Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #4

[Sailorwife]

It looks like there are different starting time for every day. The times for November 14 show as 12:00 PM, 12:05 PM, 2:45 PM, 2:50 PM and 2:55 PM and for November 15 show as 12:00 PM, 2:45 PM, 2:50 PM and 2:55 PM. When I checked out another tour on Sunday, it showed that the Holiday Tour starts at November 12th, which I was very surprised about so I don't think they have the final schedule sorted out yet and it may well start on November 13th.

Corinna

Thanks SherryE & Dolphingirl47! It did seem the CM on the phone was a little unsure! I can book tomorrow so hopefully it will all be sorted out by then!

 

[Phoenixrising]

I think I've got a few to share from last year:

Gingerbread village at I think Trolley Treats:
DSC06543 by greytyetti!, on Flickr

Billie Hill and the Hillbillies....I'm going to miss them regardless the time of year.
DSC06702 by greytyetti!, on Flickr

The 2011 HM Gingerbread house:
DSC04988 by greytyetti!, on Flickr

The 2013 Gingerbread house
DSC06578 by greytyetti!, on Flickr

 

[Sailorwife]

Just booked the Holiday Tour for Nov. 14th. The CM did confirm that was the first day of the tour. I was thinking 30 days was tomorrow so I just called to confirm some times & discovered I can't count! Booked that & Fantasmic Desert Package! Excited!

 

[figment_jii]

Yes, the Carthay Circle gingerbread house -- as long as it is freshly made -- would be different each year, as are the ones in Storytellers Café and White Water Snacks (and the one in Haunted Mansion Holiday, of course). So, if Carthay ever decides to bring back the gingerbread house/cottage, it will likely be a fresh one with a new design.

I totally forgot about the gingerbread houses in HMH! I've been happily posting them over on the Halloween SuperThread and it didn't dawn on me that they were also Christmas/Holiday! Can't wait to see next week's thread!

I was so excited when I saw the DLH gingerbread house at first and then I realized it was plastic (or whatever non-edible material it was made of). I thought that DLH was being like WDW and creating gingerbread sculptures, but alas, they were not.

 

[Pheran]

Ms Sherry, knower of all things DL holiday - I was wondering if you cold help me understand the week before the parade taping. We purposefully chose our trip to be the week between Halloween and the parade taping (So, Monday, Nov 3 - Wednesday, Nov 5th in park). What can we expect? Hours are crazy short and I am under the impression that crowds will be quite small... well, at least in relative DL terms. Will we get to experience the changeover of the park from Halloween to Christmas? Any chance we'll hit a soft opening for a parade or fireworks or other Holiday-themed thing? Have you ever gone during that week to see the changeover? Predictions (which I won't hold you accountable for, should they not come true)?

I don't want to speak for Sherry, but I think you are a little too early as most of the soft openings seem to be starting on Friday 11/7, such as the Christmas parade and holiday fireworks.

 

[rentayenta]

I went through 2,000+ pics last night and this was all I could find. I know I've got more especially of DCA and the candy cane DCA letters.

 

[Misskitty3]

Here is mine...

 

[marlana323]

Hi All. Another tour question.... Our flight gets into SNA at 1:00 on Sunday the 7th. Do you think we could book the late holiday tour that day (the 3:00 one)? Or would we be pushing it? I thought that would be a fun way to start but then I thought maybe I was pushing it....

Thank you!!!

 

[Sherry E]

It looks like the Avengers Half-Marathon weekend is coming back in 2015. I'm sure it has been announced/posted/publicized in a more 'Disney-official' location, but I just happened to see it this morning on a MousePlanet RSS feed. The dates in 2015 will be November 12-15 (Thursday-Sunday), whereas this year the dates are 11/14-11/16.

