Our 3rd Annual Holiday Trip to DL in November - November 22nd - 25th, 2013 Post #3416

[mvf-m11c]

Nice ornament. Was blue the only colour it came in?

It is a nice ornament with the World of Color Winter Dreams logo. When we got our ornaments, they were all blue. So I would guess that they are all the same color.

Great pictures! I hope you had a wonderful trip.

Thank you TK. We had a great trip and it won't be too long until I write up the trip report.

I like the ornament too. Thanks for posting a picture. We are going on the last day, 12/06/13, so I just hope they have some left by then. I would have preferred red to match my tree, but I get why it is blue.

Your welcome Kim. I hope they do have the ornaments during your trip.


The first update will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – November 22nd, 2013 – Part 1​

It’s time for the first day of the 3rd Annual Holiday trip to Disneyland in November. My DA and I have been going to the DLR a lot and this is one of our favorite times to visit the DLR. This year is a little different from my past Holiday trips to the DLR. This year, my DA colleague from work along with her daughter and granddaughter are joining along with us for our trip. Mostly my DA and I have gone to the DLR on the first official weekend of the Holiday season. But this year we are going on the 2nd weekend of the Holiday season so we can be with them. We were excited to go with someone else during our Holiday trip but it was during one of the worse times to go in which it was during the Thanksgiving break. This will be a very interesting trip for my DA and me of seeing it a different way with another family and a young child. I had a fun trip back in early January with my other aunt, her best friend and her DD2 now DD3 where it was neat to experience DL with a child and more other people.

We will be driving separately down to SoCal. We plan on leaving around the same time in the morning so we can get to the parks in the afternoon. They will be staying at the Grand California Hotel while we are staying at Best Western Anaheim Inn. Originally we were all suppose to stay at the BWAI together but they wanted to stay at the GCH and it worked out really well for all of us.

There was a lot of planning for this trip with the crowds and what rides and shows we want to see. For me is all about the Holiday decorations around the DLR from the rides, shows, and buildings. I have been looking forward to the new World of Color Winter Dreams show. That is one of the many things that I was looking forward too during the trip. There was also a surprise during the trip in which we have never done before for all the times we have been to the DLR and have never done this specific thing. My DA and I have been so excited for a while and it was about to happen.

Before we head to SoCal for our trip, my family and my aunts gave me an early birthday and Christmas present. They knew that I have been doing a lot of picture taking from the Disney trips, to family events, wedding, etc. They bought me a Nikon D7100 body. I was so surprised that they bought me a Nikon D7100 body. I was so happy that they got me the D7100 as a birthday and Christmas gift. I told them that I will take care of it so much and take a lot of pictures during this trip and using it for other events. So I got a new body (Nikon D7100) along with a new lens (Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8) to use during the trip. This was going to be a fun trip to use both the new lens and body for the trip.

Now let’s get to the trip report.

It was around 6am in the morning where I went over to my DA house and picked her up. Mostly we leave around 7am to SoCal from our past trips. But since we had to make a quick stop in SoCal, we started our trip one hour early.

When we packed all of our stuff in the car, we stared our journey down to SoCal. During the drive, we go down on Highway 99 since my grandmother lives in Livingston and it is always great to see her when we go down to SoCal.

It took about 6 hours to get to Southern California and the first thing we did when we got to SoCal was to fill up at Costco in Burbank. Than our next stop was at a DISer house to drop something off. Mostly my DA and I fill up at Costco in Burbank and go straight to the DLR. But we head on over to Alison (franandaj) house to drop off some Dungeness crab for her. I went out with my dad to Bodega Bay in which is close to San Francisco to catch Dungeness Crabs. Since it is during this season, the crab are all fresh and were caught on Thursday before the trip.

During my last trip in September, I got to hang out with Alison and PiO (PrincessInOz) at the DLR and had a great time with them. I have known Alison since we met at the D23 Expo in 2011 and I met her again at the 2013 D23 Expo.

After we drop off the crab at her house, my DA and I head straight to Anaheim which is about 30 minutes away from Alison’s house.

