Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread #5

[flyingdumbo127]

Hooray! Thank you tlovesdis. I hope you enjoyed your treat!

 

[tlovesdis]

Oh I did! One of my favorites!!

 

[flyingdumbo127]

^ Yay. I will have to try it in a couple weeks.

 

[kculvie]

The tree was up at the Grand when we were there on Tuesday.

 

[Angrose]

I have seen photos of the tree being up at the Grand.

We are going Sunday and were only going to do one park, Disneyland. But now reading the crazy amount of parades and two fireworks shows we are debating getting a hopper and escaping the madness over to DCA in the evening. My question is this: Does it snow anywhere in DCA? I know a couple of years ago it snowed at the Mad T Party during the holidays, but not sure if they still do that. Thanks!

Try Olaf's Snow Fest? I think it snows in there, in addition to the snow for playing and sledding.

 

[janae7]

Hi! I'm so sorry if this has been asked already, I did a search and didn't see specifics on it. Can someone fill me in on how the candy cane wristbands/process works? I've gathered that you should go to Candy Palace right at rope drop and get a wristband, but can you come back any time to pick up the candy cane? This is our first time going during holiday time.

 

[lvdis]

Hi! I'm so sorry if this has been asked already, I did a search and didn't see specifics on it. Can someone fill me in on how the candy cane wristbands/process works? I've gathered that you should go to Candy Palace right at rope drop and get a wristband, but can you come back any time to pick up the candy cane? This is our first time going during holiday time.

This link seems to explain the process pretty well - http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2015/11/15/2015-disneyland-candy-cane-dates-announced/
Make sure to look at the dates near the bottom. Some days it happens in DL at the Candy Palace and other days it's in DCA at Trolley Treats.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Is anyone at the Grand this week? Is it decorated? Is the tree up? How about the special hot cocoa and treats bar they set up in the lobby. Is it up? I'll be so sad if the Grand isn't already in its full Christmas glory when we are there this Sunday.

The tree is up, we saw it last night. The ba see isn't finished ywt, they were installing thE stained glass around the base around midnight last night when wewalked through. The gingerbread house was further along than we'd seen it on the 13th, but still not finished yet

 

[KalamityJane]

Does anyone have info on Santa at the Grand? I'm hoping to head over there. Is it waiting in line for hours and hours usually?

 

[millie0312]

Does anyone have info on Santa at the Grand? I'm hoping to head over there. Is it waiting in line for hours and hours usually?

I called the GCH yesterday and he said they didn't have the Santa info yet. He recommended I call back early next week for it as he wasn't sure when it would be released to cms

 

[keahgirl8]

Here now. Just a quick report that there are no red velvet woopie pies that I can see. They were replaced with the mint. Bummer for someone who not only loves red velvet, but hates mint!

 

[haileymarie92]

We are just over a week away from our trip! I'm intrigued by these candy canes everyone is raving about! Not sure if we will prioritize it early enough to get a wristband though.

 

[egritz]

Is Santa in the park already at Critter Country or Elias & Co?

He is in both parks already, I believe the hours, for DL are 1030am-430pm, DCA is 8am-11pm today. You can check the Disneyland app for the daily hours for any changes.

Thanks! Originally it had been said that Darth Vader was an exclusive meet & greet to Disney Visa card holders - does anybody know if that's the case or is it open to everybody?

Darth Vader is available without the Disney Visa too (we did both pla Chewy with minimAL wait). I was annoyed that there wasn't a different character available for the Visa thing.

So looking at the lines today- day 2 of SOF makes me feel better now. 40 ST wait and 55 for HSM. Both still had FP available. Not sure as I've been slacking and not checking wait times the last couple weeks but it seems pretty typical for it especially on day 2- hopefully it was just crazy yesterday and it has already died down to the dull roar it'll be all holiday season lol

Also- question for those in the parks or request for those going soon. The only updates we heard on the Olaf/Frozen snow area and meet and greets were from last year- aka crazy time (lol!) I was hoping to see how busy it was there, what offerings they have this year vs last year (we saw photos and posts but missed seeing it ourselves by a week) and how to best navigate it. We met the sisters last year so we could take or leave them (unless it's a no wait line thing), but we'd like to see the snow area and Olaf but not at a "prime" time if possible.

Monday was reportedly nuts, but by Tuesday it,was reasonable. No wait to get into the star wars display.

