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

[Sherry E]

My morning holiday routine begins again. Turned on the radio for holiday songs (it was Michael Buble's voice that greeted me this time around). Turned on the TV for Hallmark Countdown to Christmas movies (or, at this rate, I could also turn to Lifetime or ABC Family, or even random channels like UP or Ion, for holiday fare). Stuck my head outside for a few minutes to enjoy the beautiful, colorful sunrise and to feel the cold first-day-of-December air on my face. Guzzled some cocoa. Checked Christmas/Holiday Superthread for new posts!

Thanks to this thread we tried gingerbread beignets today at Cafe Orleans. They were delicious and I think we'll find a way to have them again before we leave on Wednesday.

JacksGirlz --

One of these days I will have to try those gingerbread beignets. I have read mixed reviews of them -- some say they are way too dense and not like normal beignets, while others say they are yummy. I haven't tried the pumpkin beignets or the pumpkin fritters either.

This thread moves so fast! I love it!

Sherry, I love the Elvis Christmas album. Its my all time favorite and very sentimental to me as we always play it while decorating the tree (and my grandparents did too). A new favorite is the Main Street Christmas as loop. I adore it. And my kids do too. DS5 said, "this music calms me down". They love to listen to it while going to bed too. It's just beautiful. I love most Christmas music....except Santa baby. For some reason I just cannot get into that song, no matter who sings it. There's a station in the Bay Area that plays all Christmas music and I was just listening to it on the way to the store. I love it!

crystal1313 --

The thread has been moving very quickly, over the last few months but especially in the last 2 weeks.

I forgot all about Elvis's Christmas album. No one has mentioned him until now! I haven't heard it in decades.

Santa Baby is not one of my favorites. I don't know that I dislike it but if I were to rank holiday songs by how much I enjoy them (in categories such as: "Love/Favorites"; "Enjoy"; "Tolerate Because It Is a Christmas Song"; and "Don't Like"), it would probably fall somewhere in the "Tolerate Because It Is a Christmas Song" category.

We leave on Wednesday and I am getting SO excited! Thank you for all these pictures....my boys and I have enjoyed looking at them with anticipation of our trip!!!

My son wants me to try to get us a candy cane, but I just don't know if I can wait all that time in line (and miss out on rope drop ride time) and not even be sure I'll get one....

Tonight I watched my boys play Disneyland on the xbox Kinect, and I just bought an inflatable Christmas Mater (online via Home Depot) to put on our lawn when we return from our trip!!!!!

I am so excited the holiday season is finally here and our trip is just a few days away!!!

mrs.ariel --

In this thread it's pretty much the holiday season year-round!

I am guessing that the decorated-for-the-holidays Cars Land is going to be a huge hit on your trip! Have a great time, and be sure to come back and let us know how it went.

Hi everyone!!! I'm just now jumping in; we barely finalized our plans this weekend. I do have a quick question for those of you who have been during the weekend of Candlelight Processional. Does DCA get extremely busy when that is going on over at DL? I know last year was vastly different year as far as CP went with it being on 20 nights but do you notice a drastic uptick with the crowds on CP nights? This is our first year visiting during a CP weekend and its been quite a few years since we went during Christmas time.

I am loving all of the pictures so far!!!! Everyone is so talented!

What has been the general consensus so far on the Holiday WOC? Better? Worse? than the original? I have a vested interest in it since I was chosen to be a "snowflake" (part of the honor choir) so I know I'm going to be a little bit biased but what does everyone think so far?

I will be in the parks on Friday, 12/6 and Saturday 12/7 so I hope to see any of you who are going to be there!

Welcome, rowan1813!

I'm not used to seeing you outside of the Halloween thread! I'm glad to see you are planning a holiday trip as well.

Here are my thoughts on your dates and crowds. Because it's a Friday and Saturday in December, unless it rains (and it might rain!) or threatens to rain, I would expect a lot of people to be in the parks.

People say that Saturdays of CP weekend are especially crowded (I've been there on a Sunday of CP weekend). I have to imagine that other people will be doing what you want to do -- heading over to DCA to avoid the CP crowds in DL. Other people will probably head to other parts of Disneyland to avoid Town Square.

