Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #3!- HOLIDAYS BEGIN 11/12/13!!

[mrsw94]

I can officially say "We leave next week!!" So excited! I've packed the kids' suitcase, made our t-shirts, gathered goodies to keep them busy on the plane. Still so much to do, but I'm loving all of it!!

I think I have my basic touring plan down. Not setting anything in stone because I really want to go with the flow and enjoy but my basic plan is: Friday - DL all day, rope drop till we drop! LOL Saturday - start with MM at DL, do Bippidi Bobbiti Boutique mid-morning and hit up Fantasy Faire while DD is all dressed like a pricess, then jump over to CA for the evening. (trying to avoid the CP crowds) Sunday - CA all day, WOC at night. Monday - hop between the parks, our extended family will be gone, so it will just be me, DH and the kids so planning to do all the kid stuff that day - Bugs Land, Disney Junior live show, Muppet Movie - relaxing type stuff on our last day.

Can't wait!!!!

Yeah! Can you post pics of your shirt? I'm still undecisive about ours and would love some inspiration!!

 

[KellaCat]

Yeah! Can you post pics of your shirt? I'm still undecisive about ours and would love some inspiration!!

I'll try to get a pic posted, but it's very simple. I had someone on the DISign board make a Mickey head with a rudolph nose and antlers. And for the girls, same design with a Minnie bow. Then I just put our names on the back in the Disney script. If I can think of a cute saying to go with it, I might add something.

 

[Sherry E]

For anyone who happens to just now be tuning into this thread and wants to skip over many of the pages to save some time (understandably!), I would suggest first glancing over the posts on Page 1 -- they cover everything from Holiday Treats, to Seasonal Activities, to Holiday Merchandise, to Trip Reports and Reviews, to Other Things to Do for the holiday season, and much, much more.

Then, feel free to just jump in and join us for holiday season discussion!

If you mainly want to look at photos and/or if you lost track of where certain photos were in the thread, here are the quick links to bring you to the posts with a lot of photos...



Highlights from my visit on 11/15/13:

2013 Winter Village in Downtown Disney (the ice rink was not open that day)

Holiday 2013 Treats & Goodies

Holiday 2013 Merchandise

Disneyland -- General Decor 2013 (including Jingle Cruise and the Frozen meet and greet spot in Fantasyland)

California Adventure -- General Decor 2013 (including new decorations in A Bug's Land and Hollywood Land!!)

Jingle Jangle Jamboree 2013




Disney Dreams' November 2013 photo -Here.


KCmike's November 2013 photos - Here, here, here, here, here and here.


Bret/mvf-m11c's November 2013 highlights - Here.

perlster's November 2013 photo - Here.




Theme Week Countdown 2013 Intro posts (each of which will lead you to all of the participants' photo contributions to the themes if you enter the thread directly from each post):

Disneyland Resort Christmas Trees & Wreaths

New Orleans Square/Haunted Mansion Holiday

It's a Small World Holiday/Fantasyland

Main Street/Sleeping Beauty's Winter Castle

A Christmas Fantasy Parade/Believe...In Holiday Magic Fireworks

Mickey's Toontown

Hotels of the Disneyland Resort

Frontierland/Jingle Jangle Jamboree/Reindeer Round-Up

Treats and Treasures (a.k.a. Food and Merchandise)

Holiday Characters/PhotoPass/Santa Claus

Buena Vista Street/Hollywood Land

Cars Land

Holidays Gone By (a.k.a. Holiday Stuff That Is Not There Anymore)

Candlelight Ceremony/Processional

Holiday Flowers and Plants

Critter Country/Grizzly Peak

A Bug's Land

Pacific Wharf/Paradise Pier

Downtown Disney

Holiday Cornucopia





My highlights from the Holiday Season of 2012 - Here, here and here.





Bret/mvf-m11c's awesome fireworks photos from November 2012 - Here.




And...in the last 30 pages of this thread (going back to page 176-ish or so), we have also had some recaps and reports of the current holiday season festivities at DLR from several DIS'ers. So if you only want the most recent, up-to-the-minute info from the parks, I would suggest going back a few pages and skimming through some posts and then following along from this point forward. More info will come in as more folks get back from their trips!

​

 

[NSmuppetmom]

LOVE the mailable mini Christmas trees!! Are this at World of Disney in DTD? How would I go about calling to order one to have it shipped to me?

 

[KCmike]

Mainstreet Station, Disneyland by KC MikeD, on Flickr

Another DISer who loves this stunning picture. I dream of being able to compose a shot like this. Mike keep 'em coming. This one captures the nostalgia and beauty of Disneyland at Christmas for me.