My DA and I got to Anaheim around 2pm which is quite fast after we left Alison’s house. I forgot to tell my DA that BWAI was remodeling the lobby of the hotel. The lobby at the BWAI was in one of the rooms. Part of the first building at BWAI was in construction. It reminded me of Best Western Park Place Inn which had a refurbishment awhile ago. Now it was BWAI turn for a refurbishment.

When we try to check-in, our room wasn’t ready. So my DA and I went on over to the DLR to do some things before we checked into or room. Our other party members should be in Anaheim around the same time. But we will join up with them when they are in the parks that day.

When we got to the Esplanade, it was wet that afternoon. It didn’t rain at the time when we got to the DLR but we knew that it can rain still that day where it did once in a while sprinkled.

The park didn’t look that busy at the Esplanade

My DA had to go to the ticket booths to get the annual pass. This was the second time she got the AP at DLR. Her last one was back in 2011 and she didn’t renew it in 2012 since she didn’t go as many times that year. This time she got it since we plan on coming back to the DLR in November 2014 in which she will get a few more days out of her AP for next year. She got the Deluxe Annual Pass.

After she got her AP, we had a while until our room was ready. So while we were at the DLR, we decided to stop in one of the parks until we head on back to check-in to our room at the BWAI.

We went on over to Disney California Adventure first. It is so neat to see Buena Vista Street with the Holiday decorations after last year where it was the first year. This year is the 2nd year for the Holiday decorations at BVS. When we went through the turnstiles, the first thing I remembered when we entered the park that World of Color Winter Dreams was having an AP screening for the AP holders at the 9pm show. It was neat that Disney was doing a limited time Annual passholder magic event on the day when we got to the DLR. It was a good opportunity for my DA and I to see WoC Winter Dreams that night.

This is the third year with the new entrance to DCA along with the Holiday decorations.

Special Annual Passholder Viewing Event for World of Color Winter Dreams sign.

When we were walking on over to Grizzly River Run to get the FP for WoC Winter Dreams, I always like to get pictures of the Holiday decorations at BVS.

After getting some pictures at BVS, we head on over to GRR to get FP’s for WoC Winter Dreams. There were two different lines to get FP’s for WoC from the regular line for the 10:15pm show and the AP line for the 9pm show.Luckily, there were still FP’s available for the 9pm show of WoC Winter Dreams for the AP holders. When we got our FP’s, the CM’s handed out a WoC Winter Dreams/Frozen Christmas ornament. I can’t believe we were able to get the WoC/Frozen ornaments that late during the day of the trip. We got the yellow section for the 9pm show and we will decide later that day if we want to use the FP’s to see WoC.

Originally we were all suppose to watch Believe…In Holiday Magic fireworks that Friday night but when I checked the weather that it was going to be high winds and likely that Believe will be canceled due to the weather, watching WoC was a backup for us that night.

Now that we got the FP’s and the ornaments, we had still had some time to do something at DCA before we head on back to BWAI to check-in to our room. We were close to Paradise Pier and the Viva Navidad event was in the area and it was a good opportunity to see it. The Viva Navidad event was at the dining area at PP right by the Paradise Garden Grill and Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta restaurant.

It is a new event during the Holiday season and I have heard great reviews about the newest event at DCA. It was a good opportunity to see it while we are in DCA that afternoon.

Rushin’ River store is decorated during the Holiday season

Redwood Creek Challenge Trail

When we passed by the Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure, there were rents right by the walkway in Paradise Pier. The radio groups were back in DCA during this weekend. Last year when Cars Land and Buena Vista Street were new, they were located in Hollywood Land. A couple of years ago they were in DL Hub area. This year they are in Paradise Pier. I would guess they are here to promote the new World of Color Winter Dreams along with Viva Navidad.

The Holiday garlands are back on the Little Mermiad ride

When we head on over to the Viva Navidad event, there was nothing going on around that time. So we just walked around to see the decorations and stations. It looked well decorated

The Viva Navidad merchandise.

That’s it for this post and I will have more from DCA.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Fantastic!!! New body as well?? I'm so happy for you.


That's really awesome. Your family really did well with the early present. And happy birthday! I didn't realise your birthday was this time of year.

If this lot is anything to go by, I reckon we've got some beautiful pics coming along.

