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

[tksbaskets]

Love the pumpkins!!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Thx Michele. The carving of the mice from Cinderella was amazing.

Love the pictures Bret!!

Thx Kaitlin

Love the pumpkins!!

Thx TK


Now its time for the next part of the TR.

Day 1 – September 24, 2011 – Part 9​

Now continuing of the pics of the carved Halloween pumpkins at Big Thunder Ranch. Some of them were very nice and great.

Tiana

Alien

Mike Wazowski

Now I head in the Scare-Dy-Crow Shack with a lot of different Halloween decorations.

I head on out of the shack and now taking some more pics around the area of Halloween decorations.

That's it for now and I will get back to you later.

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

amazing as they are wonderful! gosh! ~ darn! , you sure do have the

, the Big "M" spirit!

you are so right....we loved to go during halloween & it is on our

"disney wish" list.

we have been to wdw 3x ~~on the dcl twice , & disneyland
once this past year. our next venture is for aulani. of course, anytime
we're within a thusand miles of d.~land, we're going to stop by.

i realized reading, we were @ our second stop @ castaway island when
you was taking those pictures. i think one these days, we're going
to cross paths.

. i went snorkling & had some problems with leg cramps.
[ cc snorkling is great but far, far away from the beach. worst
when i try to rest, it poured the rain. as you an tell, i made it back.
well i know how to float real good! pluto 's paddling,

here some of the highlights of latest/most recent expedition to capture
the magic.

we won 2 more ducky 's drawings- peter pan & alice. my daughter
claimed the alice before i got off stage. the prep & landing-
cartoon must have been a bust. however, the benefit was giving
"us" a ton of the ginger~boy cookies. ( which i love to devour!) .
they also gave us stuff "orange birds" & the pins of the prep/
landing- which were pretty neat.

guest services gave me special/extra character pictures for our
the families we adopted locally. me & pluto had a great meet/greet
@ cc. i forgotten about it til he left some special gifts the last night.
my wife claimed the goodies-. well she is a wench of sorts,
...but sooooo

here's a hidden tip. shop in the stores 1-2 hrs prior to closing the last
night. why? they marked some items on sale! i got many dream 's
inaugural pins on sale. ( they went fast! ]. they're pretty too!

the only d23 item this time was the special 40th edition magazine.

my son was chosen as the "rebel spy". he got a big thrill out of that!

we went to planet hollywood. our waitress was super so we shared
some of cruise stories with her. well she told us that joey & family
was there the week before. isn't that odd or funny? it also show
why it is best to be kind to others....so one does not miss out on
special moments.

on the bus over, the driver played a recording. it was letting us all
know to be on our best behavior because a real disney princess
was on board. psst, i told him if she needed a seat , she could
sit on my lap, . everyone was trying to figured who he was
referring toooo, it was my daughter. . he bowed to her
when we got out. then over @ the disney studious, a cast member
going to work @ sci fi , called out..."look everyone! we have the
real ariel here today!" you know the mermaid ride & where her
hair in extra~large bun? that's the way she was wearing that
day...because of the heat. it was funny because she was crossing
the street in a hurry, & i thought we were through these
comparisons. she's 14, & 5'-7" already. there be no living with
her now.

any place with an air conditioner was on our "to do" list. strange,
no one ever mistaken me for one of the prince,


thank you again for sharing. way back when i lost my camera, i was
hoping someone was taking similar type of pictures. no matter any
debbie downers, your pics & stories has fun , fun,& the magic stamped
all over them. i am hoping to repay your kindness with a disney~
type of thank you some day. after all that what's we are.
a bunch of disney fans out to have some fun?!

 

[mvf-m11c]

amazing as they are wonderful! gosh! ~ darn! , you sure do have the

, the Big "M" spirit!

you are so right....we loved to go during halloween & it is on our

"disney wish" list.

we have been to wdw 3x ~~on the dcl twice , & disneyland
once this past year. our next venture is for aulani. of course, anytime
we're within a thusand miles of d.~land, we're going to stop by.

i realized reading, we were @ our second stop @ castaway island when
you was taking those pictures. i think one these days, we're going
to cross paths.

