We Defected to the West! DLR 2013

[mom2rtk]

Good to know. I'll make sure to get fastpasses and sure if we don't get a good spot the first time maybe go more than once

Luvin all the Christmas decorations from the hotels.

I wish we had seen WOC a second time. Even if it isn't as good as the non-holiday version, it's still a pretty impressive show. I'm looking forward to seeing it again this year.

SO SO So glad you guys did the holiday tour! It was Adam and my favorite when we went for our honeymoon. Wish the had had the Jingle Cruise though, next time I guess.

I was really happy they added the Jingle Cruise for the tour. Honestly, it took about as long to do the tour as it would have taken to wait through standby for those 3 rides that busy Friday afternoon. And the tour is a great memory from the trip for us.

That sounds SO familiar.

Those carolers - OMG their costumes are phenomenal. And the lobby of the VGC is just stunning. Of course its even lovelier during Christmas.

What a nice evening to end you first full day.

Yeah, don't you know I was LOVING those amazing Victorian costumes. I could have stood there all day listening and watching.

Hi! I'm joining in late. I saw the link to your TR in your signature when you posted on Mesaboy2's TR. So, I just had to come over and check out your report. My family is planning our 1st DLR trip for next year. We're very excited and I'm trying to learn all that I can.

Your room @ Paradise Pier looks cute. I think you said y'all have stayed @ all 3 DLR resorts. Is there one you like the most? We are looking at DLH but may do Paradise Pier if DLH doesn't cooperate with my budget.

I agree with everyone here - your pictures are beautiful! I can never get good fireworks shots. Do you use a tripod? One day I need to just breakdown & bring my tripod with me. I just hate hauling stuff.

Looks like you & your DD were having a great trip together!

So glad you found us!

To be fair, it's hard to compare the 3 resorts. PPH wouldn't be my first choice unless price was part of the equation. Which it unfortunately is. I liked both GCH and DLH. I'd give the edge to DLH just on atmosphere. But it's hard to beat the logistics of staying so close to a Disney park. It's amazing to be in your room just minutes after leaving the park.

Thanks for the kind words on the photos. And yeah, if you want good fireworks shots, you have to bring a tripod. I bought mine with trips to Disney in mind. So I wanted something tall, but with the ability to fold down small enough to fit in a Disney locker. It also needed to be lightweight so I wouldn't mind carrying it around a bit. Or so Katie wouldn't mind carrying it for me sometimes!

How fun to be planning your first trip. Feel free to ask away if you have questions. Lots of very helpful people here!

More great pics with Santa! The costumes on the carolers look amazing.

Love those teacup seats- so cute!

What a sweet way to end your night

Thanks! For a non-park day, it was a lot of fun. And I need one of those teacup chairs in my living room! Now fess up........ most of you would want one too!

I agree with you that the Santa setting in the DLH is the prettiest, even if it doesn't have an enormous tree behind it. It's not like you can get the huge tree into a Santa picture anyhow. If I were taking the "Christmas card" shot I'd want the DLH setup. But the GCH has Santa at night and is way more visible, so that's where everyone seems to go.

PHXscuba

That's a great summary. DLH just screams "Christmas card photo"! But the fact that it's just sort of in a hallway away from the lobby detracts from the overall feel. PPH is clearly just a tree (although a very colorful tree) in the lobby of a hotel. GCH is in an entirely different league. I loved the view from upstairs of Santa down by the tree, with guests spread out all over the lobby. It was just an entirely different feel.

Great trip report and pictures. It's fun reading it, because it brings good memories back to our trip last year. We were at the Disneyland Resort from December 1st to 9th.

Thanks Orbitron! Thanks for the info on the 3 Cabelleros on the Christmas thread. We'll definitely be stalking them this year! Sounds (and looks!) like you had a great time.

If only I could get a tax return between now and then, I'd sign up for this!!!

Let me know how that works out for you!

 

[mvf-m11c]

The Grand Californian lobby is a must see for everyone visiting DLR at Christmas time. As is the lobby at the Wilderness Lodge. Both are similar, and just so........ grand.