 

[ACDSNY]

Congrats on the new camera, I'm sure you'll get some fantastic pics with it.

 

[kmedina]

How fantastic that they got you a Nikon body for your birthday/Christmas present. That is a fantastic gift. It was nice of you to being crab to Fran and Alison. Did you stop by the new place? I know they have not moved in yet.

It is cool that you were able to get an ornament so late in the day. Our first park day will be the last day of the event, so I am not taking any chances. The long line at 9am will have me in it. What is this Viva Navidad? You have my interest peaked, so I hope you got to experience more of it.

The park looks beautiful. I am do excited. Eight more days!

 

[franandaj]

Nice pictures Bret! Do you know if there are more of those ornaments to be purchased?

Thank you so much for the crabs! They were delicious and so fresh!

No Bret did not see the new house he is one of the few who has seen our awful messy and over stuffed hoarders house. At least he can see why we need such a huge place for all our stuff!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Fantastic!!! New body as well?? I'm so happy for you.


That's really awesome. Your family really did well with the early present. And happy birthday! I didn't realise your birthday was this time of year.

If this lot is anything to go by, I reckon we've got some beautiful pics coming along.

A new Nikon D7100 Body without any lenses. I was so excited that they got me a new body. I have talked about this body for awhile on the threads and to my family and this was a great birthday and Christmas present. Thank you PiO.

My birthday is not until in mid December. So it won't be too long.

I did took a lot of pictures during the trip. I must have took over 3000+ pictures with the new camera. Some of the pictures were a little dark and blurry to be expected from using a new body. It will take some time for me to learn from switching from the D5100 to the D7100 with more controls to use. I used mostly manual mode during the whole trip in which it is quite better to use than auto mode.

Congrats on the new camera, I'm sure you'll get some fantastic pics with it.

Thank you Angela. This was the camera that I wanted for a while and glad that they got it for me as an early birthday and Christmas present.

How fantastic that they got you a Nikon body for your birthday/Christmas present. That is a fantastic gift. It was nice of you to being crab to Fran and Alison. Did you stop by the new place? I know they have not moved in yet.

It is cool that you were able to get an ornament so late in the day. Our first park day will be the last day of the event, so I am not taking any chances. The long line at 9am will have me in it. What is this Viva Navidad? You have my interest peaked, so I hope you got to experience more of it.

The park looks beautiful. I am do excited. Eight more days!

It is a fantastic birthday and Christmas present from my family. I used it quite well during the trip. I was glad that they have enjoyed the crab a lot when my DA and I dropped it off at there place. We stopped at Alison's old house to drop off the crab.

It was nice to be able to get the AP ornament when we arrived at DCA late that afternoon. I'm hoping that there will be ornaments available on the day of the AP screening of WoC Winter Dreams. The Viva Navidad is a festive to celebrate the Latino Culture and holiday tradition. It features music, dancing, characters (like Donald, Jose and Panchito), Latino food at Paradise Garden Grill and fun activities. Unfortunately, we didn't experience the whole event at PGG since that was our only time to see that event. You and your family should see that event which I have heard is really popular.

The Holiday season is so exciting to go and is great as always. I am getting excited for you and your family since your trip is coming up shortly.

Nice pictures Bret! Do you know if there are more of those ornaments to be purchased?

Thank you so much for the crabs! They were delicious and so fresh!

No Bret did not see the new house he is one of the few who has seen our awful messy and over stuffed hoarders house. At least he can see why we need such a huge place for all our stuff!

Thank you Alison. If you are talking about the WoC Winter Dreams AP ornaments, you can only get them when you go to Grizzy River Run to get the WoC FP's. It is a limited time annual passholder magic event and the last week to see the new WoC Winter Dreams show and get the Holiday ornament is on December 2nd through 6th.

Here is the website that will tell you about it https://disneyland.disney.go.com/offers-discounts/world-of-color-winter-dreams-for-passholders/

Your welcome. I am glad that you and Fran enjoyed the crab.

