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

[miss.potatohead]

I love all the photos, it seriously makes me feel as if I am actually there feeling the Disney magic. I'm a good 13,000 km / 8000 miles away from California, but I still feel like I'm there, yay!

 

[mvf-m11c]

I love all the photos, it seriously makes me feel as if I am actually there feeling the Disney magic. I'm a good 13,000 km / 8000 miles away from California, but I still feel like I'm there, yay!

Thank you miss.potatohead. Glad that you are enjoying my pictures from my recent trip.


Now its time to get back to the TR.

Day 2 – November 19, 2011 – Part 18​

We just left off at the Pioneer Mercantile store waiting to go to CC after the CM’s let the guests in for the 2nd show of F!. The CMs finally let the guests through the ROA, but we head on over to CC to get more pics of the Holiday decorations.

Over at CC, there wasn’t anyone in that area so it was easy to walk through the land with no problem.

Splash Mountain Christmas tree

Winnie the Pooh Greeting area with a Christmas tree

Now it was time for Pooh Corner store

After getting the pics from Pooh Corner that night, we head on back to NOS. The good thing is that it wasn’t time for the 10:15pm WoC show and we head on over to the stores and find any Holiday decorations.

Nightmare Before Christmas Wreaths at LeBat en Rouge

Left the store and now back at the Court of Angels and thetree along with the L’ Ornemnt Magique store.

Now back outside of NOS looking at all the Holiday decorations.

After finishing up at NOS, we haven’t seen Frontierland backside with the Holiday decorations, so we went towards the backside of Frontierland.

Wreath by the Mark Twain/Columbia dock

The Santa’s Reindeer Round-Up sign is still right by BTMRR

Santa’s Reindeer Round-Up was closed that night, but it didn’t stop me from taking pictures outside the Round-Up

After taking some pics of Santa’s Reindeer Round-Up, we head on back to FL and get some more pics of IASWH with its Holiday decoration lighting.

On the way over, FL is still crowded even this late at night

I’m out of pics for this post and I will get back to you later.

 

[deejdigsdis]

Hi Bret,

Just finished reading Day 1 in your TR. I agree, I think the new DLR sign on Harbor is nicer than the old one.

Your parade shots are great! It looks like you are standing right there in the middle of the street -- in the middle of the action.

Wow, those ToonTown trees are a little sorry looking. I'm glad you posted the old trees so we could see a comparison. The old ones are SO much better.

I'm glad you got to see the Trains of Disney display. I know you really enjoy trains.

When I was there 2 weeks ago I completely forgot to look for the tree in the Fire Station window. I was sick, so there was a lot I didn't do or forgot to do.

Was your original plan to stay until the 20th? I would have liked to have run into you on the 21st. I would have liked to have seen you in action with your camera! We stayed very close to you -- we were at the Ramada Maingate.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Hi Bret,

Just finished reading Day 1 in your TR. I agree, I think the new DLR sign on Harbor is nicer than the old one.

Your parade shots are great! It looks like you are standing right there in the middle of the street -- in the middle of the action.

Wow, those ToonTown trees are a little sorry looking. I'm glad you posted the old trees so we could see a comparison. The old ones are SO much better.

I'm glad you got to see the Trains of Disney display. I know you really enjoy trains.

When I was there 2 weeks ago I completely forgot to look for the tree in the Fire Station window. I was sick, so there was a lot I didn't do or forgot to do.

Was your original plan to stay until the 20th? I would have liked to have run into you on the 21st. I would have liked to have seen you in action with your camera! We stayed very close to you -- we were at the Ramada Maingate.

The new sign on Harbor Blvd looks way better then that old campaign sign during the Celebrate year.

Thank you. I was really close to the parade route by the vendor carts at FL. The pictures did felt like I was on the street during the parade.

Those trees at MTT are not that great and just a cheap way to save time on the Holiday decorations. Some people say that it fits the theme of MTT, but I don't like those trees that were from MTT at the MK in WDW. It wasn't the same this year after seeing real trees at TT.

I do love trains and it was great that DL added the Trains of Disney at the Bank. It does tell you everything about the history of Walt Disney and his love of trains.

I don't know when DL has changed the lamp post at the fire house to the little mini Christmas tree after all these years. It was nice to see the tree in the window above the fire house.