I love that when we go back this year we'll finally be able to make our own comparisons of the resorts over time. I love hearing from posters like you and Sherry comparing this or that detail to last year and look forward to doing it myself this year!

Definitely. It is amazing to see the giant Christmas tree in the lobby of the GCH. It is unfortunate that the GCH lobby Christmas tree won't be up around Thanksgiving time. Even when I go during the first weekend of the holiday season at the DLR, the hotel is not decorated. But last year trip before Thanksgiving, it was up which was a little surprise to me last year and it was nice to see the tree up before Thanksgiving day. I haven't been to the Wilderness Lodge at WDW and I would bet that it is amazing just like the GCH.

Sherry and I always compare the the decorations at the DLR over the years of what is new and has changed. Some of it is great like Cars Land, BVS, etc. and times where they scale the decorations back which is disappointing. The DLR scaled back the decorations at certain lands over the years like the light canopy over NOS alleyway, the real Christmas trees at Mickey's Toontown that have been replaced with the ugly plastic trees that were once at the former Mickey's Toontown Fair at the MK, and etc. I could go on and on on all the changes of the decorations at the DLR.

It will be very interesting to see what we will see new this year during the holiday season or they won't do anything. I am not counting my cards that the DLR will leave the holiday season as is like last year. Next year is the interesting season with the 60th anniversary and what will happen during the holiday season next year. We'll just have to wait and see what will happen.

 

[mom2rtk]

Definitely. It is amazing to see the giant Christmas tree in the lobby of the GCH. It is unfortunate that the GCH lobby Christmas tree won't be up around Thanksgiving time. Even when I go during the first weekend of the holiday season at the DLR, the hotel is not decorated. But last year trip before Thanksgiving, it was up which was a little surprise to me last year and it was nice to see the tree up before Thanksgiving day. I haven't been to the Wilderness Lodge at WDW and I would bet that it is amazing just like the GCH.

Sherry and I always compare the the decorations at the DLR over the years of what is new and has changed. Some of it is great like Cars Land, BVS, etc. and times where they scale the decorations back which is disappointing. The DLR scaled back the decorations at certain lands over the years like the light canopy over NOS alleyway, the real Christmas trees at Mickey's Toontown that have been replaced with the ugly plastic trees that were once at the former Mickey's Toontown Fair at the MK, and etc. I could go on and on on all the changes of the decorations at the DLR.

It will be very interesting to see what we will see new this year during the holiday season or they won't do anything. I am not counting my cards that the DLR will leave the holiday season as is like last year. Next year is the interesting season with the 60th anniversary and what will happen during the holiday season next year. We'll just have to wait and see what will happen.

Part of me wishes we had gone back to WDW this year so we could get back to DLR next year during the 60th anniversary. You guys are making me jealous about all the cool new stuff you think is coming!

It does make me sad to hear about how much has been scaled back. But honestly, there's still a lot more Christmas left than there is at WDW.

I saw photos of the tree in Toontown. I'm really sorry to have missed that one. Isn't the one there now one from WDW? I don't like going all the way to the other coast to see something I've seen countless times at WDW!

I don't like going back and taking all the same photos over again, but all this discussion about the GCH lobby makes me think I'll make a point of bringing the tripod in there this time. The year we stayed there in the summer (so no Christmas decorations) I took some tripod shots and really enjoyed that.

 

[mom2rtk]

Sunday December 8th:

EE was at DCA again, and while we intended to make full use of it, I let Katie decide whether to do RSR again. She said no, she'd rather do something else. This was our coldest morning yet, with the thermometer at 37 degrees when we left the room for the 7 AM entry. So we bundled up and were determined to make the best of it. It certainly kept the crowds down at rope drop. I'm sure most of them were there to do RSR, so they must have been really disappointed when CMs came out front to tell everyone the ride was down. I was just grateful that's not why we were bundled up standing there in the cold. Of course, the cold would have its impact on our plans as well. We were there to do California Screamin. Good thing neither Katie nor I are among the faint at heart.




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I really should have gone into Carsland. With RSR down, I could have finally gotten some shots without hundreds of people in them!

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I love this guy, so I think I took his picture every time we went by!

