Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #4

[krispin41]

What app are you guys referring to?

DisBoards app.

 

[meljensmom]

DisBoards app.

Wow....I didn't know there was such a thing. LOL I've been reading this thread for months and didn't notice anything about it. What does it enable me to do if I load it on my phone?

 

[crystal1313]

We made it! I am currently sitting on our balcony of the GCH eating lunch. Our trip was uneventful, however when we went to enter DCA, 5 of our 6 APs beeped as expired. Only mine worked properly. They had a lead come over and update all the expiration dates to the correct one (Monday the 24th), so we'll see tomorrow if it keeps the correction.

Sherry, the reindeer are at the entrance to the GCH. The tree is up and beautiful, however no sign of the gingerbread house. I don't even see a place cleared for it, but I'll keep an eye out!

I'm typing from my phone right now, but I'll try to share some pictures when I can get on the laptop. Also, the app isn't working for me at all! Grr!

Have fun Jamie!!

 

[Sherry E]

Much earlier in this thread (before our Theme Week Countdown got going) I posted some ideas of holiday things to do around Southern California. Those of you who are heading to SoCal and Disneyland Resort this holiday season may be in need of some ideas for other holiday-specific things to do on non-Disney trip days.

There are quite a few options for you to consider in both Los Angeles and in Orange County, but I will list 10 of them below (in no specific order), for anyone just now tuning in to the thread:


1. Knott's Merry Farm (Orange County) begins this coming Saturday, November 22nd, and lasts through Sunday, January 4th. Info can be found -- HERE. Knott's also has a big Thanksgiving feast as well (reservations are suggested, but walk-ups are welcome!). Also, the Christmas Crafts Village is very popular;



2. Grinchmas doesn't begin at Universal Studios Hollywood (Los Angeles) until December 6th, for some reason. More info can be found -- HERE;



3. Chill (at the Queen Mary) (Los Angeles) is a 'cool' option for seasonal fun! -- HERE;



4. The Irvine Park Railroad Christmas Train (Orange County) looks like a lot of fun-- HERE;



5. The Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade (Orange County) is worth catching if it happens to be taking place during your trip (it has a very limited schedule) -- HERE;




6. How about Winterlit (including ICE) (in Los Angeles/Santa Monica) -- HERE?;



7. The Grove (shopping center in Los Angeles and home of the American Girl store/cafe) has already gotten into the spirit of the season. This past Sunday night (November 16) they had their tree lighting ceremony, complete with fireworks. In the past The Grove's tree has been taller than the tree at Rockefeller Center in New York. I'm not sure if this year's tree is of the same height, but it is very impressive. At night it is gorgeous, twinkly holiday wonderfulness. There is a little cottage/house set up for Santa to meet guests. There is nightly snowfall, holiday music -- and carolers too, of course. Right next door to The Grove, the Farmers Market's Christmas tree will get its own special lighting ceremony this coming Monday, November 24th, and various holiday entertainment will be taking place through Christmas eve, with a lot of it beginning on December 19th. Anyone who has even been to Farmers Market has probably seen their green shopping carts. So it is only fitting that their Christmas tree features green shopping cart ornaments! There is also a Hanukkah celebration on December 21st;



8. Or, how about the Winter Holiday Festival in December (Downtown Los Angeles) -- HERE?; and



9. What about the Annual Nutcracker Christmas Tree Lighting and Holiday Shopping Village, on December 6th (in Anaheim, not far from Disneyland)?? Santa's pancake breakfast sounds great! More info -- HERE.



10. Finally, Christmas Lights! If you are like I am, and can't get enough of twinkly, sparkly, glowing, colorful Christmas lights, and you have some time on your hands to drive around, this blog provides a good list of places to find elaborate lights in Los Angeles (and I can vouch for Beverly Hills being quite the sight to see at night, during the holidays -- it usually has its own ice rink and holiday activities) -- HERE.