You are correct, my original plan was to the 20th. But since my DA was taking off work that week which was Thanksgiving week, she suggest to add one more day to our trip. Good thing we did since it was pouring on Sunday. Monday going back home was very nice and glad that we didn't leave on Sunday. It would have been nice to meet you at DL on Monday, but we were there for the first two hours at DL. Thank you all my pictures are okay and I was happy that I bought the Nikon 5100 DSLR. On Sunday to Monday, we stayed at BW Stovall's since there were no rooms available for Sunday night. I added the extra day one week until the trip so there was no time to stay at BWAI that Sunday. Overall, it was great that we stayed at Stovall's since we only paid $80 for the room that includes everything.

I can't wait to go to WDW in a few days. So I will have to step up with my TR.

 

[tksbaskets]

Great installments as always Bret. When is your trip to WDW? How fun to be able to visit both DL and WDW this Christmas.

TK

 

[deejdigsdis]

On the way, I had to get some pics of any Holiday decorations. Also on the way I had to get pics of the flowers around the Hub. This is for you Deej.

We walked down MS and out of the park. The Omni bus look great with it Holiday decorations.

Thank you! Love those flowers! I really like how they decorate the Main Street vehicles as well.

Well, I'm all caught up. So much to comment on...let's see what I can remember...

Your MFW pictures were wonderful, as usual. It's fun to see how things are coming along.

That's weird that there weren't any decorations on the lamp posts in HPB. I remember seeing candy canes and maybe something else on them 2 years ago. Lamp posts must be decorated at Christmas.

I LOVED the PP tree pics. I love those traditional and classic looking trees. I loved the poinsettias in there as well. I'm glad you got a picture of the Coke Corner tree. I didn't get one this year. It is different from the picture I have 2 years ago, but I like them both.

I enjoyed your window display pics. I never take enough pictures of those.

I'm glad you got to ride the Lilly Belle. Your knowledge of all the trains/engines is very impressive!

Are you going to finish your DLR TR before heading to WDW? Looking forward to checking out your WDW TR when you return. I really enjoyed TK's WDW holiday time TR. I'm sure I would enjoy her cruise TR as well...if there was one.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Great installments as always Bret. When is your trip to WDW? How fun to be able to visit both DL and WDW this Christmas.

TK

Thank you TK. I will be leaving this Friday morning at Sacramento and we should be at Orlando around nighttime. We will first be heading towards LAX and meet up with my dads friend family and go all together to Orlando. I am hoping that I will be able to go to the parks that night, but we might use that night to get some supplies for the timeshare hotel that we are staying which is the Sheraton Vistana Resort. Just like last year, this year will be even more special after observing the Holiday season at WDW. I am going to enjoy it a lot and bring the magic to you when I upload my pictures from my trip.

Thank you! Love those flowers! I really like how they decorate the Main Street vehicles as well.

Well, I'm all caught up. So much to comment on...let's see what I can remember...

Your MFW pictures were wonderful, as usual. It's fun to see how things are coming along.

That's weird that there weren't any decorations on the lamp posts in HPB. I remember seeing candy canes and maybe something else on them 2 years ago. Lamp posts must be decorated at Christmas.

I LOVED the PP tree pics. I love those traditional and classic looking trees. I loved the poinsettias in there as well. I'm glad you got a picture of the Coke Corner tree. I didn't get one this year. It is different from the picture I have 2 years ago, but I like them both.

I enjoyed your window display pics. I never take enough pictures of those.

I'm glad you got to ride the Lilly Belle. Your knowledge of all the trains/engines is very impressive!

Are you going to finish your DLR TR before heading to WDW? Looking forward to checking out your WDW TR when you return. I really enjoyed TK's WDW holiday time TR. I'm sure I would enjoy her cruise TR as well...if there was one.

Your welcome Deej. Every time I see the flowers, I have to get them for you and Sherry which you two like a lot. The MS vehicles look great with the Christmas wreaths and garlands.

I always have to do MFW when I am at DCA. I am getting really excited when Cars Land is all finished this summer.

Ever since Electronica has been at the HPB, DCA haven't put any of the Holiday decorations on the lamps or any decorations outside the buildings. There were candy canes decorations on the lamps of HPB. I would assume when Electronica is done as well as the construction at BVS and Cars Land, HPB will be decorated again one day.

The tree at PP is so great at night while it shines bright at night. The Coke Corner tree is so nice as well.

The window displays are always nice, but I don't like taking pictures of them during the day since the sun will make it hard to take a picture.

We were glad that we got the chance to ride the Lilly Belle. Trains are a part of my childhood and since I like DL and trains, I got to know everything about them.

