Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #4

[dsneygirl]

dsneygirl --

We are very glad to have you as a part of this thread! I'm so glad you're enjoying it -- I always hope that this thread will strike a good balance between information, questions & answers, planning help/advice, general holiday discussion, breaking news, food talk, photos, rumors and speculation, various holiday season-related things, etc. (By the way, our final theme in the Theme Week Countdown -- Holiday Cornucopia -- will allow for WDW holiday photos as well, so keep that in mind if you'd like to enter the Countdown/gift card giveaway random draw!)

Five weeks will be here in no time! Really, this year has zoomed by at lightning speed. I can remember when I was saying "10 months until the holidays start... 7 months until the holidays start... 4 months until the holidays start..." and now the season (officially) begins at DLR in 5 weeks, and, unofficially, many things will be up and running in 4 weeks!

I think that IASW Holiday is absolutely beautiful and enchanting -- and it is a detailed, extensive, thorough overlay. Almost every small detail has been transformed into something holiday-ish. At night, the façade of IASWH is breathtaking. I think your son will love it!

Haunted Mansion Holiday is also a thorough, extensive overlay that is amazing to see!

Don't miss the Jingle Jangle Jamboree/Round-Up/Big Thunder Ranch, which is just one of the locations where Santa will be, as well as a petting zoo, characters, cute reindeer decorations and holidays crafts/games/treats!

Oh awesome! Thunder Ranch is also a must do for my 8 year old (last time it was the fall decorations) but I didn't know Santa was there.

I just printed out the hours for the 18-21 and looks like we have lots of opportunities to see WoC, parade and holiday fireworks, depending on weather etc.

I think I asked way back in this thread but any word on my StoryBook Land Canal boats? Or is it usually with just the regular decorations?

I knew once back to school was here it would fly by!

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Gorgeous photos! I cannot wait!

 

[Sherry E]

Oh awesome! Thunder Ranch is also a must do for my 8 year old (last time it was the fall decorations) but I didn't know Santa was there.

I just printed out the hours for the 18-21 and looks like we have lots of opportunities to see WoC, parade and holiday fireworks, depending on weather etc.

I think I asked way back in this thread but any word on my StoryBook Land Canal boats? Or is it usually with just the regular decorations?

I knew once back to school was here it would fly by!

dsneygirl --

The little cottages and homes along the Storybook Land Canal boat ride should have teeny tiny Christmas decorations (you may have seen the photos of them during our IASWH/Fantasyland Theme Week, which started on August 4th, page 65), but the only thing is that I am not sure if those decorations will be up by the time you get to DLR. In the past, the decorations on that ride were not always ready when the season began, but were ready closer to Thanksgiving.

Last year, the SBL decorations were up before Thanksgiving, but then the ride itself closed right around Thanksgiving and into mid-December!

The decorations on the Storybook Land Canal Boat cottages, etc., are like a hidden treasure. Disney never, ever announces that they are there, nor do they even mention that ride in the list of holiday offerings (much like they are not mentioning Jingle Cruise in the offerings for this year, even though we know that Jingle Cruise is coming back). It is a ride that many people will skip because the lines are often long. But the tiny decorations are so cute that they are worth seeing.

 

[rentayenta]

Sherry, I went to both Smith's (Kroger) and Walmart and neither are showing a hint of tasty frozen holiday flavors. Not a single peppermint anything to be found. Our creamer section has the typical array of holiday flavors but nada for ice cream


The Starbucks Peppermint Mocha can be made year round. They just start advertising it around this time of year but they always carry the peppermint syrup. A little birdie barista who I claim on my taxes told me.


Thanks for the TV rundown. Netflix is now playing Titanic which has sucked me in nightly all week. I think I am going to Watch Christmas With The Kranks tonight.

 

[mom2rtk]

Gorgeous photos! I cannot wait!

Thank you!

dsneygirl --

The little cottages and homes along the Storybook Land Canal boat ride should have teeny tiny Christmas decorations (you may have seen the photos of them during our IASWH/Fantasyland Theme Week, which started on August 4th, page 65), but the only thing is that I am not sure if those decorations will be up by the time you get to DLR. In the past, the decorations on that ride were not always ready when the season began, but were ready closer to Thanksgiving.