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But we were on a mission. We were headed to Paradise Pier!

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My version of a selfie:

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And on to our destination:

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I have to say, we both had an absolute ball this morning. Yes, it was colder than ....... well, colder than ........ well, you get the idea. It was as cold as I have been in a theme park. And I was at WDW in 2010. But part of the reason we were so cold is that we opted to go on one of the fastest rides in DCA............ SIX TIMES in a row!

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[mvf-m11c]

Part of me wishes we had gone back to WDW this year so we could get back to DLR next year during the 60th anniversary. You guys are making me jealous about all the cool new stuff you think is coming!

It does make me sad to hear about how much has been scaled back. But honestly, there's still a lot more Christmas left than there is at WDW.

I saw photos of the tree in Toontown. I'm really sorry to have missed that one. Isn't the one there now one from WDW? I don't like going all the way to the other coast to see something I've seen countless times at WDW!

I don't like going back and taking all the same photos over again, but all this discussion about the GCH lobby makes me think I'll make a point of bringing the tripod in there this time. The year we stayed there in the summer (so no Christmas decorations) I took some tripod shots and really enjoyed that.

It will be nice to see whats new for next year during DL 60th anniversary. You can never get tired of the holiday season at the DLR. It will be nice to go back to WDW one day and ride the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at the MK.

It is sad the last few years with all the new changes at the DLR with the holiday decorations. But they do have something new that will make it up (well not really with NOS changing it's decorations year after year). I have been to WDW during the Christmas season and it is very nice. But I will still prefer the Christmas season at the DLR over WDW.

The ugly plastic trees in Toontown that are currently there during the holiday season are in fact the trees from the former Mickey's Toontown Fair at the MK. I have said it to Sherry countless times that the DLR should have never brought those ugly plastic trees to Toontown during the holiday season so they can save the labor of the old Christmas trees at Toontown. I can understand why they did that since Mickey's Toontown Fair is part of Yesterland at the MK and they need to do something with them or throw them away.

I like to take the same pictures again to improve the quality from the last one and to get something different in the picture.


A cold day at DCA during EE. Nice that you and Katie were brave enough to tackle the cold that morning and to be able to ride CS. Those are very nice shots when riding CS.

 

[jenseib]

I love the shots on CS...how the heck did you even lift your arms up to take the pictures? And how did you even have your camera around your neck? I hold on for dear life on rides like that one. I have fun, but still hold on.
Glad the crowds didn't stop you from riding it since RSR was down.

 

[Orbitron]

Thanks Orbitron! Thanks for the info on the 3 Cabelleros on the Christmas thread. We'll definitely be stalking them this year! Sounds (and looks!) like you had a great time.

Yes, we had an awesome time! I hope the Three Caballeros are going to come back this year, so we can stalk them too!

Friday December 6, 2013 Continued:

Once Aladdin was over, we headed to Disneyland for our Holiday Tour. Earlier in the day Kathy (ksromack) had texted me that she had AP WOC passes for the 9 PM show that night. They had changed their minds about seeing it again, and offered them to us. I had expressed my disappointment on the DLR Holiday thread about how they had closed this show off to non-AP holders, so she knew we had wanted to attend that show. I thought it was incredibly nice of her to offer. Even nicer of her to offer to meet us at our tour check-in spot to give us the tickets and keepsake ornament. It was a great piece of pixie-dust. Thanks again Kathy!

We also had two AP WOC passes to spare, but when we tried to to give them away nobody wanted them. So we kept them as a keepsake. By the way, your Aladdin pictures are brilliant, but I'm a bit shocked about the crazy lady that wanted you to stop taking photos.

Saturday December 7th, 2013:

They had been calling for rain on Saturday in the forecast for some time. And they were right. We woke up to a rainy cold Saturday. Thankfully this was our off day and we didn't have a lot planned. Brunch at Goofy's Kitchen and a tour of the 3 on-site resorts, then back for an early night so we could hit the ground running the next day.

You spent this rainy Saturday better than we did. We went to Knott's Berry Farm, because we had bought tickets in advance and they were only valid for this day. The afternoon was okay, but we got soaked in the morning!

