Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #5

[DannyDisneyFreak]

DannyDisneyFreak -- As far as hotel rates, it actually might be better that you're considering 2016 instead of 2015. Because 2015 is Disneyland's 60th anniversary, I have no idea what sorts of events might take place throughout the year. I wouldn't be shocked if Disney holds back on offering hotel discounts during the holidays if they happen to start running a new nighttime parade, new fireworks and any other new events for the 60th. If they do something out of the ordinary that they think will bring in lots and lots of people, they may not offer less expensive rooms or discounts because they don't need to attract guests. The Disneyland Resort hotel rates are never all that low -- they just may be slightly cheaper at certain times than at other times. The discounts for rooms will traditionally be offered for weeks or timeframes in which Disney does not expect as many visitors. So, for example, in that early November window of time -- after Halloween Time ends and before the holiday season has officially begun -- there may be some hotel discounts. Typically, up until this year, discounts or slightly cheaper room rates could be found for early December, because that is the period of time in between the Thanksgiving break and the Christmas break when crowds used to simmer down a bit. However, many people found out that early-to-mid-December was a good time to go, and the crowds began picking up during that window of time. This year, the 3 DLR hotels were all booked up for certain points in early December (when they would have normally been available) because there were some other events happening (like a pharmacist convention/Midyear Meeting in Anaheim) that involved attendees staying onsite at the Disney hotels. So the discounts were hard to get and the availability was hard to come by -- but that would have normally been a time when the hotels were slightly cheaper and/or discounts were available. Again, I don't know what will happen in 2015 as far as cheaper hotel rates and discounts, but there is usually some sort of "Fall Discount" that is offered every year (maybe even 2 versions of the Fall Discount -- one for Annual Pass holders and one for everyone else), and it would normally come out in September. That discount usually covers certain weeks in October, November and December, but the numbers of days and weeks attached to the discounts have been dwindling over the last few years.

Thanks so much

 

[Sherry E]

Ok, Sherry, here is the list of movies I have watched and the ones I have recorded. I'm going to go to your list and try to find any I've missed.

Watched:
Christmas at Cartwright's
A Very Merry Mix Up
One Christmas Eve
Let it Snow
Royal Christmas
Christmas Under Wraps
Nine Lives of Christmas
The Christmas Ornament
A Cookie Cutter Christmas
Snow Bride
Hitched for Holidays
The Wishing Tree
Angels and Ornaments


On the DVR:
Silver Bells
Holiday Engagement
Naughty & Nice
Matchmaker Santa
Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Fir Crazy
Christmas Shepherd
Mr. Miracle
Best Christmas Party Ever
The Christmas Parade

Jamie --

Wow! I'm shocked you have had time to watch all of the movies you've watched! And you've still got a few really good ones coming up (saved on the DVR), such as Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Naughty or Nice and The Christmas Shepherd!!

See if you can find these in the cable listings between now and 12/31:

• A Bride for Christmas (the two leads have a lot of chemistry, and the guy is cute)
• Trading Christmas (people swapping houses)
• Finding Christmas (people swapping houses again; one couple has a lot of chemistry)
• Farewell, Mr. Kringle (it's cute)
• Window Wonderland (a lot of snappy banter from the lead guy)
• Debbie Macomber's Mrs. Miracle (the original one, with Doris Roberts and James Van Der Beek -- it's very charming, unlike the recent Mr. Miracle)

The movies are ending after 12/31, so I don't know how many more times those titles will be repeated in the next 2 weeks, but I think that there should be at least one more go-around for each one between now and December 31st, although they may run in the middle of the night!


You said you liked Angels and Ornaments, you loved Let it Snow and you disliked One Christmas Eve. I think you also said that you were not impressed with A Cookie Cutter Christmas. (I agree with all of those assessments, by the way!)

Were there any other standouts for you in the group that you have watched? Any others that you really enjoyed -- or really hated?

I will say that, on January 3rd, there is going to be a new non-Christmas Hallmark movie starring the girl from Naughty or Nice and the guy from Window Wonderland. It's called Surprised By Love. I will be interested to see them together and see if they have any chemistry, as they were both good in their own individual Christmas movies. I think it could be a good one.

