Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #4

[Speechphi]

Such gorgeous photos! I can't wait until I get home & can share my photos too . I must have at least one of the castle from our holiday trip in 2011.

 

[Orbitron]

 

[stardusty21]

All of the photos are wonderful! This Oregonian absolutely can not wait to see it myself!

 

[rentayenta]

Misskitty3 --

Thank you!

I am crossing my fingers for you that you will get to see the Castle in full sparkle mode. The snow and wreath will be on the Castle, of course, and the icicle lights will probably already be installed -- it's just a matter of whether or not Disney will do an actual Enchantment Lighting of the Castle before 11/13. I would think they'd want to do it for the holiday weekend crowds, but we'll see!

By the way -- you asked Jenny/rentayenta a while back about whether or not the gingerbread cookie was at Marceline's in Downtown Disney. I was waiting for her to answer and she didn't. So I will say that, yes, the gingerbread cookie with chocolate-dipped mouse ears (photos of which are in the "Eating, Drinking and Being Merry" post on page 1 of this thread) is at Marceline's Confectionery, as well as at any of the other candy shops in the parks.

The bake shops (such as Jolly Holiday Bakery) may or may not sell that specific gingerbread cookie with mouse ears, or they may sell a regular gingerbread man without mouse ears.

As for the hot cocoa/chocolate that you asked Jenny about (and, again, I waited for her to answer and she didn't, so I am chiming in!), if she is getting it at the Grand Californian Hotel, then it's probably at the Hearthstone Lounge, right off of the lobby of the GCH.

However, I think you can also get some hot cocoa at White Water Snacks at the GCH, but it's not quite as cozy as the Hearthstone!

The Napa Rose Lounge (no reservations needed) also serves some seasonal beverages -- probably hot chocolate, too! I remember someone telling me about a drink with a peppermint stick in it (used as a swizzle stick, I suppose)!

There are probably a couple of places (at least) that sell hot cocoa/chocolate in DTD (probably Haagen Dazs and La Brea Bakery, among others). I don't think the Winter Village will be open by your trip, but the Ghirardelli chalet of the Village sold hot chocolate as well.

​

TK!

You were the first one to post for this week's theme (not counting myself)! You know that Bret is usually super fast about getting here, but I think he is slowed down by being at DLR right now for Halloween Time (and, by the way, I hope he is gulping down many Dole Whips -- which you know he loves -- while he is there, because it is HOT HOT HOT).

​

I'm so sorry I didn't reply. Sherry, your correct, the gingerbread cookie was from Marceline's Confectionary and the hot cocoa from the Hearthstone Lounge at the GCH. I missed the questions. Great thread but it gets a little overwhelming. I'll do better to keep up.

 

[sgrap]

I don't seem to have much of Main Street or the Castle from 2005, but scrounged these up!
The back side of the castle: is there anything Holiday-like on it? Is there generally something on the backside in recent years?

Blurry Christmas Tree!

Tree at night, with some of Main Street lit up, hooray!

Poinsettia baskets . . . maybe on street?

 

[lucysmom]

I love the Main Street windows! I tend to stand and stare and soak up all the holiday happiness those windows provide. My family has to drag me away. All of your pictures are amazing, as usual, but I especially love your window shots!

 

[Jenasweetemotion]

I don't seem to have much of Main Street or the Castle from 2005, but scrounged these up!
The back side of the castle: is there anything Holiday-like on it? Is there generally something on the backside in recent years?
http://s1309.photobucket.com/user/sgrap/media/Disneylandcastlebackside_zps51019c65.jpg.html

This is from 2010 and it does have some decorations on the backside.
[URL=http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/Jenasweetemotion/media/IMG_2163.jpg.html]

Posting my pictures later. I have lots to share.

 

[Misskitty3]

Misskitty3 --

Thank you!

I am crossing my fingers for you that you will get to see the Castle in full sparkle mode. The snow and wreath will be on the Castle, of course, and the icicle lights will probably already be installed -- it's just a matter of whether or not Disney will do an actual Enchantment Lighting of the Castle before 11/13. I would think they'd want to do it for the holiday weekend crowds, but we'll see!

