What lovely photos that have come in since I last signed on yesterday morning! I love looking at the various scenery shots but I also love seeing photos of everyone and their families! You guys are all so photogenic and you look so happy and fun in the pictures, so it makes me smile!
So, figment_jii, Bret, Jamie, pixleyyy, Julie, Luisa, ElkGroveChris and crystal1313 have all earned additional entries into the random draw.
I am excited to see who will win this draw -- I am used to entering contests and not winning, but I've never been the one to actually select a winner and it gives me a thrill to do it!
Next year I might try to up the ante even more in the 2014 Theme Week Countdown and do a $50 gift card giveaway (with a $25 second place prize), but I will cross that bridge when I get to it. This year, it's $25 in Disney money for the random draw winner and $25 for the Code Word Challenge winner!
pixleyyy -- I remember you mentioning in your TR that you were not impressed with the DLR holiday decor in comparison to the WDW decor (except for Cars Land), but I can't recall -- did you like the New Orleans Square decor? Those ornate masks and the whole Mardi Gras theme seem (to me) to be very unique and much more elaborate than what I've seen in the photos of the Port Orleans properties. That's a style/theme that I think people will either love or hate, but NOS is one of the most thoroughly decorated areas in DLR.
If there is anyone out there (lurking or actively posting) who is interested in the holiday schedule for the American Girl Place store at The Grove in L.A., please post here and let me know so I can share it. It might already be on the American Girl website, but just in case it's not let me know. I don't want to bore anyone with the American Girl holiday schedule unless some of our DLR travelers think they might be visiting that store during their trips to SoCal. The schedule was inserted in my newspaper this past Sunday (The Grove is just a few minutes away) which is how I got it!
While I am sad that the Halloween season is rapidly coming to an end in 9 days (where did the time go??
), I know that it means the parade of holiday commercials will begin. (It also means that any leftover Halloween candy, treats and decor that didn't get sold at my grocery store go into the "70% off" reduced price bin!) If I recall, last year I saw my first holiday season TV ad on 10/31. And, of course, the 2-month long Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas marathon begins on 11/1 (at night), which, of course, is a highlight for me! So, while I will mourn the departure of Halloween, I will eagerly welcome the arrival of the holiday season!
Sherry- :laugh: at the ice cream calling you back for it!!lol!! So happy you have your treat at last! I agree with the others, that I am not a big mint ice cream fan and you have me craving it
.!
And I really hope you're right about the CM parties... Not that they don't deserve a reward or celebration, but I'll be there after the CP and would really like the park open as long as possible... I know that sounds selfish, but with all we pay for the tickets these days it's very frustrating to think of losing precious park time
. Especially at Christmas :Santa:
Julie --
You know, I've never been a huge fan of the regular (green) mint ice cream. I know some people love mint chip, but that's never been my thing. The (pink) peppermint ice cream is something that I really just want to enjoy in the last 2 or 3 months of the year. Once it gets too cold I am not in the mood for any ice cream and once the weather warms up again I am in the mood for a different flavor.
So far I am not in the mood for ice cream at all right now, so the cartons of peppermint that I procured from the store are resting comfortably in the freezer.
I wouldn't be shocked if DLR decided to once again have the big CM parties at some point in the future. For a while I thought that maybe they were just cancelled last year because of the many nights of the Candlelight Ceremony, but I remember the 'news' came out that the CM parties were being discontinued long before last year. I think there was talk of it happening even back in 2011, but that may have been right before or right after the final CM parties took place.
If DLR is going to eventually have its own Christmas party for guests and find a way to expand the Candlelight Ceremony nights so that they can offer dinner packages, that will further complicate the scheduling of CM parties. So the parties may have been shelved for good, or at least for an indeterminate period of time.
Thank you SO much for this thread!! I can't begin to imagine how much time and effort (albeit fun effort) have gone into this!!
I have been lurking on this thread for a while. We are planning our first trip to DLR from Dec 22-25 (we are WDW vets) and reading this thread is literally giving me butterflies in my stomach, imagining how much fun my kids (and I) are going to have!!!
Thanks for the great information. I feel like I finally have a good grasp on my plans after studying this thread over the past weekend!!
Thanks again
NSmuppetmom --
Welcome!
I'm so sorry it took me so long to reply to this message! I haven't had a chance to get back onto the DIS until now.
I'm glad to hear the thread has been helpful and useful to you as you formulate your plans! You're correct -- it's been a big undertaking to put it all together, and has taken a
lot of time and effort (and continues to take a lot of time and effort!), but it is a fun effort, indeed! If I were not such a big fan of the holiday season myself, and if my holiday trips to DLR over the years hadn't meant so much to me, I don't think I would have the motivation to put a thread like this together. I have to really
love something in order to spend this much time on it!
You will be at DLR on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! What a wonderful way to spend the holiday. Hopefully you can/will report back to us when you get home and let us know how the trip went.