Last year, the SBL decorations were up before Thanksgiving, but then the ride itself closed right around Thanksgiving and into mid-December!

The decorations on the Storybook Land Canal Boat cottages, etc., are like a hidden treasure. Disney never, ever announces that they are there, nor do they even mention that ride in the list of holiday offerings (much like they are not mentioning Jingle Cruise in the offerings for this year, even though we know that Jingle Cruise is coming back). It is a ride that many people will skip because the lines are often long. But the tiny decorations are so cute that they are worth seeing.

I really can't wait to see these this year. It was closed while we were there last year so it will be a real treat this year!

 

[mom2rtk]

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[DisneylandPlanner]

Sherry just wanted to say thanks, love this thread. It is full of so much info I keep coming back for answers. Fabulous job

 

[Escape2Disney]

Sherry -

I'm not sure if you know, but ABC Family will be releasing the 25 Days of Christmas schedule on Monday! Let the holiday movie watching plans begin!

 

[Sherry E]

As I mentioned yesterday, we are getting close to the end of the Theme Week Countdown, with only 2 more regular Theme Weeks, 7 Mini-Daily themes and the final theme week -- Holiday Cornucopia -- to go. We have covered 12 themes thus far (including the current theme that ends tomorrow night).

Here are the participation stats to far, up to this point (a.k.a. Who Has Been Participating, and How Many Entries Into the Random Draw They Have Earned So Far)....



Participants with 12 Entries (who have contributed to all 12 themes)

pattyduke34

Bret/mvf-m11c

Orbitron

Luisa

Jenny/rentayenta

Jamie/DisneyJamieCA

Elk Grove Chris

pudinhd

Janet/mom2rtk




Participants with 11 Entries

Lori/Kylie71

Amanda/PixiDustDears

Jenasweetemotion

sgrap

tksbaskets




Participants with 10 Entries

figment_jii

dec2009mama

KCmike

DLmama




Participants with 9 Entries

Denise/dhorner233

Speechphi

PHXscuba




Participants with 8 Entries

Trish/Phoenixrising

crystal1313

blackjackdelta




Participants with 7 Entries

None



Participants with 6 Entries

Vintage Mouseketeer




Participants with 5 Entries

JadeDarkstar

Minnie Sue Oz



Participants with 4 Entries

Misskitty3

I'm mikey

the_princess




Participants with 3 Entries

Escape2Disney




Participants with 2 Entries

disneylover2005

Disney127



Participants with 1 Entry into the Theme Week Countdown Thus Far!!!

ashnjam

amylew

yupikgal

darrenf67

BrynNicole

egritz

​

Don't be discouraged from posting photos in the remaining Theme Weeks and Theme Days (if you have theme-appropriate photos to share!) -- even if you have not been able to post very often so far, or you are only able to post one time in the entire Countdown! As I have said in the past, the DIS'er who won the Disney gift card in 2013 did not have the most contributions to the Countdown! It certainly helps to enter as often as you can to get more entries into the contest, but since the random draw will, indeed, be very random, anyone could win!!!

Also -- last year I only gave out one Disney gift card to one winner of the random draw (and one gift card to the winner of the Code Word Challenge). This year I will be giving away TWO Disney gift cards -- one GC per winner -- to two randomly chosen names of photo contributors (and also one gift card to the winner of the CWC), so the chances to win are greater than they were last year (although the photo contributors cannot do the Code Word Challenge too, and vice versa -- it has to be one or the other!).

When we get to the final theme on Monday, November 3rd -- Holiday Cornucopia -- the field will open up for holiday photos of any kind, including WDW holiday photos, photos from any of the international Disney parks, favorite non-Disney holiday photos (like if you visited Knott's Merry Farm, Universal Studios, etc.), favorite photos of family holiday gatherings/trips/outings, photos of wintry weather and scenery, and any photos that didn't make it into the previous Theme Weeks!

