We Defected to the West! DLR 2013

[mom2rtk]

Your welcome Janet. It was a shame that DL made a lot of changes to A Christmas Fantasy parade last year. I am also curious what the parade will be like this year especially with Mickey and Minnie's Ice Rink float which is being used and converted for Anna & Elsa during the summertime.

I'll be anxiously waiting right along with you!

I'm not a fan of that float anyway just because the sight lines are so poor. But I hope they do keep A/E in the parade during the holiday season.

 

[mom2rtk]

Sunday December 8th 2013 Continued:


We still had a couple hours before I wanted to line up for the Fantasmic Dessert party. Katie wanted to do the castle walkthrough so we headed that way next.



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We love eating in the castle at WDW and really miss that experience at DLR. But I also think it's pretty cool that you can walk up through the castle and see the story of Sleeping Beauty told through lighted displays.



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The park was pretty busy, so we passed on doing any of the big rides. This was the second night of Candlelight Processional so we knew it would be busy). It



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Thankfully in spite of the crowds, most of the dark rides in Fantasyland had pretty short lines (except Peter Pan and Alice). So we did Snow White next.


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Katie had gotten Indy fastpasses for us while we were waiting on the parade, so we kept an eye on the clock to be sure we didn't miss out on those, especially after seeing how much it seemed to be down. We had a bit more time so we headed for Jingle Jangle Jamboree to see if we could find Santa Mickey. I chatted with a character CM, who told me Mickey would be out soon and confirmed which area he would come from. So we sat and watched. Good thing we have eyes in the back of our heads because somewhere along the line we noticed he was out behind us! Thankfully he wasn't trying to mingle like Minnie was the other day, but just seeing people in a traditional line. We were also lucky enough to catch Pluto in his Christmas gear:

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We practically ran out of there when we were done to make sure we got to Indy on time. We got there with just a few minutes to spare. Thankfully the ride was up and we actually got to do it.

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We were done just in time to start the line for the Fantasmic Dessert Party right around 6. It was really cold out, and getting colder since the sun had set. But Katie was a great trooper. I had offered her the option of coming just in time to check in, knowing we'd be in the 3rd row but she preferred staying and going for the front row seats.

We had waited around an hour when someone mentioned the tickets for the party and it dawned on me I hadn't stopped at Guest Services to pick ours up! YIKES! And this was Candlelight Processional night, so Main Street was sure to be a solid mass of humanity. I left Katie in line and sprinted through the crowds (no small feat) all the way back to the front of the park. I also needed to somehow get to the locker and retrieve our things, but just as I was at the desk getting our tickets, Katie texted me to hurry up! Oy, so I practically ran back. I had heard they didn't assign seats until 8, so was confused what the hurry was. When I got back I found out they had moved the line, but everyone kept their same order, so no issues. So back I went across the park again to get our things from the locker. I also stopped to get some dinner. I wanted to find us some chicken gumbo, but couldn't find any at a counter service location. The one with gumbo had everything but chicken. The one with other soup I wanted was out of bread bowls. So I settled for some red beans and rice. Katie wanted another hot dog from one of the nearby stands.

The lady who showed up to man the check-in stand had been really nice. When I had to run back to the locker, she asked me before going which seats we wanted, and said as long as Katie had the tickets it would be fine. She was really nice too, and I enjoyed chatting with her while we waited.

 

[MEK]

I got a little far behind. Let's see if I can remember my comments.

That's the first time I've seen pics inside Flo's V8. How cute is that?

And the Cozy Cone really takes the theming all the way - right down to the cookies. And those Cone Christmas trees are so creative.

Cool pics inside ToT!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the pictures from the Christmas parade. What a neat parade. Love it!

Love all the pics of your DD. She is just too cute!

Can't wait to see your pics of the CP. And Yikes to that mad run across the park to get your tickets.

 

[PrincessInOz]

That's wonderful M&G pictures with Mickey and Pluto.

WOW! That's a real mad dash to get your stuff and tix. Glad you managed to get it all without losing your place in line.

 

[jenseib]

WEll I just have to say that is something I would totally do and have done! Why do they need darn tickets anyways....Just take my word for it!

Well you got your excercise at least!

 

[mom2rtk]

I got a little far behind. Let's see if I can remember my comments.

That's the first time I've seen pics inside Flo's V8. How cute is that?