I have to say that I wish Disney wouldn't do the marathon weekend at the precise time the holidays will be starting. They don't have a marathon at the beginning of Halloween Time or anywhere in the middle of Halloween Time -- and that's considered the off-peak season. Why they would put a marathon at the start of the holiday season is baffling to me -- especially for a second year in a row, when they're not even sure how things will go with the marathon next month.

​

Ms Sherry, knower of all things DL holiday - I was wondering if you cold help me understand the week before the parade taping. We purposefully chose our trip to be the week between Halloween and the parade taping (So, Monday, Nov 3 - Wednesday, Nov 5th in park). What can we expect? Hours are crazy short and I am under the impression that crowds will be quite small... well, at least in relative DL terms. Will we get to experience the changeover of the park from Halloween to Christmas? Any chance we'll hit a soft opening for a parade or fireworks or other Holiday-themed thing? Have you ever gone during that week to see the changeover? Predictions (which I won't hold you accountable for, should they not come true)?

Welcome back, wdwmoose!

I've not gone during that specific week in between Halloween Time and the holidays because my goal is to be there when it's Halloween Time or the holidays! I'm not trying to avoid those time frames -- I am trying to be there, smack dab in the middle of them! Low crowds are not the top/main priority for me. Heavy crowds are an issue and I avoid the reallllly insane time frames, but I'd rather be there in the middle of full-scale holiday merriment or full-scale Halloween Time fun and deal with a certain level of crowds than to miss out on those seasons with lower crowds.

However, as I do stay plugged in to the holidays and Halloween Time all year long and I pay a lot of attention to reports that come in on this board and all around the Internet, this is what I have learned and can predict:

You will most likely not see any signs of Halloween because Halloween Time ends on 10/31. The only thing you might even potentially see is Ghost Galaxy, but the last time I checked the calendar it appeared that it would be closed on 11/3 (which would mean that the Halloween overlay is being removed). Haunted Mansion Holiday will be open, of course., so you will see that. You may seem some lingering Halloween merchandise if it hasn't all been cleared away.

If Disney wanted to extend Halloween Time they could easily stretch it out to Sunday, 11/2, but they (Disney's Enhancement Team) has to work quickly to remove signs of Halloween from Main Street in preparation for the Christmas parade taping (the bulk of which will be taped on 11/7 and probably on 11/8 too, but certain separate segments for the ABC Christmas Day special may be randomly taped in the parks even before 11/7), and they have to get the parks in Christmas mode for those potential random segments.

You'll see more of the Christmas decorations going up in the parks each day. The snow will already be on the Castle.

You'll probably see a lot of Holiday merchandise in the shops, as that begins to come in even before 10/31. I'm not sure if the holiday food items will be available yet, or if the Halloween Time food items might still be available. Maybe a bit of both.

Yes, the crowds are supposedly smaller because it won't be Halloween Time and it won't be the Holidays yet.

Nothing Holiday-ish will really be starting before 11/7. As it is, the holidays do not officially begin until 11/13, so if Disney wanted to run the holiday fireworks and parade from 11/7-11/9 and then not run them on 11/10-11/12, they could do it. Nothing is guaranteed to be happening until 11/13 (or later), but the standard pattern has been to begin/soft open the holiday fireworks and Christmas parade for the public on the weekend when the parade is taped -- and that's when IASWH will open as well.

IASW is scheduled to be closed through 11/6, as is the area devoted to Jingle Jangle Jamboree/Big Thunder Ranch, so those will not open until 11/7 either.

Just booked the Holiday Tour for Nov. 14th. The CM did confirm that was the first day of the tour. I was thinking 30 days was tomorrow so I just called to confirm some times & discovered I can't count! Booked that & Fantasmic Desert Package! Excited!

Sailorwife --

Again, thank you for letting us know this, as the delayed start date is a brand new thing! The tour has always begun on the first day of the season, so it makes me wonder why they are not beginning it on that day this year. I wonder if there is something else scheduled to happen on 11/13 that Disney felt would conflict with the tour somehow? Hmmm....

