Nothing to See Here...

[Sherry E]

Happy Valentine's Day!

I posted these photos in the Christmas thread already (and probably in this TR, too, scattered around in earlier pages). But, here is my homage to Valentine's Day, by way of the Christmas season at Disneyland!! I just like how some of the decor and colors for Christmas fit so seamlessly with Valentine's Day:

Minnie’s weather vane is heart-shaped, though you can’t see it in this shot! Somewhere I have a better photo of it, but I couldn't find it. LOL!

And I started a new Quest (which I decsribed in the Christmas Superthread) - Heart Quest!! That should be fun!!

 

[funatdisney]

Great pictures, Sherry. You are right about a lot of pictures from the Christmas decor will fit very nicely with Valentine's Day. I never noticed that before. And...

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Looked at the Christmas thread and all of the heart shapes and colors are very nice. Looks like I will be doing this quest during my trip next week. Man, this will be awhile to look for heart shapes and valentine day colors around the resort. This could be harder than the sign quest. Very nice job Sherry.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

Happy Valentine's Day!

I posted these photos in the Christmas thread already (and probably in this TR, too, scattered around in earlier pages). But, here is my homage to Valentine's Day, by way of the Christmas season at Disneyland!! I just like how some of the decor and colors for Christmas fit so seamlessly with Valentine's Day:

Minnie’s weather vane is heart-shaped, though you can’t see it in this shot! Somewhere I have a better photo of it, but I couldn't find it. LOL!

And I started a new Quest (which I decsribed in the Christmas Superthread) - Heart Quest!! That should be fun!!

Happy Valentine's Day! You helped me think of a new quest....Just pick a color and shoot everything you see in DLR with that color scheme..this could take up several trips LOL What fun just looking for a specific color to catch your eye might lead you to things you never saw before.

 

[tdashgirl]

Very pretty Sherry! Happy heart day!

 

[tksbaskets]

Great pictures Sherry. Thank you for sharing.

TK

 

[kaoden39]

So pretty Sherry!!

Happy Valentines Day!!

 

[Sherry E]

Great pictures, Sherry. You are right about a lot of pictures from the Christmas decor will fit very nicely with Valentine's Day. I never noticed that before. And...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Liza - Yes, some of the DLR Christmas designs and color combos seem to transition very well into a Valentine's Day theme, don't they? Especially the red, pink and white flower bed shot. Some Christmas stuff looks obviously Christmas-y in color, but some stuff could easily work for either Christmas or Valentine's Day, if DLR just wanted to save themselves some effort and money and just recycle certain window displays!

Looked at the Christmas thread and all of the heart shapes and colors are very nice. Looks like I will be doing this quest during my trip next week. Man, this will be awhile to look for heart shapes and valentine day colors around the resort. This could be harder than the sign quest. Very nice job Sherry.

Bret - did you see that I replied to you (on the last page, I think?) and was trying to guess the letters for the letter name game you did with my name? That was a very clever idea you had to do that. And an excellent job on Sign Quest!!

I think Heart Quest is a quest that can be tackled year-round at DLR. In fact, Heart Quest may even get more interesting and more challenging as other holidays kick in and we try to find heart shapes in decor or in merchandise that may fit in with another holiday (say, for example, St. Patrick's Day or Halloween, when hearts are probably scarce!!). Finding heart shapes in places like Adventureland or Frontierland will be tough - and yet, I bet that somewhere in Frontierland and Adventureland lurks something that is heart-shaped. And remember, these could be very obvious hearts or they could be shapes that look like accidental hearts.

I think Sign Quest will still be harder only because it is so daunting and there are soooooo many signs. It's not that it's hard to find the signs. We can easily see them. It's just that there are so many of them. With Heart Quest, the hearts will not be obvious at all, and there are probably not many of them in each land, so it's the searching part of it will be daunting.

The only problem with starting Heart Quest next week is that you will probably run into some leftover Valentine's Day merchandise (on sale). And that's too obvious. I almost think we should not count any merchandise or Valentine decor for Heart Quest during the whole month of February because that's just too easy.

The challenge will be to find those hearts that are in DLR (including any in DTD or in the hotels or wherever) when it's not close to Valentine's Day - all year long. But hopefully you will find some hearts next week that are not related to Valentine's Day in any way, and are there year-round!

Happy Valentine's Day! You helped me think of a new quest....Just pick a color and shoot everything you see in DLR with that color scheme..this could take up several trips LOL What fun just looking for a specific color to catch your eye might lead you to things you never saw before.

Sherri - Color Quest is an interesting idea...that would take way, way more than several trips, from what I can envision!! If you are thinking of shooting anything in, say, the color red, there are tons of things all over DLR in red - merchandise, displays, flowers, etc., etc. It would be an ongoing Quest. It would certainly keep you busy for many trips to come, I think.