It was nice to see your cats at your place.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – November 22nd, 2013 – Part 2​

On the last update, my DA and I got to SoCal safely. We made a quick trip to Alison (frandanaj) house and drop off some crab for them. Then we head on over to Anaheim and we didn’t get to check-in to our room at BWAI so we went on over to the DLR to get her AP. After that, we walked in DCA to get FP’s for the new WoC Winter Dreams show so we can get the AP ornament. It was nice to get one late that day. While we were in DCA, we looked around at the new Viva Navidad area that is decorated at Paradise Pier dining area.

After looking at the Viva Navidad merchandise cart, we looked at the Paradise Garden Grill area which its whole menu is converted for the Viva Navidad event.

The menu is completely different from the Paradise Garden Grill and most of it is all Mexican cuisine. I have read on the websites about the food and it is quite interesting to try. But we have already ate when coming down to SoCal so we will have to skip it. I might try it when I go back next month with my other aunt.

We just walked around PP dining area to look at all the different activities during the Viva Navidad event. It did look interesting to stay in there longer but we had other things to do that day so we head on over to the other side of PP.

While we were still in PP, I kept on looking for any Holiday decorations for the Holiday quests from wreaths, trees, garlands, etc.

After looking around PP dining area during the Viva Navidad event, we were now on the backside of PP right close to Mickey’s Fun Wheel. At the Boardwalk Bazaar store, they had some of the Holiday merchandise.

It was a quick look at the Boardwalk Bazaar store and we walked all the way towards the Christmas tree in PP. It is so neat to see the giant Christmas tree at PP every year and it looks great as ever.

The Duffy Meet and greet area is decorated during the Holiday season like always with the giant wreath.

When we walked down to the light tower right by the Little Mermaid ride, we looked at the viewing area at PP and see that it had Christmas presents and candy canes in the area. They are part of WoC Winter Dreams show but I haven’t seen what they do yet since I want to keep me mystified what they do during the show.

At the light tower at PP, I had to get a picture of the flowers.

Pacific Wharf had its usual Christmas wreath and garlands.

It was time to head on back to BWAI to check-in to our room in which it was close to 3pm. On the way, we passed by Cars Land and we will be back there later during the trip.

Now we were back at the Buena Vista Street ready to leave the park but we had to get a look at the giant Christmas tree.

Before we head on out of DCA, I wanted to go in the Walter Elias & Company store to look for the 2014 Attraction Poster Calendar that just came out this month. I was really looking forward to getting one of the calendars and I also had to get some calendars for another person. So my DA and I head on in the store and looked around at the Christmas merchandise.

We were in the Los Feliz Five & Dime side of the store.

At first, we didn’t find the 2014 Attraction Poster calendars until we asked one of the CM’s if they have the calendars. The one CM that we talked too was puzzled what we were talking about until one of the other CM’s told her that the stores does have that calendar. It was right close to the queue to the check-out table. I was so happy to get the calendars and we were able to buy 3 calendars.

After we paid for them, we head on out of the store and we head on out of DCA. Now we had on back to BWAI to check-in to our room which was around 3:30pm since we spent some time in the stores to look for the calendars. I was glad that we were able to get the calendars and that was one of my agendas during the trip.

We got to check-in to our hotel room which was the first building and on the bottom floor in which we wanted during our stay. So when we brought all of our stuff in the room, my DA wanted to rest a little and I decided to go back to the DLR to get pictures of the Holiday decorations.

That will be it for this post and I will have more from the trip.

 

[ACDSNY]

Nice update and I'm happy you found your calendars. The crowds don't seem too terrible in these pics.

 

[tigger@play]

Nice information. Thanks for sharing!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Beautiful decorations and merchandise! YAY for the Calendars.

And that menu is certainly interesting. Looking forward to when you can try it out.

 

[kmedina]

Beautiful pictures. I was planning on eating at the Garden Grill this trip. After reading about it on your last trip with PiO and Alison, it was in my lists of musts. We do like Mexican food, so maybe the menu change will be nice anyway. I will just have to eat there again someday when the menu changes back.

The decorations are beautiful. I love the white wall tires used as wreaths in Carsland. Your pictures are stunning as usual. Great flower shots. So many cool things to buy. I love the green and red Minnie Ears.

 

[tksbaskets]

Hi Bret,
Looks like a very nice afternoon at DCA. I like all the decorations at the Paradise Grill and on the Warf. I'm also glad you were able to find the calendars you wanted and take them back to your room.