. i went snorkling & had some problems with leg cramps.
[ cc snorkling is great but far, far away from the beach. worst
when i try to rest, it poured the rain. as you an tell, i made it back.
well i know how to float real good! pluto 's paddling,

here some of the highlights of latest/most recent expedition to capture
the magic.

we won 2 more ducky 's drawings- peter pan & alice. my daughter
claimed the alice before i got off stage. the prep & landing-
cartoon must have been a bust. however, the benefit was giving
"us" a ton of the ginger~boy cookies. ( which i love to devour!) .
they also gave us stuff "orange birds" & the pins of the prep/
landing- which were pretty neat.

guest services gave me special/extra character pictures for our
the families we adopted locally. me & pluto had a great meet/greet
@ cc. i forgotten about it til he left some special gifts the last night.
my wife claimed the goodies-. well she is a wench of sorts,
...but sooooo

here's a hidden tip. shop in the stores 1-2 hrs prior to closing the last
night. why? they marked some items on sale! i got many dream 's
inaugural pins on sale. ( they went fast! ]. they're pretty too!

the only d23 item this time was the special 40th edition magazine.

my son was chosen as the "rebel spy". he got a big thrill out of that!

we went to planet hollywood. our waitress was super so we shared
some of cruise stories with her. well she told us that joey & family
was there the week before. isn't that odd or funny? it also show
why it is best to be kind to others....so one does not miss out on
special moments.

on the bus over, the driver played a recording. it was letting us all
know to be on our best behavior because a real disney princess
was on board. psst, i told him if she needed a seat , she could
sit on my lap, . everyone was trying to figured who he was
referring toooo, it was my daughter. . he bowed to her
when we got out. then over @ the disney studious, a cast member
going to work @ sci fi , called out..."look everyone! we have the
real ariel here today!" you know the mermaid ride & where her
hair in extra~large bun? that's the way she was wearing that
day...because of the heat. it was funny because she was crossing
the street in a hurry, & i thought we were through these
comparisons. she's 14, & 5'-7" already. there be no living with
her now.

any place with an air conditioner was on our "to do" list. strange,
no one ever mistaken me for one of the prince,


thank you again for sharing. way back when i lost my camera, i was
hoping someone was taking similar type of pictures. no matter any
debbie downers, your pics & stories has fun , fun,& the magic stamped
all over them. i am hoping to repay your kindness with a disney~
type of thank you some day. after all that what's we are.
a bunch of disney fans out to have some fun?!

Thank you Lil' Grumpy

That is so neat to hear that you and your family will be going to the Aulani.

Glad that you had a great time during the DCL trip. Thank you for the tip at the gift shop when on the DCL.

Your welcome. I'm just glad that you are checking out my TR and enjoying all my adventures. I just can't wait till the Holiday season at DL next month and my WDW in December. Once again, I hope that you and your family have a great time at the Aulani Resort and Spa.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – September 24, 2011 – Part 10​

Now I just left off in Big Thunder Ranch and looking for any Halloween decorations around the area. In a such big area, it should easy to get a lot of Halloween pics not only with Big Thunder Ranch also the BBQ which had plenty of them.

The goats right by the ranch were neat to take while there was no one in the pen and petting them. I had no time to do that since I was taking pics on my shorten day.

Right by the fence, there were a lot of pumpkins, fall leaves, flowers, hay, etc. which matches the fall season.

Woody and Jessie were making there way over here

After taking most of the pics around BTR, I head on out and head on over to the BBQ area. Before I left, I took a few more pics of the Halloween decorations

I left the left side of BTR and now I was on the right side taking pics of the Halloween decorations. There were quite a number of decorations in this area especially the dining area, but I didn’t want to take many pictures of that area. So I am sorry for not taking many pics of the dining area.

The wagons close to the petting pen

Actually I only got one pic from the dining area for BTR BBQ

After taking all the pics at Big Thunder Ranch, I decided it was time to head on over to the HMH and get my outside pictures. I was hoping that the wait time for HMH would be short so I can just walk up without waiting in a long line.

On the way over to NOS, I saw that BT Ranch is quite getting busier around that area, but I did went back there to get some more pics if I have missed something.

It was nice to see the walls came down on the Golden Horseshoe wafter seeing a lot of walls covered the building.

When I got to NOS, it was so weird to see POTC closed even during the slow season. It almost seemed like a ghost town when one of the most popular rides at DL is closed. I hope that it gets up and running in the future.

Before I got to the HMH, Jack was right by Café Orleans. Mostly, he and Sally are right by the fountain by the NOS RR station and HMH. But since they are using the fountain as another queue, they had to move the meet and greet right by Café Orleans. Not in the restaurant, but an extended level where they have the band playing at NOS.

Jack Skellington

That’s it for this post and I will get back to you tomorrow.