But you're right about it leading to things you never noticed before - that's kind of the whole point of and beauty of all the Quests. You seek out the subjects in question and along the way you see all kinds of things you never paid attention to in DLR before.

Very pretty Sherry! Happy heart day!

Thank you, Tania!! Did you see the photos I posted of my first Snapfish calendar on the previous page? Well, I just got calendar #2 today. I have to take those photos and post them. As I suspected, the photos are not showcased as well as they were in the first one because I squeezed a lot of them on each page. But I still like it. I just hate that darn uploading process - such a pain!

Great pictures Sherry. Thank you for sharing.

TK

Thanks, TK!

So pretty Sherry!!

Happy Valentines Day!!

Thanks, Michele!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Hi, Bret! Yes, I was most definitely following along on your TR - and I got to the part where you did the letter name game for Michele. That's where I left off. I have to pick up from that point and continue on.

Actually, I've been reading along with your TR, as well as the latest installments of Jazz's TR (what a great idea she had to photograph all the windows and then include the names and info for each person for us!), deejdigsdis' latest TR, Sherri's TR, Michele's TR, Marie's TR, Molly's TR (waaaaaaaaay over on the WDW side of town!) and a couple of others here. I found that I was able to keep up with reading better if I didn't stop to reply to every thing I thoguht to reply to. If I reply to everything, then I get way behind on the reading. But I do have to pop in and at least say something from time to time!!

So, let me just say - you have done a fabulous job on the Sign Quest! The pictures you've taken are wonderful! And I think you are drawing attention to a lot of things that many people overlook. As I told you, that quest was something I had wanted to do for ages (along with many other quests I have considered, like bathroom signs and weather vanes and such), but there has just not been enough time to tackle it yet in my short trips. I probably would have done Sign Quest in stages to avod boredom or exhaustion - like do all the restaurant signs in one trip, then the shop/store signs in another trip, then the attraction/ride signs in another trip, etc. But you are a real trooper tackling as many as you did!

Let's see, as for the letter name game for my name...for some reason, I am abolutely terrible at guessing these whenever I see someone post a game like this. You would assume, as detailed as I am, that I would notice all of these signs more closely. I think I simply do not go to the parks often enough! And when I do, I am not paying close enough attention to the signs!

So, I think I will fail miserably at guessing most of these:





S - This sign is right next to Rancho del Zocalo - ??
H - The store right inside SB Castle (Hmmm - this can't be the Heraldry Shoppe, can it? The 'H' looks different.)
E - The old ride in Toontown which is just for display (ToonTown Trolley)
R - The banner outside the gates (World of Color?)
R - Mexican Restaurant at DL (Rancho Del Zocalo)
Y - This is an easy sign to guess (Toy Story Midway Mania!! My favorite!!)
E - Ride Entrance sign by Princess Fantasy Faire - (Why am I blanking out on this?)


Anyway, great job, Bret - on the Sign Quest and on the letter name games for everyone!!

I forgot to read this part. Like you said when people go to DL, they are there for the rides and the shows. This Sign Quest was exhausting but fun to do during my short visit. Ever since I have done everything at DL until they have ST2, TLMAUA and Soundsational Parade comes out, it is always been the same thing over and over at DL. But since I have done these Quest games at DL, it made me even more excited to go to the DLR. I have said it over and over to you before, you are a great inspiration to me when I do these trips at DL and I just keep going back there for these things.

As for your name here are the answers.
S is from the Mens restroom sign by the

H is correct
E is correct
R is correct
R is correct
Y is correct
E is the sign entrance at Mickey's Toontown Station

Bret - did you see that I replied to you (on the last page, I think?) and was trying to guess the letters for the letter name game you did with my name? That was a very clever idea you had to do that. And an excellent job on Sign Quest!!

I think Heart Quest is a quest that can be tackled year-round at DLR. In fact, Heart Quest may even get more interesting and more challenging as other holidays kick in and we try to find heart shapes in decor or in merchandise that may fit in with another holiday (say, for example, St. Patrick's Day or Halloween, when hearts are probably scarce!!). Finding heart shapes in places like Adventureland or Frontierland will be tough - and yet, I bet that somewhere in Frontierland and Adventureland lurks something that is heart-shaped. And remember, these could be very obvious hearts or they could be shapes that look like accidental hearts.

I think Sign Quest will still be harder only because it is so daunting and there are soooooo many signs. It's not that it's hard to find the signs. We can easily see them. It's just that there are so many of them. With Heart Quest, the hearts will not be obvious at all, and there are probably not many of them in each land, so it's the searching part of it will be daunting.

