up pleasantly surprised, than to go in with blinders on, not knowing what to expect.
I think I've only had 2 funnel cakes in my life. The Christmasy one in DCA, and one that my dad got at Knott's Berry Farm years ago. I remember it well because a bird pooped on it and dad noticed as he was taking a bite next to the poop-laden part.
Frontierland seems like the most funnel cakey area of the park. (Maybe I'm relating it back to my Knott's Berry Farm days.) But I've never had one there.
I love the pictures for this week's theme everyone! I love the old-fashioned Christmas look. Too bad I don't have any pics to share this week.
Sherry, was the newspaper something you could keep as a souvenir, or was it a decoration only? I love your tree picture looking up from the bottom.
deej --
Well, a poop-laden funnel cake is not very enticing, is it?
There are a couple of places at the Farmers Market (in my neighborhood) that have funnel cake. I never buy it, though.
Now I have to figure out whose TR I read a while back with the report and/or photo of someone eating funnel cake in Frontierland! It will hit me when I am not even thinking about it, most likely!
You don't have any holiday photos from the Hollywood Pictures Backlot (pre-Hollywood Land days)? Hollywood is part of the theme for this week, too.
Stay tuned -- there are two brand new themes coming up next Monday (10/21) and 10/28...and one of them you will be able to contribute to, I think.
Thank you for the compliment on the tree picture.
The holiday edition of the Buena Vista Bugle was a souvenir. There was a stack of them sitting in a rack somewhere on BVS -- I am thinking it was near Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe, maybe?? I saw them sitting there and took a couple of different shots -- the one I posted yesterday, which I then 'aged' by adding the tone and the frame to it, and a second shot in which I arranged the stack of newspapers in a sort of slightly fanned out way (which looked more appealing than just the straight stack of papers).
Love DCA at Christmas time!! 
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