So I hope to see more folks joining in for our final theme during the week of 11/3 - 11/10!!!

​

 

[Sherry E]

I have to giggle again at the fact that, just because the temperatures are dropping down from 100 and 90 degrees, and we have some 75-degree days lined up for this week in SoCal, the weather folks are throwing around all of the "Fall" references again. The last time it dropped down to a chilly 75 degrees they were talking about getting out the sweaters and sweatshirts because it was "cool and crisp."

Now the weather people are saying about this upcoming week, "It will suuuure feel like Fall." Um... no. It won't. It will be 75 or 77 degrees, which does not feel like Fall. You'll have to lop off at least 10 degrees from those numbers and throw in a breeze or some drizzle before I even begin to consider it Fall-like!

I can't wait for our Arctic 60-degree Winter. I may have to get some snowshoes for that kind of extreme weather.

Another great theme! Sherry I like your pictures of the Ariel's Grotto tree. I know the lighting might seem bad but I think that makes it look more like the tree is "under the sea"

petals --

Thank you! Yes, I hated the lighting in that specific tree spot in the daytime because of the giant window in the background. I didn't go back there at night to see how much better it was, but at least the sun wouldn't be shining in the window at night. I can see what you mean, though -- there is a certain 'underwater-ish' look because of the coloring and lighting.

Sherry just wanted to say thanks, love this thread. It is full of so much info I keep coming back for answers. Fabulous job

DisneylandPlanner --

You're welcome! Thank you for the kind words! I've devoted an enormous chunk of my time to this thread and its predecessors (and to my Halloween Time at DLR Superthread) for the last 4 years, and I appreciate any and all folks who have followed along with me on the journey and have taken time from their lives to help give out info, answer questions, share their experiences, post photos, etc.

I also appreciate everyone who has decided to join in, come in out of the shadows, ask questions and stick with us here! As you can probably see, we're a fun, friendly, welcoming, informative group and we have a lot of collective knowledge of and experience with the holidays at DLR, whether we have been there many times for the season or only one time!

Some of the info in this thread may be info that is not commonly known outside of this thread (not everyone on The DIS has the same level of knowledge of and insight into the same subjects; we all have our 'areas' that we are a bit more plugged in to or interested in than others are), so I will say that if someone sees something in this thread that they want further expansion on or details about, they may, possibly, not get that info -- it depends on what the subject at hand is -- outside of this thread.

I have seen that happen -- someone will see something mentioned in this thread and instead of asking us about it here in the thread where they saw it, they start a new thread and expect that whoever responds in it will know the answer -- when it was really something that was only talked about or brought up in this thread. We don't necessarily all know the same things or have the same details, across this entire forum or across other discussion boards. (For example, it appears that the people on MiceChat are not aware that Jingle Cruise is returning this year, from what I can tell, but here in this thread we know that it's coming back, thanks to DIS'er planningjollyholiday alerting us to the fact that Erin Glover finally confirmed it!) Some folks stay more plugged in to details and info about certain topics, while other people stay plugged in to details and info about different topics. I am involved in the holidays and Halloween Time all year long, and so I am constantly going over details and information about those seasons (past, present and future)!

Sherry -

I'm not sure if you know, but ABC Family will be releasing the 25 Days of Christmas schedule on Monday! Let the holiday movie watching plans begin!

Carrie --

I didn't know that the 25 Days of Christmas schedule was coming out on Monday (I saw the "Countdown to 25 Days..." line-up!) -- I follow both the Facebook page and am subscribed to the RSS feed and somehow I still didn't know! -- but I assumed it would have to come out very soon. I know that people on Facebook complained a lot about the "25 Days" shows last year, as they said they were not Christmas-specific enough. They complained about Toy Story being shown because it's not a Christmas movie. So I would expect that there will be more complaints this year, whatever the programming happens to be!

I think that Lifetime is usually the last channel to release its holiday movie line-up, and even it should be announcing its schedule in a week or two.

It's hard to believe that there are now just 3 weeks left until Halloween! The installation of the icicle lights on the Castle already began a week or two ago, and soon the snow on the turrets will appear!

