Our Holiday Time Trip Report (Nov 15-23)

[Disney127]

Welcome to my first Disney trip report. I just wanted to share some of our experiences and photos. We have been to the DLR a few times but this trip consist of just DD(13) and myself. DH and DD(18) stayed home this time since they could only do Disney every few years. DD(13) and I wanted to re-experience Holiday Time at DLR plus to also celebrate DD turning 13.

We did a split stay at the Best Western Park Place Inn and Paradise Pier Hotel.

Here we are - I am Mimi and my Disney buddy is Jillian. You will also notice in photos that we brought along some of our little 'friends'.



BWPPI – this is our 3rd time staying here, our room was on the second floor in the middle of the building. WIFI seems better here than when we stayed on the 3rd floor in the back. Room and breakfast items were adequate for our needs. Liked the close proximity to the parks.

PPH – we had a theme park view room located on the 12th floor. We wanted to see WOC from our room and were pleasantly surprised that we could also see the fireworks from DL. We walked thru the GCH lobby to get to DCA or to Downtown Disney. Didn’t find that the elevators being slow as reported by some. Maybe, it’s because we were on a higher floor. We both agreed that we like the PPH better than the DLH just for the view.




Surf’s Up Breakfast – had a 7:30 am reservation, had great interaction with Stitch, Pluto and Goofy before the restaurant started to fill up. Probably helped that DD brought along her ‘friends’ – baby in Stitch costume and stuffed doggy. We choose this breakfast because DD is a Stitch fan.






Anna and Elsa Meet & Greet – went on a non MM/EMH day, used gate 14 and was first in line. After they let us in, we walked briskly on the left side of Main Street towards the Partners Statue and lined up behind the rope that was set up. We were the 4th family in line and got to meet A&E without a FP. Before the rest of the park was opened, we were lead into Fantasyland thru the castle. The lines got pretty long quickly, a cast member counted how many families can go directly to the Meet & Greet and the rest of the people lined up for the FP. When we came out from see A&E, the FP line was wrapped around Village Haus Restaurant.




Big Thunder BBQ Ranch – we had a late lunch here, great service and entertainment. Had chicken, ribs, beans, coleslaw and corn bread with unlimited drinks. We would probably not do this again since we didn’t feel like we could eat that much but it was still a good experience.




Jingle Jangle Jamboree – visited this area a few times to meet the characters - saw Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Mickey in Santa outfit, Chip and Dale. The characters roam freely around so if you are trying to line up for a photo, they sometimes walk away to mingle with the guests.






Holiday Tour – we signed up for the 2:45 pm tour, there were 13 of us and our tour guide was Lauren. We brought our own earbuds for the tour. Learned some interesting things about the decorations and got to ride Jingle Cruise, Haunted Mansion and It’s A Small World. Had front row seats to the parade just in front of IASW with hot chocolate in a souvenir mug and a gingerbread cookie. Was also given a Chip and Dale Holiday Pin. Also, got a chance to meet up with a fellow Diser – planningjollyholiday!

 

[Disney127]

Mickey’s Magical Map – we really enjoyed this show, loved this musical and appearances by Pocahontas, Mulan, Rapunzel, Flynn, King Louie, Sabastian, Stitch and Tiana. Lined up 10 minutes before show and had no problems getting a seat near the front.



Hiro and Baymax Meet & Greet – hours for this was 10:30 am – 5 pm each day. The first time that we tried this, half way thru the lineup, Baymax had to go in to re-charge. So, we only had a photo with Hiro. The second time we tried this, we lined up at 10 am to ensure that we got both characters. Hiro was a pretty good character and Baymax was squeeshy and soft as per my DD when she hugged him.



Parades, Fireworks and WOC – we watched the Christmas Fantasy Parade, Pixar Play Parade (our favorite because of the interaction) and fireworks a few times during this trip. We usually find a spot about ½ hour before the parade started and seems to always get a front row seat. For the fireworks, once we watched it in the middle of Main Street – couldn’t see the castle but enjoyed the fireworks above it. The next time, we found a table at the Plaza Inn and enjoyed our late dinner while watch the fireworks from here. We also caught the Viva Navidad parade over by Paradise Pier, really enjoyed this colorful parade with great music and dancing. As for WOC, we decided that we would just watch this from our room. Enjoyed abit of it from Paradise Pier even though we couldn’t see the projections. Both DD and I liked the regular version better.






Storytellers Café – had a 10:30 am reservation, saw Kenai, Koda, Meeko, Chip and Dale – good interaction – the characters came around a few times, food selection was good – we liked the food here more than at Surf’s Up.