 

[mom2rtk]

It will be nice to see whats new for next year during DL 60th anniversary. You can never get tired of the holiday season at the DLR. It will be nice to go back to WDW one day and ride the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at the MK.

It is sad the last few years with all the new changes at the DLR with the holiday decorations. But they do have something new that will make it up (well not really with NOS changing it's decorations year after year). I have been to WDW during the Christmas season and it is very nice. But I will still prefer the Christmas season at the DLR over WDW.

The ugly plastic trees in Toontown that are currently there during the holiday season are in fact the trees from the former Mickey's Toontown Fair at the MK. I have said it to Sherry countless times that the DLR should have never brought those ugly plastic trees to Toontown during the holiday season so they can save the labor of the old Christmas trees at Toontown. I can understand why they did that since Mickey's Toontown Fair is part of Yesterland at the MK and they need to do something with them or throw them away.

I like to take the same pictures again to improve the quality from the last one and to get something different in the picture.


A cold day at DCA during EE. Nice that you and Katie were brave enough to tackle the cold that morning and to be able to ride CS. Those are very nice shots when riding CS.

I loved that Katie was crazy enough to get up and go with me in the cold! It really turned out to be one of our favorite memories of the entire trip. We felt like we had Paradise Pier to ourselves. Just priceless.

I'm still not entirely sure what we'll end up doing next year. The kids really want to go back to Sanibel Island in the summer. If we do that, maybe Katie and I could stop at Disney for a day on our way out and finally do the Mine Train. Maybe that would be enough WDW that I'd be OK with DLR a third year in a row. Of course, Katie will be in high school, so it would likely be a much quicker trip.

I love the shots on CS...how the heck did you even lift your arms up to take the pictures? And how did you even have your camera around your neck? I hold on for dear life on rides like that one. I have fun, but still hold on.
Glad the crowds didn't stop you from riding it since RSR was down.

Thanks Jen! I'm trying to remember now what I did with my strap. I couldn't remember how I wore my camera so I pulled out our Photopass photos to see the ride photos. I put the strap around my neck but left it outside the restraint. I will say that it was VERY hard to hold it up on the inversion. Not just hard, but at a certain point there was nothing I could do to hold it up. I just held it up as long as I could then gave up and let gravity push it back down.

Just for grins, here's our collection of ride photos:
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Yes, we had an awesome time! I hope the Three Caballeros are going to come back this year, so we can stalk them too!



We also had two AP WOC passes to spare, but when we tried to to give them away nobody wanted them. So we kept them as a keepsake. By the way, your Aladdin pictures are brilliant, but I'm a bit shocked about the crazy lady that wanted you to stop taking photos.



You spent this rainy Saturday better than we did. We went to Knott's Berry Farm, because we had bought tickets in advance and they were only valid for this day. The afternoon was okay, but we got soaked in the morning!

LOL on nobody wanting the WOC passes. I'm guessing the weather had something to do with that!

Thanks for the kind words on the Aladdin photos. Crazy lady and all.

And I will say we really just got lucky to have a down day planned for that Saturday. I would not have enjoyed being out in the parks that day, especially after being out in the cold all day Friday. Although from what I heard, it kept the crowds down on Saturday morning.

And we'll have to stalk the holiday thread for 3 Cabellero intel before we head back. Do you have dates committed yet?

 

[KCmike]

Your shots of Katie screamin' on screamin' are awesome.

 

[mom2rtk]

Sunday December 8th Continued:

Still not done with CS....... Definitely starting to feel the cold!



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Ready for takeoff..........


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Seriously though....... it's worth it for the view alone!

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And after several trips through, I finally perfected my technique.........

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There was still next to nobody on Paradise Pier, so we decided to try some other rides. No WAY you were getting us into one of the swinging gondolas, but we did try a stationary car on Mickey's Wheel of Death:


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Look! I can see WOC from our gondola!

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And there's the Matterhorn!

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Then on to the Silly Swings. We had never done this before and both loved it a lot more than we expected.


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And on to the Golden Zephyr and the Jumping Jellyfish.


