Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #4

[DisneyJamieCA]

Question for all you Holiday Tour experts. Which tour time would you pick if you were going to do the tour on Thanksgiving Day? There is a 12 and 12:05 time and then there is 2:45. 2:50 and 2:55 time. I understand the earlier tours get preferred seating for the daytime parade and the later get seating for the evening parade. The evening parade looks more exciting to me with the lights, but do they seat all 3 tours together for the preferred seating? Will it be more crowded for the evening parade? How exactly does the preferred seating work? We will have younger children in our party and would hate to pay for preferred seating for them just to be stuck behind someone taller anyway. We are planning on eating our Thanksgiving meal at Carnation Cafe that day, so if we do the later tour, we would eat around 12-1 and if we do the earlier tour we would eat around 4-5. Plusses or minuses for either tour?? Also, does anybody know what the cancellation policy is for the tours?

I would do the later tour and the evening parade. It is really magical to be down at IASW with all the lights. And the tour is non-refundable.

 

[mom2rtk]

I would do the later tour and the evening parade. It is really magical to be down at IASW with all the lights. And the tour is non-refundable.

Totally agree. It was a very magical experience. We were standing at the entrance of SW when the lights came on then came out to an uber-crowded street to find our chairs waiting for us. And your tour will give you priority access to 2 or 3 attractions, so best used in the afternoon when traffic is highest.

 

[kylie71]

Thank You Jamie, for the little pre-view, I am so excited to be there in 35 days!!!!!!!!
Any other signs of Christmas yet? I keep watching the Matterhorn cam, for snow on the castle!!

--Lori

 

[tksbaskets]

Holiday tour question:
I've done both tours. I think the later one is nice to see all the lights and the floats with their light too. Personally I preferred the day parade because I was able to take great pictures. I'm a passible photographer so night shots are challenging for me.

We did sit with another tour for the parade but there was plenty of seating and only two rows.

Either way it's all good and the seats are worth the price of the tour. If I could talk my hubby into it we'd do it again this time.

Frozen area rumor:
I'd much rather see that unused area/underutilized area of Hollywood land become something fun. Tron, Mad Hatters Tea Party - the like, doesn't do it for me and seems "Un-Disney". Starting on 12/20 would really not capitolize on so many holiday visitors. I'd be surprised if they did something to increase the crowds on an already crazy week (which is when my family normally visited)

Our trip is less than two months away!! That deserves this and of course this !

 

[purplecrush]

Thank You Jamie, for the little pre-view, I am so excited to be there in 35 days!!!!!!!!
Any other signs of Christmas yet? I keep watching the Matterhorn cam, for snow on the castle!!

--Lori

I'll be there in 41 days!! I keep watching the Matterhorn cam too!

 

[tksbaskets]

Holiday Treats December 2013
I did a much better job taking pictures of goodies. Especially of my beloved Gingerbread Mickey!

Remember the picture of these beauties being decorated? Makes me wish I liked caramel apples.

You don't like them either? No worries lots to choose from in these cases! I can recommend the crispy treats!

Yes, I left a few of these for others to purchase:

I call this one 'MINE'

What's the crowd just down the street from Carnation Cafe at the Candy Palace??

OMG it's Castmembers handing out arm bands for the fresh candy canes!! One band is for one candy cane. I had my DS go with me. My band was a tad snug (UNDERSTATEMENT) but I was afraid to take it off before I got my cane. We are Batch 1 for the day!

We were told when to return to purchase and watched the fellas for a while (or I did as the fellas high tailed it to Star Tours as soon as the rope dropped by the castle. You can see people lined up waiting in the reflection)

These candy makers got to work pulling and shaping after this but by that time I was on Star Tours myself.

Be prepared to tote these babies around after you pick them up (they are wrapped in bubble wrap) as you can't check perishables at package pick-up in the front of the park or have them sent to your room. You buy it, they want you to be the one to break it.

 

[kylie71]

Yummy post TK!
I do not like Carmel Apples or Gingerbread!! Gasp! I do however LOVE the Rice Crispy treats with frosting, and the cupcakes! YUM!!! I will take one in every color!!!

--lori

 

[tksbaskets]

Yummy post TK!
I do not like Carmel Apples or Gingerbread!! Gasp! I do however LOVE the Rice Crispy treats with frosting, and the cupcakes! YUM!!! I will take one in every color!!!

--lori

This made me laugh! I'd like a couple crispy treats right about now too

 

[DisneylandPlanner]

Sherry had to look it up, 2009 was my first and only trip to Disneyland during holiday time and I remember waiting to get all the information you could share then. And here we are 5 years later. Thanks!
Butterscotch

 

[Sherry E]

I love to look at the apples and their incredibly creative designs, but they look very busy to me -- too busy and ornate to eat!

However, I love me some gingerbread cookies with Mickey ears. I won't even eat the "regular" gingerbread men cookies without ears. While those non-eared cookies seem to be a good size, I like the ears.

And I always buy 2 gingerbread men with ears at a time -- because one of them would be lonely without a friend.

