Nothing to See Here...

[rentayenta]

Surprised to see me? I live for this kind of stuff. Your photos are terrific!

 

[Sherry E]

Well, I don't know where the time has gone. I can't believe it will soon be a full year since my "Peppermint Cone of Death" photo-filled extravaganza of a DLR trip, but in 15 days - yes, only 15 days - a new holiday trip will begin (that's December 4th).

​

At the moment, it's all very overwhelming to me. This is not going to be a nice, quiet little trip where I can meander about at my own leisure. No. This trip is going to be filled with people coming and going - in random combinations at any given moment. New friends. Old friends. Old friends who are disorganized, with a temperamental 4-year-old. Old, non-Christmas loving friends......There will be an elderly parent in a wheelchair.....Possible VIP seating for the Christmas Fantasy Parade and VIP viewing for World of Color.....There will be the Candlelight Processional on 12/4, with one of my favorite actors - Gary Sinise - acting as this year's narrator. Lieutenant Dan!.....There will be character meals. Maybe 2. Possibly 3 different character meals.....There will be character photos. There will be PhotoPass photos.....There will be a guided tour of California Adventure, courtesy of yours truly.....There will probably be disagreements popping up here and there when nerves get frayed and people are exhausted......There will be pain in my leg and hip as I hobble along.....There will be very little money to spend on anything.....There will be a cramped PPH room.

Heck, at this rate...there will probably be alcohol. And I don't really drink, but who am I kidding? I am probably gonna need it.

​

It's a good thing I had a chance to outdo myself with photos last year because I'm not sure if I will have a moment alone to take any scenic/detail photos this year. All of this year's photos will be people-filled or character-filled.

​

Yes, this is going to be one whopper of a trip just based on the sheer volume of activity and interaction (based on what I am used to in my daily quiet, solo life). And it's only 15 days away. Stay tuned to see how it all pans out, and if I make it out of there alive! I am booked for a full week, but I expect to be cutting off the last few nights of my trip and coming back on 12/8, sadly. Still, it will be one night longer than I spent last year!

​

I've got the Christmas music playing in the background. I have a Hallmark Christmas movie marathon running. I am putting up little holiday decorations (snowglobes and such) here and there. There is a nice, crisp chill outside - an occasional breeze hits me as I sit by the window. There are piles of Fall-colored leaves on the ground outside (from the one tree on my block with leaves that actually change color in Autumn). I am periodically rocking the hot cocoa. I am working my way into the holiday spirit...and I am crunching numbers in anticipation of this bonanza of a trip that is coming in a couple of weeks!

 

[kaoden39]

May I suggest peppermint schnapps? I figure that way we are sticking with the holiday theme. Of course if I remember rightly it is narly tasting but, it fits the bill. Of course cinnamon schnapps has a holiday look to it......

 

[Sherry E]

May I suggest peppermint schnapps? I figure that way we are sticking with the holiday theme. Of course if I remember rightly it is narly tasting but, it fits the bill. Of course cinnamon schnapps has a holiday look to it......

Not a bad idea - it certainly stays within the theme! I've never had a peppermint Schnapps - only a peach Schnapps. So I am unfamiliar with how bad or good it tastes.

There is a drink served at one of the lounge-y areas of the GCH, and it comes with a peppermint swizzle stick type thing in it, I think. Maybe that would be a better bet!

At this rate, I think I am going to need something to ease the pain.

​

The Special Activities office e-mailed me today - after I called them when they hadn't replied to my contact from 11 days ago - and finally sealed my VIP seating for the Christmas Fantasy Parade on 12/6. Now I have seen this parade before. More importantly, this parade has kept me from getting back to Toontown or other areas in DL where I wanted to go, and its theme song is lodged in my brain for all eternity.

But, my friend's little boy will enjoy the parade (we think), and given that no one wants to actually stand and wait for something, having actual chairs to sit in will be a bonus. Our seats will probably not be as good as the seats people get with the holiday tour, because they are not as close to the action, but, hey...they are seats.