I'm hoping that will be able to finish my DLR TR before I leave on Friday. I might not make it, but we will wait and see. I got to do at least 4-5 posts a day. I have the PTR on my signature below as you can read my pre plans. I will try to do at least one or two live TR and I will be uploading all my pics at Orlando. TK did a TR on her Alaskan Cruise and I really enjoyed it.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – November 19, 2011 – Part 19​

After passing through the rides around FL, we were now at IASWH area. It is so fun to look at IASWH at night with all those Christmas lights. I got some different angles of IASWH from my pictures.

We got pictures of IASWH from different angles, so we head on over to SB Castle for the nighttime pictures which is always great to get. Here are some different angles of the castle with my camera.

The castle pictures were great, but it was getting late for the two of us so we called it for the night. So we head on out of the park and got some different pics on the way out. There were a few people that were leaving the park the same time as the two of us. But most of the park was empty after the fireworks.

This might be the last time I might see Carnation Plaza Gardens until it is changed to the Princess Fantasy Faire

Another Christmas tree in the window display

It was only 10:25pm when we left the park that night

The snow flakes on top of the turnstile when we left the park.

We got out of the park and head back to our hotel and called it for the night.

This was a big day. We got to do our favorite rides at DL, got to go on MFW and get the aerial photos of Cars Land. I got to watch “A Christmas Fantasy” parade from MS TS, got to see the Holiday segment of WoC, and got a lot of the Christmas decorations at both parks.

Tomorrow is another day and will be crazy. I will get back to that shortly tonight before I call it the night.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – November 20, 2011 – Part 1​

Now is a new day and this will be fun since we have done everything during our trip. But this will be our day to relax. We are planning on eating at the ESPN Zone during the NFL games. I knew that it will be crowded just to watch the games with other fans. But first, we must do DL in the morning. Let’s get to the TR.

It was around 7:30am and I was all ready to go. My DA was tired from last night and she decided to stay in the room and rest up. So I head on to DL that morning by myself to get some pics that I have missed.

It was a MM, so the park was already opened. It was not that crowded that morning and now was the picture taking time at MS.

I turned on over to the Matterhorn to get the heart shape part of the mountain from the TL side. I like to get this photo of the Matterhorn ever since I have done the heart quest earlier this year.

Close to the Matterhorn, I saw that KCMike took a picture of the fence right by the FNSV that had three different fences. So I took a picture of the three fences.

I head on over to IASWH

It was already 8:15 that morning

After getting IASWH, I head on over to FL and then towards BTR

I got to BTR and now it was time to get the photos. I haven’t been back here a lot during my first two days since I was concentrating on the decorations at MS and NOS.

After getting the pictures of BTR, I head on over back to Frontierland and get some more pics on the way.

The park was empty that morning

Another Christmas wreath by the Mark Twain/Columbia dock

That’s it for tonight and I will be back tomorrow for more post of DL during the Holiday season.

 

[deejdigsdis]

TK did a cruise TR? Ah, so sorry TK! I was looking so forward to that. I guess I missed it when I was away from the DIS for a while. I need to go search for that.

Bret, I agree with the window displays comment. The displays look so nice, but it's hard to get a good picture in the day when there is a glare in the window.

Off to read more of your TR...

 

[mvf-m11c]

TK did a cruise TR? Ah, so sorry TK! I was looking so forward to that. I guess I missed it when I was away from the DIS for a while. I need to go search for that.

Bret, I agree with the window displays comment. The displays look so nice, but it's hard to get a good picture in the day when there is a glare in the window.

Off to read more of your TR...

TK did a little mini report on her TR on the [post=41909038]Alaskan Excursions[/post] post. It was nice to read her adventures during her Alaskan trip. I put up her link when I read her TR.

It was hard to take pictures of them with the glare. The nighttime or less sunlight is the best time to take the pictures.

I will have the next part of the post up later this morning.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – November 20, 2011 – Part 2​

I have just left off finishing up pictures at MS, FL, BTR, and Frontierland I head on over to NOS again too get my pictures of the Holiday pictures during the daytime. I went back through everything to see if I have missed any Holiday decorations. It is always fun to go to NOS during the Holiday season with all those different decorations and the colorful beads and masks. Luckily it wasn’t raining that morning yet. It was crazy that whole day but not the morning.

While I was in NOS, there was the HMH which had no line that morning. So I decided to head on back to HMH and get some of the decorations before I head on in the house.

Another pic of the HMH Gingerbread house in the dining room which is always fun to see

I just got off the HMH and while I was close to CC, I decided to go back there and get some pictures of the Holiday decorations. While I was at CC that morning, Splash Mountain wait time was only 5 minutes which isn’t a surprise to me as well as Winnie the Pooh ride.

