Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #4

[mvf-m11c]

That is nice to hear and congratulations to your son for getting a teaching job in Texas.

It has been a while since we saw you post on the boards. I will look forward to your experience and pictures during your trip.

 

[Sherry E]

TK! -- I'm glad you finally made it over here to post -- and thank you for the kind words.

That's great news about your son's job! Congratulations!

I do not want the Texas heat. I am miserable enough in the CA heat!

I look forward to seeing the rest of your photos for this theme! In 3 days it's on to a new theme!

What a shame. We are just going to miss each other. By the time you arrive, I will have moved on to Aulani.

I am getting so excited about this trip. Can somebody remind me what the time frames are for making reservations? Am I correct in thinking that for the tours it is 30 days out and for dinner reservations 60 days out? Can I make a reservations for the chef's counter at Napa Rose at the same time as the other dinner reservations or is there a different time frame for this?

Corinna

Corinna --

Bret/mvf-m11c might have more insight into booking the chef's counter at NR, as I think he just dined at the chef's counter recently.

Yes -- dining reservations can be made 60 days out and the tours are 30 days out, as far as I know (although, in the distant past, I think that some tours were open for booking 60 days in advance -- and then it changed ).

 

[mvf-m11c]

I am getting so excited about this trip. Can somebody remind me what the time frames are for making reservations? Am I correct in thinking that for the tours it is 30 days out and for dinner reservations 60 days out? Can I make a reservations for the chef's counter at Napa Rose at the same time as the other dinner reservations or is there a different time frame for this?

Corinna

Just as Sherry stated that you can make dining reservations at the DLR up to 60 days in advance and up to 30 days in advance for the tours.

As for the Chef's Counter at the Napa Rose, I believe it is also 60 days in advance when I made the reservation and I dine there back in April. You can't make an online reservation for the Chef's Counter and will have to call the actual number of the NR (714) 300-7170 or when you make reservations on the Disneyland Dining number, the CM will transfer your call to the NR number.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Corinna --

Bret/mvf-m11c might have more insight into booking the chef's counter at NR, as I think he just dined at the chef's counter recently.

Yes -- dining reservations can be made 60 days out and the tours are 30 days out, as far as I know (although, in the distant past, I think that some tours were open for booking 60 days in advance -- and then it changed ).

Thanks Sherry. It is starting to drive me crazy that everything at Disneyland can only be done so close to your travel date. Don't they understand that planning is half the joy of a vacation? I am also planning a Florida trip for next May, which includes some time at WDW and I will be able to make my reservations for this while I am at Disneyland before heading to Aulani.

Corinna

Just as Sherry stated that you can make dining reservations at the DLR up to 60 days in advance and up to 30 days in advance for the tours.

As for the Chef's Counter at the Napa Rose, I believe it is also 60 days in advance when I made the reservation and I dine there back in April. You can't make an online reservation for the Chef's Counter and will have to call the actual number of the NR (714) 300-7170 or when you make reservations on the Disneyland Dining number, the CM will transfer your call to the NR number.

Thanks. After resisting this for years, I really have my heart set on the chef's counter this year. Fortunately I have a calling plan where calls to the USA are free as long as they are less than an hour per call. So I will call them as soon as I can.

Corinna

 

[Orbitron]

Orbitron- Great character photos!

Thank you!

 

[tlovesdis]

I'm taking my 8 year old niece December 6-9! The 8th is my birthday so I get to spend it in my favorite place!!!

Can't wait to go at the holidays. It's been a while since i've been there at Christimas time.

 

[Sherry E]

I just wanted to put out a reminder again...

In 3 days we begin the next Theme Week (that would be Theme #2 in the current Theme Week Countdown), with a brand new theme.

You still have the remainder of today (7/25), all of tomorrow (Saturday) and all of Sunday, 7/27 (up until 11:59 p.m. P.S.T.) to get in your photos for this week's DLR holiday theme -- which is "Holiday Characters-PhotoPass-Santa Claus".