I also got VIP viewing for World of Color on 12/7. This will be my first time seeing WoC - I have not been leaping and bounding to see it, but I may as well see it while I have the VIP viewing and while it has the little Prep & Landing bit at the start.

I am hearing mixed info about the Candlelight Processional, however. I had been told that the seats for the CP were "by invitation only," but that the general public can stand in certain areas to watch it. Now I am hearing on this board that the park will close early on the nights of the CP and that only people who paid $2500 (yes, $2500) will be allowed to watch it.

According to the itinerary I received from Special Activities, Disneyland does not close early on 12/4. So I think that the same rules apply - the actual chairs are reserved for the "invited" guests or the guests who forked over big bucks. But I assume that people can still randomly stand around and watch the CP through the masses of people.

 

[kaoden39]

Not a bad idea - it certainly stays within the theme! I've never had a peppermint Schnapps - only a peach Schnapps. So I am unfamiliar with how bad or good it tastes.

There is a drink served at one of the lounge-y areas of the GCH, and it comes with a peppermint swizzle stick type thing in it, I think. Maybe that would be a better bet!

At this rate, I think I am going to need something to ease the pain.

​

The Special Activities office e-mailed me today - after I called them when they hadn't replied to my contact from 11 days ago - and finally sealed my VIP seating for the Christmas Fantasy Parade on 12/6. Now I have seen this parade before. More importantly, this parade has kept me from getting back to Toontown or other areas in DL where I wanted to go, and its theme song is lodged in my brain for all eternity.

But, my friend's little boy will enjoy the parade (we think), and given that no one wants to actually stand and wait for something, having actual chairs to sit in will be a bonus. Our seats will probably not be as good as the seats people get with the holiday tour, because they are not as close to the action, but, hey...they are seats.

I also got VIP viewing for World of Color on 12/7. This will be my first time seeing WoC - I have not been leaping and bounding to see it, but I may as well see it while I have the VIP viewing and while it has the little Prep & Landing bit at the start.

I am hearing mixed info about the Candlelight Processional, however. I had been told that the seats for the CP were "by invitation only," but that the general public can stand in certain areas to watch it. Now I am hearing on this board that the park will close early on the nights of the CP and that only people who paid $2500 (yes, $2500) will be allowed to watch it.

According to the itinerary I received from Special Activities, Disneyland does not close early on 12/4. So I think that the same rules apply - the actual chairs are reserved for the "invited" guests or the guests who forked over big bucks. But I assume that people can still randomly stand around and watch the CP through the masses of people.

I think that a hot buttered rum might be nice too. Tonight it sounds like it would be wonderful to me. We are chilly here.


It took them long enough to get back to you. I am glad you were able to get everything set up.


If I could afford something like that I think that I would spend it on souvenirs instead. I can think of several things I would rather spend it on. Yes it would be nice to see it from a good view but that is outrageous.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

That's nice Sherry. I'm going on Wednesday (I get the full week off).

 

[tksbaskets]

Sherry your trip sounds smashing! You're friend's little one will love the VIP seating for the parade

I about busted a gut laughing at your 'Lt. Dan' comment - that was exactly what I was thinking when you said Gary S. was the narrator for the CP. Hope you get a seat....I've stood at the back of EPCOT looking at the CP through a bazillion people and it's not too fun....

15 days - YEAH!!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

I'm so excited for you Sherry!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