The catch is that not all of the crowds on CP weekends come from people who are actually there to see the CP. A lot of the crowds are caused by people trying to avoid Town Square on CP night, who squeeze in all of their in-park activities earlier in the day.

Still, if I had to choose a way to avoid what I thought the CP crowds would be like I suppose I would head over to DCA instead of staying in DL. I don't think it would be any more crowded than Disneyland at that point. I would head to DCA earlier in the day, though. Don't wait until close to CP time or you will get caught in a bit of gridlock as people try to escape Town Square.

Congratulations on being picked for the Honor Choir in Winter Dreams!

I know that Mary Jo (fellow mod and Unplugged member) really enjoyed Winter Dreams. I have not seen it but I plan to next week. I have read more unfavorable reviews about Winter Dreams than favorable ones, but it's still pretty early in the season so I don't think the final verdict is in yet. I also know that KCmike did not particularly care for Winter Dreams. Most of the reviews I have read have said that it is a disappointment; it doesn't live up to expectations; it isn't as good as the original World of Color; it's one big commercial for Frozen, etc.

Hi! This is my first post on this thread (being from FL I usually go to WDW) although I have been reading it for a few months. My girlfriend and I are going to DLR for the first time together (I had a one day DL visit 11 years ago and she's never been at all) in 10 days!!!!

Last week I booked the Holiday Tour. How did they know the names of your group for the button? They asked me how many in my party but not the names. . I guess they can always print on the spot like they did for your 2 year old.

MVC1225 --

Hopefully Jamie or one of our other tour takers will jump in to answer that question for you, but I just wanted to say welcome! Thank you for joining us (even though you have been following along for months)!

 

[Priory]

On tours I've taken in the past, they ask your names when you check in and have a label maker to print and apply the names to the buttons at that time.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Hi! This is my first post on this thread (being from FL I usually go to WDW) although I have been reading it for a few months. My girlfriend and I are going to DLR for the first time together (I had a one day DL visit 11 years ago and she's never been at all) in 10 days!!!! Last week I booked the Holiday Tour. How did they know the names of your group for the button? They asked me how many in my party but not the names. . I guess they can always print on the spot like they did for your 2 year old.

They asked our names when we booked, but I'm not sure if our names were printed already or not. My mom checked us in for the tour, so they have been printing them there. Either way, yes they will be able to do it right at the counter for you.

 

[ashnjam]

Sitting at LAX waiting for our flight home

We had an amazing trip and have already planned a trip back for next Nov, using our newly upgraded APs!

I'm sad we didn't see Phoenix at BB - we were also there early and after some sweet talking were seated at a waterside table before our ressie. We were a table of 7 seated dead center of that row. I want to say we were the 3rd or 4th table sat of the day. And we also experienced tons of people being turned away.

I will update with a more in depth report tomorrow.

Glad you had a great trip. You have given me some hope! We too are a group of 7 hoping to somehow charm ourselves to a waterside table. It's ok if we don't but would be special. How long before your reservation did you arrive?

 

[MVC1225]

MVC1225 --

Hopefully Jamie or one of our other tour takers will jump in to answer that question for you, but I just wanted to say welcome! Thank you for joining us (even though you have been following along for months)!

Thanks. We are really excited. My one DL trip was not even a full day so I feel like a first timer as well. We have Fantasmc dessert, WoC dinner and holiday tour set. We are staying off site right on Harbor Drive. We are gong to parks 4 days and one day in the middle for DTD and touring resorts. Last year we did December 14-21 at WDW so decided to do December 11(arrive late) -17 (leave early) at DLR to get both Christmas experiences.

It's odd to feel unsure about plans when I can do WDW with my eyes closed but super excited.

They asked our names when we booked, but I'm not sure if our names were printed already or not. My mom checked us in for the tour, so they have been printing them there. Either way, yes they will be able to do it right at the counter for you.

Thank you

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I'd love to say I'd do a full trip report, but we are going straight into Nutcracker week for my older two (rehearsals that go LATE every night this week and 6 shows over the weekend!), so I think I'll stick to this for now. I don't have any pictures downloaded right now, but will post some over the next few days.

