Good afternoon, everyone! Happy Sunday! A few things:
1. Monday Summer Surprises: Remember that tomorrow (June 23rd) brings us the 4th Monday in the somewhat mysterious #GetHappier (a.k.a. Monday Summer Surprise) promo, first announced on the Disney Parks Blog on June 2nd, which will run through Labor Day. These surprises can be in the parks, out of the parks (maybe in Downtown Disney??) or online, and they may pop up suddenly on the Disneyland Today Facebook and Twitter pages, on the Disneyland Facebook and Twitter pages...or on the Disney Parks Blog.
These "Monday Surprises" seem to be a sort of mash-up of the Year of a Million Dreams promo of 2007 - 2008 and the Limited Time Magic campaign from 2013. In other words, the surprises given out in the parks are like what took place during YOMD (and some of those giveaways were small things or big things!), and when the Parks Blog eventually makes special "surprise" announcements about limited-run events, it will be more similar to LTM.
If we are to assume that the "surprise" on June 2nd was the announcement that there will be Monday surprises all summer long, then we're still not sure what -- if anything -- the "Monday surprises" were supposed to have been on June 9th! 
Not a word has been spoken by anyone (on any forum that I have skimmed) about any kind of surprise on June 9th, and nothing was announced by Disney anywhere.
So my thought is that, maybe, June 9th was an "online" surprise, but that it went to one person via email, like maybe a free hotel stay or free Park Hoppers, or a free invitation to do something special. If there was only one surprise recipient on June 9th, that could explain why there hasn't been any word yet, whereas multiple winners would surely post about it online at some point.
Last Monday (6/16) Disney finally realized that we were all confused and then did the wise thing by announcing that the surprises were coming up that day, in the parks (first, Mickey ears and then Oswald ears). They even told us where to look for the details and announcement of the surprises (Disneyland Today), so we didn't have to constantly check 5 different web pages all day long!
Tomorrow, who knows where the surprises will end up, but I have said all along that I think that -- eventually -- one of the Monday surprises announced on the Disney Parks Blog will have to do with something Halloween-related (like the schedule of Halloween Party dates or whatever) and something Holiday season-related.
In my mind, I am thinking that anything new and interesting (and possibly major?) pertaining to the Holiday season could potentially be announced during a Christmas in July celebration. There was a CIJ week in Disneyland last year, and that seems like a perfect time/excuse to break any major holiday news, if there is any to be broken. Of course, that doesn't mean that things will go that way, but it would make sense!
Then again, the one and only Friday the 13th for the rest of this year (which was this month) would have been the perfect day to release Halloween Time-related dates/info, and it didn't happen, so just because it makes perfect sense doesn't mean that Disney will do it!
Jamie/DisneyJamieCA is at DLR now, and is in the parks tomorrow, so if there is any in-park Monday Surprise action to be had, hopefully she will see it and can report back. But... it could be online!
So, everyone stay tuned to the various Disney sites and pages for announcements about the surprises -- whatever they may be --every Monday through Labor Day!!
2. Still no Backstage Pass: Speaking of announcements, or lack thereof, I have still not received a Backstage Pass (the semiannual newsletter/calendar/mini-magazine for Annual Passholders), and I have heard of no one who has. Last year the "summer" issue of BP came out in May, and it had Halloween Time and Holiday season start dates in it. The next issue -- which is still showing in the AP section of the Disneyland website -- was the Holidays 2013 issue.
Here we are in the final week or so of June, and summer has already begun... and no Backstage Pass!!
It does seem to be a very hit-or-miss type of publication for most AP holders, and its publication schedule doesn't seem to adhere to any strict deadline or timeframe. It just shows up whenever it shows up...or it doesn't show up at all!
In any case, after last year's fiasco of Backstage Pass printing the incorrect start date of Mickey's Halloween Party -- when the actual start date was later revealed by the Disney Parks Blog -- I am guessing that whoever oversees the content that goes into BP is being extra, extra careful not to release the next BP before all of the dates on the calendar are confirmed and set in stone! I'm sure that they don't want another situation in which one segment of Disney is telling people that an event is happening on one date, when a different section of Disney is saying that the event is happening on a different date! That just looks bad all around!
Maybe BP is even holding out, waiting for new "special events" to be revealed/announced by the Disney Parks Blog and/or Disneyland News before sending out a calendar that reveals those events.
So...when will the elusive Backstage Pass summer newsletter finally arrive? And when it does, will it have any pertinent dates in it at all? Will it tell us anything? Anything at all? What great mysteries will be uncovered and what secrets will be revealed? (Probably none, but let's keep hope alive...)
3. A new and devious twist for the Code Word Challenge portion of the Theme Week Countdown!!!: I was thinking that I would make the "Code Word Challenge" portion of this year's Theme Week Countdown more difficult than it was last year. Last year was the first year that I tried the CWC in the Countdown and I needed to get a sense of how easy or difficult it would be for people to tackle. It turned out to be pretty easy.
The Code Word Challenge is the part of the Theme Week Countdown that non-photo contributors can play along with, and whoever comes up with the correct, complete list of answers at the end of the Countdown in November, and posts it here in this thread first, is the one to win the Disney gift card, whereas the photo contributors are entered into a random draw (with a maximum of 22 entries, as there will be 22 themes this year) and 2 additional Disney gift card winners will be selected that way.
This morning, all of a sudden I thought of a devious new way to make the Code Word Challenge a wee bit more...challenging!
In fact, I thought of a couple of different ways, and they can even be combined! Muahahahahahaha!!