Also, sometime in January there is going to be a new movie called Bridal Wave, starring the same two leads from A Bride for Christmas (the ones that have a lot of chemistry). I think that one should be good too. It's not a sequel, but someone obviously likes those 2 actors together because they are being teamed up again.

​

So, now that the final two new Countdown to Christmas movies of 2014 have aired on Hallmark, here are my final rankings (of only the new ones):

1. The Nine Lives of Christmas -- It has not been bumped out of the #1 spot! It is adorable -- I just watched it again in full the other day, and I still smiled and laughed all the way through! It is a keeper, and it will stay on the DVR for a while! I now have to figure out where to place it in my list of overall favorite Hallmark Christmas movies;

2. Angels and Ornaments -- It is closer to #3, #4 and #5 on the list than it is to #1, but because of the little twist in the movie it stays in the #2 spot for now;

3. The Christmas Shepherd -- It's just a nice, believable story of two people brought together by a dog, but the first half of the movie is more dog-focused, while the second half of the movie is more romance-focused;

4. A Royal Christmas (it can trade places with #3 and #5, depending on my mood) -- Sweet romance. Likeable leads. Jane Seymour is perfectly cast;

5. Christmas at Cartwright's (it might also trade places with #3 or #4, depending on my mood) -- I like Alicia Witt and I liked the overall story. (This should have been Mr. Miracle.);

6. The Best Christmas Party Ever -- The lead actress is extremely pretty, and it's a sweet story. I liked the two leads together, for the most part;

7. Christmas Under Wraps -- It was decent, but I didn't love it because I didn't think there was any need for the "twist" at the end (which was not really a surprise). Candace has a lot of charisma and charm, and it's hard to dislike anything she is in;

8. A Cookie Cutter Christmas -- I think it could have been a funny story with different actors. I sensed zero chemistry between the lead actor and actress;

9. The Christmas Parade -- This actress is very beautiful, but almost to the point of looking totally out of place in a Hallmark movie! She looks more like a Playboy model than a pretty, approachable Hallmark actress! Her character is supposed to be a glamorous TV personality, so she fits the bill nicely, but I think that Brooke Burns would have been a better choice for the role (a little more accessibly glamorous and not so Playboy-ish). The woman gets together with a guy that she has no chemistry with at all. Also, she becomes attached to the town and the kids awfully fast, and I felt like I missed scenes where she really bonded with them. Also, the ending with the Mayor was silly and unnecessary;

10. One Starry Christmas -- Pretty actress. Goofy cowboy. No chemistry. Would have been better with different actors;

11. Northpole -- Nice effects. Boring romance. Good for kids, but I was bored;

12. Mr. Miracle -- This movie pales in comparison to the 2 Mrs. Miracle movies. Rob Morrow was not the right choice for the role. He was playing someone who was learning to be a human for the first time, but it misfired. I did not care about the romance part of the story either. The only redeeming quality is that the story was written by Debbie Macomber, whose previous Christmas tales include Trading Christmas and Mrs. Miracle; and

13. One Christmas Eve -- Too much "puppy arrives and everything goes awry" mayhem. I didn't find it funny, I didn't find it charming. The girl singing was very annoying. The only good thing was the puppy.

​

An honorable mention goes to: The Christmas Secret, starring Bethany Joy Lenz (it was a new movie on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel this year). It was a sweet story. It had a twist in it, but I was expecting a different twist! Without saying much more, in the first part of the movie I thought the twist was going to be one of a couple of different scenarios. It ended up being another scenario. It's not that it was so shocking, but it just wasn't the twist that I expected it to be.

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[DisneylandPlanner]

We made it back after 7 days (2 resort days and 5 park days) at Disneyland. We had a fabulous time but I did bring home the Disney cold which turned into a sinus infection so I have been out of commission (but watching hallmark movies).