One week from today, you'll be in your happy place with all your friends!!! In 9 days....you'll have 2 more friends joining you!!! WOO HOO.....CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!

~~~"it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......."~~~

 

[Sherry E]

I'm not going to have much time to check in here in the coming days - I haven't been able to check in much for the last week or so as it is.

On Sunday (12/4) I head to DLR for the big holiday trip. I'm not sure who exactly I am meeting or meeting up with first. But this is the rough idea of what might be happening so far (and the sequence could change):


Sunday, December 4, 2011

1. Take shuttle ($$$) to DLR at obscene hour of the morning. Check into Paradise Pier. If room is ready, head straight to it to dump off bags. If room is not ready, dump bags with Bell Desk and hit the Magic Morning.

2. Meet up with Courtney/prettyprincessbelle (who was one of my original DIS-friends going back a few years). This would be the first time ever that we have been at DLR at the same time, so it will be nice to finally meet in person, though I think it will literally be a quick 'hi and bye' sort of thing. (She is checking out that day and heading home.)

3. Possibly meet up with Disneyland trip stalwarts and longtime friends Shawn & Jackie (who you all know by now from seeing so many pictures).

4. If Shawn & Jackie do not pop over to DLR that day, then I will be freestylin' it solo through the parks - and this may be the ideal time to do a lot of photo-taking because I can't do it on my own.

5. If Shawn and Jackie do show up, then we will have lunch or early dinner or something.

6. Candlelight Processional! If possible, I am going to try to stake out some sort of decent spot so I can see the CP for the first time. Then I am going to attempt to get some nighttime photos.



Monday, December 5, 2011

1. Grab a snack of some kind to munch on in the morning.

2. Try to get any photo-taking done that I can manage in my precious remaining hours of solo time.

3. The BIG ARRIVAL of the friends I have not seen in 10 years!! Yes, my longtime friend, former Poison co-worker/Sunset Strip cohort and former Disneyland buddy is finally going to be here, after many false alarms and delays. She and her family are booked at the Paradise Pier as well, and they will be showing up on PPH property sometime after 1 p.m.-ish.

4. My friend will be staying with me at the PPH that night, while her husband, son and dad head to their own PPH room. So she will either drop her bags off in my rooom, or if their room happens to be ready she will go to their room and then come back to mine.

5. If Shawn and Jackie did not come out to see me on the previous day, they will probably be meeting us for dinner, which will be at Goofy's Kitchen. Yes, this is the first dinner at Goofy's I have had in years and years...and honestly, I would MUCH rather do the breakfast. I am not that thrilled with the dinner idea, but whatever. It's Goofy's. Hopefully, I will be able to squeeze in a Goofy's breakfast somewhere before my trip ends.

6. After Goofy's we will probably head to the GCH to see if Santa & the PhotoPass people are lurking around so we can get a nice group shot of all of us.

7. Shawn and/or Jackie go home, and my friends and I head back to the PPH.



Tuesday, December 6, 2011

1. Breakfast and park time - not sure where we are eating or in which park we will be at which time, but it will be madness and chaos - of that you can be certain.

2. Laurie/DizNee Luver and Molly/bumbershoot arrive, and if I am unable to leave their room keys for them at the PPH front desk or anywhere around there, I will have to quickly meet up with them to give them their keys.

2. VIP seats for the Christmas Fantasy Parade. I have enough seats to cover Molly and Laurie, too, if they wish to see it but since Laurie is seeing the parade as part of her holiday tour the following night, she may not need to join us.

3. Try to get the required "nighttime Winter Castle group shots" and "IASW Holiday" group shots post-parade.



Wednesday, December 7, 2011

1. Again, no idea in which park we will be or where we will eat breakfast.

2. VIP viewing for World of Color at night. I am getting the same sort of viewing that the people who buy the expensive dinner packages get for WoC, except I am not paying for it and I am not getting the dinner!

3. If friends do not want to see World of Color (that is yet to be determined), then I will just go off and see it with Laurie and Molly. If friends do want to see it, then we will probably just meet Laurie and Molly at WoC.



Thursday, December 8, 2011

1. Assuming I am checking out that day, then it's pack pack pack and check out!

2. Breakfast with Laurie and Molly at either Goofy's or Surf's Up, depending on how much progress we (I) are making on packing and what time we wake up. Hopefully Liza/funatdisney will be joining us.

