Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #4

[Jenasweetemotion]

These are from 2010-2013

My Grandparents outside DLH 2010




DLH 2010




My mom being sung Happy Birthday to by the Carolers at PPH 2011




PPH 2011




GCH 2011




Steakhouse 55 DLH 2013




PPH 2013 I second that the decor was interesting last year.






GCH Picture with Santa 2013




GCH Tree 2013







Looking forward to getting more pictures this year especially at DLH since it will be our first time staying there.

 

[KCmike]

We always go in November way before the hotels get decked out....so....sitting out for the second week. Sort of feeling like the teacher is putting me in the corner for being bad.

 

[Orbitron]

Orbitron -- You got quite a few photos at the 3 hotels! Even if you didn't take as many photos at the hotels as you did around the parks, you did get some -- and that's what counts!

We didn't stay at a Disney hotel, so we didn't have the opportunity to take many pictures.

You're correct in your guess! At first Kurt was in the Grand Californian Hotel lobby, standing by himself just a few feet away from me. He appeared to be checking his phone or text messaging or something. He didn't give off an aura of "back off, everyone," and he didn't have any guards with him or anything. So I was just about to talk myself into walking up and saying that it was great to see him in the Candlelight Ceremony the night before, when a GCH Cast Member approached and told him his car was ready or something along those lines. They walked outside.

After a couple of minutes passed, I went outside to see if Kurt was still there and he was, chatting with everyone and handing out tips (or so it seemed). I wasn't going to stand there trying to sneak in a bunch of photos, but I got the one that I posted above. Kurt seemed like a friendly person, and he probably would have been okay with a fan talking to him (as long as I didn't act ridiculous or something), but the timing was just bad. So, it was not meant to be.

I wish I would have met him, but maybe I wouldn't even have recognized him. I think I would have grabbed the chance to talk to him. How bad it didn't work out for you. We saw him from a distance at the Candlelight Processional as we were making our way through the crowds. We tried to find a spot to watch the performance, but we had to leave undone, because it took us forever to get into Disneyland and we had a reservation for Goofy's Kitchen. It was pretty hard to get outside again. It was an hour completely wasted, but at least we heard Kurt Russell's voice!

Orbitron I agree with Sherry - WOW you got pictures at all three hotels! Well done.

Thank you!

 

[sgrap]

Whew, found one! 2005, Grand Californian

Once again--I fixed the orientation on Photobucket, saved it, and it still is sideways. What is up with that?
And my 14-year old was so *thrilled* to have his picture taken!

 

[Speechphi]

Whether the decorations were in the hotels in Nov 2011 or not, I have no hotel decoration pictures...out again

But...I still get to enjoy your photos & look forward to all th pics I will get this December

 

[the_princess]

I can't believe that I'm already getting into a Christmas mood and it's only August but I'm going to embrace it and play along. We went to DLR last December so I have plenty of pics to show
Unfortunately I haven't got a lot of pics from the resort, but here we go

A blurry one from GF lobby.




Holiday cocktails at Trader Sams

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

Just a few:

 

[tksbaskets]

Never before published photos from 2013! Makes it sound way more exciting than it is

Ah a familiar happy sight:

Hey - a different angle!

My favorite photo I took last trip (that wasn't of my family)

Proof that we stepped foot in another Disney Hotel besides the GCH. Waiting semi-patiently for our Goofy's Kitchen reservation. My DH looks like he's sleeping propped against that wall.

 

[kylie71]

Not much action on this thread..........

--Lori

 

[Sherry E]

Not much action on this thread..........

--Lori

I think it's pretty active. TK/tksbaskets just posted this morning, as did Elk Grove Chris and the_princess!

I have been busy and haven't had time to pop in and comment on various posts, but I have everyone logged in and entered into the random draw!

 

[sgrap]

I think it's pretty active. TK/tksbaskets just posted this morning, as did Elk Grove Chris and the_princess!

I have been busy and haven't had time to pop in and comment on various posts, but I have everyone logged in and entered into the random draw!

I think it is a very active thread . . . I was wondering if the comment was sarcastic . . .

 

[mom2rtk]

Not much action on this thread..........

--Lori

I'm enjoying seeing the resort photos. But I do think it would be nice if Disney would make some announcements about the holiday season to give us more to chat about!

WDW announced a villains dessert party in the castle during MNSSHP. There's speculation if that goes over well, they'll do something similar for MVMCP. I really wish DLR would add some fun new stuff.

 

[nicolispicoli]

We live in Sacramento too! We are going as a family for our 3rd visit Nov 17th-21st! We have yet to see Disney for Christmas and we are such Christmas people. I can't wait! We are driving down, hitting Lego land first then over to Disney.

Nice! We talked about going to Legoland, but didn't know if it was interesting enough for our 3-year-old daughter.

I'm so excited for you guys! It's so beautiful! I haven't been the days were going before, but we went during veterans day weekend a couple years back and it was the best timeframe we've been. No that busy, but everything was set up, so it was so beautiful. The lights on It's a Small World will take your breath away!

 

[sgrap]

I was trying to look through the beginning info posts of this thread for this answer, but couldn't really find it: Traditionally, do the Christmas parade and Christmas fireworks run nightly (meaning on weekdays) during the first couple weeks of December? I was wondering if we could pull off a quick trip to see the Christmas decorations and special events during the week in early December without having to do the weekend crowds. We have AP's, so are trying to get the most out of this (probably only) AP year.

 

[kylie71]

Not as active as the last 2 themes, so far.
Sorry if I was rude.
Not my intention.