So the resort days, we spent 1 night at the Paradise Pier Hotel which was nice I got the Disney Family treat tote in Minnie and it was FULL of snacks we still have some left. Pretzels, candy, mickey shape rice crispies, cheese and chrackers, water and more. It also came with a super cute light up lanyard that is green and says Happy Holidays. We had to purchase a second lanyard because it caused some fighting (FYI $12). We had drink and Trader Sam's and this was my first non-alcoholic trip, so I think next time I will stick to the Shirley temples. All the non-alcoholic drink have a lot of pineapple juice which is not my favorite. But love love love being there. They had snow falling on the picture of Mt Krakatoa which my husband made erupt several times for the kids. We had dinner at Steakhouse 55 for the first time and all I can say is wow. It was a fabulous meal (pricey but as expected) what I loved most was the vibe was really relaxed. Compared to the madness next door at goofy's it was its own little holiday. I did the Get up and Power Walk the next day. It seems that Dave is getting some people who do not know it is a power walk so he gives this warning at the beginning about how this is a workout and not a leisure walk. He seemed much less personable then the last time I went. After my walk we had breakfast with Mickey which was nice like always, I love stitch he is not my favorite character but I love his interactions. Also this is were we got to redeem our Photopass + which was awesome. They were so nice and helpful. The rest of the day was spent checking out the grand and DTD.









Never mind DD sad face she had been carrying this tiny grape she got a dinner the night before around and it had fallen on the floor so she had to get rid of it. Yes you read that right a grape.


After our second and final stop at trader sams we went to our home away from home The Desert Inn. Requested first floor as always and got it, they are so nice to us there. I did decorate our room with mickey lights, the little tree and some candles from the disney store

After a very quick very crazy dinner at Naples (will not sit on first floor again) we were in bed for our first day in the park. We had so much fun over the days enjoying many first like DD first ride on Indy and California Screamin and DS first time being over 40 inches.





One of the other first and crazy things we did was meet Anna and Elsa It is crazy!!!! I have never seen so many people running when not at a run. It was all possible thanks to dad!!!! We got into the standby line as the last person because he got there early. He ran we walked faster the normal, but I will not do that again!



DS wore that incredible shirt for 2 days until finally . . .

They asked him to run and he took off we had to yell at him to stop it was too cute!

Some finally shots from Disneyland

Yes this was his breakfast


Peppermint ice cream in a candy cane crushed waffle cone at Gibson girl yum yum

Final meal a tradition now at Big Thunder BBQ! First time for dinner the sausage and corn are worth it!

We also lost a tooth while we were down there and it is amazing the tooth fairy brought $10 disney dollars and my DD turned it into a Frozen light up wand!

 

[DisneylandPlanner]

Ok now DCA and the Grand
First off the gingerbread houses.
Storytellers

White water Snacks and there cool tree



Had lunch for WOC meal at Carthay Circle ate outside and had a fabulous view and got to hear the newsies when the went by.

Letters to Santa with Molly

I spent our good hard earned money on the made with magic products the wand and the minnie ear headband. I could not wear he headband it was too tight, But I loved the wand. DS had a hard time using it age 3. Also not very many glow with the show ears to change there color BUT when we did it felt sneaky and AWESOME!!! I wish these would get big it was fun. Worked great with WOC BUT nothing with the fireworks.

We pretended to light the tree.

All in all a fabulous and magical trip with all that time I would love to say we did it all but no way not even close. I always love when people go for a day or two and say they did it all, it always makes me laugh. I know there is more I wanted to share but this cold really has me out of sorts.



Christmas movies
I have watched:
The Nine Lives of Christmas (shockingly I loved it!)
A Very Merry Mix Up
Let it Snow
Northpole
Mr. Miracle

So many on the DVR

 

[crystal1313]

Love all the photos DisneylandPlanner! And I totally get the grape thing! I can see my DS6 doing something like that. We can never do everything either! But still have a blast. You're kiddos are adorable and loved all the matching shirts

 

[KCmike]

Mike - glad you and your wife had fun. We like WDW but love DL. DH and I just took a solo DL trip. Very strange without the kids. Great time but something seemed to be missing. We are thinking a family trip to WDW in the summer will be our plan. I know....Florida in the summer?? DS is teaching so we have to vacation when he can.

Glad you had a good trip yourself. The one time it felt weird for us is when we came back to the resort and the kids weren't there to race me to the room door. Its almost time for a new chapter in our lives.