We are all getting APs when we go next month. We are very excited

 

[mvf-m11c]

Nice update and I'm happy you found your calendars. The crowds don't seem too terrible in these pics.

Thank you Angela. I was happy that we were able to find them at the Los Feliz Five & Dime store. We had trouble at the beginning looking for the calendars and when we asked the first CM about it and she was puzzled about the attraction poster calendar. Luckily one of the other CM told her colleague that they do have the calendars. The crowds were not that bad that Friday. While it rained that afternoon before we got there, most of the people weren't there in the park so it was good for us.

Nice information. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for following my trip report and glad you are enjoying it.

Beautiful decorations and merchandise! YAY for the Calendars.

And that menu is certainly interesting. Looking forward to when you can try it out.

The decorations and merchandise is so amazing every year. It was nice to be able to get the calendars after scrambling to find them in the store.

The menu at Paradise Garden Grill during Viva Navidad looks very interesting and I might be able to try it when I go in December.

Beautiful pictures. I was planning on eating at the Garden Grill this trip. After reading about it on your last trip with PiO and Alison, it was in my lists of musts. We do like Mexican food, so maybe the menu change will be nice anyway. I will just have to eat there again someday when the menu changes back.

The decorations are beautiful. I love the white wall tires used as wreaths in Carsland. Your pictures are stunning as usual. Great flower shots. So many cool things to buy. I love the green and red Minnie Ears.

Thank you Kim. After eating at Paradise Garden Grill, I wanted to eat there again for November trip. But when it was changed during the Viva Navidad menu, we didn't have time to stop at PGG to try the new menu. I think you should try that menu during our upcoming trip at PGG.

It is so nice to see Cars Land during the Holiday season. We only got a glimpse of CL that afternoon and we were able to go in later during the trip. The pictures are getting better and better. With the new body and lens it made a big difference in the pictures. The flower was a very interesting shot at the light tower. There are so many things to buy during the Christmas season.

Hi Bret,
Looks like a very nice afternoon at DCA. I like all the decorations at the Paradise Grill and on the Warf. I'm also glad you were able to find the calendars you wanted and take them back to your room.

We are all getting APs when we go next month. We are very excited

Hi TK,

It was a nice afternoon in which our room wasn't ready and we were able to go around DCA to look at the decorations until we head on back to BWAI. The Viva Navidad event was very interesting to see and wish that we spent more time. Maybe this upcoming trip we will be able to experience Viva Navidad more then the last trip. Luckily we were able to find the calendars just when we were about to leave DCA that afternoon.

That is great news that you will be getting AP's for your upcoming trip and I'm excited for you.


Here is a picture of the 2014 Attraction Poster calendar that I was talking about.

 

[tksbaskets]

The calendar looks great! I think we'll be getting one with our D23 membership or I'd be tempted. Your friends will love it!

TK

 

[mvf-m11c]

The calendar looks great! I think we'll be getting one with our D23 membership or I'd be tempted. Your friends will love it!

TK

The calendar is great and glad that I got one for myself along with my friend PiO. You will love it too.


The next update will be up shortly.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – November 22nd, 2013 – Part 3​

On the last update, my DA and I were able to go see the new Viva Navidad event at the Paradise Garden Grill area. It was very neat to see the new event at DCA and it has been a big hit from what I have heard. It would have been nice to stay for that event but we had other things to do that day. Then we walked around the rest of DCA to see all the Holiday decorations from the Christmas tree at Paradise Pier, part of Cars Land when we were walking on out of the park along with the quick shopping at the Elias & Company store. We were able to find the 2014 Attraction Poster Calendars at the store. Now that we check-in to our room, my DA decided to stay and rest up until it was time to head back to the park while I decided to go back and get some quick pictures at Disneyland. Back to the trip report.

I decided to head to the Disneyland Resort to get some pictures of the Holiday decorations at Disneyland. My DA was tired from the quick trip to DCA that afternoon so she stayed behind. It was a good opportunity to get some pictures of the Holiday decorations at DL where we won’t spend some time in specific lands.

When I got to the Esplanade, I head straight on over to DL to find any Holiday decorations. The first thing when you enter DL is the turnstiles and it has the snow flake on top of the turnstiles.