I think it's absolutely adorable. We are definitely looking forward to eating there again this year!

And the Cozy Cone really takes the theming all the way - right down to the cookies. And those Cone Christmas trees are so creative.

I LOVE LOVE LOVED the Cozy Cone area too. I didn't mind waiting for a bit to meet Lightning McQueen just so we could take in everything in that area.

Cool pics inside ToT!

Thanks! Lots more ToT fun to come!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the pictures from the Christmas parade. What a neat parade. Love it!

Love all the pics of your DD. She is just too cute!

Can't wait to see your pics of the CP. And Yikes to that mad run across the park to get your tickets.


CP was held that night. But we didn't go. When I hear about a big gathering like that, some people can't wait to do it. I try hard NOT to do it! We decided to do dessert party seating for Fantasmic that night to counter the crowds.

That's wonderful M&G pictures with Mickey and Pluto.

WOW! That's a real mad dash to get your stuff and tix. Glad you managed to get it all without losing your place in line.

Thanks PiO! We got lucky finding Mickey and Pluto so easily that night. And I'm so glad we did. I have been waiting for years to get a photo with Mickey in a nice Christmas costume. We have done MVMCP many many times, but I've been disappointed in his costume for years. Once we were close to meeting him in his Victorian outfit with top hat (2008?) but ended up leaving the line because we were with friends who wanted to see the fireworks. The next time we went back, they had him in some sort of green or red suit that I hated. And he's been in that ugly suit for years now. So finding him in his Santa suit was a real treat!

And I just felt so stupid for forgetting to pick up our tickets. Oy. Thankfully Katie was old enough to save our spot while I made the run. If I had to do that with a young child, it would have taken a lot longer.

WEll I just have to say that is something I would totally do and have done! Why do they need darn tickets anyways....Just take my word for it!

Well you got your excercise at least!

LOL, and I love that about you Jen! We're just long lost soul sisters.

If we decide to do Fantasmic seating this year, I'll have vacation planning make the reservation for me so I can pick the tickets up at the hotel. But then after last year's run, the odds of me forgetting again are pretty low!

 

[amandaw]

Santa Mickey is so cute!

Definitely interested in hearing all about the Fantasmic Dessert Party. I'm really considering it for our trip.

 

[missangelalexis]

Great parade shots!

Santa Mickey is adorable! As is reindeer Pluto

You certainly were running everywhere! Can't wait to hear about the dessert party.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Very nice set of photos from Sleeping Beauty Walkthrough and the M&G shots at JJJ.

What a crazy night where you had to go to other parts of the park. It was nice to hear that it worked out really well.

 

[KCmike]

Great shots Janet. You can tell my the look in both of your eyes that you two had a blast. Loving the trip report as usual!

 

[ArwenMarie]

Love the updates, great pictures as always

 

[mom2rtk]

Santa Mickey is so cute!

Definitely interested in hearing all about the Fantasmic Dessert Party. I'm really considering it for our trip.

I'm almost finally there! I know...... It's been very slow coming.....

Great parade shots!

Santa Mickey is adorable! As is reindeer Pluto

You certainly were running everywhere! Can't wait to hear about the dessert party.

Thanks! I love the parades at Disney, and this one was no disappointment. We loved it.

And I can't believe how long we had to wait to finally find Santa Mickey! I'm a little disheartened to hear rumors about the Big Thunder Ranch area being gobbled up by something for Star Wars. I'd love to see that added to the park, but would be sad to have it be there. Or Toontown.

Very nice set of photos from Sleeping Beauty Walkthrough and the M&G shots at JJJ.

What a crazy night where you had to go to other parts of the park. It was nice to hear that it worked out really well.

Thanks Bret! That night was wild. But thankfully it all worked out well.

Great shots Janet. You can tell my the look in both of your eyes that you two had a blast. Loving the trip report as usual!

Thanks Mike! We had a ball. And it's so nice, especially at this age, to just have some silly fun together.

Love the updates, great pictures as always

Thanks! More to come soon. I promise! Life has been crazy of late getting Katie back to school. And today we drive across the state and back getting Timmy back to school.