3. The rest of the day is unclear. I don't know how it will play out and what time I will end up at home. My friends from out of town are staying at the PPH until 12/9, so they will be there for longer than I am but they have other people they are meeting on 12/8.


I wish I could stay longer - but not to hang out with anyone! I wish I had two or 3 full days of solo time! I just don't think it's going to happen, though.



I've stopped looking at all DLR Christmas photos from everyone, on this board and others - not because I want to be surprised. I've already seen and photographed most of what there is to see and photograph holiday-wise, as you will all recall from my photo extravaganza last year, so I don't need to be surprised.

BUT...I like to start with a blank slate and not be influenced by what I have seen anyone else take photos of. I want to go into DLR knowing that what I am taking photos of is what I am seeing and coming up with on the spot. I feel like, when I see other folks' photos too much, I get those ideas stuck in my head and end up taking pictures that are simlar or are influenced by them.

Even if I end up taking pictures that look eerily similar to what others have taken, or even if they are bad pictures, at least I know that what I got on camera was what was in my own mind at the time, and not something stuck in my head that I saw elsewhere.

Does that make any sense? So I have stopped looking at all DLR holiday photos from this year so that I can go in with a blank slate and take pictures of whatever pops into my warped brain.

I may not be able to pop back into this TR again this week, so if I can't get back here then I will catch you all when I return!

 

[mvf-m11c]

You have a good pre-plan for your TR this coming weekend. I hope that you have a great time this upcoming weekend during your Holiday trip.

I understand what you meant Sherry about not looking at my recent trip or other pictures of the Holiday season at DL so you can have your own idea of what to take and not someone else pictures. I tried to do the same thing when I saw on Micechat Dateline, Mouseplanet and other TR pictures. I want my pictures to be my own taking and not taking an idea from someone else. When I go to my WDW trip next month, I am trying not to see any of the Holiday pics from WDW because I want to get my own pictures and videos.

Have a great trip.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Looking forward to seeing you & Molly (and anyone else we might run into!!). Definitely yes on the WoC & possibly the parade. I know I'm going for the tour.....but I love me a parade & it would give us some more chance to interact!! See you VERY SOON!!!!

 

[kaoden39]

Sherry, it all looks wonderful. I wish I could be there with you ladies. Have lots of fun!!

 

[Sherry E]

You have a good pre-plan for your TR this coming weekend. I hope that you have a great time this upcoming weekend during your Holiday trip.

I understand what you meant Sherry about not looking at my recent trip or other pictures of the Holiday season at DL so you can have your own idea of what to take and not someone else pictures. I tried to do the same thing when I saw on Micechat Dateline, Mouseplanet and other TR pictures. I want my pictures to be my own taking and not taking an idea from someone else. When I go to my WDW trip next month, I am trying not to see any of the Holiday pics from WDW because I want to get my own pictures and videos.

Have a great trip.

Thank you so much, Bret!

I stopped looking at the Dateline stuff, at the Christmas Superthread, at the Disney Food Blog, the Parks Blog - all of it! I was starting to see too much and I thought I'd better go in with a fresh view, if possible. Then, when I get back I can resume looking at all the stuff I have been skipping!

Oh, that's right - you have your WDW trip coming up very soon! I can't wait to see those photos!

Looking forward to seeing you & Molly (and anyone else we might run into!!). Definitely yes on the WoC & possibly the parade. I know I'm going for the tour.....but I love me a parade & it would give us some more chance to interact!! See you VERY SOON!!!!

Laurie -

I think that Liza/funatdisney is supposed to meet us for breakfast on 12/8. So you will definitely meet her.

Sherry, it all looks wonderful. I wish I could be there with you ladies. Have lots of fun!!

Michele -

It's going to be very chaotic and exhausting for me! I may not make it back home in one piece, with my sanity intact.

Frankly, I couldn't believe that my friends were able to get a room at the PPH on such short notice (like just last week or the week before)! This means the PPH must not be booked up at all for next week...which means that I have a better chance of getting an upgrade.

