Disneyland Pictures: Day 1 pt 2 -- more Disneyland :)

[Rajah]

NOTE!! This thread contains some spoiler pictures of the Haunted Mansion Holiday! Not many, but a few. If you want to skip over the "spoiler" images, once you see the picture of the Mark Twain and Matterhorn, jump down until you see the pictures of the rose.

Hopefully these will work for everyone. If they don't on the first try, try hitting stop and refresh and that should fix the problem.

I'm posting this same message on the Disneyland board, but I wanted to make sure no one missed it.

I'm working on a full trip report as well, but this will summarize the trip through pictures. All of the pictures were either cropped or resized from images that are 1024x768, so if you want a larger version of any of the pictures, just let me know

Also, I did do retouching on several of them that were too dark or whatever, but I tried to get the colors as true as possible (except in the case of the sky when it was smoggy). For the most part, the main image editing I've done was to sharpen the images since none of the resized pictures were as sharp as the full-size image


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After leaving Main Street, we hit Pirates. Which, since I have tons of pictures of back home, I didn't photograph this time. But, I don't have any past pictures of New Orleans Square in its holiday decor, so that I did photograph. It was very neat, with the lights and decorations strung across everything. I think New Orleans Square was more fully decorated than Main Street, actually!

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A back courtyard (Court de Anges, if I remember correctly) which was nicely decorated. Unfortunately, this picture lost a lot in the resizing that, for some reason, I couldn't get to properly turn out on the smaller picture? Probably just too much detail for a small photo.

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On to the new Haunted Mansion Holiday. Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas has decided to set up shop in the Haunted Mansion and bring Christmas to everyone. However, as the Ghost Host says, "When Halloween creates Christmas, you might see a few flaws..." I was totally blown away by the attraction, and I don't even like Nightmare Before Christmas!

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Another shot, this of the front of the made-up Mansion. Outside, Jacks friends are serenading everyone with Christmas Scarols like Scary Bells.

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Looking across the way is one of my favorite views in Disneyland.

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Zoomed in a bit, there's the top of the cabin on Tom Sawyer's Island, the stacks of the good old steamboat the Mark Twain, the spires of Sleeping Beauty Castle, and the Matterhorn, towering over everything.

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Back to the Haunted Mansion Holiday, this time actually in the queue instead of through the bars.

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The hearse out front, fully decorated for the seasons.

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Inside, they have almost completely redone the attraction. Where the stretching paintings used to be, they've now placed Christmas pictures and instead of the Ghost Host's usual spiel, he greets you with a retelling of a slightly-modified variation of Twas the Night Before Christmas.
This picture: "Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas..."

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"Not a creature was stirring"

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"The Stockings all hung by the chimney with care"

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"The children nestled all snug in their beds"

You'll have to see for yourself what these pictures change into. It doesn't come out well on film or video.

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The paintings in the hallway have changed, too. Here's one of a snowman...

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...that in Jack's world is made out of jack-o-lanterns.

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Jack himself alternates between his Halloween form and his Christmas form.

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The Haunted Mansion as it normally looks...

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...verses with Jack's make-over.

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The Disneyland floral experts have actually developed their own unique rose. It's called the Disneyland Rose, and they had several plants growing in New Orleans Square in front of the French Market. They look orange from a distance, but when you approach, they take on more of a pink-and-yellow collor.

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Another picture of the rose. Apparently you can order them from one or two mail-order shops, though I'm not sure how it works or what the stats (like zone) are for the rose.

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On to Big Thunder Mountain. This used to be my favorite part of the ride when I was a kid.

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It was starting to get dark, and I love the way Thunder Mountain is lit up at night!

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After riding, we walked around the Big Thunder Trail to a bridge where you can watch the train zip around a corner and into one of the many caves. This one was done with a longer shutter speed (I think something like 1/4 second) along with a "slow" setting on the flash. I did have to lighten it up just a little for the picture to actually be visible.

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The nearly-full moon and one of the spires of Thunder Mountain.

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In to Fantasyland, where I couldn't resist this picture of one of the Bavarian village buildings (I think that one's between the queue for Peter Pan and Mr Toad) against the Matterhorn.

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Can't resist a picture of the castle, especially at night!

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The queues at Disneyland are so cute! This is from Snow White's Scary Adventures.

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And from Alice in Wonderland.

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The Matterhorn, moon, and in the foreground some queue/ride elements from Alice. (This picture did take some touch-up so that the front elements were visible).

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On to Small World mall. Disneyland doesn't need the Osborne Lights -- it has the Small World Mall, which was lit up as bright as the Osborne Lights at MGM! It's not quite the same thing, but pretty close!

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The Small World building at Disneyland is so much neater than the tent at Disneyworld, especially during the holidays when they have it beautifully lit for Christmas! (Does anyone know/remember what they do during the regular season? Just have spotlights on it?)

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Another picture. I think I took more pictures of the Small World all lit up than I did of any other single item in Disneyland this trip.

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Another, zoomed out to show more of the topiary animals. This was with my new wide-angle lens.

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Now in to Toon Town, which was also cutely decorated. This was from Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.

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The Town Hall area in Toon Town.

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Santa-Goof was out by the fountain greeting guests.