I also wonder why Disney is even saying that the holidays begin on 11/13? Why not just say the holiday season begins on 11/14? It's only a 1-day difference. They always began their seasons on Fridays until a few years ago, so it would have been easy to do it that way this year. This, too, makes me wonder if there is some special 'thing' happening on 11/13 (which is yet to be revealed) that necessitates beginning the season on that date instead of one day later.

I don't want to speak for Sherry, but I think you are a little too early as most of the soft openings seem to be starting on Friday 11/7, such as the Christmas parade and holiday fireworks.

Pheran --

Yep! As it is, 11/7 is rather early to be starting so many things (the Christmas parade, the holiday fireworks, Jingle Jangle Jamboree, IASWH and whatever else) when the holidays don't even officially begin until 6 days after that, so the chances of anything beginning even before 11/7 are slim-to-none.

 

[wdwmoose]

I don't want to speak for Sherry, but I think you are a little too early as most of the soft openings seem to be starting on Friday 11/7, such as the Christmas parade and holiday fireworks.

Thanks, Pheran! I welcome other input too. I was just hedging my bets by calling her out. If anyone's been there during that time it's probably her.




Thanks, Sherry!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Hi All. Another tour question.... Our flight gets into SNA at 1:00 on Sunday the 7th. Do you think we could book the late holiday tour that day (the 3:00 one)? Or would we be pushing it? I thought that would be a fun way to start but then I thought maybe I was pushing it....

Thank you!!!

While theoretically you're okay (22 min SNA to DL on google maps you could be in the parks by 2pm) I personally wouldn't risk it. What is Disney's refund/reschedule policy for tours?

Amongst the time consuming things you may have to do before tour starts: luggage gathering time, car rental/shuttle/taxi time, parking & getting tram to the parks, security check (should be quick especially since you'll just have cleared TSA) ticket redemption (that time of day this will be quick unless you have a hiccup) and the holiday tour page says check-in is at least 15 minutes prior to the tour. (I'm assuming no hotel check-in obviously.) Also, will anyone in the crew be hungry? It seems like you may be flying during lunch time and while there is a snack on the tour there's no meal.

While it sounds like a great way to start a Xmas vacation maybe you could do a nice dinner the first night to kick everything off and tour the next day when a lot less could go wrong- but I'm a rather cautious person in general!

 

[Angrose]

Hi Sherry,
I've been lurking on this thread for quite some time since we are planning our very first holiday trip to DLR for the weekend after Thanksgiving. Thank you so much for all the information and advice you provide, it's so valuable!
Here's a question I can't seem to find an answer to. When do they switch over from the Thanksgiving treats and offerings to the Christmas ones? We will be arriving Friday after Thanksgiving and leaving the following Monday. We LOVE pumpkin-flavored treats. I especially would like to try the pumpkin yule log and the pumpkin beignets. Do you think they will still be around just after Thanksgiving or will they immediately switch over to the more Christmas-y flavors? I'm not a fan of gingerbread
Thanks!

 

[petals]

Did you all see one of the ladies from the podcast posted on her twitter page that there was some holiday merchandise in the parks already. Three Christmassy tops.

Just booked the Holiday Tour for Nov. 14th. The CM did confirm that was the first day of the tour. I was thinking 30 days was tomorrow so I just called to confirm some times & discovered I can't count! Booked that & Fantasmic Desert Package! Excited!

Technically 20 days is tomorrow because october has 31 days... It's interesting that you could book a day sooner wondering will the same work with the Walt tour if I try a day earlier

 

[JadeDarkstar]

I booked the tour today, and wow guess what I found out.
The Ice rink is supposed to be open in DTD by the date of the race because it is supposed to go along and open the same day DL's holiday starts. she said nov 13th.