 

[kaoden39]

So cute. It looks like Woody is sneaking up on Jessie.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – September 24, 2011 – Part 11​

I have just left off at NOS and was hoping that HMH would be less crowded. But when I got there, the fountain where Jack and Sally have their meet and greet was being used as an extended queue for HMH. At first when I saw the wait time it was only a 25 minute wait. The only reason why I didn't go on HMH was that the wait time was way too long and I have another chance to see it later today by getting a FP until it was past 2:25pm. I had to wait until the FP for SMGG was over so I can head on and get another FP.

The HMH is decorated as the usual Holiday decorations like I have been seeing for the last few years. It is always neat to see it the same and it doesn't get tired by looking at it.

Next I head on over to CC and see what it is like right now. I know that CC doesn't have any Halloween decorations but it will be better when it gets to the Holiday season and it will be decorated. Splash wasn't that long during that time which was around 25 minute wait.

When I got to CC, the meet and greet for Winnie the Pooh and friends were under construction so they had the meet and greets right by the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride and by the Pooh Corner store.

Pooh and Eeyore taking pics with the guests on the right

Even though Pooh meet and greet was closed, Pooh Corner store is still open

A small walkway to the store and exit from Splash Mountain

Tigger taking pics right by Pooh Corner

Now I went inside Pooh Corner store and look for any Halloween stuff.

The Halloween treats at Pooh Corner

It's not the Holiday season yet. But it was nice to see a gingerbread mickey

Now the Halloween merchandise. I'm sorry that I didn't take too many pics of the Halloween merchandise.

I head on out of Pooh Corner Store and head on back to NOS. On the way back, I had to get some pics of what the crowds are like that afternoon.

Another small walkway after exiting the store and Winnie the Pooh ride

Pooh and Eeyore

I exited CC and head on over to NOS. I will get back to you later tonight. It sucks that my DSL is off so I am writing my TR at my work CPU. Don't tell my boss that I am writing my TR instead of working.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – September 24, 2011 – Part 12​

After leaving Critter Country, I was about to head on back to NOS to see what the wait time for HMH was like. It was even worse when I got back to the HMH with the wait time all the way up to 40 minute wait time. That was really crazy to see it was only 25 minutes awhile ago and now it is up to 40 minutes. Around NOS, it started to pick up with more and more people heading on over to the HMH.

Can’t believe the HMH wait time was at 40 minutes

HMH FP Distribution area

After leaving the HMH, I head on over to the back side of NOS and look for any Halloween decorations. It was not that crowded since POTC was downed. It was sad to see that ride down that day, but it needs some magical touch to it for the Holiday season.

Blue Bayou was covered with blue walls and the exit towards POTC was all covered up.

L’Ornement Magique store which has all these different Christmas ornaments which is opened during the Halloween season

I head on out of NOS and was about to head on back to MS and take more pics of the Halloween decorations on MS. The park started to pick up with more and more people at the park which they are going on the rides.

Before I left Adventureland, I had to get myself a Dole Whip, but the line was close to the exit of the Enchanted Tiki Room. So I just waited later during that day to get one.

I got back to MS and looked at the former AP Center. It was sad to see the AP Center gone, but it will be nice to see the new Jolly Holiday Bakery Café next year.

Now I am in MS and looking for any Halloween decorations. The clouds are starting to move away and now clearing up. It was a nice day even during the morning when it was cloudy.

That’s it for now and I will get back to you later.

 

[NeutralNovice]

GREAT pictures, thank you so much! I am using one as my desktop background right now!

 

[tksbaskets]

I just love Mainstreet! I love the pictures you have of the pumpkins inside the windows

Teresa

 

[mvf-m11c]

GREAT pictures, thank you so much! I am using one as my desktop background right now!

Thank you NeutralNovice

I just love Mainstreet! I love the pictures you have of the pumpkins inside the windows

Teresa

MS was well decorated with all those different pumpkins and fall colors.

Thanks TK


Now its time to get to the TR.

Day 1 – September 24, 2011 – Part 13​

I head on in the Emporium to look for more of the Halloween merchandise that was different then at Pooh Corner. But most of them were the same, so I didn’t bother getting any pictures of the Halloween merchandise at the Emporium. But I did get a picture of the Ghost Mickey at the store.

I left the store and on the hunt for Halloween decorations. The park around MS started to pick up with more and more guests. When I checked touringplans and see what the crowd level would be 8/10 which is high for a Saturday during the off season. But the Halloween season at the DLR has become so popular the last few years so I am not surprise anymore by thee heavy crowds.

Disney Showcase window display with all sorts of Halloween merchandise

Now I head on in the Disney Showcase store and there were quite a lot of Halloween decorations in the room.

