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

[skiingfast]

What I mean about the new Christmas Trees in Toontown, is that have the cartoonish fell of a toon town. I'd like to see them side by side with the old ones, to be sure.

 

[tksbaskets]

Today I am Thankful for Bret's trip report! I've got the turkey roasting and have just spend a VERY enjoyable time looking through MTT, FrontierLand, and NOS.

I must admit MTT isn't my cup of tea. Now Frontierland and NOS is great.

LOVED the parade pics! I'm hoping I can talk the men folk into watching with me when we travel to DL. I'm pretty sure I can

Happy Thanksgiving Bret and your TR followers!

 

[mvf-m11c]

What I mean about the new Christmas Trees in Toontown, is that have the cartoonish fell of a toon town. I'd like to see them side by side with the old ones, to be sure.

I know what you mean Matt. The WDW MK trees look cartoonish and fits nice to the theme of MTT, but I like the tree worked on by the CMs instead of just putting it in the side of the warehouse and bring it out.

Here are the trees at Mickey and Minnie house from this year and last year

Mickey's Christmas Tree from last year

Mickey's Christmas Tree this year

Minnie's Christmas Tree from last year

Minnie's Christmas Tree this year

Today I am Thankful for Bret's trip report! I've got the turkey roasting and have just spend a VERY enjoyable time looking through MTT, FrontierLand, and NOS.

I must admit MTT isn't my cup of tea. Now Frontierland and NOS is great.

LOVED the parade pics! I'm hoping I can talk the men folk into watching with me when we travel to DL. I'm pretty sure I can

Happy Thanksgiving Bret and your TR followers!

Thank you TK. Glad that you are enjoying Thanksgiving morning checking out my TR.

MTT is still great with the Holiday decorations, but it isn't the same this year without the trees at City Hall, Mickey and Minnie's house. Frontierland and NOS are always great during the Holiday season. This is only the beginning of the Holiday TR and I sitll have a lot to do.

Happy Thanksgiving to you TK and your family. And also to the followers.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – November 18, 2011 – Part 8​

Now back to the TR and in NOS with all of the different Holiday decorations.

Decorations right by Café Orleans

Wreath by Café Orleans

Wreaths over the LeBat en Rouge Store

LeBat en Rouge Store with Holiday decorations

Cristal d’Orlean store with wreaths

Mile Antoinette’s Parfumerie wreath

Court of Angels Christmas tree

I was really tired that day and didn’t have anything to eat, so I decided to head on back to the hotel and meet up with my DA to have dinner. On the way out, I had to get more pics of NOS in different angles.

I forgot to mention that POTC and BB were still closed. It was disappointing to see both places closed, but it needs a refurbishment.

Wall covers covering the entrance of POTC as well as the Dream Suite

Now back in MS

The flowers right by MS Town Square Flag Retreat

I head on out close to the turnstile and had to get the snow and flakes on the turnstile back side

I didn’t go in DCA that afternoon, but I might go there later that day. We will wait and see on the next post of my TR.

I head on back to the room around 4:00pm and I rested up for awhile until it was time to have dinner.

We left the room around 5:00pm with our equipment which of course is the video camera, tripod, blanket etc. I always take with me for staking out a spot for the fireworks. We thought about eating inside the park, but my DA wanted to try Tony Roma’s restaurant right next to our hotel. So we went over there and have the BBQ ribs and sandwich.

It was good and now it was time to head on over to the park. But we had too much food left over, so we went back to the room to drop off the food.

I will get back to you later today with my adventures at night.

 

[kaoden39]

I do not like the new trees in Toon Town. They can have them back in Florida. Boo. But I do love your picture Bret.

 

[skiingfast]

This seems like it's awfully later to get a perfect spot to film the fireworks. Wasn't it crowed there with the late parade and castle lighting?

 

[mvf-m11c]

I do not like the new trees in Toon Town. They can have them back in Florida. Boo. But I do love your picture Bret.

I said the same thing when I first saw the Christmas trees at MTT. Thank you Michele.

This seems like it's awfully later to get a perfect spot to film the fireworks. Wasn't it crowed there with the late parade and castle lighting?

It was around 6pm when my DA and I left the hotel and on our way to the park. I mostly get a spot in front of SB Castle about 2 to 2 1/2 hours until the fireworks schedule time. The parade should already been at FL when we got to the park and we did miss the 5pm & 5:15pm Wintertime Enchantment Lighting. I now working on my next post so stay tuned to the next part of my TR.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – November 18, 2011 – Part 9​

So my DA and I left BWAI around 6pm and we head on over back to DL for the nighttime events.