Characters – my DD enjoys meeting the characters and we tend to line up more to meet characters than doing the rides. Usually, the Fab 5 can be found in Town Square in their holiday wear plus they were also at Jingle Jangle Jamboree and Toon Town. Over in DCA, they are on Buena Vista Street. Besides A&E and Hiro/Baymax, we visited Pixie Hollow, encountered Woody and Buzz over at Paradise Pier, met with McQueen, Mater and Red in Carsland, met Oswald in front of his shop, visited with the Aerial, Snow White, Cinderella and Belle at Fantasy Faire. Also found Mary Poppins near the front gates. Characters were everywhere!














Photopass Plus – we always order this before our arrival at the parks. It was really fun to go on California Screamin’ and see how many types of faces we can make for the photos each time we rode it. We had almost 300 photos on our card plus after adding borders and cropping, we ended up with over 600 photos!




Crowds – when we arrived mid-day on Saturday, November 15th – the parks were pretty crowded already, especially with the Avenger Half Marathon that weekend. But Monday to Thursday, the crowds seems pretty manageable. As Friday and Saturday rolled around again, it got busy again. We always got into the parks at opening or ½ later and the lines are pretty short. We did most of our rides during this time. We would take a break mid-day and headed back into the parks in the evenings. We also park hopped to the other park if one park was getting too congested.

 

[Disney127]

Holiday Time at DLR – beautiful decorations everywhere, lots of photo opportunities and lots of yummy treats to try. DD and I enjoyed the festive sights more at night since it was cooler and felt more Christmasy to us (being from a cold climate! LOL) We also visited DLH and GCH and checked out the gingerbread house that they were building in the GCH lobby.










DD turning 13 – DD’s birthday is the same day as Mickey’s! 2 years ago when DD turned 11, she really enjoyed all the attention that she got when she wore her birthday button. But this time around, after wearing her button for a few days and getting birthday cupcakes and attention from the cast members, she decided to take off her button because she didn’t want to be the center of attention anymore. Must be a teenage thing!





We had an afternoon flight on Sunday and after packing up in our room, we headed over to DCA where we spend a couple of hours riding Screamin’ and Little Mermaid. Then we went over to DL and grabbed a snack & drink and sat on a bench near the Partners Statue. It was really nice to just sit and people watch. Before we left the park, we stopped by in front of the fire station and said a thank you to Walt and told him that we will be back soon.



We had a wonderful 8 days at the DLR. We had our fill of treats, rode the rides that we wanted to, chatted with some wonderful people and cast members while waiting in lines and enjoyed wandering around admiring all the decorations. We didn’t get to do all the things that we were planning to do – like visiting Tom Sawyer Island or eating a Dole Whip, those things will have to wait until our next trip. But we did get to experience new things like riding Jingles on the Carousel and seeing Mickey’s Magical Map for the first time. So, all in all, another great trip full of memories and photos!



Thank you for reading!

 

[crystal1313]

Looks like you had an amazing trip!! Thank you so much for sharing Loved all the photos! And we love PPH too. It's our favorite DLR hotel!

 

[planningjollyholiday]

Mimi, it was so nice meeting you and your daughter! Looks like you two had a wonderful birthday trip! Hope your family has a very merry Christmas!

 

[Disney127]

Mimi, it was so nice meeting you and your daughter! Looks like you two had a wonderful birthday trip! Hope your family has a very merry Christmas!

It was nice meeting you too, Vicky! Merry Christmas to you and your family! Hope that you all are still wearing your Christmas sweaters!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us!!! We have never been to DLR and are hoping to visit in Nov. 2105. We're thinking about going the week after Thanksgiving. If we plan 4 days there do you think that is enough time,. it would be me, dh and kids ages 16, 13 and 8. Thanks!

 

[Disney127]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us!!! We have never been to DLR and are hoping to visit in Nov. 2105. We're thinking about going the week after Thanksgiving. If we plan 4 days there do you think that is enough time,. it would be me, dh and kids ages 16, 13 and 8. Thanks!

Thank you for reading! You will have a wonderful time! We always do, that's why we go back every year! I think that 4 days will be enough to see everything that you want to, use FPs when you can and start early. You can get lots of rides done early in the morning before the crowds arrive. We always start early and then take a break around 1 or 2 and then head back into the parks later in the afternoon. If the lineups are not too bad, then we go on a ride and if it's too crowded, we like to find a bench and have a snack and people watch. We also hop back and forth between the two parks. We have been there during Thanksgiving week (didn't realize that when I booked the trip) and it was really busy. We also didn't have any strategies in place since it has been many years since our last visit. And our last visit was the week before Thanksgiving and the crowds were manageable. Your children are at a good age where they probably have lots of energy! Happy planning and have a great time!

 

[Disney127]

Looks like you had an amazing trip!! Thank you so much for sharing Loved all the photos! And we love PPH too. It's our favorite DLR hotel!

We would love to stay at the PPH every time we visit but it gets abit expensive. So, maybe we will do another split stay!