Some Halloween merchandise from the Disney Showcase Store

I head on outside the Disney Showcase store and looking for more Halloween decorations. I know I said that too many times so I just leave it as is.

City Hall

That’s it for now and I will get back to you later.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – September 24, 2011 – Part 14​

Now I am back out on MS and took as many pictures of the Halloween decorations.

This time, I am finding all the pumpkins on the right side of MS

I left MS and now on my way to Tomorrowland and head on the monorail.

When I head on over to the TL, Mary Poppins and Bert were walking in that direction

Instead of going through TL through ST, I went through the back side of TL and between SB castle

FNSV queue was already at 40+ minute wait time.

I head on over to the Monorail TL station and was on my way to go around the resort

That’s it for this post since I am out of pics. I will get back to you later.

 

[tksbaskets]

HI Bret,
WOW Disneyland has decorated Main street so nicely. I couldn't begin to count the number of pumpkins! The lines were long that day for the rides it seemed.

Did you get your Dole Whip?

TK

 

[mvf-m11c]

HI Bret,
WOW Disneyland has decorated Main street so nicely. I couldn't begin to count the number of pumpkins! The lines were long that day for the rides it seemed.

Did you get your Dole Whip?

TK

It was nice that DL is decorated during the Halloween season, but it will not be as better then during the Holiday season which is my favorite. There were so many pumpkins at MS and Big Thunder Ranch you can't even count how many there are. The lines for all the rides were just long all day Saturday and it did seemed like a summertime at DL (not a heavy day like Christmas Eve or New Years Eve).

I did get my Dole Whip later during the day, but I didn't get a picture since I was busy that afternoon. So stay tuned for that on this TR.

Thank you TK


Now its time to get back to the TR. This is taking forever for just one day, but I made it count.

Day 1 – September 24, 2011 – Part 15​

I have left off heading on the monorail from the TL station. For the people that have been following my TR, this is by far my favorite ride at DL and any Disney resort. I love riding the monorail to look around the DLR and riding it. There were quite a number of people at the TL monorail station, but it doesn’t surprise me that it was a busy day.

While I was waiting for Monorail Orange after I just missed Monorail Red the weather was getting better andlooking at the FNSV Lagoon.

I got on Monorail Orange and now on our way towards the DTD monorail station. This was a great opportunity to get some pics of the construction site of BVS.

When I got to the DTD monorail station, I stayed on so I can head on back to DL. I was considering going through DTD and find any Halloween decorations, but I wanted to spend more time at DL and don’t have to go through the security check point again.

It was good to see that I got a good pic of the Halloween Mickey. There were quite a number of people heading on in the park and I knew that the park will be really crowded at 2pm.

In TL, Monorail Red was still in the station

It was nice to see the Matterhorn Mountain up and running again after a long summer of not being running.

After I got off Monorail Orange and back at the TL station, I decided to head on over to FL and see the villain meet and greet area right across the street from SLCB. On the way, I had to get a picture of the Matterhorn from the TL side. I believe I have taken this picture all the time since the Heart quest that I did earlier this year.

The queue for Matterhorn was quite long from the TL side

I head on over to the villain meet and greet area and there was quite a queue

The Sheriff of Nottingham was at the villain meet and greet area along with the Wicked Queen and Captain Hook. You can’t see Captain Hook and barely see the Wicked Queen

I left that area and head on my way towards Mickey’s Toontown RR station, but the line was already outside the station, so I decided to head on over back to Big Thunder Ranch and get some more pics of the Halloween decorations.

That’s it for now and I will get back to you later.

 

[tksbaskets]

It was good to see that I got a good pic of the Halloween Mickey. There were quite a number of people heading on in the park and I knew that the park will be really crowded at 2pm.

Bret, this is a GREAT picture of Halloween Mickey Lots of construction over at DCA.

You sure did pack a ton into one day!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret, this is a GREAT picture of Halloween Mickey Lots of construction over at DCA.

You sure did pack a ton into one day!

That was a nice picture of the Halloween Mickey and a lot of construction. I wished that I went on it again so I can get the other side of BVS. But I will do that on the next month trip.

So many posts in just one day, but it did seemed worth it.

Thank you TK

Day 1 – September 24, 2011 – Part 16​

I have left off around IASW getting some pics of the Halloween decorations, now it was time to head on back to Big Thunder Ranch and get some more pics that I have missed. The park started to pick up with more and more guests in the park and I knew that it was going to be a crowded day. But it did not bother me so much since I knew the park will be crowded.