We flew Southwest OAK-LAX on Sunday the 24th. Flight was uneventful and we arrived at LAX a little early. I know it's a HUGE airport, but as I mentioned earlier, I found it easy to navigate and so much easier to get the DLE than at SNA. So I hope people won't let the airport scare them off. And the drive didn't feel any longer that to SNA (I know it is) and both our trip to the hotel and returning the airport yesterday were under an hour. And both times, the buses were wrapped in Carsland stuff. I took a picture yesterday, so I'll try to get that posted. I had read multiple times on these boards that LAX wouldn't allow the buses to be wrapped, so I was surprised to see a wrapped one pull up. Arrived at the DLH and checked in. Our room (2 bedroom suite) wasn't ready, so we stored our luggage and went to the lounge - my mom had surprised us with a concierge upgrade! We wandered into DTD and went to BAB, something my kids had been begging to do. And they had My Little Ponies (and got two different ones in on Black Friday, so we went back). Our room was ready an hour after their promised time, so after getting our tickets upgraded to APs and a long day, we went back to lounge for food & fireworks and called it a night, even though we had planned on going into the parks. Quick question - if we upgraded them on the 24th, but didn't activate them for the first time until the 25th, what is the last day we can use them? They used to put the date on the back of them, but they no longer do. I'll register it later today and hopefully I can figure it out!

So Monday ended up being our first day in the park and utilized EMH at DCA. We went straight to TSMM, rode that 3x walk on, did King Triton's Carousel & Screamin, before DH went to get FPs for RSR and we wandered over to Carsland. Did the two rides in there, and then did RSR, utilizing both FP & rider swap. Btw, rider swap is now a ticket with the date on it and it's good for 3 people. I know there was a picture posted on the boards a few weeks ago. Ate an early "lunch" at 11am at Flo's - loved this entire meal! I don't remember what we did after this exactly, but we did the pier area & Disney Jr. We had WOC reservations at Carthay Circle at 3:10. This was some of the best food ever. And even though the price tag is scary, it honestly didn't come out to much more than a lot of counter service places for us (once you add in drinks & sides, etc). We had the choice of times for WOC (7:45, 9 & 10:15) and we chose 7:15 because of our kids. We did some other stuff, including meeting Santa at Elias & Co and made our way over the Ariel ride at about 6:30. This is where there was some confusion - we were told to line up under King Triton and they would come get us, but that we were too early. My mom stayed in that general area while we rode Ariel's and when we got off we were still the only family. People started joining and a little while later we realized they had let people in the area without coming to get us. Luckily, it was still very early and we noticed right away, so we still got to pick our spot. We opted not to move down and just stay in the Carthay area and had a great view. I loved this show and my kids loved it even more! I think we did Goofy's Sky School after the show and then called it a night and went back to the lounge for food & fireworks.

I should add that our plan this trip was to do things we had never done, or had rarely done. And except for utilizing EMH, take it easy - enjoy it all, soak it all in and not worry so much about getting from point A to point B. Having the lounge was nice and we spent a lot of time there!

Tuesday, we started at DL and went straight to Peter Pan and then other Fantasyland rides. However both Dumbo & Matterhorn went down during this hour, so it was disappointing. We went over to PFF and as we were the next in line, they closed it because they were rotating princesses and could find Jasmine. I asked if we could just go in and just see Aurora -one person said yes and one said no. So we waited. I love the look of the new PFF, but I don't really like how it was run. And I am still disappointed that FL doesn't get any holiday decorations. It seems like the most logical place to do them! After this we took the monorail back to DTD, played at the Lego store for awhile and then headed over to Disney 365 for makeovers for my older 3. The staff here is amazing and it's always so much fun for us! Word of caution - the colored hail gel they put in the boy's hair gets everywhere and at the same time is almost impossible to wash all the way out. And it's bubble gun instead of drum sticks that come with it. They even put some "pixie dust" in my 2 year olds hair so she wasn't left out. After dropping our goodies off at the hotel, we went to the JJJ for awhile. Tons of characters back there! Kids decorated cookies and we just sat for awhile before heading over to DCA for our Ariel's Grotto reservation at 4pm. Oh and we saw Daisy by the Christmas tree at the pier (by Ariel's) a character we've always had trouble finding. I am mixed on Ariel's Grotto - the food was good and it's a good way to ensure seeing the princesses, but the interaction wasn't great IMO and our waitress was a mess. Given the price, I'm not sure it's one we'll repeat, but I'm glad we did it. Also, Cinderella was at the entrance instead of Ariel, so that's who our picture is with and Ariel walked around. After that we went to the boardwalk area, went on Mickey's Wheel of Death (yes I did it and it wasn't as scary as I remember), played some midway games and went to the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail before heading back to the hotel. One night we watched the fireworks from our room and this may have been it. I have to say it was nice to lay in bed and watch them from there.