Not counting my own Intro post, we have had 23 photo contributors so far. So if you haven't been following along you have missed out on a lot of really wonderful, fun Disneyland holiday pictures! (And if you haven't been sharing your own photos, you've also missed out on getting an entry into the random draw for a Disney gift card when this Countdown is over in early November! However, there will be many more themes to come over the next few months, so you have lots of time to jump in and join us!)

This week's theme started on Page 50 of this thread, post #747, and I posted the Rules -- HERE -- in case any non-photo contributors out there would like to participate in the Code Word Challenge, or in case any newcomers to the thread would like to go back and see what has been posted in the Countdown thus far.

If you have photos to fit this week's theme and cannot get them in by the deadline on Sunday night, then hold on to them. Don't try to post them once we have switched over into a new theme week. Some photos may fit more than one theme, so you may have another chance to post them for a different theme coming up.

OR, you can wait until the final theme on Monday, November 3rd, 2014 -- "Holiday Cornucopia/These Are a Few of My Favorite Things," which can include any holiday photos (in or out of Disney parks) -- to post any photos you have that didn't make it into previous themes!

The more theme weeks (and theme days) to which you contribute, the more entries into the random draw for the Disney gift card you will receive, with a maximum of 29 entries for those who post in every single theme!

​

Also, just to summarize what we know, assume and expect about/for the holiday season of 2014 so far:

• CONFIRMED AND OFFICIAL - The Candlelight Ceremony and Processional will, indeed, take place on Saturday, December 6th and Sunday, December 7th;

• EXPECTED, BUT NOT CONFIRMED -- Pending any kind of sudden surprise announcement about new holiday season activities, we should probably find out the official holiday season start and end dates from the Disney Parks Blog in early August; and

• ASSUMED, BUT NOT CONFIRMED -- The Holidays at Disneyland Resort will most likely "officially" begin somewhere between Monday, 11/10 and Friday, 11/14, and the hotels will probably not get their holiday overlays until the next week or so (before Thanksgiving). Many events and holiday offerings will already (quietly and unofficially) be running as early as Friday, 11/7.

​

 

[u2pixi]

Hi everyone,
Happy Holiday Countdown
A couple of pics from me (hopefully it works!)

Thanks again Sherry for your hard work on this thread.
Have a great day,
Amy





Not sure if this is Mickey's regular band leader outfit or special for Christmas?

 

[DLmama]

This is my first time posting pictures, so I hope they're not too big.

These are from our Christmas trip in 2012.













Sorry they're so big. How do I get them smaller? I resized through Photo Bucket, but apparently not correctly.

 

[Misskitty3]

Sorry they're so big. How do I get them smaller? I resized through Photo Bucket, but apparently not correctly.

Your photos look good to me!

 

[Sherry E]

Tina --

Welcome back to the Superthread! I'm glad to see you have another holiday trip in the works! I know you love both Halloween Time and the Holiday Season at DLR!




Amy --

Thank you for the kind words.

I think that Mickey is, indeed, wearing a holiday-inspired bandleader outfit! The reason I say that is because he has another white bandleader outfit that he wears during Halloween Time, and that one has a Halloween design on the trim (like spider webs or something similar, I think) on the sides of his pants.

The colors in this December bandleader outfit look holiday-esque to me. It would make sense that this is Mickey's special holiday season bandleader outfit, since he has a separate one for Halloween Time.





DLmama --

Your photos are so cute (they're not big at all!) -- and you now have your first entry into the random draw for a Disney gift card!

Photobucket does weird things with the supposed "resizing" of photos, especially since their massive website overhaul last year. I have tried many times to get photos larger or smaller, and also to keep them at just one basic size for forum posts, and there is always some sort of issue with the photos coming out way too large or too small, or rotating when I don't want them to rotate.

Some photos that people post in assorted threads, for whatever reason, take a long time to load, especially if there are a lot of them in one post or a lot of them on one page. I guess the photos are not only larger in dimension, but also in file size, pixels and everything else. I suppose they use up a lot of bandwidth and slow things down. I try to scroll down to the bottom of pages, and because the photos are still loading I get bounced back up to the top of the page until they're done -- that sort of thing.