 

[figment_jii]

It looks like the Avengers Half-Marathon weekend is coming back in 2015. I'm sure it has been announced/posted/publicized in a more 'Disney-official' location, but I just happened to see it this morning on a MousePlanet RSS feed. The dates in 2015 will be November 12-15 (Thursday-Sunday), whereas this year the dates are 11/14-11/16.

I have to say that I wish Disney wouldn't do the marathon weekend at the precise time the holidays will be starting. They don't have a marathon at the beginning of Halloween Time or anywhere in the middle of Halloween Time -- and that's considered the off-peak season. Why they would put a marathon at the start of the holiday season is baffling to me -- especially for a second year in a row, when they're not even sure how things will go with the marathon next month.

I saw where RunDisney announced the Disneyland half marathon will be on September 4 to 6 in 2015. So assuming the HalloweenTime schedule holds, they'll just miss the start of the Halloween season.
http://www.rundisney.com/disneyland-half-marathon/

The RunDisney facebook page has the 2015/2016 calendar posted, which includes the Avenger's Half Marathon for 11/12-11/15 in 2015.
https://www.facebook.com/RunDisney/...057592786878/1026529284039700/?type=1&theater

I honestly something think the different departments in Disney do not always talk with each other before scheduling events/activities. Either that of they're just really confident that it'll go well this year, so they're scheduling it again for next year at the same time. Registration doesn't open for a while, so they can always change it if things go badly this year. I'm hopefully that it'll all work out...

 

[Sherry E]

Hi Sherry,
I've been lurking on this thread for quite some time since we are planning our very first holiday trip to DLR for the weekend after Thanksgiving. Thank you so much for all the information and advice you provide, it's so valuable!
Here's a question I can't seem to find an answer to. When do they switch over from the Thanksgiving treats and offerings to the Christmas ones? We will be arriving Friday after Thanksgiving and leaving the following Monday. We LOVE pumpkin-flavored treats. I especially would like to try the pumpkin yule log and the pumpkin beignets. Do you think they will still be around just after Thanksgiving or will they immediately switch over to the more Christmas-y flavors? I'm not a fan of gingerbread
Thanks!

Angrose --

Hello there! Welcome!

Thank you for the kind words -- I appreciate it, and I'm glad that this thread has been valuable and helpful. I am happy you decided to join us.

Let's see... about holiday food/snacks --

First, the yule log. There is a "Fall (pumpkin) version" and a holiday version. From what I have been able to deduce over the last couple of years, the Fall version of the log (which first arrives for Halloween Time) seems to be available at least all the way up until mid-November. It's very possible that the Fall log could still be around over Thanksgiving weekend, but I would not be shocked if the holiday log pops up right after Thanksgiving day, though.

I think that there is a really good chance that the pumpkin beignets could be around all through Thanksgiving weekend and your trip. In fact, I think that I have read about the pumpkin beignets being around into the holiday season (which includes Thanksgiving weekend). Even if the gingerbread beignets are released too, the pumpkin ones will probably still be around.

You will likely also still be able to find pumpkin pie in various places, if you like that. I kind of think that the pumpkin fudge may even still be available at the end of November.

I've noticed that there are some food items and snacks that are definitively on the "Halloween" side of things, and some items that are clearly "Holiday/Christmas" items, but there isn't really a wide array of Thanksgiving-only items, and there isn't a sharp switch from one theme to the other. There are some Thanksgiving-specific things, but Thanksgiving is more the transitional period of time that can kind of work with the pumpkin-y Halloween things and with the general "holiday season" flavors that carry through to Christmas.

There are plenty of treats to eat without eating any gingerbread (or peppermint) -- lots of cupcakes, cookies, pretzel rods, marshmallow wands, etc.

I am working on a comprehensive list of DLR Holiday season food items to go with my comprehensive list of Halloween/Fall food items, so stay tuned for that. Hopefully I will have it done by next week.

Did you all see one of the ladies from the podcast posted on her twitter page that there was some holiday merchandise in the parks already. Three Christmassy tops.