Wed was back to DCA and started our EMH in the same way as before. This time we walked around the pier while DH got the RSR FPs - big kids did Goofy's with my mom while I took my LO on Golden Zephyr. We were the first riders of the day (and the only on that cycle), so they gave us Honorary Citizen buttons). Went over to Bugsland from there and then to Storyteller's for lunch. Oh we had to have used our RSR FPs in there at some point (probably before Bugsland) and did Ariel's 6 times in a row (my 2 year old's favorite). After lunch we headed into DL for our Holiday Tour. This tour was amazing. We started in DCA, learning some of the history and got our treat there (chocolate covered marshmallow) and then went into DL. Our first top was Jingle Cruise, then to Haunted Mansion, through Frontierland to IASWH and then to our seats for the parade, where we got the hot chocolate, cookies & pin. There is obviously much more to the tour and I'd be happy to elaborate, but I don't want to spoil it for anybody about it to take it. After the parade, we headed back to the hotel for our late Goofy's reservation (8:10pm). This was compliments of the hotel after some snafus with our room and not one we had planned on doing at all. After a few "ok" times there, I had decided it wasn't worth the cost. This time changed my mind - we loved every minute of it! The food was great and still being replaced at regular intervals even though they were getting ready to close not long after and the character interaction we had was unmatched. There were some kids who literally chased the characters, so they would escape outside a lot (right by our table) which was confusing to my little ones (why they'd go by without stopping), but when they did stop, they all took so much time with the kids.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and we started at DL, hoping to do PP, but it was closed. Did the other rides in FL before heading to Tomorrowland. Eventually made our way over to NOS for our lunch ressies at BB. Checked in early and with a little sweet talking, was able to get a waterside table. Lunch was delicious - I debated getting the holiday special, but went with the Monte Cristo. It wasn't actually on the menu (they gave us the dinner menus) but said if I asked for the MC, they would make it. It was delicious. Went on POC after this and then headed to Critter Country. DH & DS did the canoes! I know we did more that night, but our camera died that night and all the pictures are on my mom's so I'm not sure what. We did see Mickey & the Magical Map (great show!) I know we called it an early night and hung out in our pjs in our room.

Friday, we woke up to rain Decided to skip TSMM this day and did Soarin' & Ariel's instead. Then headed over the pier area for Duffy stuff (my kids met him for the first time this trip and fell in love) and then walked along the pier area. Went to the Hollywood area to do Monsters & TOT and then headed over to DL for our 10am Discover the Magic Tour. I love, love this tour and our tour guides were amazing (Sam & Andrew). Without spoiling it, it's a treasure hunt through Disneyland. Some of the planned stuff was closed, but they made up with it with other rides. We ended in Tootown with more hot chocolate in souvenir mugs! The rain had cleared by this point, so the kids just played around in the area. We went back to Storyteller's for lunch (we love this place), went back to BAB for the new MLP & then shopping at the WOD. Went back to the room & lounge for awhile and then headed back into DL for the castle lighting and to do some stuff in FL.

We had planned on doing EMH on Sat, but we had been up late the night before and all the kids really wanted to do (or had been talking about at this point) was going to "the park" aka Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, so we slept later, went to the lounge for breakfast and then headed into DCA around 8:30. They played there for over an hour, we tried to go on Ariel's, but it was down so we headed to Hollywoodland to meet Sophia, took some pictures in front of the Buena Vista Street tree and then headed back to the hotel to check out. Stored our bags and had lunch at the Jazz Kitchen and it was time to leave DLE picked up exactly on time, it was an uneventful trip the airport (although some of the workers at LAX are downright rude) and flight home.

