Hi. Just spent 2 terrific days at DLR. I know there's an awesome xmas thread, but here's our personal impressions (almost all wonderful ones!) of our DLR holiday experiences.
1. Viva Navidad! at DCA - Don't miss this. It is awesome!!!! Fun and so joyful. My 6yo said this morning that this street party was even better than Space Mountain this visit (that's HIGH praise from him.) The performers are excellent and the crowd is so into it. Lots of people dancing along. You can't help it, it's just wonderful. Disney nailed this show and imo it gets to the heart of the Disney and the holiday spirit.
- Best viewing is in front of Bayside Brews/Jellyfish. We got a prime spot just as the show started (but crowds were low so this could change as things pick up.)
- Don't line up anywhere on the Garden Grill side of the street. While the dancers and musicians perform equally to both sides, the performer float (with the 3 Caballeros) moves into a stationary position facing Bayside Brews.
- Mickey & Minnie also ride in & out on this side, wheeling directly in front of you on the Bayside side. **They did not wheel further than the float though (they disembarked here and got on the float.) So you need to be lined up from the starting point (they come out of doors just to the left if you are facing Boardwalk Pizza) up to Jellyfish to have them ride right past you.
- Don't leave the moment the show ends. The performers then interact with the crowd. A drummer came up and let my son beat on his drum, then the same happened with one of the guitarists. Lots of high-fiving going on. One of the folkloric dancers danced with the lady next to us, she was wearing a bday button and was obviously having a great time.
2. Bell Ringers on Buena Vista Street - another excellent offering at DCA. They sing, they dance, of course they ring bells. It's perfect to get in the holiday spirit.
- Saw them at the corner of the Five & Dime, just inside the gates.
3. Santa Postcard Lady at DCA - she's on a 3-wheeled messenger bike, decorated for the holidays. She has postcards your child can fill out with a mailbox on the back which she'll deliver to Santa.
- While she does wheel up & down Buena Vista Street, her stationary position seemed to be by the fountain at Carthay Circle.
4. Peppermint Bark Chocolate at Ghirardelli - yum! Ok, make that YUM!!!!
- And they're handing these out in the regular size (it's been the mini's for awhile.) While any free Ghirardelli chocolate is good, bigger is indeed better in this case!
5. Haunted Mansion Holiday - it's running FP now. Totally unneccesary yesterday but the machines were giving out FP's and they had a dedicated FP line.
- Machines are a bit hidden if you don't know DL. Facing the HM entrance you'll see a small entrance in the wall on the left. Walk through and voila, FP machines.
6. Jingle Cruise - well they certainly beefed up this overlay with decorations throughout the ride.
- At the section where the gorillas have commandeered the holiday baking supplies, they've added a strong cinnamon scent.
- Imo, this is the weakest of the DL overlays. While there are lots of decorations now, the jokes fell flat to us. Forced and not as dry-humored as the regular JC jokes. I think this overlay will need a few more years to let the Skippers come up with and get approved some better material (instead of the rather forced script it seemed to us they've been handed.)
- DEFINITELY ride at night
7. Small World Holiday - love this overlay
- We boarded near dusk, no lights on yet, and it was magical coming out of the ride to a lit-up facade.
8. Jingle Jangle Jamboree - who knew my 6yo would spend an hour of ride time coloring at DL?! He was determined to finish the xmas postcard which you turn in and they will send to the troops.
- The character interaction was G-R-E-A-T. The best was when Goofy came and colored with my kid. Seriously, that's just like in the commercials, right?!
Goofy also led a conga line of kids on his way out for his break. Pluto was playing the Reindeer Games with the kids and Minnie was dancing with guests. Mickey was actually there too, but just for about the first 5 minutes we were there. And Jessie was meeting out near the animal area.
- Santa's there of course. We didn't do this but it looked like he was spending a fair bit of time with each child.
- The cookies for decorating are $6 and worth it to us. The cookie is large and ours was nice and fresh and of course the icing and decorations were fun for him. Have plenty of napkins on hand though!