Thanks tksbaskets! I always find myself going back a few pages to make sure i catch everyone's posts.

 

[mrsw94]

Ugghhh....I need to decide in the next couple of days if we are getting the Photopass+. I REALLY want to, but we are on a budget, so I just can't decide...Ugghh....decisions!!

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Ugghhh....I need to decide in the next couple of days if we are getting the Photopass+. I REALLY want to, but we are on a budget, so I just can't decide...Ugghh....decisions!!

I would! We have found the photographers everywhere and they have taken so much time doing different shots with us.

 

[dreamseeker9]

dreamseeker9 --

Bringing layers is a good thing! Even if it seems warm in the daytime, all of a sudden a chill may set in at night and it can catch you off guard.

I didn't really expect it to get quite so chilly at night until maybe December. That's really when it's time for me to start putting on the extra layers to sleep. And yet, there I was, putting on an extra sweatshirt in the wee hours of the morning this morning before going back to sleep.

Also, I finally broke out the hot cocoa! I had been avoiding it, but it's finally time! Just a few months ago I was miserable because of the heat and unusual humidity (for So Cal), but now I am racing for the sweaters and sweatshirts at night.

If December 2nd is not predicted to be rainy, I think that would probably be a good day for you to be in the parks. Things could always change, but I have found Mondays in the first and second week of December to be less crowded than other days. You might be able to get quite a bit done on that day.

I hope you have a great trip!

Sherry, thank you - this is so helpful, especially since the Disneyland days were forecasted to be a high of 80 a few days ago, and now the high is 59! I hope it goes back up before I get there, but a high of 59 is better than a windchill of 12 that I woke up to this morning in NYC! Still, I was hoping for a warmer day at DLR so I can have my new Disneyland Minnie t-shirt on for photos! I may see how it fits if I wear a long-sleeved shirt under it, I just don't want to have to cover it up.

I just did my laundry, and I'll start packing tomorrow night so I don't leave it all for Wednesday night. I'll definitely be packing lots of layers.

Hot cocoa, yum! Sounds good to me.

Thanks for the tip on Dec. 2nd. That is also looking to be a better weather day than Dec. 3rd. My only concern about Dec. 2nd is that it's morning EE for DCA, and that may make for longer lines at RSR and its FPs. But if the overall crowd is truly going to be a 1 out of 10 (according to Touring Plans), then we should be fine regardless. I'm hoping we do get a lot done, since we will only have the one day for both parks. I'll be sure to take lots of photos and to write a TR once I'm back. This thread has been tremendously helpful and entertaining, thank you all! And next year, hopefully I can contribute many more photos and discussion.

 

[siskaren]

LOVE the mailable mini Christmas trees!! Are this at World of Disney in DTD? How would I go about calling to order one to have it shipped to me?

800-362-4533. Phone lines are open from 8:00-5:00 Monday-Friday and 8:00-4:00 on Saturday. (All times are Pacific time.)

You can also get it from disneystore.com:

http://www.disneystore.com/santa-mickey-mouse-miniature-christmas-tree-with-mailer/mp/1253842/1000401/

 

[mvf-m11c]

Just got back from the Holiday trip and it was a nice one. The crowd levels this weekend was not that bad but it did got a little busy in the afternoon and night. Monday was a little busy in the morning time just when I left. Good thing that we left today or it would have been a busy day.

Got to ride Jingle Cruise and it was nice. Jingle Jangle Jamboree looks a little better from last year's. The Winter Village at DTD is way better then last year with the stores and it is so nice to see the Christmas tree back in DTD. The Olaf's Frozen Ice Rink looks a little different from last year and it looks even better with the Christmas tree in the middle of the ice rink. Got to go to see the Christmas tree in the GCH which I don't get to see it before Thanksgiving. The Sleeping Beauty gingerbread castle looked very nice in the lobby of the DLH. World of Color: Winter Dreams! is a very nice show and I enjoyed watching it that night. We were able to get the WoC Winter Dreams AP ornament on Friday the 22nd. "A Christmas Fantasy" parade is a letdown this year with all the changes. IASWH looks good like every other year and the new projection on IASWH facade is very nice.

Here is the WoC Winter Dreams ornament that we got on Friday.

Special AP Viewing Event of WoC Winter Dreams on Friday.

Sleeping Beauty gingerbread castle in the lobby of the DLH

IASWH

Believe...In Holiday Magic fireworks

 

[Autty40]

Ugghhh....I need to decide in the next couple of days if we are getting the Photopass+. I REALLY want to, but we are on a budget, so I just can't decide...Ugghh....decisions!!