Seeing the Main Street Station is so exciting

The Christmas wreath on the light poles

Just when I was going in the tunnel underneath the Main Street Railroad station and seeing the attraction posters, the new Jingle Cruise poster was up during the Holiday season.

It is so nice seeing Main Street all decorated during the Holiday season in which most of the buildings are all decorated with garlands, wreaths, Christmas trees etc.

The MS Town Square tree looks amazing like every other year during the Holiday season.

The park was not that busy that time when I was in the park but it was starting to sprinkle once in a while during my solo time at the park. Luckily, I brought my rain cover for my new Nikon body so it won’t get wet. It was nice to have it with me so my DSLR won’t get wet. I tried that rain cover during the last trip in November with PiO and her family when we rode Grizzly River Run (which I don’t like to ride) but the rain cover worked well and I was able to get some pictures during the ride.

When I was walking down MS, I stopped to see the newest window on Main Street which was Tony Baxter. It was neat to see him inducted as a Disney Legend during the D23 Expo and it was even better when my DA and I went to the Undiscovered Disneyland seminar where Tony Baxter was one of the people commenting. Tom Staggs told everyone at the seminar that Tony was getting a window at Main Street which was a great honor for him.

Over at Main Street Hub area, Sleeping Beauty Castle with the Holiday decorations look amazing. I will always choose SB Castle over Cinderella Castle at the MK with the best decorations during the Holiday season.

I walked down towards the Fantasy Faire to see the new decorations. There were a few garlands on the buildings which is nice to see something new for the Holiday season.

Royal Theatre

I went through the Fantasyland Faire all the way towards Froniterland to see its usual Holiday decorations.

After staying in Frontierland for a short time, I wanted to head on over towards the backside of Frontierland to Big Thunder Ranch. At the backside of Big Thunder Ranch was the 2nd year of Jingle Jangle Jamboree. It is at the Festival Arena which the Halloween Carnival during the Halloween season just happened a while ago. Now it is JJJ during the Holiday season which it offers games to play, meet and greet with Disney characters. Billy Hill and the Holiday Hillbillies are playing on the stage at JJJ. There were also a special stand that sells Holiday treats and drinks.

The sign was on the fence of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad during the construction. I was hoping that BTMRR would be up and running during this time during the trip. But after reading a few months before the trip that it was being pushed all the way till 2014, I was a little sad that I had to wait a little longer. Hopefully it will be great when it reopens next year after its 1+ year refurbishment.

I approached the entrance of Big Thunder Ranch the Reindeer Feed & Tack Co. sleigh was out again during the Holiday season.

It is nice to go to Big Thunder Ranch during the Halloween or Christmas season.

I thought about going inside the shack to see the decorations and Santa but there were a lot of people waiting to go inside the shack to see Santa.

After looking around Big Thunder Ranch, I head on over towards Jingle Jangle Jamboree at the Festival Arena. The operations hours for JJJ starts at 9:30am to 6pm which is at night. There were a few Billy Hill and the Holiday Hillbillies shows as well as a performing arts that happened during the morning.

I walked in the Festival Arena to look at all the different activities to see what is new and all the decorations. But that will be on anther post. So stay tune for the next update at JJJ.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Beautiful decorations at JJJ and I love your pictures. I hope you're happy with that new lens and camera.

The snowflake on top of DL turnstiles....it looks smaller than the pumpkin characters. Is that the way it is?

 

[kmedina]

The decorations are lovely. I like the snowflake. It is awesome that Tony Baxter got his name in a window. Those tiny details are so much fun to spot. When the boys get older, I want to make a point of explaining the importance of having your name in the window.

I really want to make it to JJJ. We never even walked by there in October, and I really wanted to see Conjure a Villain among other things. I think we need another trip next October just before our passes expire.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[rentayenta]

Great updates Bret. Glad the rain didn't keep you away.

I really like that calendar. It seems like they are difficult to find? I'd love to pick one up. I like to place a calendar on the hidden side of the fridge and the attractions one would be so much more fun than our usual shift calendar for DH's job. Where do you think would be the best place for me to find it?

The photos are stunning. Thank you for sharing them.