By the way -- you asked Jenny/rentayenta a while back about whether or not the gingerbread cookie was at Marceline's in Downtown Disney. I was waiting for her to answer and she didn't. So I will say that, yes, the gingerbread cookie with chocolate-dipped mouse ears (photos of which are in the "Eating, Drinking and Being Merry" post on page 1 of this thread) is at Marceline's Confectionery, as well as at any of the other candy shops in the parks.

The bake shops (such as Jolly Holiday Bakery) may or may not sell that specific gingerbread cookie with mouse ears, or they may sell a regular gingerbread man without mouse ears.

As for the hot cocoa/chocolate that you asked Jenny about (and, again, I waited for her to answer and she didn't, so I am chiming in!), if she is getting it at the Grand Californian Hotel, then it's probably at the Hearthstone Lounge, right off of the lobby of the GCH.

However, I think you can also get some hot cocoa at White Water Snacks at the GCH, but it's not quite as cozy as the Hearthstone!

The Napa Rose Lounge (no reservations needed) also serves some seasonal beverages -- probably hot chocolate, too! I remember someone telling me about a drink with a peppermint stick in it (used as a swizzle stick, I suppose)!

There are probably a couple of places (at least) that sell hot cocoa/chocolate in DTD (probably Haagen Dazs and La Brea Bakery, among others). I don't think the Winter Village will be open by your trip, but the Ghirardelli chalet of the Village sold hot chocolate as well.

​

Thank you Sherry! I appreciate you crossing your fingers for us! No matter what, we are going to have a great time and IF we get to see the castle all decorated, that will just be the icing on the cake.


Thanks for the info on the cookies and hot chocolate too! My in-laws will be visiting between Christmas and NYE. They were planning a trip down for the Rose Parade (they are going to help decorate one of the floats) and after seeing all of the photos here and reading about how amazing Christmastime at Disneyland is, I told them they should consider spending a day at DLR. So, they took my advice and will be in the parks on Monday, Dec 29th. They fly in on Sunday and I recommended they spend that day walking through downtown Disney and the hotels (again, thanks to you Sherry and this thread!!!). And, thanks to Jenny's tip, I will let them know they should plan to get a gingerbread cookie and some hot chocolate too. Sherry, I really do appreciate all of the time and effort you and everyone else has put into this thread. The photos and information here, all in one place, to help plan a great trip are just amazing!!

I'm so sorry I didn't reply. Sherry, your correct, the gingerbread cookie was from Marceline's Confectionary and the hot cocoa from the Hearthstone Lounge at the GCH. I missed the questions. Great thread but it gets a little overwhelming. I'll do better to keep up.

Thank you!! I could really go for a cookie and hot chocolate right now...or really anything from Marceline's would be fine by me!

 

[Jenasweetemotion]

These are from 2010-2013

2010:















2011:















2013:























Hope you enjoy!

 

[Brumeiser]

I subscribed last night and enjoying trying to go thru all of these pages. We are going dec 26 to dec 30 for our first trip to California. We are staying onsite and then after 4 days at the parks, we got a trolley tour through LA, Rose Bowl Parade and Knotts berry farm. We are so excited yet nervous about this trip. We decided to go to the d23 convention next year in August so we can spend another 5 days in the parks so if we don't see everything we know we are coming back for more. Thanks everyone for your hard work on posting all of these wondrous photos to look at.

 

[surgefest]

Have the official dates for the Holiday Festivities been announced yet????
thanks!

 

[Sherry E]

Have the official dates for the Holiday Festivities been announced yet????
thanks!

surgefest --

The Parks Blog announced the dates last week, and we discussed it here in the thread! I guess you missed it. The season starts on 11/13/14, and ends on 1/6/15 (we knew the end date already). The Blog is HERE.

Also, I responded to you back on 9/10 -- HERE. Did you see it?