C.K. Holliday over the bridge of CC

Hungry Bear restaurant closed that morning until it is opened at 11am

Pooh Corner store

I left Pooh Corner after getting al the pictures, I then wanted to ride the DLRR so I head on back to NOS. But that will be another post. I will be back later tonight with more.

 

[tksbaskets]

Bret you took some wonderful pictures during this morning. I'm amazed that there is no crowd. I love the simplicity of the Mark Twain wreath.

It is fun watching NFL games with a crowd. Hope your team won.

 

[tksbaskets]

Deej, you didn't miss a TR, like Bret said I did a 'mini' report and then experienced a total failure of the drive that had my pictures (6 years of them). Not a total disaster as I had them all on DVDs but just loading them back on and then reimporting them to photoshop e was enough to bag the cruise TR. Honestly it's not as fun to write a cruise TR as the followers there aren't nearly as chatty!

Now I will be doing a holiday TR when we stay at the Villas at the GCH for the first time. Our other stays have just been in regular rooms.

Enough of hijacking Bret's report. So fun to see the great pictures he posts (and your Christmas Cheer post is next) and get excited for our trip.

TK

 

[deejdigsdis]

Interesting that it was so empty that Sunday morning.

The heart shape in the side of the Matterhorn...I am wondering if that is the Hidden Mickey mentioned in my Hidden Mickey book. It said there is one in the side of the Matterhorn, but I looked and that heart shape is the only thing I saw that comes close. At the same time it doesn't look completely Mickey-ish either!

Is there a significance to those 3 different fences meeting together like that?

It was nice to see the IASW clock working again while I was there. I remember you and I noticed it wasn't opening during our trips earlier this year.

I never get tired of looking at the IASWH and SBC with icicle lights pictures.

Deej, you didn't miss a TR, like Bret said I did a 'mini' report and then experienced a total failure of the drive that had my pictures (6 years of them). Not a total disaster as I had them all on DVDs but just loading them back on and then reimporting them to photoshop e was enough to bag the cruise TR. Honestly it's not as fun to write a cruise TR as the followers there aren't nearly as chatty!

Now I will be doing a holiday TR when we stay at the Villas at the GCH for the first time. Our other stays have just been in regular rooms.

Enough of hijacking Bret's report. So fun to see the great pictures he posts (and your Christmas Cheer post is next) and get excited for our trip.

TK

So sorry to hear this TK. What a pain! At least the pictures aren't lost forever.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret you took some wonderful pictures during this morning. I'm amazed that there is no crowd. I love the simplicity of the Mark Twain wreath.

It is fun watching NFL games with a crowd. Hope your team won.

Thank you TK. I love going when the park opens the first thing in the morning at 8am since you can do a lot of the good rides with little wait time. You ride them later during the day during a busy weekend, you will be in a long queue. That was the best part of the day and later on it was crazy.

Deej, you didn't miss a TR, like Bret said I did a 'mini' report and then experienced a total failure of the drive that had my pictures (6 years of them). Not a total disaster as I had them all on DVDs but just loading them back on and then reimporting them to photoshop e was enough to bag the cruise TR. Honestly it's not as fun to write a cruise TR as the followers there aren't nearly as chatty!

Now I will be doing a holiday TR when we stay at the Villas at the GCH for the first time. Our other stays have just been in regular rooms.

Enough of hijacking Bret's report. So fun to see the great pictures he posts (and your Christmas Cheer post is next) and get excited for our trip.

TK

Don't worry about it TK. I am so looking forward to your TR and it would be nice to see the pics of the GCH villas that you will be staying.

Interesting that it was so empty that Sunday morning.

The heart shape in the side of the Matterhorn...I am wondering if that is the Hidden Mickey mentioned in my Hidden Mickey book. It said there is one in the side of the Matterhorn, but I looked and that heart shape is the only thing I saw that comes close. At the same time it doesn't look completely Mickey-ish either!

Is there a significance to those 3 different fences meeting together like that?

It was nice to see the IASW clock working again while I was there. I remember you and I noticed it wasn't opening during our trips earlier this year.

I never get tired of looking at the IASWH and SBC with icicle lights pictures.

DL was empty that morning as usual when the park opens at 8am.

Ever since the former Skyway tunnel through the Matterhorn was all covered up, I always look at it a heart shape than a Mickey shape. Maybe the Mickey shape is on the FL side then the TL side.