WDW in summer sounds like fun (even with the humidity!)


Sherry ... I hadn't been following the new fast pass system for Fantasmic! until you said something. I'm not sure what to make of it yet. I guess this will help with the possible increase in traffic for the 60th Anniversary when most people try to run to the Rivers of America right after the fireworks. It will all be very interesting when the new night parade gets thrown into the mix. All my nighttime entertainment will need some new game planning!

 

[mvf-m11c]

So my fam is set to hit Dland next Sunday/Monday(21/22).

I am trying to get a game plan, to best maximize our time, only doing single day tickets. We are going to do DCA on Sunday, and DL on Monday, so we can end with all the fun on Monday at DL.

My questions are, what the the premier things to do at the holiday time in DCA & DL at the open?

Since both parks have EMH on both days please help.

I assume DCA, you will want to pick the new Frozen stuff, or head straight to CarsLand. What else are items that you will want to get into ASAP before everything is packed?

In DL, I know my daughter will want to do the Frozen M&G but is this moving to DCA? Where is the FP located, and since DL is EMH/MM both days, were going to be hurting on this day.

I assume Peter Pan is a must at open, what else?

Last time we went, was in Sept 2013 and crowds were minimal so I didn't worry about planning.

Please help... 1-child age 6 and 3-adults 26-29

Just as Sherry and TK mentioned on their plans are good. Here are my plans on how I do my ways. My ways are on my personal preference of what to do and what the crowds would be like during the morning time.

DCA: The first thing I do is get FP's for RSR first thing in the morning during the rope drop when the park opens at its hour. I don't like to ride it first thing since the ride can be down and you could lose valuable time waiting to ride it when you could get the FP instead and come back later during the day. After getting the FP's for RSR, I would have a runner to get the WoC Winter Dreams FP's at GRR and have your other party members go on over to TSMM since this is another ride that doesn't have a FP like the one at DHS at WDW (which is crazy long).

Right now we don't know what the Frozen Fun experience at DCA will be like until this upcoming weekend. If you want to meet Anna & Elsa, I would go get the FP's first since when I went to get FP's at DL, it can be quite long just to get a FP.

DL: PP is a ride that everyone would recommend to do at DL. It is one of the rides to be quite busy first thing in the morning with MM or opening time. If you have MM, I would do it first thing and if not I still would do it first since it can get quite busy later on. This is one of the first rides to do. Storytellers Land Canal Boats is a very nice popular ride and with the Arendelle being added which will make an exciting experience. IASWH is another ride to ride first thing in the morning where it can get really busy later during the morning time to nighttime in which the wait time could be as long as an hour.


Very nice update DisneylandPlanner.

Glad to hear that you had a great trip to WDW Mike.

MIL update - she is out of ICU and now trying to regain strength to hopefully return to her senior apartment. Thank you for all the prayers. Her 92nd birthday is Thursday so we hope it isn't spent in the hospital.

Hope your MIL is doing well TK.

 

[dedesmith32]

We are back and we had an amazing time! I hope to get started in my trip report soon but im currently trying to recover and get caught up in the real world. We also seemed to bring sickness back with us! Cant wait to share!

 

[belle'ssister]

I arrived with my daughter and granddaughter this morning at Long Beach airport and were picked up by Karmel shuttle service. We made it to the Disneyland Hotel and were greeted by Caitlin who got my ECV from Apple Scooter and we were off to the E Lounge for a light lunch of fruits, veggies, chips with salsa and a yummy yule log of chocolate and hazelnut.

Our room became ready for us during lunch so we got our luggage and and checked our room out. It was good size, two comfy beds with the famous lighted and musical castle headboards.

This afternoon we started in California Adventure with DD and DGD doing single rider California Screamin, then the Silly Symphony Swings and got fast passes for Soarin'. Will finish this later, back to ELounge for dessert and fireworks.

 

[DisneylandPlanner]

Love all the photos DisneylandPlanner! And I totally get the grape thing! I can see my DS6 doing something like that. We can never do everything either! But still have a blast. You're kiddos are adorable and loved all the matching shirts

Thanks Crystal we did see baymax and hero from the side, DD not impressed DS was like he is here, he is here almost made me stand in line. We did not but baymax will be under the tree. Yes I spent too much on etsy for shirts and dresses.