--Lori

 

[tksbaskets]

Not as active as the last 2 themes, so far.
Sorry if I was rude.
Not my intention.

--Lori

No worries Lori! This is one of the friendliest threads I know and feel fee to post and not be judged.

 

[Sherry E]

I'll take a break from what I'm doing for a second, just to offer up commentary on a couple of things. I'll have to get back to the posts I was going to reply to a bit later.


1. The weather! While it is still August and still summer, unfortunately, this is the time of the year when I first start to notice that the air is slooooooooowly changing in L.A. We won't start to feel any actual cold air until November or beyond, I'd guess, but late August is when I usually detect a slight shift.

...And the shift has already begun! That "shift" is the first sign that the seasons will soon be changing and the holidays will be coming up in rapid succession. (On the Hallmark Channel Facebook page, Hallmark asked if everyone noticed how quickly time seems to pass once we get past Labor Day. While that's very true, I would argue that time has been passing quickly anyway -- all year, and for the last few years!)

If you're someone who sleeps with a window open during the summer, you probably know that it doesn't really get chilly overnight. You may not even need a blanket pulled up over you. All of a sudden, there is that "shift" that happens -- when you realize that the early morning air is cool, and you have to pull the blanket up! It's not like a "Brrrrrrrr....I'm freezing" sort of feeling. It's just a subtle switch from not needing a blanket to needing a blanket because the air has cooled down. However, the window stays open.

These last few days have been blanket-pulling morning weather!

When we get to November in L.A., that's often when it gets brisk and crisp enough to where the window finally has to close and extra blankets are needed. Then it becomes "Brrrrrrrr" time. Right now, it's more like comfortably cool in the morning. We may get hit with another whopper of a heat wave again before autumn kicks in, but the air is slowly trying to cool down.

​

2. Silly DLR! As I mentioned the other day, the silence from the Disney camp as far as even a simple announcement/confirmation of official Holiday Season start/end dates is deafening!

I mean, seriously, how long would it take for someone to post the official dates, when we are basically about 11 weeks out from (what I imagine will be) the start of the season?!! Eleven weeks is not long at all, and there are people who need to book flights, reserve hotel rooms, plan their agendas, etc.!

The delay in finding out official dates seems very odd, but definitely deliberate. Disney is clearly waiting on something. Maybe they wanted to get past all of the "Legends of Frontierland" and Juju business in Adventureland before making a holiday announcement. Maybe they are planning to wait until after Labor Day. Maybe they are waiting for their own internal confirmation of a specific holiday season event that can be announced along with the announcement of the season dates.

Who knows? If Disney does the Frozen stuff in DCA (removing the ice rink from DTD and the meet and greet from Fantasyland), it is noteworthy and worthy of a Parks Blog, but it is not that monumental or earth-shattering that we need a huge build-up.

The only thing that would really be huge, huge news at this point would be a Christmas party, or the removal of some sort of popular holiday event/attraction.

It occurred to me that sticking all of the Frozen-related stuff in DCA (if MiceAge was right about that) could also be something Disney is trying out, with the intention of possibly integrating it into a party in DCA. Maybe their ultimate goal is to see how popular a Frozen mini-land in DCA would be during the holidays, and make it one of the selling points of an eventual Christmas party (not this year, necessarily, but next year or after?). They could include the ice skating rink, the supposed Frozen sing-along, the meet and greet, Winter Dreams, Viva Navidad and the Mad T party as Christmas party highlights.

It should be interesting to see what happens. All I know is that now we are well past the time when we learned holiday season dates last year, so we are behind schedule on the news front!

​

 

[sgrap]

Not as active as the last 2 themes, so far.
Sorry if I was rude.
Not my intention.

--Lori

It made me laugh! Which is always a good thing! Everyone's perception is different, I guess. Maybe as we hear more, things will get hoppin'.

 

[Cheshirecatty]

I was trying to look through the beginning info posts of this thread for this answer, but couldn't really find it: Traditionally, do the Christmas parade and Christmas fireworks run nightly (meaning on weekdays) during the first couple weeks of December? I was wondering if we could pull off a quick trip to see the Christmas decorations and special events during the week in early December without having to do the weekend crowds. We have AP's, so are trying to get the most out of this (probably only) AP year.

Yes, they do!

Once Holiday Time at Disneyland officially begins(a bit before mid November), the parade and fireworks will run daily!

 

[Sherry E]

I was trying to look through the beginning info posts of this thread for this answer, but couldn't really find it: Traditionally, do the Christmas parade and Christmas fireworks run nightly (meaning on weekdays) during the first couple weeks of December? I was wondering if we could pull off a quick trip to see the Christmas decorations and special events during the week in early December without having to do the weekend crowds. We have AP's, so are trying to get the most out of this (probably only) AP year.

sgrap --

Once the holiday season officially starts -- and this is why I keep emphasizing to people that the official date of the season is important, because prior to that time there is no guarantee that the parade or the fireworks will run nightly -- it's game on! The Christmas Fantasy Parade and Believe in Holiday Magic fireworks are a daily/nightly occurrence during the entire holiday season -- or they have been thus far (weather permitting, of course!).

The parade and fireworks will likely unofficially begin on Veterans Day weekend, but depending on when the season officially starts, they may stop for a couple of days and then start again on the season start date -- or they may just run from Veterans Day weekend all the way to early January.

The links to the hours/schedules for last year and for 2012 are in the FAQ section of the General Info post on page 1. You can always check there if you wonder what the park hours or schedules were in 2013.