The only problem with starting Heart Quest next week is that you will probably run into some leftover Valentine's Day merchandise (on sale). And that's too obvious. I almost think we should not count any merchandise or Valentine decor for Heart Quest during the whole month of February because that's just too easy.

The challenge will be to find those hearts that are in DLR (including any in DTD or in the hotels or wherever) when it's not close to Valentine's Day - all year long. But hopefully you will find some hearts next week that are not related to Valentine's Day in any way, and are there year-round!

I agree with you that when I do the Heart Quest this coming weekend, I won't count the Valentine decor or merchandise from this week. That was the easy part, the difficult part was to find all these hidden hearts around the resort that is all year long.

I will take your challenge and find any heart shape and color around the resort. I won't count the valentine day decors or merchandise out there.

Finding different signs around the resort is easy, but it is way hard to find all of them. Even if you are there for a lot of days, you can't find everything.

 

[Sherry E]

Hmmm. Very, very interesting, indeed. I think changes are a-comin' at the DLR hotels. But when will it be? This year? Next year? Just in time for the revamped DCA to draw in more crowds?

I just received an e-mail survey from some facet of Disney Parks, and this one was much different than their usual 'how was your stay at the Paradise Pier Hotel' survey? Although they did acknowledge that I had recently stayed at PPH, this survey was more about getting opinions on some upcoming "changes" to the reservations policy/system that DLR is considering. I wonder how many other DIS-ers who stayed onsite in the last couple ofmonths have received this survey.

The changes that are being considered for DLR hotel bookings all seemed to boil down to: pay less money to stay onsite and get almost no flexibility or perks (reminiscent of HoJo's recent policy changes for their Retro/Entertainment Rate bookings, except even more extensive than HoJo's) OR pay more money to stay onsite and get more flexibility, get all the perks you are accustomed to, and get some new, extra perks that will be introduced.

Let's just say, if they implement some of these changes - whether adding in the new perks for more money or taking away the existing ones for lower-rate/discounted rooms - I'm sure it will spark much conversation and controversy here on the board. Some of the new changes DLR is considering are things I could totally get behind, but I'm not sure I would be willing to pay $150 - $200 extra for them. But staying onsite for a cheap discount rate (like a PIN code) may require paying the full amount up front, at booking, and getting no refund if I need to cancel, so I'm not gung ho on that. Hmmm....

I had a feeling things were going to start changing drastically when DCA is all made over, so I guess that will happen!

 

[mvf-m11c]

I also got an email survey talking about my experience at the GCH last October. I answered the questions on the survey and I liked the part of where they offer other benefits for staying on-site. Unless DLR is charging less for staying on-property, I can't pay for those high prices. I would just stay off-site so I can go to DL plenty of times than just one or two times a year.

 

[Sherry E]

I also got an email survey talking about my experience at the GCH last October. I answered the questions on the survey and I liked the part of where they offer other benefits for staying on-site. Unless DLR is charging less for staying on-property, I can't pay for those high prices. I would just stay off-site so I can go to DL plenty of times than just one or two times a year.

Bret, in the survey you did, did they have several pages with 2 different options each, such as, just as an example, things like:

Option A ($750 for 3 nights, MM access, free character meal, early check-in at 8 a.m., free counter service breakfast, no fee for cancellation, full refund)

Option B ($526 for 3 nights, no MM access at all, total amount due up front, no refund at all, 3 p.m. check-in, etc.)

Of course, they would have been basing their options for you on the fact that you stayed at the GCH, so the prices would have been higher than what they showed me for staying at the PPH, but that was the general layout of it. Is that what you got?

In any case, since people are already hesitant about staying onsite due to the money it costs right now (and that includes MMs), I don't know how it's going to fly with guests if DLR starts removing the MM and suddenly making people have to pay the full amount up front, with no refunds and things like that. If people have all of their flexibility stripped - as well as have the MM's removed for the discounted rooms - then that will force more people to stay off-property, I think.

As I said earlier, even though I like some of the extra perks they may add for the higher-paying guests/non-discounted rooms, and I want the flexibility of being able to get a refund if I have to cancel a plan, I don't know if it would be worth it to me to pay $150 - $250 more to get those things. And I don't know if I would be willing to settle for less flexibility to have a cheap room.

Even if I get a great deal on a room and can live without the MM, I don't always have the full hotel amount handy up front, when I book. I like being able to reserve a room with one-night's deposit. I don't always have $500, $600, or $700 (or more if we are talking about the GCH!) handy to pay up when I book.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Yes, I got the same thing when they when they showed example a and b for the different prices of the rooms and what they offer in the packages.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

A lower price is not a bad thing but why stay at an onsite hotel without perks?