 

[crystal1313]

This is one of my favorite photos ever...can you get any happier? LOL

 

[dhorner233]

​

 

[petals]

After a horrible day these pictures made me smile. So many beautiful photos! Can't believe in like 63 days I could be in the park that Walt Disney actually walked in! I'll be the one standing in the middle of main street crying!

 

[Speechphi]

And I'm home now so I can share...again pics are from our Nov 2011 trip

Looking up Main Street




the castle in daytime






looking down Main St at the tree at night (wow, it's blurry!)



and my favorites, the castle at night (no where near as nice a photo as many of the others on this board, but it makes me happy just the same)

 

[Sherry E]

I've logged everyone's entries into the random draw, all the way up to Speechphi's post!

I am really, really enjoying seeing the different interpretations and representations of Main Street, from older photos to newer photos, the Winter Castle in various stages of icicle lighting, the vehicles and horses, the characters, the adorable family/group/people photos, etc.!

I am glad that we actually have an official season start date now, as it allowed me to switch from "weeks" to "days" in my Theme Week intro post! I had been saying "approximately 16 weeks..." or "approximately 10 weeks..." but now that we have a firm date to go by, I can actually count down to the start of the season by the number of days -- and there are 59 days!

Fifty-nine days doesn't sound like a long period of time at all, does it?

In case you have lost track of where we are in the Countdown, this is the 9th Theme Week, and we actually have 13 more themes to go. However, although we have 5 more Theme Weeks, we will switch into rapid fire, warp speed "Mini-Theme Day" mode on Monday, 10/27. When we get to the daily mini-themes, everyone will have to act quickly and get their photos in on each specific day (for 7 days straight!)! You won't have a full week to post your photos! You will get 2 entries into the random draw for each Theme Day to which you contribute!

So, we still have what I think are several more "fairly easy" themes for which many people will have photos, but the themes may start to gradually get a tad more challenging between now and early November. Of course, the final theme -- "Holiday Cornucopia" -- will be easy, as it will allow for any kinds of holiday photos, in or out of Disney parks.

​

I also consider the Christmas movies in the background the equivalent of having Christmas music on.

I feel like I have seen so many of the Holiday movies, but I always seem to catch one that I have never seen before. I missed The Christmas Ornament last holiday season somehow, but was able to catch in July! It was awesome watching it when it was 115 degrees outside.

I have noticed quite a bit of pumpkin items out already. I have been looking for the Jello Pumpkin Spice instant pudding, but no luck yet. I love to make parfaits with it, using gingersnaps and cool whip. I bookmarked the Impulsive Buy that you referenced a couple of days ago, what a great source for seasonal items!

My birthday has mostly been separate from Halloween. One time, when I was about 8, my Mom got me a cake with a pumpkin on it. I was not happy about that. I thought it was a Halloween cake not a birthday cake. I never had a cake with a pumpkin on it again. Other than that, I always thought it was two fun days in a row for me, especially when I was young.

After looking at all the pictures of this weeks theme, I realized I have never seen Nightmare Before Christmas! I will probably do that before our visit in December. Is it enjoyable to people who haven't seen the movie?

OHBelle --

I think that it wouldn't hurt to see Nightmare Before Christmas before you go to Disneyland and ride Haunted Mansion Holiday, to get an idea of who Jack Skellington is and what he is all about. There is a pretty strong NBC presence around New Orleans Square, and in merchandise around the parks. I think you could enjoy HMH without seeing the movie just from a visual perspective alone, and because of the strong gingerbread smell when you get to the ballroom/dining room scene -- there are many details and things to look at -- but it might all make a bit more sense if you watched NBC first.

Personally, I am a bigger fan of the actual ride, Haunted Mansion Holiday, than I am of the movie, Nightmare Before Christmas! I don't hate the movie, but it's just so-so for me. However, I love the ride because it is such a thorough, extensive overlay of the Haunted Mansion (which is also why a lot of folks don't like it).

I don't think I knew that Jell-O had a pumpkin pudding! I knew that they had a gingerbread pudding, and maybe something pepperminty too? I think that a pumpkin pudding would be good in a parfait!