- A Sheriff came around to hand out the Sheriff Badge coloring item. These are used during the show so have your kid color this before the show.
- The show was fun and interactive. We had a great time and in all we spent 1.5 hours here. And I still had to say we're leaving now (made easier with a FP return coming up.) But I'd say budget plenty of time here and if your kid's not into it, no loss. But if they are, then you'll be able to experience it all.
9. Fireworks - we think the Small World projections are wonderful
- BUT, we just love watching from the NOS and somehow the atmosphere over here makes the falling snow seem a little more magical. Just our personal preference of course. We're going to try Main Street viewing next trip (11 days and counting!) so we can see the castle effects.
10 . Characters - ok, for real, it's absolutely character central these days. They're everywhere, many in holiday costume. I'm talking about roaming characters or stationed out in guest areas. We encountered them in every land in DL except Critter (where Pooh & Friends were out in their usual spot, decked in holiday gear.)
- Almost no characters had handlers, people just politely lined up. And even when we saw a princess having to tell guests (with a little girl) that her current family was the last before a break, they smiled and just asked if she would be coming back. Donald and Daisy did have handlers in Toontown, but not Pluto. No Stormtrooper handlers nor Hook, none with the characters on Main Street. There were photopass photogs with some of the characters on Main and Buena Vista streets plus the usual ones in Cars Land.
- Ok, who is the princess we saw both days by the wishing well? She was in a satiny pink dress with golden blond hair and a gold tiara. I have no clue who this is.
- One thing that was odd though were all the Fab 5 characters. Like Minnie, Pluto and Goofy were at Jingle Jangle when we were leaving that area and then we saw them again about 1/2 hour later as we were exiting the park. Pluto had reindoor horns at Jingle but a Santa hat at the exit. We saw Donald and Daisy coming in the first day, then about an hour later in Toontown. While they could be rotating show times at the locations, it at least felt like there were multiple of the same character out at once.
Alright, I'm sure that's enough of our impressions. We had a great time and hope you do too!!
1. Viva Navidad! at DCA - Don't miss this. It is awesome!!!! Fun and so joyful. My 6yo said this morning that this street party was even better than Space Mountain this visit (that's HIGH praise from him.) The performers are excellent and the crowd is so into it. Lots of people dancing along. You can't help it, it's just wonderful. Disney nailed this show and imo it gets to the heart of the Disney and the holiday spirit.
- Best viewing is in front of Bayside Brews/Jellyfish. We got a prime spot just as the show started (but crowds were low so this could change as things pick up.)
- Don't line up anywhere on the Garden Grill side of the street. While the dancers and musicians perform equally to both sides, the performer float (with the 3 Caballeros) moves into a stationary position facing Bayside Brews.
- Mickey & Minnie also ride in & out on this side, wheeling directly in front of you on the Bayside side. **They did not wheel further than the float though (they disembarked here and got on the float.) So you need to be lined up from the starting point (they come out of doors just to the left if you are facing Boardwalk Pizza) up to Jellyfish to have them ride right past you.
- Don't leave the moment the show ends. The performers then interact with the crowd. A drummer came up and let my son beat on his drum, then the same happened with one of the guitarists. Lots of high-fiving going on. One of the folkloric dancers danced with the lady next to us, she was wearing a bday button and was obviously having a great time.
2. Bell Ringers on Buena Vista Street - another excellent offering at DCA. They sing, they dance, of course they ring bells. It's perfect to get in the holiday spirit.
- Saw them at the corner of the Five & Dime, just inside the gates.
3. Santa Postcard Lady at DCA - she's on a 3-wheeled messenger bike, decorated for the holidays. She has postcards your child can fill out with a mailbox on the back which she'll deliver to Santa.
- While she does wheel up & down Buena Vista Street, her stationary position seemed to be by the fountain at Carthay Circle.
