This is how sneaky the Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas is. They rope me in even when I am not planning on being roped in. I tell myself that I will just focus on the new movies for 2013, and my handful of favorites, and then leave the channel on as background sound while I am doing other things during the day.
And then I walk by the TV and see one of the many older movies I have not yet seen (because I think they started these Countdowns a long time ago but I only really started paying a lot of attention to them 2 or 3 years ago)...and the next 4 hours are devoted to watching TV!
Earlier I caught sight of a movie from 2000 -- it was one that I never took the time to watch in 2012 or 2011 -- and stopped to see what was happening in it, so I had to watch the whole thing. And then, of course, I have to watch the sequel to it immediately after (which I have on Pause right now), because I have to know how the story wraps itself up with a nice Christmas bow at the end!
Also -- a reminder! In two days (Monday morning), on 11/11/13, I will choose the final winner (by random draw) in our 2013 Theme Week Countdown. Anyone who has not posted any holiday photos this past week still has time to get them in, by 11:59 p.m. PST tomorrow night -- Sun., 11/10/13.
For your post, you'll get an entry into the random draw for the $25 Disney gift card. You may post DLR holiday pictures (from any year); holiday photos from any other Disney resort/park/hotel; non-Disney holiday photos, such as photos of snowy scenes or family gatherings, decorations, crafts, etc.; or, you may choose to re-post some of your favorite photos of the ones you have already posted in previous Theme Weeks.
In other words, as long as it qualifies as some sort of holiday photo and you have not already posted this past week or participated in the Code Word Challenge, you'll get an entry!
Now, to some replies I have been meaning to get to...
I know I usually don't post on this thread but, I saw one of my favorite Christmas candys at Target, White chocolate Pepermint M&M's. I haven't seen any Peeps yet. I don't have ver many Christmas photos from
Disneyland. I would love to go during the Holiday season.
Kilala!
Welcome back! You did post here once before but I think you ended up here accidentally, as you were making your way to the Halloween thread!
If you have any kind of holiday photo at all and can post it before tomorrow night (11/10), you'll get an entry into the random draw to win the $25 Disney gift card.
Thank you for letting us know about those M&M's. I know I mentioned in the Halloween thread that I was afraid to invest money in buying a whole bag or box of something if I didn't know I would enjoy it. The white chocolate peppermint M&M's are something I am pretty sure I would enjoy!
That's great news!
Omgosh, I just read TINKLE BELL in the above post and almost spewed my water all over our lunch table at work!
Kathy --
That was on the Disneyland Resort website (in the Holidays section) for a while last year -- can you believe that no one caught it?
I pointed it out in my TR thread and I posted a link to it, so I know that someone else saw it too. Eventually, however, word must have gotten back to Disney and it was corrected.
Just a few days ago I was looking for something and found the word "decadant" on some page of the DLR website, but at least that is not as bad of a mistake as Tinkle Bell was!
In 2012, the map for Mickey's Halloween Party had a list of the areas to meet certain characters, including the "STROM TROPPERS" in Tomorrowland.
Not sure if this is the right thread in which to ask this question... But I would appreciate your advice...
We will be at DLR on Sunday Dec. 8. We only have 1 park/day tickets, and are trying to decide which park to visit that day? DL will have CP that evening and we have no delusions of being able to enjoy that. So, my question is, do you think DL will be such a zoo that whole day that it'd be better to do DCA? Or do you think that doing the rest of DL while the crowds are at CP that evening would make more sense (since dca will be more crowded with those also avoiding DL crowds)?
Just polling the crowd and seeing what you guys guesstimate
. TIA
Julie --
Not counting last year (because I actually saw the CP last year), in 2011 I was in Disneyland on a CP Sunday (just like you'll be) and I didn't find the crowds to be too awful until later in the afternoon, really. Everything was manageable until mid-to-late afternoon.
However, that experience was before Disney ran the CP for 20 nights in 2012, which undoubtedly attracted many more fans and people who will want to see it this year. When they find out that it is only taking place on 2 nights (because a lot of people still don't know that), they may, possibly, try to catch it on 12/7 or 12/8.
So I think that you will run into crowds who pile into DL earlier in the day -- simply because they are trying to do what you're trying to do: avoid crowds! This is the "
crowds causing crowds while trying to avoid crowds" effect I often speak of. People will imagine that mobs and mobs of people will be in DL to see the CP "later" and they will try to squeeze in all of their DL activities earlier that day so they can leave DL before the CP starts. In reality a big part of the crowd issues comes from the people who are trying to avoid what they
think the crowd situation will be like for the CP!