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It was almost 9, so time then to head back to the front of the park. I still wanted to catch director Mickey and Santa at Elias and Company. Just as we got to Buena Vista Street, we found Mickey headed to his meeting spot with his handler, so we followed them over and were first in line. That left us just enough time to go find Santa at Elias and Company. I didn't really have an opinion on that Santa one way or another, but was amused to find a thread on the DIS later commenting on how grumpy that Santa looked in all his photos that very day. I looked back at ours...... and I'd probably have to concur. I did love the setting for that meeting though. Very nostalgic and fun. I'm guessing it was set up to resemble meeting Santa at Macy's back in the 30's or 40's.


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[mom2rtk]

Your shots of Katie screamin' on screamin' are awesome.

Thanks Mike. She made it easy to get some fun shots that morning!

 

[Orbitron]

LOL on nobody wanting the WOC passes. I'm guessing the weather had something to do with that!

Yes, it was pretty cold!

Do you have dates committed yet?

We booked the flights, but not the hotel yet. We will be mid-November in Anaheim for one week. We are going to leave before Thanksgiving, but are planning to come back for the Thanksgiving Feast at the Disneyland Hotel. When are you going?

 

[mom2rtk]

Yes, it was pretty cold!



We booked the flights, but not the hotel yet. We will be mid-November in Anaheim for one week. We are going to leave before Thanksgiving, but are planning to come back for the Thanksgiving Feast at the Disneyland Hotel. When are you going?

We gave some serious thought to early November. But I think we're pretty settled on the second week of December, maybe the 6th to the 13th. We need to see when Katie's winter piano recital is before we can commit.

Thanksgiving dinner at DLH sounds quite awesome. I bet they put on a great feast!

 

[amandaw]

WOW! I can't believe y'all got to ride CS 6x in a row! Such fun! And I truly in awe of your pics while riding.

You mention being in WDW during 2010 & experiencing that cold. We were there that Dec as well. It was DS's first trip. We used to always go to WDW in Dec & I have NEVER been so cold there as I was that year. Our last night was downright miserable.

I have to agree that that is one grumpy looking Santa. He definitely was NOT feeling the Christmas spirit that day. But, at least his elf looked happy!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Catching up!

Great pictures of CS. 6 times? WOW!

 

[mvf-m11c]

I loved that Katie was crazy enough to get up and go with me in the cold! It really turned out to be one of our favorite memories of the entire trip. We felt like we had Paradise Pier to ourselves. Just priceless.

I'm still not entirely sure what we'll end up doing next year. The kids really want to go back to Sanibel Island in the summer. If we do that, maybe Katie and I could stop at Disney for a day on our way out and finally do the Mine Train. Maybe that would be enough WDW that I'd be OK with DLR a third year in a row. Of course, Katie will be in high school, so it would likely be a much quicker trip.

It's nice that is the highlight of the trip and good memories with you and your daughter.

That sounds like a good idea of going to WDW for a day in order to ride the Mine Train at the MK.

More great shots during CS and at DCA.

 

[Sherry E]

It's almost time for my cameo appearance in Janet's TR! (This was the first of 3 times that I saw Janet during the course of my own December trip, but this was the only 'planned' occasion.)


Let me reinforce (for the readers) what Janet said about the cold weather. Anyone who has read my previous TRs or Superthreads knows that I am no fan of heat/summer/sun and usually cannot wait for something resembling cooler air. I especially hate to be hot and miserable at DLR.

So I was absolutely thrilled that it was "cold" by SoCal's standards in December last year, but there is no denying that I had to bundle up. I dragged out the winter scarves, the mittens, the bulky jackets, the sweaters, etc. I loved the weather, but I was still going to bundle up. It was brisk for a couple of days, to put it mildly.

Also, later that same night -- Sun., December 8th -- I was planted in the sea of people in Town Square to watch Kurt Russell narrate the Candlelight Ceremony, and my hands/ears/nose were freezing (it was supposed to have been about 29 degrees, I think). I had to put on my mittens, and my camera kept trying to slip out of my hands because I couldn't get a firm grip. As long as I am prepared for weather and can make myself more comfortable, I don't mind it, but I didn't want my camera to hit the ground so I had to put it away!