I love peppermint if it's in ice cream, because the actual cream portion of the ice cream will cut the harshness of the peppermint flavor down a bit. I also enjoy a nice peppermint mocha. A bit of crushed up peppermint sprinkled on something is okay as well. I love a good peppermint lip gloss/balm too!

The giant candy canes like the one shown in TK's photo above are too much peppermint for me, though.

Now, cupcakes... cupcakes are dangerous territory. Even the bad cupcakes can be good (like pizza -- sometimes, even if it's bad, it's good). I love cupcakes. The only thing that keeps me from devouring endless piles of cupcakes when I am at DLR is the price tag. Almost $5.00 for one single cupcake of that size is crazy talk. You can get a dozen cupcakes at Vons for anywhere from $5.99 - $7.99, and they are not bad, flavor-wise.

It's not that I find the gingerbread cookies to be a reasonable price, either (almost $4.00 each), but the fact is that I can't get those cookies with ears outside of DLR, and I won't be baking them at home. So the price becomes more "worth it" when there is a novelty factor involved.

The cupcakes -- while they may have little accessories to Disney-fy them -- are still just cupcakes to me if you take those accessories off of the frosting.

Sherry had to look it up, 2009 was my first and only trip to Disneyland during holiday time and I remember waiting to get all the information you could share then. And here we are 5 years later. Thanks!
Butterscotch

DisneylandPlanner --

Oh wow -- was it that long ago that you enjoyed a DLR holiday trip? So many things have changed in those 5 years!

Yep -- I'm still here, knee-deep in Halloween and Holiday Season fun! I mostly stay out of Summertime chat. I barely dabble in Springtime talk at all -- unless there is a DLR Easter egg hunt involved, in which case I am all over it. If the chat involves the Holiday season and Halloween Time, you will most likely find me in the middle of it, or at the helm of the thread!!

 

[Sherry E]

This would be a really good Theme Week for figment_jii's plethora of food and dining-related photos, but figment_jii is at WDW, enjoying some Halloween fun, and will presumably be unavailable to post photos!



I always hesitate to post photos of food and merchandise from previous years, as the designs change from year to year. One year there could be marshmallow snowmen wands. The next year the marshmallow wands could be simply covered in sprinkles and chocolate, with no specific, clever design. Then, the next year they could be snowmen again -- or some other sorts of holiday icons.

So I have to preface this next post by saying that what you see in photos from one year may or may not return in another year. There will probably always be cupcakes, cake pops, pretzel rods, cookies, muffins, caramel apples and marshmallow wands of some sort -- but they could look very different from year to year.

Treats!!!!



December 2013



Club 33 dessert buffet...

What was this before people got into it? A yule log or some sort of chocolate cake?

Angel food cake...

The plate I took back to the table, with lukewarm chocolate, angel food cake, a muffin and a hard slab o' holiday gingerbread...

November 2013



Pre-Packaged peppermints...

Frosted pretzels...

Candy cane-colored cotton candy at Jangle Jangle Jamboree...

Christmas candy corn...

December 2012


The famous peppermint ice cream (sometimes known as "Peppermint Stick, and sometimes known as "Peppermint Wonderland") in a holiday cone!

November 2012


Marshmallow wands...

Peppermint ice cream in a cup...

Treasures!!!!




November/December 2013




Sparkly headgear!

Christmas bulb antenna toppers...

Light-Up doodads...

Mickey's Village...

Gingerbread Mickey antenna toppers...

Collectible sleigh figure...

Plush!!!

More Treats and Treasures photos to come from me during the week!!!
​

 

[blackjackdelta]

Sorry, thought we were into souvies and treats---rmoved
Jack

 

[Sherry E]

Jack --

We're in Treats and Treasures (a.k.a. Holiday Food and Merchandise) Theme Week! Do you have any holiday food or merchandise photos?

 

[pattyduke34]

found another one..my daughter and I bought the necklaces to wear...loved them...

 

[tksbaskets]

Sorry, thought we were into souvies and treats---rmoved
Jack

Bring back the souvies and treat pictures Jack!!

 

[mom2rtk]

IMG_4052 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_4059 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[tksbaskets]

IMG_4052 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

IMG_4059 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

The top pic is GREAT! The bottom pic is just how I eat my cookies - Ears first!

Twirlina

 

[Sherry E]

Sorry, thought we were into souvies and treats---rmoved
Jack

Jack --

We are in the treats/souvenirs week (Treats & Treasures). You posted a photo of the decorations under the giant Buena Vista Street Christmas tree! I figured that you thought you were posting a particular photo and accidentally posted a different one.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Corinna --

I'm actually not even sure if the demitasse will be there for the holidays this year. It was nowhere to be found at the start of Halloween Time this year, and I have not heard any reports to indicate that it is there now. We will have to wait until the holiday season starts and see what is there!

Oh, that would be a shame, but I think DH would be quite relieved about this.


Corinna

 

[mom2rtk]

The top pic is GREAT! The bottom pic is just how I eat my cookies - Ears first!

Twirlina

Thanks Twirlina! And that reminds me........I really need to go find my own elf name!