I'm sure we could have utilized some of our time better and there were somethings we still didn't get done, but I really wanted to this to be a trip that we enjoyed and to soak it all in and we accomplished that. The kids all got to what they wanted to and we all feel it was a successful trip. So here are some random thoughts to finish up -

*the concierge was a well spent upgrade for us. There were 7 of us in the suite and we ended up only eating one meal in the parks (except for the Flo's Carthay Circle day), as we filled up at the lounge. Had I known we would do this (my mom didn't decide until arrival), I would have ordered way less in groceries, but oh well.

*rides went down A LOT! The monorail was down 3 nights in a row for different things. Dumbo, PP, Ariel's, Goofy's, Matterhorn, Space all had closures. Now I know it happens and it's life, but it just seemed like they went down right as we were walking up.

* I love the DLH, but it doesn't hold the same feeling as the Grand does during the holidays for us. Next year we will be moving back to the Grand. (would have been there this year, but they didn't have any suites left when we tried to book 9 months out). Sherry, to answer your question, we will actually be going earlier next year to make our APs work (Thanksgiving is late again). Probably the Wed the week before Thanksgiving - the Tues the week of. And hopefully this way, my brother's family can join us. It will be nice to have some rest & recovery days after the trip too.

*Loved BB, but don't know that we'll eat there again. Maybe dessert? Don't think we'll do Ariel's again, or at least not for awhile. Jazz Kitchen & Storyteller's are must do's for us and I think we'll add Goofy's back in now.

*PP+ was well utilized this trip. I don't know exactly how many pictures on are on it yet, but all the reports of the photographers taking more time are true. My daughters had a mini-shoot in front of the Main Street tree on our last night.

*Both the Holiday Tour and Discover the Magic Tour are ones I would highly recommend (the latter if you have kids, although we had fun too). *you are no longer able to ride in the tail of the monorail. I'm not sure why, but that is new from our last trip.

*all my kids got their spending money on gift cards, bought at Target and a small amount of cash. This worked so well - they were much more selective when it was there money and I didn't have to deal with any "I wants" or argue about the value of something. Their money = their decisions. Two of mine wanted the giant caramel apples - they used their money. Two of my 4 came home with money left over. I bought them each one ornament and a sweatshirt. Any questions, feel free to ask. And sorry for any typos! Trying to decorate for Christmas and type this.

Glad you had a great trip. You have given me some hope! We too are a group of 7 hoping to somehow charm ourselves to a waterside table. It's ok if we don't but would be special. How long before your reservation did you arrive?

I checked in right before 11am, when I saw their podium open (but not the doors). They told me to come back a little later when the doors opened. We stayed right in the area and when they opened the doors I went back over and requested a waterside table. The hostess told me that they would have to seat all the 11:30 ressies first (ours was for 11:40) and if by 11:35 they hadn't all arrived, they would try or they could seat at us at 11:15 in the second row. I asked if the reason I couldn't get an 11:30 ressie was because of our party size (does that automatically get a later time) because I called first thing at the 60 day mark and that's the best I could get or was I really that late in calling at that point. The manager asked if I could do 6 & a high chair and I said we would make it work, so she worked some magic (I had told her I tried checking in at 11, but nobody took my name) and we were seated almost right away. Definitely some pixie dust, but I also think being nice & respectful about it helped. Obviously I had been hoping for waterside, but asked because I was honestly curious. She did say they have very few 6 tops waterside (and I think it only worked for us because we were wiling to take a high chair).

 

[mom2rtk]

Is anyone else excited for Kathy (ksromack) that she will be in Anaheim very shortly? It seems like the planning has been in the works for ages. This will be her first DLR visit and, of course, her first DLR holiday visit -- I am crossing my fingers that all goes well and that she has a great vacation! I hope she ends up loving it!

And czmom is also headed to DLR! And Jamie will be back home soon and can give us a full recap/report!





Janet --

I've heard several people say throughout my life that Christmas wouldn't be Christmas for them without the Bing Crosby album, the Carpenters album...and the Johnny Mathis album! Those are the must-haves for many to set that Yuletide mood.

I find that one album playing from start to finish is easier to deal with and it is also comforting, although I tend to like different versions of songs sung by different people so listening to a radio station that plays all holiday songs will give me more variety. While there may be a certain version of "Silent Night" on someone's album, I may like it better when sung by a different artist.