Janet -- All of the on-ride photos you took are amazing (though somewhat stomach-churning!).

Seeing your photos of an almost-empty Paradise Pier brings me right back to being at DLR for the holidays. I can feel the cold air on my cheek and envision it now. I love walking around DCA on those early entry mornings in December -- and I was also wandering around DCA at that time, but I guess I was in the Grizzly Peak area and then on the Little Mermaid ride before heading over to Buena Vista Street to meet you and the other ladies!

That Elias & Co. Santa does not appear to be the jolliest of Santas, that's for sure. There are much jollier Santas in other areas of DLR. The one at the PPH and the one at the GCH seem to be particularly fun and lively.

At some point -- and I may have to PM you about this at a later time -- I want to find out if you have a stream/album of just your stunning Sanibel photos on Flickr. I want to show them to my Sanibel/Captiva-loving friend (she happily remembers the Bubble Room, and she loves it!) and she really wants to see the photos, but I know that she won't have time to go through an actual TR.



Bret -- I think that if the ugly plastic trees had been in Toontown from the very beginning (years ago, when Toontown first got holiday decorations) I could deal with them better. The fact that they replaced the better trees is what gets to me, and makes them so much worse!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Bret -- I think that if the ugly plastic trees had been in Toontown from the very beginning (years ago, when Toontown first got holiday decorations) I could deal with them better. The fact that they replaced the better trees is what gets to me, and makes them so much worse!

I see. I didn't pay really attention to the Christmas trees in Mickey's Toontown during the years I have been going to DL during the holiday seasons since I pay attention to the other parts of the decorations. It is a shame that they use the plastic trees instead of the nice one's like they have used a few years ago. It can be sad when the DLR is cutting back on decorations in certain lands and putting it into other parts.

 

[Sherry E]

I see. I didn't pay really attention to the Christmas trees in Mickey's Toontown during the years I have been going to DL during the holiday seasons since I pay attention to the other parts of the decorations. It is a shame that they use the plastic trees instead of the nice one's like they have used a few years ago. It can be sad when the DLR is cutting back on decorations in certain lands and putting it into other parts.

I dislike the ugly plastic trees, but I think that if they had been part of Toontown's décor back in, say, 2001 or so, I would have just accepted them as fitting Toontown's 'cartoonish' style. The problem is that we now have something to compare the ugly trees with in our minds, because we know that there were better trees in Toontown just a few short years ago. Disney downgraded the Toontown trees and removed the trees that were perfectly colorful and fun, and that's hard to ignore!

Yes, it's always interesting to see what is cut back in the decorations every year, or what is added in. Last year, while there were some things missing, Disney also did a good job at adding in other decorations to areas where they might not have been before (such as in Hollywood Land, and the array of sea-themed accents on and around the PPH tree). So, as long as Disney keeps adding things into the mix, it lessens the impact of removing decorations from other areas.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I dislike the ugly plastic trees, but I think that if they had been part of Toontown's décor back in, say, 2001 or so, I would have just accepted them as fitting Toontown's 'cartoonish' style. The problem is that we now have something to compare the ugly trees with in our minds, because we know that there were better trees in Toontown just a few short years ago. Disney downgraded the Toontown trees and removed the trees that were perfectly colorful and fun, and that's hard to ignore!

Yes, it's always interesting to see what is cut back in the decorations every year, or what is added in. Last year, while there were some things missing, Disney also did a good job at adding in other decorations to areas where they might not have been before (such as in Hollywood Land, and the array of sea-themed accents on and around the PPH tree). So, as long as Disney keeps adding things into the mix, it lessens the impact of removing decorations from other areas.

I must have forgotten about them over the years if they have been there that long. You are right about that we have to accept them since it does have that cartoon style and fits at Mickey's Toontown. It is just hard to forget about those nice trees at Toontown until they were replaced with the plastic trees the last couple of years.

I am also curious what changes will happen this year especially with NOS. It was nice that the DLR added holiday decorations to Hollywood Land last year and made it more colorful especially with Santa and his Reindeers at the end of Hollywood Land.