The white fence you see in the back of the two fences was one of the original fences of the old Fantasyland Autopia. The old FL Autopia track is now part of the TL Autopia.

Early last year during the Holiday season, the IASWH clock didn't move and this year it was nice to see it move.

I can watch SB Castle and IASWH every time when I go to DL.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – November 20, 2011 – Part 3​

I have just left off leaving CC and now heading on the DLRR and get some more pics of the Holiday decorations. At that time, it was still cloudy in the sky and I knew that it was going to rain but when. Around CC and NOS there wasn’t anybody in that area yet, but it will be crowded later that day.

I walked over to the NOS RR station and one of the trains was already at the station. It was the E.P. Ripley with Holiday 5 car set. Also at the NOS station, there were plenty of wreaths in the station.

The Christmas Wreath by the opposite station which is on the other side of the station.

I rode the DLRR all the way towards TL. On the way, I got a lot of different pics from the train.

The wait time at IASWH wasn’t bad yet that morning

When I got off at TL station, it was time to head on over to DCA. On the way out I walked down TL and see that Star Tours was closed that morning. I saw that BLAB wait time was already at 20 minute wait time. Talk about a long wait time when ST is closed that morning.

I was back around the Hub and once again, I had to get all the flowers pictures during the Holiday season which fits the theme of the Holiday season.

Different pics at SB Castle

Now back to the Hub and more pics of the flowers.

While I was walking out of DL, I got more different pics of MS while I was walking down.

That’s it for tonight and I will be back tomorrow with more.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – November 20, 2011 – Part 4​

I was at DL by myself while my DA was resting at the hotel. The weather was really cloudy that day and i could tell that it was going to rain that day but when. I left off leaving DL from MS. Now I went back around MS to get any Holiday decorations around the area.

The Christmas tree above the firehouse which usually is the lamp in the window

Some of the characters were around the Flag Retreat as the park crowd level is starting to pick up.

The Trains of Disney banner outside the Disney Gallery Store

I was about to leave DL and move on towards DCA that Sunday morning.

Over at DCA, it wasn’t that bad to enter the park than DL where the turnstiles lines were all most towards the monorail tracks.

No one down the walkway

When I got to GRR, it was kind of busy around the area. But I got my WoC FP which was the blue section for the 8pm show. I don’t plan on watching WoC that night, but I might change my mind if I want to see it again.

Another wreath by the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail

I got over to PP and there were quite a number of people waiting to get in. Most of the people were there waiting to head on over to TSMM. Maybe this time I will ride TSMM that morning. While I was waiting around the area, I took some more different pics around the area.

Flowers around the Light tower

A lot of people waiting to get to TSMM

The Pacific Wharf sign with the Christmas wreath which is there every year

That’s it for now and I will be back later today.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I hate to say this, but it looks like I won’t be able to finish my DLR TR since I am only one day away till my WDW trip. When I get back from WDW, I will continue the DLR TR before I start my WDW trip. I will possibly do one or two live TR so keep on checking.

Day 3 – November 20, 2011 – Part 5​

On that Sunday morning I was waiting at the rope drop right by PP bridge to get over to the other side of PP. While I was waiting, I was deciding if I want to go on TSMM. But the waiting area over that area was just too crowded so I will decide on how it will be when I get close to TSMM.

It was already at 10am and DCA is officially open. All of the people started to walk very fast and fun towards PP.

When I got closer to TSMM, the waiting area was almost close too CS, but the queue was not all the way in so I decided to head on over to MFW instead of waiting in that long queue.

I head on over to MFW and back on it for more pics of Cars Land. I will only post a few since you have seen them already on Saturday.

Some ducks chilling on the WoC platform

After getting off MFW, I needed to head back to BWAI and get all of our stuff and move it to the car and head on over to BW Stovall’s. I forgot to tell you that we switch hotels that Sunday since there were no available rooms at BWAI. So we chose to stay at BW Stovall’s since we got a great deal for one night. I head on back to the hotel and luckily it wasn’t raining at that time.

A nice view of Cadillac Range at Cars Land

BVS construction area while I was heading on out of the park

Back at Condor Flats

Now I was back outside of esplanade and now heading back to BWAI

There were quite a number of people heading on in DCA that morning.

Even at DL is starting to pick up with the crowds

I got back to BWAI around 11am and we started to load all of our stuff to the car and we head on over to BW Stovall’s which is our next hotel that we were staying on Sunday night.

That’s it for tonight and I might get one more post until my trip to WDW tomorrow.

 

[tksbaskets]

Bret, Have a blast at WDW!!

TK