The only issue for me is that it will take me a little bit of extra time and effort to figure out the details of the "new and improved" Code Word Challenge and how I am going to lay it all out -- which won't be totally dissimilar to last year's set-up, but will be a bit different if I do it. The Theme Week Countdown is already a big task as it is, so I have to think it over and decide whether or not I am going to commit to the slightly trickier Code Word Challenge before I decide to set it in motion for our CWC participants. I probably will do it, but I just have to talk myself into it and fool myself into thinking it's a good idea and not an exercise in futility!
Whatever the case, the (3 1/2-month long) 4th Annual Theme Week Countdown kicks off in this Superthread on Monday, July 21st (Hey! That's a Monday Summer Non-Surprise!!), and I will explain how to enter, what the rules are and any important things to know in another couple of weeks, closer to the date! Stay tuned for the scoop!!
4. Holiday-specific and topic-specific posts coming this week: During the course of this upcoming week, barring any kinds of setbacks or delays, I hope to put together a few very small posts revolving around different holiday season subtopics that I know people want to know about (especially the newcomers to Disneyland Resort's holiday season). A lot of this info is already on page 1 of this thread somewhere, but some of it isn't -- and I also have to assume that a lot of people are not even checking page 1 to know that information is there.
For example, I know that a lot of people out there want to know about Thanksgiving at DLR, in terms of food, crowds, etc. I will put together a mini-"highlight post" with a few links to some of the better Thanksgiving food blogs or articles, as well as links to a few past threads, posts or Trip Reports in which people reviewed/explained their Thanksgiving trips. I will also do the same thing for Christmas and for New Year's (remember, this Superthread covers allllll of the holidays of the holiday season!), and maybe for another subtopic or two.
This will not be a Theme Week Countdown Lite. No photos or anything like that, and no photo contributors -- just a few posts during the week with helpful links for specific holiday season-related topics, and hopefully anyone who wants to jump in and share their experiences with that topic will do so if they wish!
Janet --
I'm sure your son is enjoying being back home too! How long is he there? For another couple of months, or longer? The last time I looked in on your TR (which was just a day or two ago) I must have missed any mention of your son being back home, but I know it is a joyous, happy time for your family!
I think the Parks Blog was calling it an Olaf Sand Sculpture. It may have been MiceChat or some other place that called it a Sandman, which is actually pretty clever. Although -- unlike Olaf -- I am no fan of summer, I
have to see his sand sculpture in person before summer is over! Whoever thought of that idea at Disney is brilliant!
I think I like Sandman Olaf better than Pumpkin Olaf at the Halloween Carnival last year, or Easter Egg Olaf at the Springtime Roundup, or Olaf at the ice rink (which you
know will be back again this year -- no question about it, give what a huge hit
Frozen has become)!
This Parks Blog contains a photo of the Olaf Sand Sculpture as it is being crafted.
And
this Parks Blog shows the finished masterpiece!
Cute, isn't it? I wish the sand sculptor had made a whole bunch of sand characters, and not just Olaf! The Esplanade has tons of space for it.
And yes, if Olaf appeared as a character, there would be mayhem and madness unleashed at Disneyland. Olafmania! But the fact that it would clear a lot of people out of rides and other crowd-heavy areas is appealing!
kkmcan --
Cars are like rolling ovens! They absorb heat so intensely, inside and out, and the sun can still burn you if you are next to the window. You can feel like you're being boiled alive. That's why it always baffles me when some people think they can leave their kids and pets in hot, parked cars on super hot days, without any negative consequences.
Yes! The raging headaches and nausea! That's what happens in the heat, at least for people who are particularly sensitive to it (like you and I apparently seem to be). Sometimes it starts to kick in right away, while I'm out in it, and sometimes it kicks in later, after I've gotten home....or even the next day. I drink water all day long and that still doesn't help when it is super hot outside, or when I am outside in particularly harsh, strong sun. I hate it.
And double Yes! to the opinion that September - December are your favorite months -- mine too! I love that whole final 4-month block of the year, although September still tends to be too hot for my liking.
I'm so glad I'm not alone in my disdain for heat!
I keep reading a lot of comments from people online (not on The DIS, but elsewhere) that say, "After the winter we just had, we can't wait for summer." Well, in California (and in Arizona) we didn't have that same winter! We didn't even see heavy, non-stop, pounding rain until a few months ago (and that was a mess). So I am thinking of the 101-degree temperatures that we just had last month, which aren't good for anyone, and the assorted 90s and upper 80s we have had since then, and I want something cooler. The people who have been suffering through extreme cold and snow want something warmer, understandably. If only Mother Nature could give us a button or a switch so that we could control our temperatures in each individual city or state and figure out a nice compromise for the heat lovers and the heat haters!
I think that San Diego would be a great place to go for a couple of months. Coronado is lovely. Anyone who lives right near a beach gets the benefit of that glorious sea breeze that blows in at night and in the early morning. That cools everything off really quickly! Unfortunately, anyone who lives near a beach also gets the unpleasant housing and rental rates that come with seaside living -- even if the residence in question is not that great. It's all about location location location, I guess.
I was born in Arizona, but did not stay there for more than a week or two. It's been SoCal ever since, which I love because of the various things to do around town (like Disneyland, especially during the holidays!), but hate because of the earthquakes and the heat.
guilty
, yes, you can use photos more than once in the Countdown, as well as photos you have already posted in your TR in the past, etc.! Some photos may fit more than one theme -- in fact, that tends to happen quite often -- so you can use whatever you have as long as it fits the theme and as long as it gets into the Countdown within the designated time frame (most themes, not counting the mini-daily themes towards the end of the Countdown, allow a full 7 days for people to post photos before we switch to a new theme)!
) or heavy rain and other extreme situations, but it may not be at the end of this year. It could be at the beginning of next year. It could even reverse and not affect us at all. 
I just know that there is a whole secret society of us out there who really hate heat and dread summer!