I love the Judy Garland version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." I haven't heard many versions of that song that are better than that one, although I have heard a couple of good versions. That is a song that can incite goosebumps and emotion when sung by the right person (much like "Silent Night"). Certain versions of it do absolutely nothing for me. If you were to tell me that, for example, Justin Bieber did a version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," I would be pretty sure that it would be something I could skip!

I like "Little Drummer Boy" a lot. I also love the Rankin Bass clay puppet/stop-motion TV special of that same name!

Yeah! Kathy is there! And our Missouri Tigers won! I got to watch with my son last night home from school at Rolla. Did you get to watch any of the game?

And Wendy (czmom) should be there now. Wendy.... don't know if you'll see this...... but ride the Storybook Canal for me, ok? I think today is the last day before the refurb. Have an awesome time and look for us in the crowds at rope drop later in the week!

Sherry, all your talk of Christmas songs just reminded me to add the Carpenters to my phone. I bring a Bluetooth speaker so we can listen to tunes in our room. I also hope it can help put me back to sleep in the mornings as I adjust to Pacific time.

I do have one more Christmas song I had forgotten about. But none of you have probably heard of it. I have a copy on an old scratch album, but would love to find a digital copy of it one day. I don't remember the name of the album, nor do I have the desire to climb up to the attic and look for it. But the song is "There's a hole in my Christmas stocking". It was on a no-name Christmas album I had when I was little and I just loved it. I looked forward to my mom digging out those albums every year.

I did not get any close ups of the PPH tree. This was at midnight and I wanted to try and get our APs a day early so we could utilize the discounts today at DTD....but they couldn't find the AP on our account...which is really strange to me. Anyway, today we went by Grand Californian and their santa hours are 4:30-10pm daily according the CM there today.

Kathy, thank you so much for posting that. It's just gorgeous. Of course, I have no knowledge of last year's tree to compare it too. But I just love the blues and greens. I used to do the entire outside of our house and front yard all in blue and green. I just love that combination for Christmas.

Sitting at LAX waiting for our flight home

We had an amazing trip and have already planned a trip back for next Nov, using our newly upgraded APs!

I'm sad we didn't see Phoenix at BB - we were also there early and after some sweet talking were seated at a waterside table before our ressie. We were a table of 7 seated dead center of that row. I want to say we were the 3rd or 4th table sat of the day. And we also experienced tons of people being turned away.

I will update with a more in depth report tomorrow.

Welcome back. I'm glad you had a great trip and congrats on the AP's!

 

[mrsw94]

*PP+ was well utilized this trip. I don't know exactly how many pictures on are on it yet, but all the reports of the photographers taking more time are true. My daughters had a mini-shoot in front of the Main Street tree on our last night.

*Both the Holiday Tour and Discover the Magic Tour are ones I would highly recommend (the latter if you have kids, although we had fun too). *you are no longer able to ride in the tail of the monorail. I'm not sure why, but that is new from our last trip.

*all my kids got their spending money on gift cards, bought at Target and a small amount of cash. This worked so well - they were much more selective when it was there money and I didn't have to deal with any "I wants" or argue about the value of something. Their money = their decisions. Two of mine wanted the giant caramel apples - they used their money. Two of my 4 came home with money left over. I bought them each one ornament and a sweatshirt. Any questions, feel free to ask. And sorry for any typos! Trying to decorate for Christmas and type this.

Great report! Thanks so much for all your great details! Really happy to hear PP+ was worth it. Ordered ours last week!

The tours our on my to-do someday list. Hopefully we'll get there!!

Good idea on the spending money. My DS gets $2 a week that I've been stuffing in his piggy bank. I think I'll exhange it for a gift card rather than having him carry that around!

 

[czmom]

I'm here! We arrived yesterday at LAX and had dinner at DTD last night. It was so festive!!! Loved all the lights.
Checked into the VGC and scored an amazing view from our balcony
We did DCA for several hours this morning and were surprised at the lack of crowds!! It's been great! This evening may be different, but we had a very light morning.
Kids are napping now and then we are heading into Disneyland.

Janet- promise to ride storybook canal boats for you!

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm here! We arrived yesterday at LAX and had dinner at DTD last night. It was so festive!!! Loved all the lights.
Checked into the VGC and scored an amazing view from our balcony
We did DCA for several hours this morning and were surprised at the lack of crowds!! It's been great! This evening may be different, but we had a very light morning.
Kids are napping now and then we are heading into Disneyland.