We are on our drive home from 6 days in Disney. It was much more crowded than the same week last year, but it wasn't as bad as I had feared. I took a fair amount of pictures but it will be a whlie until I can post them (and Brett's pictures are far superior to what I could capture one handed while either steering the stroller or holding my 4 year olds hand).
I was pleasantly surprised that the Star Wars stuff wasnt insane and we were able to enjoy the display and the characters. We got to ride almost everything we wanted to, and (sadly) watched Aladdin for the very last time (I'm teary eyed just writing that). I definitely missed the Main Street Garlands and the Winter Castle.

 

[BigCheese]

As others have reported, the GCH tree is up, and the hot cocoa "bar" is in service. As of today the gingerbread house wasn't fully complete yet.

I never realized how fun Viva Navidad! is at DCA. The street party is a quick fun show and the M&Gs are great, especially with the Three Caballeros. DS6 didn't know who Panchito was before today and now he's his favorite.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Here's the tree and the gingerbread house at the GC as we saw it Thursday night:

The final design will look like this, I'd think:

The Tree:

Tree with garlands on the balconies as well:

I didn't think to take a picture of them working on the base..sorry!

 

[haileymarie92]

We made a reservation for BTR dinner while we're there! We've never been before, and since they're tearing it down, we figured we'd better get in before it's gone!

Any reviews on the food/atmosphere?

 

[mvf-m11c]

mvf-m11c

Thanks for sharing your photos. They are beautiful. Still looking forward to see the holiday decorations again even if they are toned down abit. Will really miss the Jingle Jamboree area this year.

Thank you for sharing all those photos with us.

Thank you so much! I look forward to hearing from more people who have had the opportunity to hit the parks since the holiday season officially started!

Thank You, Brett for posting these! Beautiful as always!
BTR looks so sad, when with no decorations! So does the castle!
DCA, looks Great though! I find myself spending more and more time there!

--Lori

Your welcome everyone. It was busy but it didn't felt too busy like last year during the Avenger's Marathon in 2014. But it was crowded on all three days. That Monday morning on the opening day of Star Wars Season of the Force was crazy where everyone was heading straight on over to Tomorrowland.

Oh no Bret! @mvf-m11c -I was afraid the garland would go once I saw how big those PTN floats were. DL was my refuge after the MK lost theirs.

Great photos as always, but I'm bummed they had to come with that report.

I love the colors of the diamond celebration, but based on your photos it does seem like Main Street feels way less festive than in prior years.

I believe the Frozen unit is the tallest unit which it would be hard to put the garlands over MS. Seeing the Christmas season at DL was not the same with the Diamond Celebration going on.

Thanks Janet. It was fun trying out the FF and lens during the trip.

We are on our drive home from 6 days in Disney. It was much more crowded than the same week last year, but it wasn't as bad as I had feared. I took a fair amount of pictures but it will be a whlie until I can post them (and Brett's pictures are far superior to what I could capture one handed while either steering the stroller or holding my 4 year olds hand).
I was pleasantly surprised that the Star Wars stuff wasnt insane and we were able to enjoy the display and the characters. We got to ride almost everything we wanted to, and (sadly) watched Aladdin for the very last time (I'm teary eyed just writing that). I definitely missed the Main Street Garlands and the Winter Castle.

Hope you had a great time. The crowds were manageable (not like Christmas Break crowds) at the DLR during last weekend. It was busy but not insanely busy. We always like to see any DLR Christmas pictures on this thread and will look forward to seeing your pictures.

Just the first day of SW Season of the Force on Monday morning to the afternoon was like a Zoo. There were long queues for Hyperspace Mountain, Star Tours, M&G for Chewbacca and Darth Vader at Launch Bay. The one that was crazy in my opinion was the popcorn queue for the Tie Fighter Popcorn Bucket. There was a line from the popcorn stand close to the Tomorrowland Terrace stage which was under construction. Glad that i was able to get my Tie Fighter popcorn bucket before that queue got ugly or worse run out.

 

[keahgirl8]

Another food update...Cafe Orleans still had pumpkin beignets as of yesterday!

 

[dolphingirl47]

DL was my refuge after the MK lost theirs.

You have to come and visit Disneyland Paris. They still have the Christmas garlands.

I've gathered that you should go to Candy Palace right at rope drop and get a wristband, but can you come back any time to pick up the candy cane?

I headed to Candy Palace as soon as I was in the park and got a wristband for the 3rd and final batch for the day. I was advised that I could pick up my candy cane between 12 and 4. The earlier batches got earlier pick up times.

Corinna

 

[gottalovepluto]

Ugh my 3rd edit, I'm having issues on my iPhone lol!... Any update on the beignet situation at Cafe Orleans? Are they selling both candy cane and regular? Any one tried the candy cane? I tried searching the thread for info but didn't see much. I'm devastated there aren't gingerbread ones this year!