So you will probably run into some crowds who are trying to avoid crowds, as well as some crowds comprised of many of last year's brand new CP fans, hoping to see the Ceremony.
I think you might as well just go to DCA. Yes, before you ask -- there will probably be people there who are trying to escape
what they think will be CP madness (even if the madness is not as insane as they imagine) too, but I don't think you'll be able to avoid that element of it in either park, and it may not be as bad as you think. At least if you stay in DCA you can avoid the actual people who show up to see the CP, even if you can't avoid the crowds trying to avoid the CP!
Two more days, just two more days until we're there. Yay. I'm hoping the jingle cruise doesn't soft open because I want to see the original on our first day on Monday.
jacs1234 --
Woo hoo! The Buena Vista Street tree is already having its lighting ceremony at dusk, so you have that to look forward to.
I would not be shocked at all if Jingle Cruise opened on 11/11, quietly. It's only one day earlier than when it is set to officially open so it's not a big leap.
I don't think the actual ride itself is going to be all that holiday-ized. If it were a major overlay, they would have shut down the ride. Just the fact that the ride has stayed open is a good indicator that it is not a major overlay along the lines of IASWH and HMH. There are probably a few key holiday touches in certain spots (the boathouse; the names of the boats and a few holiday jokes from the Skippers, but nothing too overwhelming).
For your sake, though, I hope you get to see the original.
They were setting up every detail for the filming of the Christmas Day Parade today. They will film several concert performances on Saturday and the parade on Sunday.
Performances: Demi Lovato, Mary J. Blige, Jordan Sparks, and Jason Derullo.
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Thank you,
edna mode, for sharing that with us yesterday! I appreciate it!
It's a saturday today.....the only day of the week I can "sleep" in......and yet, I woke up at 5am, started thinking about the trip and whether or not my sister in law will be able to join us for a few days......thinking of tshirts i can make for us.....thinking about dole whips.....thinking about whether my large suitcase on the way back will weigh over 50 pounds......you get the idea. Way too much thinking going on.
Kathy --
I find myself thinking of all sorts of things I need to do, bring, see, etc., before a trip -- I'm an organized, detailed thinker and list maker!
But then, when it gets down to maybe a couple of days before I'm set to go, I am in a mass frenzy of activity. For some reason, no matter how much I think something through way in advance, I end up packing and getting everything together at the last minute. In my previous TR thread I think I referred to this last-minute packing/prepping as a "maelstrom of madness" or "whirlwind of cyclonic activity," along the lines of the Tasmanian Devil, with pieces of clothing and toiletries flying out all over the place.
...Thankfully I don't think I have to go buy new luggage. My son (who left for college in August) has a cat that clung to him like crazy. Well, when he left there was still a suitcase from summer vacation laying on the floor in the living room. He took up residence on that suitcase (think giant cat hammock), not leaving it except to eat and go find the box. Then right back to the suitcase. After 2 months of this, I decided I would go buy a new suitcase rather than kick him off after losing his friend to college. Then all of a sudden....... he was over it.
He left the suitcase. He moved to an ottoman. So I tape rolled and vacuumed all the fur off the suitcase
and set it upright so he couldn't sleep on it any more!
Now I no longer have to buy a new suitcase.
Janet --
What a sweet cat! Even though he outgrew the suitcase, or got bored with it, for a while he was still clinging to your son -- even in his absence. He probably missed your son a lot.
It reminds me of a Fancy Feast commercial from a couple of years back. A girl moves away from her parents and leaves her gorgeous fluffy white cat -- who clearly loves her -- behind. She goes to visit her parents and the cat runs out to see her, and she holds it in her arms.
Fast forward to the girl's boyfriend packing or unpacking or something like that. The girl comes home to find the most adorable, white, ball-of-fluff kitten waiting for her. She picks up the kitten, who is wearing a tag that says "Will you marry us?"
...Here's a question for anyone that knows the answer......
What kind of coffee makers are in the rooms at PPH? HoJos? We are staying 2 nights at HoJos to start our vacation and I thought I read that they had Keurigs in the room? We have a theme park view at HoJos then move to a standard view at PPH. What sort/brand of coffee do they include in the rooms at either place? Last year, when we stayed for a night onsite at Universal Orlando, they had Keurigs in the room and Emeril's Bold coffee and it was delicious! I'm just trying to figure out if I'll need to bring some from home given the fact that we are coffee snobs
Kathy --
I have taken photos of the coffee makers in my PPH rooms a couple of times, as well as the mini-fridge, but the coffee maker from 2012 was not the same as the one in my room in 2010. I can't recall if I got a photo of the coffee maker in 2011, but I seem to remember that each year's coffee maker was different in some way!