Honorable mentions: The Hollywood Christmas Parade; Rose Parade Float Decorating and Viewing (Pre-Parade); and Post-Rose Parade Showcase viewing.





Some of these events start in November and last until January, or until Christmas Eve, and some of them only happen on one or two specific nights in November and December. The schedules are varied, but hopefully you can find something to fit your trip dates and interests!



Also see this post from page 1 (the thumbnails/photos were taken at The Grove and Farmers Market), with more ideas of holiday things to do in SoCal, along with links to blogs from our very own Mary Jo and Nancy Johnson, etc. -- HERE.

​

 

[krispin41]

Wow....I didn't know there was such a thing. LOL I've been reading this thread for months and didn't notice anything about it. What does it enable me to do if I load it on my phone?

I found the app a bit easier to use when I am on my phone or tablet than the website, no scrolling, etc. It also remembered where I left off in a thread that I return to (like this one! )

 

[KCmike]

Not sure if its been commented on this thread or not but the MAD T Party is set to close this November. Word on another site says the next one will be a Frozen related party possibly. I always enjoyed the Glow, Tron, and Mad T Parties.

 

[Sherry E]

Not sure if its been commented on this thread or not but the MAD T Party is set to close this November. Word on another site says the next one will be a Frozen related party possibly. I always enjoyed the Glow, Tron, and Mad T Parties.

Hi, Mike!

I read that (about Mad T Party leaving) on the Parks Blog. A lot of people posted comments under that blog.

The Frozen aspect of it originates with the same Frozen rumor that has been floating around for a while now. MiceAge first posted the rumor of a Frozen mini-land in Hollywood Land (including a sing-along, small stage show, snow for building snowmen, a meet and greet and an ice rink) quite a while back. Then it seemed like nothing was happening and Disney hadn't announced it, so we assumed MiceAge was wrong, or that the plan got shelved.

However, then certain signs started pointing to the rumor being valid. MiceAge said that this Frozen section of Hollywood Land is not due to begin until December 20th, but they claim that it is going to stick around until early May. May?

Well, the Muppets theater in HL just happens to be closed until December 20th, conveniently -- and that was supposed to be the site of the sing-along and small stage show, according to MiceAge. So that rumor seems credible.

And then the Parks Blog announced the sudden departure of the Mad T Party on November 30th - another sign that something is coming to Hollywood Land. The Mad T Party band says that there is a possibility they could come back to DLR in May -- which would line up with MiceAge's rumor of the Frozen mini-land ending in early May.

Also, last month Disney was holding auditions for musicians to perform in DCA, in an "indoor storytelling" setting, with a preferable knowledge of Scandinavian-style folk music. That seems to scream Frozen to me as well.

So I think that it's obvious that something Frozen-ish is coming to DCA, but will it be exactly the things that MiceAge said, or will it be more/less than they predicted? And will it start on December 20th -- right before the masses descend upon DLR for Christmas and New Year's?!

 

[siskaren]

Here's the soundtrack of it's a small world Holiday. If you cut and paste the YouTube link at YouTube to mp3 Converter, you can save the audio files to your iTunes, or whichever music software you use.

Or you could just download it directly from iTunes :

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/its-a-small-world-holiday-ep/id694774232

 

[Sherry E]

For those of you who are eager to see photos of the holiday season as it is unfolding this year, as we are waiting for more people to post photos here, in this thread, I highly recommend Bret/mvf-m11c's current TR in the works. You all know his photos from the Theme Week Countdown that we just completed (and he was the winner of one of the Disney gift cards I gave away!) His first installment from his November 2014 can be found -- HERE.

At the bottom of every installment in Bret's TR you will see a link to the next installment. Also, at the top of every TR installment (with the exception of the first one), you will see a link to the previous installment. That way, you won't skip over any section and you don't have to search through other posts and pages to get to the report -- you can just go from one post, to the next, to the next, and go back again if you missed something, etc.