 

[tlovesdis]

Just wanted to share that if you will be in DL soon and you like gingerbread pick up one of these at the Grand Californian! It was delish!!

This guy from Starbucks was tasty too!!

 

[Sherry E]

I'll come back in a while and comment on the latest photos/reviews/posts in this thread (I haven't had time), but I wanted to pop in with links to a couple of new or recent blogs:

"Spending New Year’s Eve at Disney California Adventure Park" -- Disney Parks Blog; posted on December 16th, 2014 by Shawn Slater, Communications Manager, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Creative Entertainment


"Dining in Disneyland: Seasonal Treats at Jolly Holiday Bakery Café" -- Disney Food Blog; posted on Dec 15th, 2014 by Heather.

​

 

[Minnie Loves Mickey]

I think this was already posted somewhere here on the DIS, but I can not find it! Can you nice people help me? At the Jolly Holiday Bakery the Chocolate Mouse that came in the Ceramic Mickey Santa cup...is it still available this year? and do you have a picture?

Thanks,

 

[Sherry E]

I think this was already posted somewhere here on the DIS, but I can not find it! Can you nice people help me? At the Jolly Holiday Bakery the Chocolate Mouse that came in the Ceramic Mickey Santa cup...is it still available this year? and do you have a picture?

Thanks,

It was posted in the previous Superthread (I asked Disneyland Today, and they confirmed). The demitasse dessert in the traditional Santa Mickey mug is gone this year (unless it suddenly makes a miraculous "limited time only" appearance). It was gone in its Halloween version as well. I think that there may be something similar -- maybe dessert served in the Mickey stein or some other sort of contraption -- and figment_jii will probably know that.

 

[Minnie Loves Mickey]

Thank you Sherry, but oh I am so SAD I really wanted more of the mugs.

 

[tlovesdis]

Here is the link to my trip report if anyone wants to read it. The first day is posted and I will add more later!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=52760464&posted=1#post52760464

 

[Sherry E]

The Disney Parks Blog is apparently in a New Year's state of mind today:


"Special Dishes, Where to Find Bubbly for New Year’s Eve at Disneyland Resort" -- Disney Parks Blog; posted on December 16th, 2014 by Pam Brandon, Disney Parks Food Writer

​

 

[rentayenta]

Hi all, were back from an amazingly magical 6 night/5 day trip to the DLR. . Not sure that I'll do a full trip report but promise I'll post pics and highlights.

 

[Vintage Mouseketeer]

Hi Sherry!!

I am finally able to get caught up on your Christmas thread. I feel I have missed out on so much. A few months ago I went from and iPhone to a Note4 now I am always having issues with DIS app so I am not able to keep up like I use to

Also, need to share I am currently addicted to Hot Chocolate / Peppermint Ice floats I am really going to miss this ice cream when the holidays are over.

 

[Sherry E]

Hi all, were back from an amazingly magical 6 night/5 day trip to the DLR. . Not sure that I'll do a full trip report but promise I'll post pics and highlights.

Welcome back, Jenny!

I'm glad to hear you had a great time!

Hi Sherry!!

I am finally able to get caught up on your Christmas thread. I feel I have missed out on so much. A few months ago I went from and iPhone to a Note4 now I am always having issues with DIS app so I am not able to keep up like I use to

Also, need to share I am currently addicted to Hot Chocolate / Peppermint Ice floats I am really going to miss this ice cream when the holidays are over.

Hi there, Vintage Mouseketeer!

I'm glad you found your way over to us in the new thread!

I think a lot of people were having trouble with the DIS app on a variety of devices.

Hot Chocolate/Peppermint Ice Cream floats? Do you mean you are combining the Hot Chocolate ice cream (which I think Dreyer's makes, correct?) and the Peppermint Wonderland ice cream into one float, with a beverage? Or are you pouring hot chocolate over peppermint ice cream? What kind of sweet sorcery have you whipped up?

I recently discovered that dropping Nestle's white chocolate mini-morsels into hot chocolate was a yummy idea!