 

[kaoden39]

You know I wonder if they are doing like a lot of the different hotels do and have an online pay up front no-refund off the rack price and then another more extravagant stay with MM and the other things and if you price out the things you are getting aren't you paying nearly the same price? I know that at Marriot's and Hilton Hotels they offer deals where you have the off the rack no-refund price and then they have "special deals" like a romantic package with a champagne breakfast for x more.

 

[funatdisney]

Bret, in the survey you did, did they have several pages with 2 different options each, such as, just as an example, things like:

Option A ($750 for 3 nights, MM access, free character meal, early check-in at 8 a.m., free counter service breakfast, no fee for cancellation, full refund)

Option B ($526 for 3 nights, no MM access at all, total amount due up front, no refund at all, 3 p.m. check-in, etc.)

Of course, they would have been basing their options for you on the fact that you stayed at the GCH, so the prices would have been higher than what they showed me for staying at the PPH, but that was the general layout of it. Is that what you got?

In any case, since people are already hesitant about staying onsite due to the money it costs right now (and that includes MMs), I don't know how it's going to fly with guests if DLR starts removing the MM and suddenly making people have to pay the full amount up front, with no refunds and things like that. If people have all of their flexibility stripped - as well as have the MM's removed for the discounted rooms - then that will force more people to stay off-property, I think.

As I said earlier, even though I like some of the extra perks they may add for the higher-paying guests/non-discounted rooms, and I want the flexibility of being able to get a refund if I have to cancel a plan, I don't know if it would be worth it to me to pay $150 - $250 more to get those things. And I don't know if I would be willing to settle for less flexibility to have a cheap room.

Even if I get a great deal on a room and can live without the MM, I don't always have the full hotel amount handy up front, when I book. I like being able to reserve a room with one-night's deposit. I don't always have $500, $600, or $700 (or more if we are talking about the GCH!) handy to pay up when I book.

Interesting. So now I wonder how will that effect us DVC members. Will we be out of the loop altogether, and never have a chance for some of the perks or pay a "perk" fee to have access? What changes are implemented at the DLR Hotels and how that effects VGC DVC members will also cause a lot of discussions and controversy on the DVC forum. What happens to one DVC resort could effect all the DVC resorts.

BTW, still uploading those Gallery CD pics. I am finding my urge to crop some of the pictures is very time consuming, but there are a lot of good cropping opportunities in some of the pictures. I just can't stop myself. I just never know if I will need them or not.

 

[deejdigsdis]

Love the calendar Sherry! I especially love your Main-Street-Clock-At-Dusk photo. I really need to make sure I take the time to make one of those calendars. I'm anxious to see Calendar #2 as well.

I also enjoyed your "Valentine" pictures. So pretty! And I remember that red-white-pink flower bed from your Christmas TR and thinking it seemed a lot more Valentine-y than Christmas-y. Thanks for sharing those. (I was going to insert a smiley here but they aren't working for me right now. Hmmm.)

 

[Sherry E]

Okay...it only took 100 years to get these silly Snapfish calendar photos loaded and cropped. I started trying to do it last night and Photobucket locked up. So I had to continue on today with it. Just the other day I did something in Photobucket and it didn't take as long as normal. But now it's back to being slow again.

Anyway, I already showed you all the photos of my free Snapfish Disney Parks calendar #1, which I made from my holiday photos taken at DLR in December (on the last page or the page before that - can't recall). And I explained how I ended up with a second free calendar. So this is calendar #2 - I still think I like #1 better because the photos are showcased better, but #2 is okay. Which one do you guys prefer?:

Cover:

March 2011:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

January 2012:

February 2012:

Thumbnail page:

Back Cover:

So all in all, I paid $13.14 shipping and tax for 2 large, good quality calendars - that just happened to be Disney Parks calendars. I think it's a really good bargain - and the free offer is only good for 10 more days. So if you are going to get a calendar, don't wait!!

 

[kaoden39]

That's great Sherry. I love them. I may do mine when I get home from my trip.

 

[Sherry E]

That's great Sherry. I love them. I may do mine when I get home from my trip.

Do you like the first calendar better (with fewer photos per page) or the 'more bang for your buck' calendar #2, with more photos crammed onto each page? There are benefits to both!

You most definitely should make a calendar (while the free offer is still good) from your photos of this upcoming trip! I hope you're able to get some good ones. The rain is supposed to be super heavy tonight and into tomorrow afternoon, and then taper off a tad. That will certainly mean light crowds on this holiday weekend, I think. I hope it's nice and uncrowded when you get to DLR! And I hope you're feeling all better by the time you head to Anaheim!

Didn't you say you started trying to fiddle with Snapfish and then gave up? Hopefully, it will work for you when you return. I think it's a really good deal.



Seeing all this gloom outside has made me crave cocoa...which, for some reason, then makes me crave a gingerbread cookie with mouse ears from DLR. And there are none of those to be had around here, so I guess an apple willl have to do.