​

Here's the soundtrack of it's a small world Holiday. If you cut and paste the YouTube link at YouTube to mp3 Converter, you can save the audio files to your iTunes, or whichever music software you use.

Or you could just download it directly from iTunes :

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/its-a-small-world-holiday-ep/id694774232

Thanks, gmi3804 and siskaren! --

I needed the visual of the ride with the soundtrack, because I was trying to remember if "Deck the Halls" started playing earlier in the ride, or just at the end. Egritz said she only heard the regular IASW song and "Jingle Bells" when she rode IASWH, so I wanted to remember where in the ride "Deck the Halls" could be heard.

In any case, I looked up the video of the 2013 version, and "Deck the Halls" was only at the end, in the final scene/room (with the giant, sparkly snowman and other sparkly things)! I am going to guess that this year's version has "Deck the Halls" at the very end as well.

 

[hclifford]

THERES AN APP?! I wish I had known about this before last weekend, I totally would have taken pics to post and update.

 

[Mouseketeers4]

We're at PPH now and the Christmas tree was up this morning. I can try to post a pic tomorrow if no one has posted one yet.

 

[Sherry E]

We're at PPH now and the Christmas tree was up this morning. I can try to post a pic tomorrow if no one has posted one yet.

Mouseketeers4 --

No one has posted yet -- so please, please post photos! I need to see a photo so I can assess the decorations and ornaments and determine if they are any different this year than last year!

 

[rentayenta]

We're at PPH now and the Christmas tree was up this morning. I can try to post a pic tomorrow if no one has posted one yet.

Please post them! Love the hotel trees.

 

[Sherry E]

Please post them! Love the hotel trees.

Jenny --

I think that the GCH pin shown in this Parks Blog from today is supposed to be what the gingerbread house in the GCH is going to look like -- HERE. The Disneyland Hotel pin looks like the fake gingerbread Castle in the DLH lobby (which is already up and on display), so the GCH one must be the design of the house that's supposed to go up in the GCH (I guess the house is going to be a mini-GCH?)!!

 

[egritz]

Forgive the lack of quotes for responding to earlier inquiries:

Regarding standing in lines alone, I had to do that during our last trip alone (before we had kids, and without my family) in 2007. We had only 2 day tickets, DH toured the first half day with me (we flew in that morning & missed our flight so we were late) then got a wicked stomach flu that left him in the hotel for the rest of the day (we almost had to book another night in the hotel & try to push our flight back he was so bad). So anyway, that full day I toured by myself. It wasn't as bad as I had feared. And nowadays I'd have my kindle or smart phone to keep me busy while in lines solo!

Regarding IASW, I rode it again tonight and Deck the Halls WAS playing, but only in one room, the "Peace on Earth" room.

Today had A LOT of wasted time. Between battling with DD3 about using the regular bathrooms (we should have never taken her to use the small potties in the baby care centers) to her RUNNING OFF on my husband after riding RSR and being lost for almost 30 minutes, to then waiting to take a picture with Sally & DD in her Sally costume (killed about 90 minutes there) today felt unproductive. In fact we never even took the big camera out of the bag today, I only will have a few cell phone pics to add to whatever we got on the PPP.

Crowds were very manageable. FP for RSR still available at 1:30 when I left DCA, RT was around 7:20 I think. The streets seemed super crowded but we walked on to a few rides and had reasonable (10-15 minute) waits for the rest. Except TSMM, even right at 10 park opening I think it took about 25 minutes to get through.

Sherry, I can't remember if Paradise Pier had ZERO or just MINIMAL holiday decorations in prior years, but there are garlands and wreaths. Not a lot, but they are there. If I have a chance I'll attempt to take pictures tomorrow.

Oh, and between Monday & Today there was a noticeable change in DCA by the Disney Visa character Meet n Greet - the area with the oversized plastic chairs is now gated off and there is a huge stage in front of where the chairs would be. Again, I can try to take pictures tomorrow for comparison since I'm not sure when you (Sherry) are getting over to check things out first hand.