On the way, there were quite a number of people heading on in the park. The turnstiles were about close to the monorail beam. The middle right turnstile was open along with the right side turnstile.

We got in the park around 6:15pm and the first thing we did since the parade just finished and a lot of people were walking down the park, we head on in the Disney Gallery and see the Trains of Disney.

I am a huge fan of the trains at any of the Disney parks and was glad that they did a gallery of the trains at the Disney parks. I was looking forward to all the different art work and treasures of the Disney Company.

One of Walt Disney rail cars from his Carolwood Pacific Railroad and the original cross track

Excursion Car design at DL

BTMRR Engine

BTMRR Art Design

Engine Designs from Tokyo Disneyland

Casey Jr Art work

After leaving the Disney Gallery, we head on over to the Disney Showcase store and look at the Christmas merchandise. I only got a few since we were looking closely at the ornaments. Here are some pics from the store and I did get more later on the trip.

Here is a tree in the store

Then we head on out of the store. The first thing we saw was the MS Town Square Christmas Tree which great during the Holiday season.

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

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Cool Report Bret!! I went yesterday.

 

[tksbaskets]

The train display looks great. I can't wait to see it. Great installment

 

[mvf-m11c]

Cool Report Bret!! I went yesterday.

Thank you Kaitlin. Glad to hear that you got back safely and had a great time at DL yesterday.

The train display looks great. I can't wait to see it. Great installment

It did look great and I wish I got more pictures when I was in the gallery. You will like it when you go next month TK.


The next post will be up shortly so stay tune.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – November 18, 2011 – Part 10​

After leaving the Disney Showcase store, we went over to the Emporium since there were quite a number of people leaving the park and entering the park. There were some very nice Holiday decorations along with the Merchandise, but we were there for only a few minutes.

We head on out of the Emporium and were out right by the Firehouse.

Firehouse which you can see the Christmas tree through the window

It was a nice night and it wasn’t as cold as we have thought. It was close to the high 40s which was nice during the winter season. Now we walked up towards the castle and see all the different decorations around the area.

When we got closer to the Hub, the 6:30pm Enchantment Lighting of SB Castle was going on and you can see through the picture that it was snowing during the show. I was trying to protect my camera from the snow when we were walking down the street.

It was too early to get a spot around the Hub since the radio booths were still around the Hub. I was planning on staying around the area until the fireworks started, but my DA wanted to see IASWH before we get our spot right in front of SB Castle. This was what I meant Matt (skiingfast) since we couldn’t get a curb side spot for the fireworks since the spot is occupied by the radio booths. Most of the radio booths were unoccupied since they were done. Some were still going on while most of them are done for the night.

We head on over to IASWH and the Holiday lighting of IASWH (not “The Magic, The Memories, and You!”) had already begun which is great to watch during the Holiday season.

We left IASWH and back to the Hub to get our spot for the 8:45pm “Believe…In Holiday Magic” fireworks. When we got to the spot around 6:45pm there were already people on the street. About 1/3 of the street in front of SB Castle were already filled with people waiting for the fireworks. Plus the curbs still have the radio booth tables which were a pain in the butt since we could not get a spot.

Here are some pics of SB Castle while we were waiting for the 7:30pm Wintertime Enchantment Lighting.

The crew of DL started to disassemble the radio booths tables around the Hub, but we were not allowed to sit on the curb just yet. The area around that area started to pick up with more and more people, but it was just crazy to see that many people until the fireworks started at 8:45pm.

Now the 7:30pm Wintertime Enchantment Lighting started which is the same since last year. All of the Wintertime Enchantment Lighting shows are different and not the same after every different time.

During the show, the trees around the Hub also started to light up. You can see from this picture on the bottom that the curb side was not available because of the cleaning up of the radio tables around the Hub. The benches blocked the curbs around the area.

Just around 7:45pm, the CMs started to let the people on the curb side and most of the people were heading for the benches. That did freed up some areas around the curb side to get a good spot to watch the fireworks. I got my usual spot for the fireworks, but I was not in the middle. It was a fine spot to watch the fireworks and was so excited to get a curb spot and have that extra height for videotaping the fireworks.

But by around 8pm, the whole area in front of SB Castle was all filled up. It was hard even to walk through all the crowds. One of the people that were right next to me took a long time to get from the coffee stands and back to his group. Mostly I don’t expect a lot of people at the front of SB Castle until 30 minutes when it is filled. But this time, it was just so crowded with all those people.