 

[mom2rtk]

Sunday December 8th 2013 Continued:

Once we finally checked in and chose our seats for the Fantasmic Dessert Party, we had about half an hour before they would actually let us start taking our seats. There wasn't much to do in the area with half an hour, but I wanted to get out of the cold and actually DO something for a few minutes. I figured Pooh wouldn't have much of a wait, and I was right. We rode that a couple times, then looked around the Splash gift shop. I would have killed for a couple of those rocking chairs like they have in the Splash gift shop at WDW so I could get off my overused feet...... But no such luck here. We were cold and really wanted to sit down.



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It felt so good to finally sit down at 8:30 and enjoy our hot chocolate and treats. But more than anything, I was really just ready to get the show on the road. Everyone raves about DL's Fantasmic. And they are right, it is clearly superior to the one at DHS. The Peter Pan segment set on the Columbia sailing ship is very impressive, so much better than the Pocahontas sequence at DHS. And there is no comparison when it comes to the dragon. She's an impressive beast. And having the characters sail by on the Mark Twain is another win. But the angst involved in getting a decent seat is a definite loss. I probably won't do it again soon. Or if we do it again, I'll settle for 3 row seating and show up at the last minute.


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[mom2rtk]

Sunday December 8th, 2013 Continued:


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We got to stay in our seats for the fireworks after the show, and that was nice. But we were more than ready to head out when that was done. It snowed overhead afterwards, a virtual blizzard. I had to actually cover my camera!


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Katie was sweet and waited for a photo in front of the castle before leaving the park. Since we had missed our night castle shot on our 2012 WDW trip, she knew it was important to me.

I was really disappointed a few weeks ago to take out that Photopass CD and accidentally crack it taking it out of the case. My friends on the photo board helped direct me to some recovery software and I did in fact recover about 75% of the photos on that disc. What I was really looking for was that night castle shot. I was so happy to find this:


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It had been a great day, but far busier in the parks than I prefer, so I was ready to head back and hope for lower crowds the next day.



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And on the way out, we saw them already starting to disassemble the CP stage:


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[mvf-m11c]

There is no question that the DL version of F! is better over DHS version. The only thing that I would give DHS is the seating arena while DL doesn't have it but I still enjoy sitting on the walkway by the RoA for F! at DL. Awesome pictures of F! that night from the Dessert viewing location. That's what great about the F! Dessert Package where you don't have to wait that long to stake out a spot and get to have dessert while watching F!.

I'm sorry to hear about the PhotoPass CD and luckily you were able to recover some of the pictures.

 

[KCmike]

Wonderfully captured images from Fantasmic! at DL. Even without the seating it truly trumps DHS version. You should google fantasmic at DHS and look at the little tugboat they use just to relook at how different that part of the show looks. It's really funny in retrospect.

When did you get the 50-150 2.8 lens? I was looking at some of your exif to see what the settings were. How do you like the lens? Any other new camera toys?

I remember you stating about how you cracked the disc on the photo boards and am so glad you got a majority of them back. This is a nice reminder to us all to make sure we back up all of our precious data! I still don't do it enough! How is your son doing with college? We had our first friday night football game last night for the twins in high school. My daughter still loves Park and is taking a special course this fall where she gets to go to Italy in October on fall break. I can't believe that my daughter is leaving the country before I do. I am so happy for her.

I found out a few weeks ago that my work will affect our trip this winter and we had to cancel our trip. Oh well. I really want to see the 60th anniversary next year but it looks like that might have to be postponed as well. I'm really toying with the idea of a Disney cruise. I guess I'm always on the hunt for the next getaway trip.

Keep those updates coming!

 

[petals]

LOL, you must not be a big thrill rider. I don't do mega-coasters. but something with an inversion or two? I'm all in.

Peter Pan is about as "thrill" as I get! I don't do the coasters at all!


Luvin the parade pics
I want that Duffy on the Christmas Donald Float

 

[YodasMom]

Awesome Fantasmic shots, Janet!!! Don't you just love DL's Fanstasmic Show?

The PP photo of you an Katie in front of the castle is lovely! I'm so sorry about what happened to you CD. I suppose it was too late for PP to assist with the lost images. I never knew you could re-capture them if it broke.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great shots of F!

I definitely prefer the DLR version over the WDW one. The only thing that I like better at WDW is the purpose built stadium for seating purposes. It can be hit and miss at DLR if you don't get there early for a good position. And then you have to wait forever for the show after that. Not a good trade-off when park time is at a premium.

 

[amandaw]

Your shots of Fantasmic are fantastic!

Think I'm definitely going to book the dessert package thing to have seats.