Technically 20 days is tomorrow because october has 31 days... It's interesting that you could book a day sooner wondering will the same work with the Walt tour if I try a day earlier

petals --

I must give figment_jii credit for posting links to photos of new Christmasy items in this very thread within the last couple of weeks -- HERE! Were those what you saw on Twitter?

As far as tour booking windows -- over the years I have noticed that some people report being able to book earlier than 30 days, and sometimes it's exactly 30 days, and sometimes it's just under 30 days. There doesn't seem to be a truly reliable schedule for booking!

I booked the tour today, and wow guess what I found out.
The Ice rink is supposed to be open in DTD by the date of the race because it is supposed to go along and open the same day DL's holiday starts. she said nov 13th.

JadeDarkstar --

I hope so! I really hope there is a way for Disney to put the rink, the giant Christmas tree and the Winter Village up without causing traffic flow issues for the race-related crowds and foot traffic. I hate when DLR starts certain things on one day, certain things on another day and then more things on another day. I would rather that everything gets going at the same time!

I saw where RunDisney announced the Disneyland half marathon will be on September 4 to 6 in 2015. So assuming the HalloweenTime schedule holds, they'll just miss the start of the Halloween season.
http://www.rundisney.com/disneyland-half-marathon/

The RunDisney facebook page has the 2015/2016 calendar posted, which includes the Avenger's Half Marathon for 11/12-11/15 in 2015.
https://www.facebook.com/RunDisney/...057592786878/1026529284039700/?type=1&theater

I honestly something think the different departments in Disney do not always talk with each other before scheduling events/activities. Either that of they're just really confident that it'll go well this year, so they're scheduling it again for next year at the same time. Registration doesn't open for a while, so they can always change it if things go badly this year. I'm hopefully that it'll all work out...

figment_jii --

Thanks for the confirmation info! I think I follow the RunDisney page on Facebook (I follow every other Disney-related page on Facebook, so that must be in there too!), but their stuff is never on my News Feed and I probably wouldn't have thought to go directly to their page unless I was looking for certain info. I just happened to see the MousePlanet update about the 2015 marathon weekend come through on the RSS feed and I thought, "Well, they are usually good about only posting things after they get confirmation," (unlike MiceChat, which posts a lot of rumors and "maybe" stories), "so the race must be happening again in November 2015."

 

[petals]

I must give figment_jii credit for posting links to photos of new Christmasy items in this very thread within the last couple of weeks -- HERE! Were those what you saw on Twitter?

As far as tour booking windows -- over the years I have noticed that some people report being able to book earlier than 30 days, and sometimes it's exactly 30 days, and sometimes it's just under 30 days. There doesn't seem to be a truly reliable schedule for booking!

I saw the ones that figment_jii posted. Three of the ones on twitter were the same except you can see the silver sparkle more on the white one that figment_jii found.

Maybe I'll try to book the Walt tour a day sooner and see if it works because I'm afraid I might be working the day I need to book it.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Thanks for the info. I was planning to upgrade to an AP in the park but I'm assuming I need to already have my AP when booking the tour to receive the discount.

Yes, I got caught by surprise that I was asked for my DVC membership number.

Corinna

 

[DLmama]

I miss the CA letters, especially at Christmas.



And the old Toontown tree

 

[Speechphi]

Oh my gosh! Went to my parents' today to pick up the kids after work, and decided to flip thru their old albums...and found photos from our trip to Disneyland in November 1985 (November 27 to be exact).



Don't judge! I'm on the left...beautiful, right? I was 9 1/2. My sister is in the middle (age 6 1/2), and my mom on the right. Not much different for the castle, except...the benches are still there & no safety railing



Obviously Sleeping Beauty's castle is still there, and it's still decorated for Christmas, but the 1985 version isn't exactly the same as the 21st century one.



And lastly, the one picture from 29 years ago (eek!) that really doesn't look much different than ones taken more recently (but I had to share anyways!)