 

[tksbaskets]

Sherry - WOWsa, what a great TV recap you've posted for us. I'll have my DVR humming for sure. I'm grinning looking at the Hallmark Channel's Countdown line up.

My family loves Paradise Pier and we really enjoyed the increased festivities last December.

I'm enjoying everyone's pictures this week.

 

[Sherry E]

TK --

I was hoping you would make it into Pacific Wharf-Paradise Pier Theme Week before it ends! What great pictures!

I love your Viva Navidad family photo!

Seeing your Paradise Pier photos makes me wonder if anything will end up going into Duffy's old photo spot, which will be gone this year. I suppose that as long as they keep the character photo spot on the Pier, and the tree, the area won't look too empty.

Yay -- I'm glad you caught the Holiday TV update, with the start dates for all of the holiday programming (well, most of it, anyway)! I wish we had the whole Hallmark schedule and not just the first 9 or 10 days. Hallmark changed its schedule a bit for some of the brand new movies, so Candace Cameron's movie is airing one night earlier than originally scheduled, and the new Anne Heche movie is airing on 11/30. The schedule was changed for a couple of their other new movies as well.

There's one new movie airing this year -- and I think it is one of the new ones on UP TV -- that sounds really cute. It's called Christmas Tree Farm and it stars Lacey Chabert. I don't know when that one will be on just yet. The UP, Ion and INSP movies all have that same Hallmark-esque vibe to them. The Lifetime holiday movies and ABC Family movies are basically of that same caliber as well. So they all start to run together in my mind after a while!

 

[pattyduke34]

Sheery
I know how you feel about the weather,,,we are finally getting 10 days in a row in the 70's!! Just get through today "93" and tomorrow "88"...then I can say FALL IS HERE! My favorite time of the year!!

 

[Sherry E]

Sheery
I know how you feel about the weather,,,we are finally getting 10 days in a row in the 70's!! Just get through today "93" and tomorrow "88"...then I can say FALL IS HERE! My favorite time of the year!!

pattyduke34 --

I agree -- Fall is a great season and this period of time before Halloween and leading into the holidays is awesome!

Ten days in a row! Wow! I think we are getting maybe 3 or 4 days like that in a row, although it seems to change on a daily basis. Even when it's in the 70s it doesn't really feel Fall-like to me -- it feels better than 90 degrees or 100 degrees or 104 degrees, of course, but I need for there to be a bit of wind or a tiny bit of drizzle for it to seem Fall-ish.

When I was a child it seemed like there were always loud, strong winds every year in October -- so much so that they would sometimes knock the power out and shake the building. It's not that I want to lose my electricity and be startled by loud wind gusts -- and we all know in California that wind gusts mixed with warm weather and dry air = wildfires -- but all of the wind that used to scare me never happens in my area of L.A. anymore! It seems to have moved on to other areas. I just need a bit of a breeze and some light rain -- something to make me want to grab for a sweater -- and it will seem Fall-like. Right now, it's still Summer, basically.

​

However, that won't stop various brands from unveiling their "Holiday collections" a bit early!!!

Peet's Coffee is now offering a "preview" of their Holiday Blend 2014, online only! They have to call it a "preview" because if they just said "We're selling our Holiday Blend now," people would complain and grumble that it's too early. (In August, Bath & Body Works offered up a convenient "preview" of their annual Autumn/Halloween line of products too.)


I am sooooo excited for the holiday season at DLR to begin soon!! I need some holiday cheer!

Oh, and by the way -- those of you who are interested in doing the Holiday Time tour at Disneyland this year (which should begin on 11/13) may, possibly, be able to book it today or tomorrow. The tours are supposed to be open for booking at the 30-day point, but it seems to be a "give or take a few days" sort of situation, where sometimes people can book a few days early. Let us know if you end up booking it!

A new Theme Week begins tomorrow!

​

 

[dolphingirl47]

Oh, and by the way -- those of you who are interested in doing the Holiday Time tour at Disneyland this year (which should begin on 11/13) may, possibly, be able to book it today or tomorrow. The tours are supposed to be open for booking at the 30-day point, but it seems to be a "give or take a few days" sort of situation, where sometimes people can book a few days early. Let us know if you end up booking it!