I had to laugh about the cake with the pumpkin on it! I guess it was clear after that to not combine your birthday with Halloween (at least, not in cake form!).

Isn't that site -- The Impulsive Buy (and particularly, their daily Spotted on Shelves feature) -- great? I don't know how I didn't know about it until this year, but it is a great source of info for finding out about seasonal versions of products that I never knew existed!

If Hallmark operates this upcoming Countdown to Christmas (2-month marathon) the way they have done the last few of them, then there should be a lot of those movies that we've never seen sprinkled in among the new movies. There are actually a lot of movies that I have seen portions of, but not watched all the way through and would like to!

They are also debuting a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie called One Christmas Eve in the middle of the Countdown, although it is not an actual Countdown movie, so, really, we are getting 13 new movies on the Hallmark Channel as well as the older favorites! A baker's dozen of new movies!

The thing is that with each passing Countdown and more new movies being added into the mix, some of the older ones (meaning 6 or 7 years old and beyond) get phased out or get played only once or twice. There is one such movie that I like called Farewell, Mr. Kringle -- thankfully, I have it saved on the DVR because I cannot find it on DVD (I don't think it exists), and it is one of those movies that is getting slowly phased out of the rotation. FMK didn't run during the Christmas in July marathon at all this year, but in 2013 it did. I never know which movies will vanish from the rotation entirely each year, as I think that some of the movies that air over on the Hallmark Movie Channel will migrate over to Hallmark as well.

I love Monday when I get the email that you've posted and a new theme is up!! I hope Bret is having a blast too! It's chilly here.

TK --

I am soooooo envious of your chilly weather. The weather we are having now is lousy and oppressive. This is the sort of hot air that lingers even into the night, so when I open up a window at 7 p.m., there is no breeze or anything cool hitting my face at all. I hate summer.

All of the photos are wonderful! This Oregonian absolutely can not wait to see it myself!

stardusty21 --

Welcome! Thank you for joining us! Stick around, as we will have many more photos and discussions of Disneyland holiday season activities to come!

I'm so sorry I didn't reply. Sherry, your correct, the gingerbread cookie was from Marceline's Confectionary and the hot cocoa from the Hearthstone Lounge at the GCH. I missed the questions. Great thread but it gets a little overwhelming. I'll do better to keep up.

Jenny --

No worries! I knew that as the pages continued to turn, it would be less likely that you would see Misskitty3's question, which is why I answered it!

I think that sometimes the thread may seem more overwhelming than it is. Sometimes it doesn't move more than a couple of pages in a couple of days, but it probably seems like it is moving at lightning speed!

I love the Main Street windows! I tend to stand and stare and soak up all the holiday happiness those windows provide. My family has to drag me away. All of your pictures are amazing, as usual, but I especially love your window shots!

lucysmom --

Thank you for the kind words about the pictures!

I agree! I think that the various window displays are my favorite part of Main Street's holiday festivities, along with the random bands and musical entertainment. The displays always seem to involve something whimsical and vintage-looking. I also love how they change for the seasons and have vintage Halloween themes in September-October!

Thank you Sherry! I appreciate you crossing your fingers for us! No matter what, we are going to have a great time and IF we get to see the castle all decorated, that will just be the icing on the cake.

Thanks for the info on the cookies and hot chocolate too! My in-laws will be visiting between Christmas and NYE. They were planning a trip down for the Rose Parade (they are going to help decorate one of the floats) and after seeing all of the photos here and reading about how amazing Christmastime at Disneyland is, I told them they should consider spending a day at DLR. So, they took my advice and will be in the parks on Monday, Dec 29th. They fly in on Sunday and I recommended they spend that day walking through downtown Disney and the hotels (again, thanks to you Sherry and this thread!!!). And, thanks to Jenny's tip, I will let them know they should plan to get a gingerbread cookie and some hot chocolate too. Sherry, I really do appreciate all of the time and effort you and everyone else has put into this thread. The photos and information here, all in one place, to help plan a great trip are just amazing!!