So far we're all good and the pages have been loading okay for me in this Countdown! If we get to a point where I am having to wait too long for pages to load because there are too many enormous photos on it, then I will request that the photos be made a tad smaller. But..so far, so good!

​

 

[dhorner233]

This is my first time posting pictures, so I hope they're not too big.


Sorry they're so big. How do I get them smaller? I resized through Photo Bucket, but apparently not correctly.

It's so nice to see some new posters on here!

I have noticed with Photobucket that I make changes to a photo and tell it to replace the original, which it will do ------- eventually!!! NOT immediately!

If you want the edited picture immediately, don't replace the original, make it a new picture and it will be the way you want it.

Then I have to go back and delete the original…….. But that's what works for me.

 

[Sherry E]

It's so nice to see some new posters on here!

I have noticed with Photobucket that I make changes to a photo and tell it to replace the original, which it will do ------- eventually!!! NOT immediately!

If you want the edited picture immediately, don't replace the original, make it a new picture and it will be the way you want it.

Then I have to go back and replace the original…….. But that's what works for me.

I never replace the original and I have problems resizing. I always just save the new versions as well as the originals. Sadly, I have had so many problems with Photobucket when trying to save the new versions. Often times the photos do not come out how I want them and they are too large or too small, or they rotate/distort when I don't want them to -- but that all began last year, after their stupid website change. It was never an issue before.

A lot of times I have to re-upload the photos because the existing photos will not resize properly. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to seeing what happens to my photos after this upcoming website/layout change that Photobucket warned of in a recent email.

Stupid Photobucket!

 

[DLmama]

Thanks for letting me know they're ok sized. Hopefully I'll be able to participate in all (or most) of the theme weeks. Usually I'm on my phone and don't have most of my Disneyland pictures available. It's much easier when I'm on my computer.

Love seeing everyone's photos!

 

[tksbaskets]

2011/2012 NYE Trip

Leader of the band:

Never before published 2013 Photos Makes them sound more glorious than they really are I pre-purchased a photopass plus package this trip so I have plenty to share.

Ho Ho HO

DCA at Elias & Sons (I think that's the name)

Jingle Jangle Jamboree - not real crowded when the BBQ place is closed...that's another story....

The Mrs. was there:

GC Hotel

 

[tksbaskets]

Everyone needs a little Goofy in their lives:

Goofy's Kitchen

DCA

LOVED the new celebration in DCA:

Random chipmunk siting:

We happened upon Sully without a line...believe me it was the only way I'd get the guys to pose.

You never know who will be hanging out on Paradise Pier at the gazebo:

I admit we are more than a little in love with Carsland!

At this point my guys would pick up speed as we turned the corner into Carsland if they saw a Photopass Photographer.

Random Photopass Pics. I really did try to cut down the amount I posted but I get excited when I look back.

Our family Christmas gifts - we all got Premium Annual Passes!

I've got to scan in my other pictures for this theme week. I think I'll now watch one of my Hallmark Christmas movies on the DVR. Ho Ho HO!

 

[petals]

What a shame. We are just going to miss each other. By the time you arrive, I will have moved on to Aulani.

I am getting so excited about this trip. Can somebody remind me what the time frames are for making reservations? Am I correct in thinking that for the tours it is 30 days out and for dinner reservations 60 days out? Can I make a reservations for the chef's counter at Napa Rose at the same time as the other dinner reservations or is there a different time frame for this?

Corinna

Yeah I arrive the 17th well 18th because the 17th we've a lovely 17 hour travelling day!

As Jamie said, the final theme -- which will be "Holiday Cornucopia/A Few of My Favorite Things," on Monday, November 3rd -- can include any holiday photos, in or out of Disney parks, in Disneyland or at WDW, in any of the international parks, or even just a nice holiday family photo! As long as it is a holiday photo of some kind, and it belongs to you, it can go into that final theme!

In fact, some of our most interesting photos in 2013 came from the Holiday Cornucopia Theme Week!

Cool because I prob won't be good at the code word game.. it takes a while for my brain to cop these things lol!