It'd be so much fun if you were there!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

I'm so excited for you Sherry!! Unfortuneatley, I have school during that time.

 

[kaoden39]

Sherry, we need to work to get there at the same time one of my trips.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

Sherry

Have a wonderful time, and enjoy.

Will be thinking of you and looking forward to reading all about it on your return.

Enjoy catching up with friends and a little alone time.

Mia

 

[Sherry E]

Okayyyyyyyyyy, everyone!


I am now in what I call "Warp Speed Mode" for my annual DLR holiday trip, which is only TWO DAYS AWAY!

It's been extremely stressful trying to pull this off - so much so that I am too exhausted to even explain it all. And I don't have the time to explain it all. But I will be arriving at the PPH in about 44 hours, ready to see what kind of room I get...and I have lots of errands and tons of packing to do before that time.


At some point on Sunday, I will be meeting up with Shawn, Jackie and Bob (the usual DLR companions), but I'm not sure when. I'll also (hopefully) meet Courtney somewhere.

Then, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I already told you guys what will be happening - lots of madness with my out of state friends (who are arriving in SoCal today!).

Laurie & Molly arrive on Tuesday. Liza/funatdisney joins us for breakfast on Thursday, 12/8. My out of state friends are staying at the PPH too, so there will probably be lots of 'running into each other in the elevator' hijinks going on.

As much as I would love to stay longer at the PPH for some solo time, I think I will be ready to come home by Thursday just to decompress from all the activity and sensory overload. I think I will be grumpy, exhausted and in pain!

I am going to have to choose meals carefully, as I had to cut into some of my food money for the shuttle fare (which is how I am getting to Anaheim in 2 days) and that will limit some of my restaurant choices.

BUT...you can be sure of one thing. There is always room for a Peppermint Cone of Death. And I think it's time for a rematch. It's time I kick that cone in its pink booty and declare victory, don't you think? I will not let a candy-coated, chocolate-covered confection get the best of me!

I won't be able to check in here again until after I get back, so wish me luck and pray that I don't have any calamitous, disastrous run-ins with inanimate objects again!! If so, I will wave my lethal scarf at them and send them to the cornfield (that's an old "Twilight Zone" reference, for those of you too young to know that series).

 

[kaoden39]

Sherry, I hope you have a wonderful time!! I can hardly wait to hear all about it!!

 

[Sherry E]

Sherry, I hope you have a wonderful time!! I can hardly wait to hear all about it!!

Thanks, Michele!

The out of state friends have arrived in SoCal! They are already buzzing around L.A. with other friends. Seeing them on Monday should be fun, though I still wish we were not doing Goofy's for dinner and instead were doing it for breakfast. Hopefully a Goofy's breakfast will be on the itinerary for Thursday morning, with the DIS girls.

I'm actually really looking forward to seeing Jackie and Bob on Sunday, because - if anyone remembers - they were unable to meet me last year at DLR in December due to Bob's Australian cousins being in town. When our little group is together - Jackie, Bob and Shawn (and Shawn's sister Bridgette, if she is ever able to be there) - we do a lot of laughing. Laughing about silly, often R-rated, random, wacky, nonsensical stuff...not to mention we are all Toy Story Midway Mania freaks. We have a good in-park chemistry together - and that is a good thing. You know how some groups of people just have bad chemistry and do not mesh in a place like Disneyland at all? That's not us. We all enjoy each other's company and so it never feels like we are just lolling around, trying to figure out where to go next.

However, throwing anyone different into the mix might be interesting. So we shall see what happens if Jackie, Bob and Shawn are all there on Monday night with the out-of-state-friends.

​

By the way - for anyone who happens to be visiting L.A. during this delightful holiday season, I highly recommend a trip to The Grove/Farmers Market. I didn't have my camera with me to snap any photos, but I had to run over to The Grove tonight and I had forgotten how gorgeous it is during Christmas time! It is really pretty - and it snows at certain times each night too!

I'd say that if you are a fan of Christmas music and lights and the overall atmosphere, bop on over to The Grove at night!

OH! How could I forget? My McDonald's was giving out totally FREE cups of PEPPERMINT MOCHAS today!! Yee haw! I got me one too, as soon as I saw the "free sample" sign! It's free...and it's peppermint...so why not?