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I just love Toon Town at night!

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For the first time, we got to ride Gadget's Go Coaster -- it's always been too long of a line before. We had the added treat of Pluto riding on the train with us.

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Well, technically with a little boy near the front, but still, it was the same train. First time I can remember being on a ride at the same time as a character was riding.

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Mickey's House was next. This was his living room.

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And his piano.

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A strange instrument back in the back, as we approached the soundstage (correct term?) for meeting Mickey.

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And finally, the Mouse himself!

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Back to Toon Town's central area, complete with their tree, which, like all things in Toon Town, is a little goofy.

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Now back to Tomorrowland for a ride on Space Mountain. This shot was from the queue looking back toward the Matterhorn.

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And Space Mountain itself. Several years ago, they re-painted Tomorrowland in a coppery color scheme instead of the white and silver color scheme of the past.

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And our first picture on Space Mountain!

Jumping forward by about 45 minutes (during which time I took no pictures -- gasp! ), we've now found our way to Main Street for the fireworks show, Believe in Holiday Magic. I like Believe (either the normal version or holiday version) better than any of the fireworks shows in Disneyworld! Though Illuminations is a close runner-up. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. The music was a compilation of all sorts of holiday classics, with some new music thrown in just for this show.

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Okay, we've now left Disneyland and are returning to our hotel. This is a picture of the Sierra tower of the Disneyland Hotel, with some of Downtown Disney in the foreground.

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We had dinner at Hook's Pointe, a nice restaurant at the Disneyland Hotel in the courtyard near the pool. It's themed after Peter Pan.

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Complete with maps of Neverland on the ceiling.

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Another shot.

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The food was fantastic! I'll be back next trip! I had their pork chop with mashed potatoes, red cabbage, and a good sauce.

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Michael had their sea scallops, which he said were delicious!

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For dessert, we split a creme brulee.

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This is actually the view as you enter the restaurant, but we took it as we left. Full, tired, and very satisfied with our first day at Disneyland. We hadn't even been there for more than 8 hours, and already we'd had a full day.

 

[RoutemanDan]

Great pics!

 

[helenabear]

Great pictures Tammi!!! You really did get some amazing shots in there!!! Thanks for posting these!

 

[RoqueC]

I love the pictures, especially the one with Jack Skellington in the Haunted Mansion. Thanks for letting us see them!

 

[Tinkbell]

I'm loving your Disneyland pictures! I didn't know they take your picture on Space Mountain over there. Small World really looked magical at night. I agree, that version is so much better than the WDW version. Keep em coming!!

 

[Patrick IL.]

As with your first thread you have an amazing eye and photographic talient for picking up the small details! Most excellent pictures and narratives on both...Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[Rajah]

Originally posted by Tinkbell
I'm loving your Disneyland pictures! I didn't know they take your picture on Space Mountain over there. Small World really looked magical at night. I agree, that version is so much better than the WDW version. Keep em coming!!

Yep, they've recently started taking your picture at the end of the ride. I'm not sure when it started, but it was sometime within the past 2-3 years. They may even have installed it when it was down for refurb when I was there 2 years ago.

I just *love* Small World at Disneyland!

 

[#1 Disney Fan]

Great pictures, Rajah!

IASW is sooo pretty all lit up! How neat that Goofy rode on your train! Very neat!!!

Thanks for posting.

 

[Serena]

Beautiful pictures Rajah, I can't decide which ones I like best.

 

[olena]

These are GREAT pics, Tammi!

 

[shep]

Nice pics!!
Such a beautiful place!!

 

[mrsapalm]

Thank you Tammi! Can't wait for the 1,000 more!
-MrsAPalm

 

[JulesMom]

Great Pics!

Jules & I have been depressed because we aren't going to DL this year--We've been the last 2 years in early December

 

[newmousecateer]

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

 

[dizneenut]

Great pics!

 

[Rajah]

Originally posted by JulesMom
Jules & I have been depressed because we aren't going to DL this year--We've been the last 2 years in early December

This was our first time to Disneyland during the holiday festivities. I was at Disneyland about 4 years ago just a day or two before they started taking everything down, but they already had the tree down by that time and weren't doing the holiday festivites either with the exception of Small World Holiday.

We were so happy when we found out this trip would be just after they put up the holiday decorations! They're still adding more things (at least in DCA), but we at least got to see some of them and the holiday fireworks!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Very nice, Tammi!!! I really got a kick out of Pluto riding on the coaster with you. I have never seen a character on any ride that I can recall. Cool!! IASW really looks pretty, and is so much better than the one at WDW. You captured some great shots here, Tammi, keep them coming. I see you have a new lens also, neat!!!! Thanks.

 

[nativetxn]

I posted on your thread on the Disneyland Board, Rajah. I enjoyed the photographs.

 

[catsrule]

love the pics, rajah! keep em' coming.

 

[Rajah]

Originally posted by Dan Murphy
I see you have a new lens also, neat!!!! Thanks.

That wide-angle lens for the coolpix is *very* nice. It does have some curvature at its widest (very obvious in a few pictures), but so do most wide-angle lenses. I found I was finally able to catch everything in one shot on a few pictures that I'd missed before because of the limitations on the built-in lens.