We did and it was so worth it! There were tons of photographers everywhere! We got over 100 photos.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

Great shots Bret!

 

[julieheyer]

Just got back from the Holiday trip and it was a nice one. The crowd levels this weekend was not that bad but it did got a little busy in the afternoon and night. Monday was a little busy in the morning time just when I left. Good thing that we left today or it would have been a busy day.

Got to ride Jingle Cruise and it was nice. Jingle Jangle Jamboree looks a little better from last year's. The Winter Village at DTD is way better then last year with the stores and it is so nice to see the Christmas tree back in DTD. The Olaf's Frozen Ice Rink looks a little different from last year and it looks even better with the Christmas tree in the middle of the ice rink. Got to go to see the Christmas tree in the GCH which I don't get to see it before Thanksgiving. The Sleeping Beauty gingerbread castle looked very nice in the lobby of the DLH. World of Color: Winter Dreams! is a very nice show and I enjoyed watching it that night. We were able to get the WoC Winter Dreams AP ornament on Friday the 22nd. "A Christmas Fantasy" parade is a letdown this year with all the changes. IASWH looks good like every other year and the new projection on IASWH facade is very nice.

Here is the WoC Winter Dreams ornament that we got on Friday.

Special AP Viewing Event of WoC Winter Dreams on Friday.

Sleeping Beauty gingerbread castle in the lobby of the DLH

IASWH

Believe...In Holiday Magic fireworks

Great report! Thank you, and love your pictures!! Can't wait for the fireworks!!

 

[perlster]

Sally was out with Jack Skellington Monday next to the [unused] FP distribution area. However, she was not present all the time that Jack was there. From data with my photos, I see the time was about 10:55 to 11:00 when I saw them.

I can only think of one reason why she doesn't appear for every meet 'n greet set ... possible magic spoiler, so won't mention it, but there may be another explanation.


"You want a photo of us?!" by perlster, on Flickr

 

[kirstie101]

We're back from our short visit and it was wonderful! I just wanted to thank everyone who has posted on here. We were really able to maximize our time that we had. The fireworks were amazing! So glad I finally saw them. DS went crazy for the snow. DD loved JJJ and the cookie decorating. I'm so glad we went! Crowds werent too bad on Saturday and Sunday but as we were leaving the park Monday morning people were really pouring in. Looked like it was going to be a very busy day.

 

[letitsnow]

Weekend of CP is supposed to shower and rain!!! And that's when we are going!

 

[ksromack]

That's a shame that you will miss out on Catalina -- especially since it is now the Island's off season and it is probably pretty quiet. The boat ride is about one hour (or slightly under that) each way from Long Beach, and I suppose it is long enough to get someone sick if they are highly prone to seasickness. One of my friends always has to take Dramamine before getting on the boat. At least you can save the money you would have spent on boat fare, though, which is good!

In any case, Mike and Julie have given you some great suggestions for beaches to visit. I haven't been to Newport Beach or Laguna Beach in a very long time,

There's still a chance we'll see Catalina the following Saturday. My sister in law is visiting her partner's family in Phoenix over thanksgiving so we won't see her this weekend like we'd planned. I hate to give up a park day but I think it may be fairly crowded on Saturday anyway so we'll just have to play it by ear. We'll see her over Christmas in Ohio so if it doesn't work out this trip there's always next time! We'll return our rental car this Sunday morning in time to check in to PPH (which solves the dilemma of taking a cab from HoJos to PPH Sunday morning). Alamo should be right by PPH.

Only one more day of work! I have a few projects I need to get done so the next work day will go by really fast!

 

[czmom]

Just 4 more days!!!! I really need to get the suitcases down and start packing.

It is FREEZING here in Texas. We are not used to this kind of weather at all! I've been watching the Anaheim forecast and so far next week is looking great. Sunny California sounds wonderful right now. It is so cold and wet today here.

Thank you to everyone who has popped back in to talk about their trips so far. I will be sure to do the same!

 

[tksbaskets]

We did and it was so worth it! There were tons of photographers everywhere! We got over 100 photos.

I did it. My family loves to ham it up on ride photos and when they started adding them with the PP+ card it was a real scale tipper for me.

 

[egritz]

Sally was out with Jack Skellington Monday next to the [unused] FP distribution area. However, she was not present all the time that Jack was there.

I can only think of one reason why she doesn't appear for every meet 'n greet set ... possible magic spoiler, so won't mention it, but there may be another explanation.

I'm curious why you think she isn't always there?
What time of day did you see her? I'm thinking of posting a poll in the main board to find out of there is a time of day she is most likely to be there. DD2 loves Jack & Sally and I'm really hoping she gets to meet both!