Thank you!! I could really go for a cookie and hot chocolate right now...or really anything from Marceline's would be fine by me!

Misskitty3 --

Thank you very much for the kind words! It means a lot. I am so glad that this thread has been helpful and interesting, and hopefully fun too! That was my goal -- to gather all the info and photos in one central place. so it could be a year-round spot for DLR holiday discussion, news, etc.

I think that your in-laws will have a great time decorating the Rose Parade float, strolling through DTD, the parks and the hotels, and snacking on gingerbread and hot chocolate! It will most likely be quite crowded on 12/29, so be sure to prepare them for that, but I think it will be an awesome trip.

I only wish it were cool enough for me to be reaching for the cocoa here in L.A.!

I subscribed last night and enjoying trying to go thru all of these pages. We are going dec 26 to dec 30 for our first trip to California. We are staying onsite and then after 4 days at the parks, we got a trolley tour through LA, Rose Bowl Parade and Knotts berry farm. We are so excited yet nervous about this trip. We decided to go to the d23 convention next year in August so we can spend another 5 days in the parks so if we don't see everything we know we are coming back for more. Thanks everyone for your hard work on posting all of these wondrous photos to look at.

Brumeiser --

Welcome! Thank you for joining us!

You have a lot of great activities planned for your first trip to California! So you are doing the Rose Parade on January 1st, of course, but are you doing the trolley tour and Knott's in January, or on New Year's Eve? Hopefully the trolley tour will take you to the Farmers Market and The Grove -- which, combined, are a nice place to spend a couple of hours, especially during the holidays!

I think that next year's D23 Expo will be amazing, and that there will probably be a big announcement or two about coming attractions to Disneyland Resort. Also, you will be at DLR for the events of the 60th anniversary, so that's a bonus!

After a horrible day these pictures made me smile. So many beautiful photos! Can't believe in like 63 days I could be in the park that Walt Disney actually walked in! I'll be the one standing in the middle of main street crying!

petals --

I'm sorry your day was horrible. I'm glad that this thread and everyone's photos provided a bit of cheer.

As long as you're standing in the middle of Main Street crying tears of joy, it will be good! It's the unhappy tears that are no fun.

Sixty-three days will fly by, and you will be walking down Main Street in no time!

 

[mvf-m11c]

TK!

You were the first one to post for this week's theme (not counting myself)! You know that Bret is usually super fast about getting here, but I think he is slowed down by being at DLR right now for Halloween Time (and, by the way, I hope he is gulping down many Dole Whips -- which you know he loves -- while he is there, because it is HOT HOT HOT).

​

I woke up very late this morning since I was in the park till 11pm last night. Since the parks didn't open till 10am this morning, I slept in until I posted my pictures for the this week theme week. I had a Dole Whip float last night and one this afternoon since it is so hot. I might get one tomorrow if it is hot before I head on home tomorrow. It was like 104 yesterday in the afternoon and today was not as bad as yesterday where it was like 100 top.

I love Monday when I get the email that you've posted and a new theme is up!! I hope Bret is having a blast too! It's chilly here.

I am having a great time TK at the DLR if you don't include the heat. It would be very nice to be cool here. I posted a quick update this afternoon of the trip and posted some more pictures on the Halloween Superthread.

TK --

I am soooooo envious of your chilly weather. The weather we are having now is lousy and oppressive. This is the sort of hot air that lingers even into the night, so when I open up a window at 7 p.m., there is no breeze or anything cool hitting my face at all. I hate summer.

I would like your weather as week TK after sweating all day yesterday and today and good thing I had a froggy towel to keep my neck cool. Both nights around 9pm, it was around in the 80s and there was barely any breeze outside.

 

[darrenf67]

A true magical time to visit - coming back this holiday season too!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

http://[URL=http://s120.photobucket.com/user/Jade-DarkStar/media/image417_zpsbb522942.jpg.html][/URL]
http://[URL=http://s120.photobucket.com/user/Jade-DarkStar/media/image449_zps1c23df4a.jpg.html][/URL]

here we are I think one of our first Christmas trips