I've loads of Paris and WDW pics I can share though

Last year there were a lot of things unofficially running on Friday, November 8th, but the season "officially" began on 11/12, and then other things -- such as Olaf's ice rink, Viva Navidad and World of Color-Winter Dreams -- began on 11/15. And then the 3 hotels were decorated about 9 days before Thanksgiving.

This year, we can only assume that things will go pretty much the same as they did last year, with many things quietly, unofficially beginning before the season start date, then other things beginning on the season start date, and the hotels getting their decorations shortly thereafter.

I'm hoping the hotels aer done as well by the time we got their and really hope they have the Frozen ice rink and all that again as well.

 

[Vintage Mouseketeer]

I have added Vintage Mousketeer and Elk Grove Chris into the random draw as well! More great pictures! We have today, tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday left of the current Santa-Characters-PhotoPass theme, and then it's on to a brand new theme on Monday, July 28th!!!!! If you are just now tuning in and want to go back to the beginning of the current theme (like if you are following the Code Word Challenge part of the Countdown), I started Theme Weeks on page 50 of this thread, in post #747. Vintage Mousketeer -- Thank you! Didn't you say you have a July birthday as well? Did you go to Catalina on the Express for your birthday, or are you going? It's a really great offer, and the free Casino tour, free CD, etc., are big bonuses. If your birthday has not already happened, and if you're not going to Catalina, sign up for a free Sprinkles cupcake on your birthday, or a free Jersey Mike's sandwich and drink on your birthday! (I am assuming you already signed up for Earl of Sandwich's free birthday sandwich too!) Elk Grove Chris -- I have yet to stay at Hamilton Cove, though I think it would be great. My friends have stayed there and they loved the whole area, as well as the view, and having access to a golf cart any time of day (without having to return it in 2 hours or whatever). Have you done solo days at DLR in the past? Not that you have any trouble finding opportunities to take photos at DLR (as evidenced by all of the amazing photos you have taken), but solo days at DLR are so great for photo sprees and finding inspiration! I remember you mentioned your hard drive crash -- 2011 was the year my PC had its major crash, which wiped out who knows how many thousands of documents. (It is because of your suggestion that I will get an external hard drive, as well as continue to back up in other ways. I have discovered that I cannot back up in too many places, because none of them are crash-proof or glitch-proof!) Some of my files and photos were recovered (though definitely not all of them), but the file names were totally different and everything was out of order -- so I have no clue what was actually recovered and what wasn't.

Hi Sherry!

I really enjoyed reading your Catalina trip report.

My birthday was 2 weeks ago, but I did not have the chance to take advantage of the Catalina offer. :-(

A friend treated DH and I to a Vegas weekend to experienced my first live prize fight. We sat two seats over from Evander Holyfield which was pretty cool!!

I was not aware of the Sprinkles offer, but it is kinda tough for me to get out to the West Side during their regular business hours. I have a 40 dollar gift card that my SIL gave me a year ago for cupcakes and have yet to use it. I really which the Cupcake ATM accepted gift cards.

Ysell

 

[PHXscuba]

Escape2Disney (Carrie)? Where have you gone? Photos?

Trish/Phoenixrising? Are you out there?

PHXscuba?


And...KCmike? Elk Grove Chris? I'm mikey? No Santa--Character--PhotoPass pictures?

PHXscuba was enjoying the lovely SoCal weather this week and just got back to a computer that will let her post photos! Sherry, I thought of you when I could see Catalina from Huntington! We almost went up to LA to the Farmers' Market/Grove but Obama's LA trip was looking like detours/snarls at some of our other stops the day we hoped to go. Next time!

Sorry about the strange sizing!

DLH Santa, Dec. 2010:

Snow Car, 2013:

Mater, 2013:

Jack and Sally (actually Sep. 2013 but they are out for Christmas too):

PHXscuba

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Before we move on from the Photopass pictures, I wanted to ask anybody who might know - did they eventually add any "Merry Christmas" borders to the site last year? When I did ours in late Nov/early Dec they only had Happy Holidays and Feliz Navidad, but no Christmas. I remember complaining about it on here last year, but I can't remember if they eventually added any. If so, I've got to find the right time between them adding them and leaving enough time to get Christmas cards done