Off to make our list for what we want to try and accomplish on our final day tomorrow (day 5).

 

[petals]

There was a gingerbread house at the Disneyland hotel tonight will go back to the gch on Friday and see if they have gingerbread house up yet

 

[figment_jii]

Hi All! Just a quick update for other Disneyland souvie cup/container collectors out there...

1. The Mickey Steins are available at Jolly Holiday and come with a fountain beverage or coffee at the time of purchase. I saw it today (11/19) for the first time, so I don't know how widely available they will be.
2. Mickey Elf popcorn buckets are readily available in both DCA and DL.
3. Blue Cozy Cones (both sizes) are available at the Cozy Cones, but no blue McQueen. Red McQueen is still available.
4. Holiday thermal mug is everywhere, except NOS.
5. Ice skating thermal mug was not at JH or MS today (will keep looking).
6. Baymax sipper cups are at Tomorrowland Terrace (DL) and Award Wiener (DCA).
7. NOS locations are still selling the HM mug (ghost bride Minnie with hatbox ghost Mickey design).
8. Maleficent dragon sipper and Jack Skellington glow cubes are still readily available in NOS.
9. HM popcorn cart as last year's HMH buckets (Lock, Shock, and Barrel as the three Hitchhiking ghosts) and the Zero popcorn buckets.

 

[maleficent55]

Hi All! Just a quick update for other Disneyland souvie cup/container collectors out there...

1. The Mickey Steins are available at Jolly Holiday and come with a fountain beverage or coffee at the time of purchase. I saw it today (11/19) for the first time, so I don't know how widely available they will be.
2. Mickey Elf popcorn buckets are readily available in both DCA and DL.
3. Blue Cozy Cones (both sizes) are available at the Cozy Cones, but no blue McQueen. Red McQueen is still available.
4. Holiday thermal mug is everywhere, except NOS.
5. Ice skating thermal mug was not at JH or MS today (will keep looking).
6. Baymax sipper cups are at Tomorrowland Terrace (DL) and Award Wiener (DCA).
7. NOS locations are still selling the HM mug (ghost bride Minnie with hatbox ghost Mickey design).
8. Maleficent dragon sipper and Jack Skellington glow cubes are still readily available in NOS.
9. HM popcorn cart as last year's HMH buckets (Lock, Shock, and Barrel as the three Hitchhiking ghosts) and the Zero popcorn buckets.

Thank you thank you. Very pleased about #8. DD4 is crazy over
Jack and NBC. I assumed these would be gone after Halloween. Think they will still have the jack glow cubes in 2 weeks?

 

[tksbaskets]

Hi All! Just a quick update for other Disneyland souvie cup/container collectors out there...

1. The Mickey Steins are available at Jolly Holiday and come with a fountain beverage or coffee at the time of purchase. I saw it today (11/19) for the first time, so I don't know how widely available they will be.
2. Mickey Elf popcorn buckets are readily available in both DCA and DL.
3. Blue Cozy Cones (both sizes) are available at the Cozy Cones, but no blue McQueen. Red McQueen is still available.
4. Holiday thermal mug is everywhere, except NOS.
5. Ice skating thermal mug was not at JH or MS today (will keep looking).
6. Baymax sipper cups are at Tomorrowland Terrace (DL) and Award Wiener (DCA).
7. NOS locations are still selling the HM mug (ghost bride Minnie with hatbox ghost Mickey design).
8. Maleficent dragon sipper and Jack Skellington glow cubes are still readily available in NOS.
9. HM popcorn cart as last year's HMH buckets (Lock, Shock, and Barrel as the three Hitchhiking ghosts) and the Zero popcorn buckets.

Hi,
Thanks for the update. Is the Mickey Stein nice?

TK

 

[DharmaLou]

this time tomorrow we'll be boarding the plane! The trip has been in the works almost 2 years (despite 2 visits in between then & now!) and I can hardly wait!