If you plan to visit with Santa at any of his 5 posts around DLR (including the 3 hotels), make sure to do it by 12/24, as he apparently vanishes after that date.
Yep! 9 AM it is
czmom --
Cool!
There are differences in the cartons, although I'll concede they're subtle. The Slow Churned has snowflakes on it, while the Grand has polka dots. Also, only the Grand has the snowman. The pumpkin on the other hand is much more subtle - I think it's just a lighter colored background.
siskaren --
I had to quickly sign off yesterday and didn't have a chance to finish my thought about the continuing mystery of the Dreyer's/Edy's Peppermint Wonderland ice cream.
I mentioned that the Slow Churned at my store was in the same snowman container/carton as the Grand, except for that the number of calories and saturated fat in the lower right section of the front was different, and the carton had "Slow Churned" printed on it instead of "Grand." That's why the 4th carton of Grand was hard to spot (after I nabbed the other 3 cartons and threw them in my cart) -- it was literally mixed in with the Slow Churned, and I didn't see it at first. I was turning all of the cartons around so I could see the fronts of them and determine if they were all Slow Churned or if there were any hidden Grands grouped in with them.
What I am thinking may have happened is that, when the head honchos at Dreyer's/Edy's got together for their creative/marketing meetings early this year and decided on returning flavors or new flavors coming out in 2013, they came up with the new name of "Peppermint Wonderland" (which was not the name of the ice cream last year) and the new package design (with the snowman). So the idea and concept went off to the artists and then the ice cream (both Grand and Slow Churned) was made and put into the brand new cartons with the new name.
I am imagining that, at some point -- maybe after getting feedback from stores or from consumers -- someone at Dreyer's/Edy's must have said something like, "We can't have Slow Churned and Grand in the same cartons. That will confuse people and it will be too easy to accidentally grab the Grand if someone wants Slow Churned." And so it was, literally, back to the drawing board to quickly come up with an alternate carton design for Slow Churned.
Maybe Dreyer's let a certain number of the original snowman Slow Churned cartons go out before changing the carton design, or maybe they just decided to send those cartons out to be sold anyway, since they were already made. They also may have just sent them to certain regions instead of all over the U.S. In any case, I am expecting that if the Slow Churned sells out at my stores -- and there was plenty of it there the other day -- the "new" carton will suddenly appear in its place.
This could also explain why, when I called my Ralphs store a couple of weeks ago and asked them what they had in stock, they only reported having Slow Churned and not the Grand. The Grand was probably there, but because it is in a carton that looks just like the Slow Churned, the person who checked for me probably didn't see it or realize the Grand was in there! The cartons were probably all mixed in together and hard to differentiate!
According to the Dreyer's website's flavor locator, the Grand version of Peppermint Wonderland isn't even supposed to be available in any of my local stores (and it wasn't available last year either) -- grocery stores or pharmacies -- and yet I nabbed 3 cartons of it, so I am not even sure if they know what they are doing!!
We are considering going to DLR either Monday, Dec. 2nd or Tuesday, Dec. 3rd. I saw that the official hours came out today for Dec. 2nd. I don't see any special events for DL, no Believe fireworks. I looked at the week before, I only see Fantasmic.
Is DL still doing the fireworks this year? I was really looking forward to seeing it snow on Main Street.
dreamseeker9 --
If the fireworks have not yet popped up on the calendar, it's just because they haven't been filled in yet. Sometimes it takes a while for Disney to fill in the agenda for each day. The Believe in Holiday Magic fireworks happen every night of the holiday season, unless there are weather issues. The fireworks are a big deal because they are tied in with the snow and with the Castle lighting and the lighting of all of the trees around the Partners statue, etc.
You'll see the fireworks! Don't worry! Unless it is terribly windy or there is a storm, you'll see them! Now, if and when there is ever an official Christmas party (which will not be this year, thankfully), the fireworks may be held hostage to that party. For now, though, they are still a part of the regular holiday season.
Getting excited! We leave in three weeks and I need to finalize a few plans, but for the most part, we are ready to go! All of the photos are getting me excited for the trip
wildflower329 --
Only 3 weeks! Wow! It's hard to believe that in that short a period of time, some folks will already be heading off to enjoy the holidays!
Thank you for posting that link yesterday,
Jamie! I will add it into the Winter Dreams category of my Seasonal Events section on page 1.
That looks great! I am very excited to see this. But also very nervous about crowds. I am hoping it does not draw in huge crowds- although I am sure that is exactly what Disney wants.
Once it starts in November, and crowd levels are reported, I may have to rethink doing a WOC meal.
czmom --
I think it is a sure thing that Disney is banking on Winter Dreams being a big draw, so that they can use it as alternate entertainment next year when they try to force a party on us, or so that they can use it in a party as a selling point.
Don't be nervous! If I had a nickel for every "I'm nervous...," "I'm worried...," "I'm panicking...," etc. comment I have read on these boards, my money problems would be solved!
