Great photo contributions so far, everyone!!!
I have logged all of the posts. It's hard to believe we just have one more Theme Week after this one, before we launch the lightning round of mini-daily themes!! Time has flown by!
Peppermint Pandemonium/Holiday Hoopla Watch:
Dunkin' Donuts has released its "Eggnoggin'" flavored ground coffee -- you can see it HERE, right above Trader Joe's two pumpkin-y items!!
Old Santa M&G spot at Paradise Pier in DCA (does Santa still meet there? I haven't seen him the last two years)
Jamie --
No more Santa on the Pier. There is usually a character or two in that gazebo spot, but Santa has been gone from there since Buena Vista Street opened and he moved into Elias & Co.
Great theme. This will take some archive work on my part.
Jenny --
I know you have at least a couple of photos to use for the theme, even if you don't have time to comb through the archives! I've seen you post them in previous theme weeks.
I should have clarified I meant 2012. If they ever offered packages again i would jump on that ship for the candlelight.
It is so wonderful to see all these pictures. We are getting Super excited for our trip in December. Thank you to all picture posted and to Sherry who makes this thread possible and amazing!
HappiestHaunt --
Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it!
You know, that Candlelight situation is so frustrating. I think it was a blessing and a curse that Disney did the 20-night run in 2012. If they hadn't done that, I probably would not have seen it. Many of us probably would not have seen it. However, they managed to gain a whole new crop of CP fans because of those 20 nights, and now there are only 2 nights for the fans to enjoy.
I think it was a big mistake going from 2 nights to 20 nights and back to 2 nights! I can understand that Main Street took a financial hit because of the 20 nights, but there has to be a middle ground between 2 nights and 20 nights. Two nights = too few. Twenty nights = too many for
Disneyland. They could have tried 10 nights, or maybe 6 nights or something. A compromise.
Nonetheless, last year I tried the "standing mode" of seeing the CP -- I wanted to see Kurt Russell narrate since I had only seen Lou Diamond Phillips narrate it the prior year. While the Ceremony is still beautiful, haunting, intimate, moving, and all of that, standing leaves something to be desired when you have already experienced seats!!
I am hoping that with this back alley work behind Main Street -- put there for the sole purpose of opening up walkways to ease the traffic flow -- maybe someone will get the bright idea to bring back the CP for more than 2 nights!
Poor Duffy. He looks so rejected in that photo
petals --
I know! I was originally going to choose a different Duffy photo from my albums, to use for the introduction post, but I remembered I had taken that photo and I had to use it because it fit so well with Duffy being booted from his photo spot in DCA forever! He is sad!
Given that it was a gingerbread house, I'm guessing that even they bring it back, it won't look exactly the same!
This was the gingerbread houses in the Cozy Cone (but I'm thinking they may not be real because they looked awfully similar from 2012 to 2013!).
figment_jii --
Yes, the Carthay Circle gingerbread house -- as long as it is freshly made -- would be different each year, as are the ones in Storytellers Café and White Water Snacks (and the one in Haunted Mansion Holiday, of course). So, if Carthay ever decides to bring back the gingerbread house/cottage, it will likely be a fresh one with a new design.
I noticed last year that the Cozy Cone gingerbread set-up looked just about identical to the 2012 version and I think you're right -- it's probably not real.
Supposedly there was also a small gingerbread house in Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Café in 2012, but I never saw it and no one seems to have a photo of it. It may have been behind the counter -- I'm not sure.
By the way, I think that next week's theme will be a good one for you!
We won't reveal it, of course, but I think you'll have a lot of photos to contribute!
Silly me, I thought they did a different one at the DLH each year. You are so nice to point out other options! No duffy, but I do have the Hillbillies (forgot about them being gone)... bottom pictures of the collage
I thought we did take pics of the Storytellers gingerbread house, but it must not have made my final cut of pictures to edit and post on our website, lol.
egritz --
Yep, Billy Hill and the Hillbillies are gone forever...and now entertaining folks over at Knott's Berry Farm (under a different name). I'm glad you found a photo to use!
That DLH gingerbread Castle was new last year, but it was not real (despite the piped-in smell of gingerbread wafting through the air), so I expect that it will be back and will look exactly the same this year! I wish that they'd put a real one in that lobby -- like the giant gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian at WDW.
...I will say, I've been taking notes this year of all the themes, so when we go in December I'll make sure to take specific pictures
Speechphi --
Good! You will need them for next year's Countdown!
After this week's theme we still have 9 more themes to go, though 7 of them will be during the rapid fire-warp speed-lightning round of mini-daily themes. And the final theme -- Holiday Cornucopia -- will be something that anyone should be able to participate in, as long as they have any kind of holiday photo from anywhere (doesn't have to be a Disney photo, though it can be)!
So out of all of the remaining themes, you should be able to scrape up at least a few more, I think. There will probably also be a theme or two for which several people don't have photos or can't find the photos in enough time to make it in before the deadline, so it will get more difficult for everyone over the next 3 weeks!
We are going on our first trip to DL Nov. 11th-15th. I have learned so much from this thread & I love the pictures!
I just have a question about the Holiday Tour. Does anyone remember about what time the tour started? The CM on the phone said the tours start Nov. 14th but did not know the times.
Thanks! I appreciate the help! We are super excited about our trip!
Welcome,
Sailorwife!
Thank you for joining us!
The phone CM said that the tours begin on 11/14/14 this year? Hmmmm.... That is new, if they gave you the correct info. Thank you for letting us know that! Usually the Holiday Time tour begins on the day that the holiday season officially begins -- so I was completely expecting an 11/13/14 start date! How interesting that they are starting it on Friday, 11/14 instead! Leave it to Disney to switch things up on me when I think I have them figured out.
Someone else who has done the tour will confirm or deny, but I
think that the later tour begins in the range of 3 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. (that's the one that will put you in front of It's a Small World Holiday when the colored lights are on), and the earlier tour begins somewhere around 11:30 or noon.
I'm sure this has been brought up and I missed it....but any tips/ideas of how to handle crowds during the CP? We've been there before during CP, but it seems like it is SO much more popular now and I don't know what to expect crowd wise. Just totally avoid MSUSA and town square? Avoid DL all together and go to DCA? TIA! We only have 2 days in the parks (Dec. 6-7) and want to maximize our time.
crystal1313 --
I think that what
Carrie/Escape2Disney said is good advice. Just avoid Town Square and Main Street, the Hub, etc. around late afternoon and beyond. The first CP should start at 5:30 p.m. and the second one should start at 8 p.m. I can't recall how long the CP is, but it seems like Town Square will be packed until at least 9 p.m. It might not be a bad time to head to DCA or to one of the hotels, though I expect that others will head to DCA as well. Or, just stay way at the back of Disneyland, far, far away from Main Street!
One thing that might end up working in your favor is the back alley project behind Main Street (to assist in traffic flow). If it works effectively, that should alleviate some of the crowds coming and going
around the crowds already packed in to see the CP.
(I remember that you saw it during the 20-night marathon in 2012 -- before I saw my first CP that year -- and then you were there again on Blair Underwood's night in 2013, too. Am I correct or losing my mind? 
)
I am going this year also. I love Christmastime at DLR. I think it is my favorite time of the year to go. Any word yet on the narrator for this year, or is it too soon? I can't wait. I am so excited!
All I can think about are the treats, holiday food offerings, decorations, atmosphere. Ok, everything.
In any event, I can still post comments for now.