That’s it for tonight and I will be back tomorrow during “Believe…In Holiday Magic” fireworks.

 

[kaoden39]

Bret, I love the new exhibit at the gallery. I am a train fan. I hope it is still there in February.


Your night time photos are amazingly beautiful!! Thank you for sharing them!!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret, I love the new exhibit at the gallery. I am a train fan. I hope it is still there in February.


Your night time photos are amazingly beautiful!! Thank you for sharing them!!

The gallery was great and I hope the same thing when you go in February.

Thank you Michele.

Day 1 – November 18, 2011 – Part 11​

Now back to the TR. After waiting for 2 hours for the fireworks, it finally began at 8:45pm. “Believe…In Holiday Magic” fireworks have been the same firework show during the Holiday season at DL. It is one of my favorite fireworks shows at any Disney park. Even though it doesn’t use like Tinker Bell or Dumbo, the music and fireworks matches the Holiday season.

This is the video that I have on youtube: Believe...In Holiday Magic Fireworks 11/18/11

Here are pics from my Nikon D5100 DSLR camera. I have my video camera on the tripod while I used my Nikon camera for some pictures. Some are blurry and some are very nice.

Pictures from my Sony Camcorder during Believe

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

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Love them Bret!! I actually didn't see the Christmas tree in the firehouse.

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

happy , belated t~day!

yeppers, we sure have been busy.

anyhoo, reading your report, i think we are going have to go
to both, christmas & halloween. wouldn't it? "bee knees",
to be able to stay from late october to the new years?

neat, neat pictures! i never get tired seeing how well you
"captured" the action. they even made me hunger for
gingerbread!

...fyi, noticed eeyore's sled upside down? someone is paying
attention. wowser, way back on our daughter's first christmas,
a local store had this neat lil'disney christmas -home decoration.
you guess it..."winnie, tigger, & eeyore riding on a log sled,~
in the snow. best yet, push the button & the "characters"
react/move, as they talk to each other, ending with them singing
different songs. year after year, she has it out.

the next year, they had a very cool - "woody riding bulls~eye"
bank. that bank was the neatest one i ever seen. it just seem
liked yesterday, that toy story was one of her favorites.

pukka shells necklace used to be the "hip" thing that all the surfers
wore. they are hard to come by now.

thanks again...., when i see your pictures, i think about how lucky
we have been in meeting others that are so gracious in sharing
their "good wishes." we might have to get a bigger house,
because every room has disney stuff in it. over the years, we
collected quite a few hallmarks especially from the years our
children were born & their first 5 years. their baby books are
from disney. in fact, we have enough disney hallmarks thru their
years to decorate 5, full sized tress. ( 10 footer). so we
rotate them.

must go....find some candy canes & ginger breads.

 

[tksbaskets]

Hi Bret,
LOVE your videos! The firework pictures are just stunning! Where did you stand for the fireworks?

TK

 

[mvf-m11c]

Love them Bret!! I actually didn't see the Christmas tree in the firehouse.

Thank you Kaitlin. Every year during the Holiday season, DL moves the lamp on top of the firehouse with the Christmas tree.

happy , belated t~day!

yeppers, we sure have been busy.

anyhoo, reading your report, i think we are going have to go
to both, christmas & halloween. wouldn't it? "bee knees",
to be able to stay from late october to the new years?

neat, neat pictures! i never get tired seeing how well you
"captured" the action. they even made me hunger for
gingerbread!

...fyi, noticed eeyore's sled upside down? someone is paying
attention. wowser, way back on our daughter's first christmas,
a local store had this neat lil'disney christmas -home decoration.
you guess it..."winnie, tigger, & eeyore riding on a log sled,~
in the snow. best yet, push the button & the "characters"
react/move, as they talk to each other, ending with them singing
different songs. year after year, she has it out.

the next year, they had a very cool - "woody riding bulls~eye"
bank. that bank was the neatest one i ever seen. it just seem
liked yesterday, that toy story was one of her favorites.

pukka shells necklace used to be the "hip" thing that all the surfers
wore. they are hard to come by now.

thanks again...., when i see your pictures, i think about how lucky
we have been in meeting others that are so gracious in sharing
their "good wishes." we might have to get a bigger house,
because every room has disney stuff in it. over the years, we
collected quite a few hallmarks especially from the years our
children were born & their first 5 years. their baby books are
from disney. in fact, we have enough disney hallmarks thru their
years to decorate 5, full sized tress. ( 10 footer). so we
rotate them.

must go....find some candy canes & ginger breads.