Janet- promise to ride storybook canal boats for you!

Yeah! Congrats on the great view! Can't wait to hear how the rest of your trip goes.

And maybe you can slip someone a $20 to keep the boats open through Thursday? That would be SWELL!

 

[ToodlesRN]

*Both the Holiday Tour and Discover the Magic Tour are ones I would highly recommend (the latter if you have kids, although we had fun too). *you are no longer able to ride in the tail of the monorail. I'm not sure why, but that is new from our last trip.

Did you take your youngest child with you on the Holiday tour? I know our oldest will be fine but the 3 year old I'm worried about! I really want to do the tour but then again sometimes she amazes me with her patience and other times not!

Sounds like a wonderful time you had!!

 

[momtothreeinfinity]

DisneyJamieCA - thank you so much for your TR-it was excellent! You've given me so much to think about, wondering if I should do one of the tours now with my party of eight... Sorry about your experience with peeps at LAX - you find those kind of people everywhere unfortunately. I really enjoyed reading about your adventures.

Cheers!

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Did you take your youngest child with you on the Holiday tour? I know our oldest will be fine but the 3 year old I'm worried about! I really want to do the tour but then again sometimes she amazes me with her patience and other times not! Sounds like a wonderful time you had!!

I did take my youngest on it. She was free, so therefore didn't get the mug, cookie or pin, but she did great. There were two families with strollers and one with an ECV and the guide and ride attendants were very good about helping to find parking, etc. Same went for the Discover the Magic Tour, although on both my little one walked most of it. It is constant moving, so not a lot of time to get impatient. On the DTM tour, they did give my LO a mug & "surprise", but I don't think they were supposed to. They both said they couldn't leave her out (she had totally gotten into it).



Thank you for all the compliments! I just asked my kids the highlight of their trip and the oldest two both said the tours. My LO said meeting Ariel (in front of the Mickey flower head in DL and she did totally have a celebrity meeting moment - "she talked to me. Ariel talked to me" and my DS said the lounge - his exact words when first opening the refrigerator was "Oh my God" at the unlimited drinks. He played waiter our entire trip!

I know there are always rude people out there and we came across more grumpy CMs this trip than we ever have, but there were two employees at LAX who were just horrible and it was just an unfortunate way to end the trip. However, they can't take away from the many AMAZING CMs and people we came across this trip.

 

[NSmuppetmom]

Hi again,

Is there a Christmas-themed store in DLR (or DTD) similar to the one at MK and DTD in Orlando? I want to buy a 2013 Christmas ornament and the Disney store online only has ornaments dated 2014.

 

[Sherry E]

Hi again,

Is there a Christmas-themed store in DLR (or DTD) similar to the one at MK and DTD in Orlando? I want to buy a 2013 Christmas ornament and the Disney store online only has ornaments dated 2014.

NSmuppetmom -

Not really. There used to be a year-round Christmas store in Fantasyland many years ago (in the Castle). Until just recently there was an ornament store in New Orleans Square, but it is now closed (I think due to the Club 33 expansion).

There is a store on Main Street called the China Closet, and it has a section that sells Christmas stuff year-round, I think.

Right now, of course, there is Christmas stuff everywhere, in every shop. HydroGuy just reported that he got an ornament at a store at the end of Main Street when he saw that the NOS shop was closed, and I am guessing he got it from the China Closet or from the Showcase shop.

Trish (Phoenixrising) said she saw 2013 ornaments too -- at Elias and Company in DCA.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

NSmuppetmom - Not really. There used to be a year-round Christmas store in Fantasyland many years ago (in the Castle). Until just recently there was an ornament store in New Orleans Square, but it is now closed (I think due to the Club 33 expansion). There is a store on Main Street called the China Closet, and it has a section that sells Christmas stuff year-round, I think. Right now, of course, there is Christmas stuff everywhere, in every shop. HydroGuy just reported that he got an ornament at a store at the end of Main Street when he saw that the NOS shop was closed, and I am guessing he got it from the China Closet or from the Showcase shop. Trish (Phoenixrising) said she saw ornaments too -- in DCA.