I went through Fantasyland and it was started to pick up with more and more guests. On the way, Storybook Land Canal Boats wait time was already at 30+ minute wait. On the way, Dumbo was at 30+, even King Arthur’s Carousel is a long wait time.

Back at Big Thunder Ranch and finding any more Halloween pics

Half done Cinderella

Do you see the Hidden Mickey?

Back inside the Scare-Dy Crow Shack

Not too many pictures from Big Thunder Ranch. When I left Big Thunder Ranch, it was time to get my next FP after a long wait during that afternoon. So I head on over to NOS towards the HMH.

On the way over to NOS, BTMRR was quite long that afternoon with a lot of people at the handicapped area while the regular queue was already at 35 minute wait. I have seen BTMRR as long as an hour so this is not as surprising to me that the wait time was this long. I haven’t seen BTMRR an hour wait at DL, but I have definitely seen at the MK at WDW. At least I didn’t have to go on BTMRR that afternoon since this trip is only just for photography of the Halloween decorations at the DLR.

On the way over to HMH, I saw the queue of POTC. It was sad to see it closed and it will be even bad to see it closed when I go to DL next month during my usual Holiday trip with my DA. The good thing about it is that I don’t have to go on it since we rode it in August.

That is it for this part of the post and I will get back to you tomorrow for the next adventure.

This was quite a turn after going back to Big Thunder Ranch and get any pics that I have missed. It was nice to go back to Big Thunder Ranch to get some more pics of the Halloween decorations while I could have easily go on some rides. But most of the ride wait times were way too long.

 

[tksbaskets]

Great pictures! What a nice way to start my day. Bret, do you know how long Pirates will be down for refurbishment?

TK

 

[mvf-m11c]

Great pictures! What a nice way to start my day. Bret, do you know how long Pirates will be down for refurbishment?

TK

Thank you TK. I read that Pirates of the Caribbean and the Blue Bayou Restaurant should reopen on November 23rd. It will be tough since the week after I leave DL during my Holiday trip, POTC will be reopen. At least it will be ready during the busy parts of the Holiday season at DL.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – September 24, 2011 – Part 17​

So I left off in NOS just passing POTC which was closed due to refurbishment. I head on over to HMH so I can get my FP. It was past 2:25pm that afternoon and I was good to get a new FP after waiting quite awhile from the SMGG FP. I knew that HMH was going to be very crowded, but I would never imagine that the queue would shrink down to less than 25 minutes.

I had to go towards the NOS RR station since walking through the fountain is used as an extended queue for HMH. Even the DLRR queue at NOS was long as well.

I got my FP and the return time was around 3:35pm to 4:35pm

After I got my FP, I was hungry and decided to head on over to Hungry Bear restaurant. It has been awhile since I ate at Hungry Bear which was back in May. So on the way, the queue for HMH was just crazy and ridiculous. Even the FP queue had a wait time too.

Extended queue for HMH

The queue for Splash was not that long earlier that day, but it did pick up later when I past Splash Mountain. I believe it was about 35+ minute wait time.

I got over to Hungry Bear Restaurant and about to have some lunch. But when I got closer to the registers, there was quite a line just to get some food at Hungry Bear Restaurant. So I decided just to hold off and go back there one day. It was disappointed, but I could go back there and ear there one day.

I went back down NOS and on the way on the Mark Twain, there was quite a number of people on the Mark Twain. It was a bunch of young ladies on the bottom and middle section of the Mark Twain. From the look of it they were all young gymnastic girls waving to the crowds.

I decided to go back to MS and get more pics of the Halloween decorations, but from a different angle. I know I could use that time to do other things, but I just wanted to get some more.

On the way, I saw that Indy was closed. Every time I go past this ride, it is always shut down once a day.

I forgot to mention that the bathrooms right in between Adventureland and Frontierland was getting some work done so that’s why you see a wall.

Didn’t get too many pictures of SB Castle

Now back to the Halloween decorations at MS

That’s it for now and I will get back to you tomorrow.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – September 24, 2011 – Part 18​

So I have left off at MS taking more pics of the Halloween decorations. I know that this is the same thing that I am doing again, but I always like to go back and see for any Halloween pics that I have missed.

While going through more Halloween decorations, the Dapper Dans in their Halloween colors

Back to the Pumpkins in the windows

On the way around Town Square, the whole area started to pick up with more and more families taking pictures.

More and more families started to get in the queue to get a picture with the giant pumpkin Mickey on MS Town Square

The park started to get crowded that afternoon.

Even the character meet and greet started to pick up

I will get back to you later with more.