I shall watch for any reports about when people were able to book with interest. I managed to book the A Walk In Walt's Footsteps tour for November 11th today, but need to be patient for another two weeks or so for the Holiday Tour as I ma hoping to do this November 26th.

Corinna

 

[planningjollyholiday]

I need advice for those who have done the holiday tour. I am planning on surprising my family with the tour and I am trying to decide what day to book it. We arrive late afternoon on a saturday. I want to book it for the Tuesday because that day would work best for us. However, I'm afraid that after having 2 full days in the parks that the tour won't be as good because we will have already seen a lot of the decorations already. Am I over thinking this, what are your thoughts.

 

[Sherry E]

I need advice for those who have done the holiday tour. I am planning on surprising my family with the tour and I am trying to decide what day to book it. We arrive late afternoon on a saturday. I want to book it for the Tuesday because that day would work best for us. However, I'm afraid that after having 2 full days in the parks that the tour won't be as good because we will have already seen a lot of the decorations already. Am I over thinking this, what are your thoughts.

planningjollyholiday --

I hope that Jamie, TK and all of the other tour takers will speak up to offer advice for you, but I just had to say that I don't think you're overthinking it. In fact, I think it's a very relevant point, given that the tour costs a decent chunk of change -- if you have already been at DLR for 2 full days and seen much of what there is to see, will the tour still be worthwhile and interesting?

I have never done the tour -- and even though I keep telling myself that I will do it one of these days, just to have the experience and to have seats for the parade, I have to think that a huge part of the reason I haven't taken the plunge and jumped into the tour is because I have heard about what happens on the tour and I have seen and done a lot of it without taking the tour.

I think that if I were in your position, I would probably do the tour earlier than Tuesday if there is any way possible to finagle that. Whether you do the tour on Tuesday or prior, at least you'll get the parade seats and faster access to boarding IASWH and HMH -- and those perks will come in handy!

 

[Orbitron]

I need advice for those who have done the holiday tour. I am planning on surprising my family with the tour and I am trying to decide what day to book it. We arrive late afternoon on a saturday. I want to book it for the Tuesday because that day would work best for us. However, I'm afraid that after having 2 full days in the parks that the tour won't be as good because we will have already seen a lot of the decorations already. Am I over thinking this, what are your thoughts.

We did the tour last year after being four full days in the parks. There are so many decorations and details. The guide showed us a lot of things we didn't notice before. Our favorite part of the tour was seeing the parade from our reserved seats and enjoying the hot cocoa. The Pin we received was great too. We decided to do the tour again this year.

 

[egritz]

Anyone know if the Disneyland version of this ornament are still available in the parks? And do you think they'll likely still be there in 5 weeks (we get there 11/16) I don't see it online (and the WDW one is sold out). Usually I buy them earlier in the year online, but with this last minute trip I didn't have the time to plan ahead of time. Since we had kids it is a tradition to get one for each DL visit and put a family photo in.
http://www.disneystore.com/sorcerer-mickey-2014-frame-ornament-walt-disney-world/mp/1343379/1000344/

 

[petals]

I need advice for those who have done the holiday tour. I am planning on surprising my family with the tour and I am trying to decide what day to book it. We arrive late afternoon on a saturday. I want to book it for the Tuesday because that day would work best for us. However, I'm afraid that after having 2 full days in the parks that the tour won't be as good because we will have already seen a lot of the decorations already. Am I over thinking this, what are your thoughts.

I'm your prime over thinker and have been wondering the same. If the parks are open 9am til 12am for three of the days we're there do I need to do this tour because I'll likely manage to get on Small World and Haunted Mansion and see the parade from kurb side. I read the trip report someone had up on it and it seemed ok but I think Momma might question why we bothered if we end up seeing the parade and the the rides morethan once which could easily happen.

 

[krispin41]

Thanks for the info about the tours...I was wondering when we would see that info pop up. I think I am going to splurge and do it!