I can already tell that there are probably going to be more people in the parks in the first couple of weeks of December this year than it seems like there usually are -- because people have caught on to the fact that that has been a better time to go and they are scheduling their trips for that time. (It's the "crowds causing crowds while trying to avoid crowds" effect that I have spoken of!)
So if you are thinking that you are going to be dealing with
light crowds, it probably won't happen. The crowds will still be
lighter than they would be in the second half of December (just because a lot of people cannot get time off of work and school so soon after Thanksgiving), but that doesn't mean that there won't be a lot of people in the parks at certain times. And any time there is a new event or a new thing -- especially during the holiday season, which is peak season -- people will come to see it.
Of course there will be a lot of people coming to see Winter Dreams -- this is going to be the very first full-fledged overlay of the existing World of Color. In the past, there have only been tweaks to certain segments of it, but not an entirely different show.
I think the best thing to do is to just get in the mindset that there will be a lot of people crowded around Winter Dreams so you will be prepared. If it doesn't happen that way it will be a relief. If it does happen that way you won't be shocked!
I heard back from Disney dining. I asked them about their Christmas Day and Christmas Eve menus. Unfortunately all I got back was a very generic response saying I can book reservations online 60 days in advance. They didn't even address my question
Is that a normal response? I don't think they even read my question.
I'm going to call today and see if I can find out more.
On that note: Yay I can start booking tomorrow!! Wohoo 60 days!
blue888 --
Keep us posted on your findings. I think that when the window opens up for actual Christmas Eve/Day bookings (in a few days), the Dining folks will suddenly, magically have more information to give. At least you won't have to wait long to find out!
I know the feeling. I don't usually go when there's crowds, but my DSIL is going for Veteran's Day weekend and a lot of the hotels are sold out, which means parks are going to be crazy! She was able to swing an on-site stay but it wasn't in our budget for that weekend, so we're off-site when we meet up with her ...
When is the Winter WOC starting? I'd love to see the "normal" version for our Nov trip and the holiday version for our early Dec trip!
taaren --
Winter Dreams begins on 11/15 (Friday), officially. (I have a "Dates to Remember" post in post #2 on page 1 of this thread, and also a category for Winter Dreams in the Seasonal Events post on page 1, so you can always refer back to those for more info if you need to.)
I have a strong feeling that Winter Dreams may soft open before that date, however (unannounced). The question is, will it soft open when the season officially begins on 11/12, or will it soft open for the Veterans Day weekend crowds prior to 11/12? Or will it not soft open until 11/14 or so?
With the new information about World of Color - Holiday, I am trying to figure out whether we watch this show or Fantasmic. This is the first trip for my kids and will not be "regulars" (we have a lot of other trips we want to take our kids on in the future). We will be in CA Nov 11-16, but only a half day on the 16th and then we head out, so the 15th is the only day for both Fantasmic and World of Color- Holiday. We plan to do the regular WOC earlier in the week... would you do Fantasmic or the WOC Holiday on Friday night?
wildflower329 --
If Winter Dreams soft opens before 11/15, you may end up seeing it instead of the regular World of Color and then you would be able to get in Fantasmic too. November 11th is a holiday, so I would not be shocked if either Fantasmic or Winter Dreams happens on that date, to capitalize on the holiday crowds.
Otherwise, assuming there are no soft openings of Winter Dreams for a moment... I know that a lot of people prefer F! over WoC as a show and would recommend F! instead.
If you are a really big holiday season fan, however, and Winter Dreams has not soft opened pre-11/15, then I would say go for Winter Dreams. It sounds like it's going to be a great show and a 'don't miss' if you love the season, whereas Fantasmic will likely still be around for years to come.
Just made the leap and got the F! Dessert tickets. I really went back and forth on this even down to the last minute because today is my 30th day mark. But because I have be to DL 3 times in the last 10 years ( just went last year) I have yet to see F! We have always gone in October so I think the MHP may have been why but I am not going to miss it this time. It's is only playing the last night of our trip so I didn't want to take any chances. I can't believe it's only 24 more days until our trip. I am so excited to see, smell and feel all things christmas in DL. I do have a few questions. Is there any difference to seeing the holiday parade during the daylight or at night? And when and where does it snow?
laurasvwee --
Your trip is coming up so soon!
Make sure you report back to us and let us know how it went. I hope you love it!
You can experience the light snowfall (more like tiny soap bubbles) on Main Street, in the It's a Small World Holiday area and in New Orleans Square (but I can't recall where exactly in NOS the snow falls).
I like the nighttime parade -- there is something fun about seeing it at night and perhaps drinking some cocoa while watching. I used to go to a Christmas parade in Hollywood at night, every year when I was a child, so maybe that's why I'm partial to nighttime parades. But the daytime parade is fun too -- and some of the photos that the people in this thread have posted from the daytime parade have been gorgeous -- the colors really stand out much better in the daytime.