I have no clue if certain rooms received different coffee makers while other rooms kept the old ones.
If you and DH are coffee snobs I will warn you right now -- you will hate the in-room PPH coffee. You may as well not even try it!
I will drink it because if I need caffeine, I need caffeine. But self-professed coffee snobs will not like it at all. I don't even really 'like' it, but sometimes it's easier to just brew a quick cup instead of trotting down to the Surfside Lounge in PPH when I am half-awake to buy a cup.
I don't know what kind of coffee makers they have at HoJo's, but the one that was in my PPH room last year was one of the pod kinds -- not a Keurig -- and I think I had a totally different kind of pod coffee maker in 2011. One model was a Sunbeam, I think, and I can't recall the other.
Two days until we leave for our vacation and 6 days until anaheim! I won't be relaxing until we get on the plane but I'm certainly getting excited. Spending the weekend getting ready, packing and cleaning up my house before I leave!
I can't wait until we see christmas at disneyland, we're bringing an empty carry-on because we are worried about all the shopping we'll do!
misskay --
Yay!
You're almost there!
Oh my gosh!! That ice cream is soooooo good!!
lucysmom --
Uh huh. You see? Now you understand...
I'm 13 days from the Edmonton trip, and 15 days from my solo trip to DL. I'm so far behind on the house cleaning, as I spent the week playing telephone tag with various people, trying to resolve some major treatment issues with DS10's crash injuries. I ended up filing a complaint against the clinic I was originally with, with their governing body and had to change clinic's. So it's back to square one with that. Otherwise the suitcase and backpack are for the most part packed for the most part for both trips. I'm packing light so that I can bring back more souvineirs. I know I'm going to be Christmas shopping down there, so I'm nesting a smaller suitcase within my bigger one. Worst case scenario is that I end up checking the smaller bag for an additional $20, and using my backpack once again as a carry on. Although I am bringing the cold weather gear for the Edmonton trip, as it's downright chilly there at the moment (have been checking the long range forecast and it's looking BRRR!). Have to come down to DL where it's much warmer. At lease the kids will see snow in Edmonton, which we seldom see here, which they are going to love.
Trish --
I wish you could bring some of that Edmonton snow down here to SoCal when you arrive! I keep saying that I hope I live long enough to see the day when it gets cold enough to snow in Los Angeles. Just once I would like to walk outside and see snow on the ground in the middle of he city! I don't know if it will ever happen, but hopefully. It did snow once in Malibu several years ago (which is not in my neighborhood at all), from what I recall seeing on the news, but it was not like a lovely blanket of white snow. It was just a light sprinkling that disappeared quickly. No plows or shovels needed!
Anyway, your trip is almost here and you will be busy, busy, busy! Hopefully you and Jamie will see each other at Blue Bayou on Thanksgiving. You know, I think that another DIS'er I know will be at the Blue Bayou on Thanksgiving too (she goes every year), but I don't know if she will be there at the same time.
...I feel like a kid again with giddy anticipation. It was worrisome there for a while as I ended up in the hospital less than two weeks ago and my dear boyfriend ended up throwing his back out not 3 days later...it seemed like this vacation was doomed!
But yesterday I had 3 good omens, somebody paid me in America dollars (which I get to trade out with no exchange rate, wee!) and I saw not one, but TWO cars parked outside the restaurant I went to with some coworkers last night that were both painted with red and black and looked like Mickey Mouse (my coworkers pointed it out, lol) , the little smart car that even had mickeys yellow buttons for lights on the front, so I'm taking all of this as a good sign for my trip.
Also a quick question, will all of the WOC shows be the christmas one, or just select showings? We are only going to be in the parks one weekend day ( the sunday, so we don't miss fantasmic), otjerwise we'll be there for mon/tues/wed and I was wondering if we are going to miss the WOC one because they only do it on the weekend?
misskay --
It sounds as if you're on track to have a good holiday trip! I hope you and your boyfriend are both in good health now. I've experienced immobilizing back issues too, so I can empathize with your boyfriend. You literally don't even know how you'll make it from one room to another, let alone try to walk around DLR, because the pain is so bad! I hope he is doing better now.
I am pretty sure that Winter Dreams will be showing every night (weeknights too), all season long (through January 6th). I don't think you'll miss it. I don't think the regular World of Color is coming back until January.