Thank you Lil' Grumpy for checking out my TR. You should think about going to DL during both the Halloween and Christmas season at the end of October and mid November. It would be truly great to do both seasons during one trip.

The pictures with my new Nikon Camera worked really well that trip and it was worth the investment.

I like when DL added Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore sled a couple of years ago to the parade which made it very nice for the Holiday season.

Glad that you enjoy the pictures. I must have taken about 1800 pictures during my trip. That was a lot of pics and I still have the videos from my trip as well. So I have more pics to do. I also like to collect Hallmarks Christmas decorations for the Christmas season. Every year I always get a train ornament which I like to collect.

Hi Bret,
LOVE your videos! The firework pictures are just stunning! Where did you stand for the fireworks?

TK

Thank you TK. Some of the pictures from my Nikon were good while some were blurry. But overall, they were great. For my video and pictures, I was on the the middle right side of the Hub facing SB Castle. I usually get a curb side by the Hub for all the videos of the fireworks. I like the extra height so that no one in front of me will obstruct the view. This is one of my favorite spots to watch the fireworks. But this time since I had to wait for the radio booths to clear, I was worried that I wouldn't get my usual spot for the fireworks. It turned out really well that night.


I will have the next update of my TR tonight and have pics of the Holiday segment of "The Magic, The Memories, and You!".

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – November 18, 2011 – Part 12​

After “Believe…In Holiday Magic” fireworks was over, it started to snow on MS. My DA and I backed all of our stuff and our next destination was IASWH for the first night of the Holiday segment of “The Magic, The Memories, and You!”. It took quite awhile to leave MS while most of the people were looking at the sky when it was snowing after Believe.

It took about 3 minutes to get out of the Hub and walked towards IASWH. But the fastest way to get to FL was not opened yet because of the fireworks was over on the FL side of the Matterhorn. So we had to walk towards the TL side to get to IASWH.

It was around 9:00pm when we got over to IASWH. While we were waiting, my friend Sara was in the park and joined the two of us for “The Magic, The Memories, and You!”. It was nice to see her after a few months. I introduced Sara to my DA and we all had a nice talk until it was time for MMY. We kept watching IASWH when it was time for the 9:30pm MMY. I didn't know what to expect when it starts so I just videotape the whole show.

Here are my two videos of MMY
"The Magic, The Memories, and You!" with the Holiday Segment 11/18/11 Full Show

Holiday Segment of "The Magic, The Memories and You!" Opening Day Show 11/18/11

We waited until it was 9:30pm and the opening day of the Holiday segment of “The Magic, The Memories, and You!”. Here are pics from my camera. Some were really blurry so the next part will be from my video camera.

Nikon camera

Sony camcorder Holiday segment of MMY

When “The Magic, The Memories, and You!” was over, the three of us headed towards the Hub. But that will be another post. I will get back to you later tonight.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – November 18, 2011 – Part 13​

After “The Magic, The Memories and You!” was over, we went to do some rides. On the way, we rode the Matterhorn and AiW that night. We had to wait awhile to get on the rides, but the wait times were not that bad that night since there were a few people this late at night.

After finishing the rides, we were in front of SB Castle and getting a lot of different angle pictures of the castle. I took some of the pics and my friend Sara also took some pictures of the castle which were amazing.

We finished the picture taking in front of SB castle, we all wanted a nice treat that night and I thought about getting a Dole Whip at the Tiki Juice Bar. My DA has never tried the Dole Whip and it is something she must do. So we head on over the Tiki Juice Bar and luckily the line had only 3 people in line. So it would be easy to get a Dole Whip in a short time. We all shared the Dole Whip since it was cold that night.

We finished the Dole Whip around Adventureland and the next part of our destination at DL is NOS. This is my favorite land during the Holiday season at DL. Earlier during the day, I took the pictures during the daytime. Now this is where NOS is truly at its best at night. So lets head on over to NOS and see all those beautiful Christmas decorations in NOS.

We head on over to NOS and the first thing we saw at NOS was the hanging wreath over Royal Street.

Some of the decorations are different from last year and the past years. I will show you how much NOS has changed over the years on a different post. The Holiday decorations are always great and fun to look at in NOS.

Most of the stores in NOS were closed when we were on Royal Street.

That’s it for this post since I am out of pictures, but I will get back to you later tonight with more pics from NOS at DL.