4. Peppermint Bark Chocolate at Ghirardelli - yum! Ok, make that YUM!!!!
- And they're handing these out in the regular size (it's been the mini's for awhile.) While any free Ghirardelli chocolate is good, bigger is indeed better in this case!
5. Haunted Mansion Holiday - it's running FP now. Totally unneccesary yesterday but the machines were giving out FP's and they had a dedicated FP line.
- Machines are a bit hidden if you don't know DL. Facing the HM entrance you'll see a small entrance in the wall on the left. Walk through and voila, FP machines.
6. Jingle Cruise - well they certainly beefed up this overlay with decorations throughout the ride.
- At the section where the gorillas have commandeered the holiday baking supplies, they've added a strong cinnamon scent.
- Imo, this is the weakest of the DL overlays. While there are lots of decorations now, the jokes fell flat to us. Forced and not as dry-humored as the regular JC jokes. I think this overlay will need a few more years to let the Skippers come up with and get approved some better material (instead of the rather forced script it seemed to us they've been handed.)
- DEFINITELY ride at night
7. Small World Holiday - love this overlay
- We boarded near dusk, no lights on yet, and it was magical coming out of the ride to a lit-up facade.
8. Jingle Jangle Jamboree - who knew my 6yo would spend an hour of ride time coloring at DL?! He was determined to finish the xmas postcard which you turn in and they will send to the troops.
- The character interaction was G-R-E-A-T. The best was when Goofy came and colored with my kid. Seriously, that's just like in the commercials, right?!
Goofy also led a conga line of kids on his way out for his break. Pluto was playing the Reindeer Games with the kids and Minnie was dancing with guests. Mickey was actually there too, but just for about the first 5 minutes we were there. And Jessie was meeting out near the animal area.- Santa's there of course. We didn't do this but it looked like he was spending a fair bit of time with each child.
- The cookies for decorating are $6 and worth it to us. The cookie is large and ours was nice and fresh and of course the icing and decorations were fun for him. Have plenty of napkins on hand though!
- A Sheriff came around to hand out the Sheriff Badge coloring item. These are used during the show so have your kid color this before the show.
- The show was fun and interactive. We had a great time and in all we spent 1.5 hours here. And I still had to say we're leaving now (made easier with a FP return coming up.) But I'd say budget plenty of time here and if your kid's not into it, no loss. But if they are, then you'll be able to experience it all.
9. Fireworks - we think the Small World projections are wonderful
- BUT, we just love watching from the NOS and somehow the atmosphere over here makes the falling snow seem a little more magical. Just our personal preference of course. We're going to try Main Street viewing next trip (11 days and counting!) so we can see the castle effects.
10 . Characters - ok, for real, it's absolutely character central these days. They're everywhere, many in holiday costume. I'm talking about roaming characters or stationed out in guest areas. We encountered them in every land in DL except Critter (where Pooh & Friends were out in their usual spot, decked in holiday gear.)
- Almost no characters had handlers, people just politely lined up. And even when we saw a princess having to tell guests (with a little girl) that her current family was the last before a break, they smiled and just asked if she would be coming back. Donald and Daisy did have handlers in Toontown, but not Pluto. No Stormtrooper handlers nor Hook, none with the characters on Main Street. There were photopass photogs with some of the characters on Main and Buena Vista streets plus the usual ones in Cars Land.
- Ok, who is the princess we saw both days by the wishing well? She was in a satiny pink dress with golden blond hair and a gold tiara. I have no clue who this is.
- One thing that was odd though were all the Fab 5 characters. Like Minnie, Pluto and Goofy were at Jingle Jangle when we were leaving that area and then we saw them again about 1/2 hour later as we were exiting the park. Pluto had reindoor horns at Jingle but a Santa hat at the exit. We saw Donald and Daisy coming in the first day, then about an hour later in Toontown. While they could be rotating show times at the locations, it at least felt like there were multiple of the same character out at once.
Alright, I'm sure that's enough of our impressions. We had a great time and hope you do too!!