There are 2013 ornaments all over the place. I bought mine in the gift shop at the DLH and they had at least 5 different 2013 styles. I was frustrated to see all the dated autograph books were for 2014 - we ended up with a different style. I thought I saw a 2013 one before we needed it, so I thought I could get it at any store, but by the time we needed it, I couldn't remember which store I had seen it in.

 

[FlameGirl]

We got here this morning and it's been somewhat of a frustrating day. The park is pretty crowded so we finally gave up and came back to the hotel before dinner, for a break.

We did run into Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner while we were waiting for our rental car at the GCH valet, so that was kind of fun.

Here's to hoping for lighter crowds tomorrow.

 

[Sherry E]

There are 2013 ornaments all over the place. I bought mine in the gift shop at the DLH and they had at least 5 different 2013 styles. I was frustrated to see all the dated autograph books were for 2014 - we ended up with a different style. I thought I saw a 2013 one before we needed it, so I thought I could get it at any store, but by the time we needed it, I couldn't remember which store I had seen it in.

Trish didn't indicate that she saw 2013 ornaments in many places. She said she saw them at Elias and Company. I saw plenty of ornaments on 11/15, but nothing dated at that point.

One of the complaints that people had last year was that the dated ornaments had sold out before the season was even close to being over, so maybe the merchandise folks are trying to keep them in stock in a multitude of shops now?

We got here this morning and it's been somewhat of a frustrating day. The park is pretty crowded so we finally gave up and came back to the hotel before dinner, for a break.

We did run into Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner while we were waiting for our rental car at the GCH valet, so that was kind of fun.

Here's to hoping for lighter crowds tomorrow.

Ooooh! That's a major A-List celebrity sighting! I thought that the major stars kind of steered clear of the parks on weekends and tried to sneak in on weekdays when they expect fewer people to be hanging around. (I saw Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale last year in December, on a Tuesday, and Zach Galifianakis at the GCH on a Wednesday in 2011.)

Kathy, for your sake I was hoping you'd see Christian Bale! He has been seen at DLR before, a few times, so it is not unheard of!

 

[FlameGirl]

Ooooh! That's a major A-List celebrity sighting! I thought that the major stars kind of steered clear of the parks on weekends and tried to sneak in on weekdays when they expect fewer people to be hanging around. (I saw Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale last year in December, on a Tuesday, and Zach Galifianakis at the GCH on a Wednesday in 2011.)

Kathy, for your sake I was hoping you'd see Christian Bale! He has been seen at DLR before, a few times, so it is not unheard of!

Lol. I guess one Batman is better than zero Batmans. CB would be pretty nice - I don't know if I could contain myself. I got a photo of JG but not sure if I should post. Ben was too quick for me and hopped into his car before I could snap a photo. They seemed like nice people, from the 30 seconds I saw them though, so that's nice.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Trish didn't indicate that she saw 2013 ornaments in many places. She said she saw them at Elias and Company. I saw plenty of ornaments on 11/15, but nothing dated at that point. One of the complaints that people had last year was that the dated ornaments had sold out before the season was even close to being over, so maybe the merchandise folks are trying to keep them in stock in a multitude of shops now? Ooooh! That's a major A-List celebrity sighting! I thought that the major stars kind of steered clear of the parks on weekends and tried to sneak in on weekdays when they expect fewer people to be hanging around. (I saw Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale last year in December, on a Tuesday, and Zach Galifianakis at the GCH on a Wednesday in 2011.) Kathy, for your sake I was hoping you'd see Christian Bale! He has been seen at DLR before, a few times, so it is not unheard of!

I know they had them at the gift shops at the DLH & the GCH. They also had them in Elias & Co, WOD & Emporium. I know I also them a few other places. So not every store, but enough that it won't be a serious hunt to find one.

And I agree, Ben Affleck & Jennifer Garner is a huge celebrity sighting! I'm a big fan of them.

Lol. I guess one Batman is better than zero Batmans. CB would be pretty nice - I don't know if I could contain myself. I got a photo of JG but not sure if I should post. Ben was too quick for me and hopped into his car before I could snap a photo. They seemed like nice people, from the 30 seconds I saw them though, so that's nice.

If you aren't comfortable posting it, would you PM me the picture?