We Moved to Disneyland!! Now What…? Stories from New DLR Locals - Updated 1/15

Sounds like a wonderful day! I think I would have been "geeking" out all over the place. ;)

It definitely was an amazing day! We were being complete Disney geeks and loving every minute of it! :thumbsup2

That is a lot of things to have seen in Day 1. Looking forward to Day 2 and seeing what you and Tracy got up to.

It was SO much to have done in one day. I was absolutely exhausted upon coming home, but I was so glad to be doing it all again the next morning. Hope you enjoy the Day 2 tales as well.

The Duffy costume! :eek: People are so creative. Love all the other photos from the expo also, so cool.

I'm fascinated when I think of all the work that has to go into some of those costumes. I could never do it! Glad you're enjoying all the Expo photos :)
 
Oh my gosh....my daughter would have done anything to be there that day! She loves the Buddies and Dog with a Blog. Not to mention how much we love Once Upon a Time. :)
 

Oh my gosh....my daughter would have done anything to be there that day! She loves the Buddies and Dog with a Blog. Not to mention how much we love Once Upon a Time. :)

Sounds like she definitely would have enjoyed this day at the Expo then!

Dog with a Blog. Dog with a Blog. :worship:

Happy New Year!

:rotfl: I just wish the ACTUAL Dog with a Blog himself had been there. Live blogging the event...

Happy New Year to you too!! Hope 2014 is treating you well so far :)
 
Taylor --

I just wanted to pop in and wish you and Tracy a happy New Year! I haven't been able to get in here and comment lately, but have been following your updates when I can.

I also wanted to tell you that, based on your earlier installment about eating at Tangaroa Terrace, I decide to try it when I was at DLR a few weeks ago. I was going to get a burger but ended up getting the BBQ breaded chicken sandwich with papaya slaw, which I really enjoyed! In fact, that was the second week in December -- the busy holiday season -- and TT seemed half-empty. There were maybe only one or two occupied tables outside. No line inside the restaurant at all. I found it to be very peaceful, and I absolutely loved (speaking of "Feed the Birds") the portly little sparrows that hopped all around the dining area, waiting for crumbs. They were so cute. I enjoyed observing which of the crumbs they accepted and which ones they rejected!:rotfl2: When one of them would reject a crumb because it was too big, another one of its friends would hop over and rip it up into bite-sized pieces for sharing.:rotfl2:

Plus, a bonus for me was the beautiful Christmas tree in Tangaroa Terrace, covered with exotic flowers (some artificial and some real, I was told), shells and scented candles. That was one of my favorite trees of the 2013 holiday season.

So, many thanks to you for your report on Tangaroa Terrace because it led me to a place that I will now be sure to visit again in the future. I think it is almost on the verge of becoming a hidden gem because of its (sort of) tucked away location.

Oh, one last thing -- Christmas movies! I know you said that you and Tracy don't have the Hallmark Channel so you would have missed out on all of those movies (which is unfortunate, as there were a couple of new ones that you and Tracy probably would have really liked), but did you happen to catch any of the Lifetime 2013 holiday movies or the new ABC Family movies? The one from Lifetime that stood out for me was A Snow Globe Christmas -- I thought it was quite good. Snappy dialogue, a little twist at the end, cute story. The new movie I saw on ABC Family was Holidaze, with Jennie Garth. It was not as good as A Snow Globe Christmas, but it was pleasant.
 
Taylor --

I just wanted to pop in and wish you and Tracy a happy New Year! I haven't been able to get in here and comment lately, but have been following your updates when I can.

I also wanted to tell you that, based on your earlier installment about eating at Tangaroa Terrace, I decide to try it when I was at DLR a few weeks ago. I was going to get a burger but ended up getting the BBQ breaded chicken sandwich with papaya slaw, which I really enjoyed! In fact, that was the second week in December -- the busy holiday season -- and TT seemed half-empty. There were maybe only one or two occupied tables outside. No line inside the restaurant at all. I found it to be very peaceful, and I absolutely loved (speaking of "Feed the Birds") the portly little sparrows that hopped all around the dining area, waiting for crumbs. They were so cute. I enjoyed observing which of the crumbs they accepted and which ones they rejected!:rotfl2: When one of them would reject a crumb because it was too big, another one of its friends would hop over and rip it up into bite-sized pieces for sharing.:rotfl2:

Plus, a bonus for me was the beautiful Christmas tree in Tangaroa Terrace, covered with exotic flowers (some artificial and some real, I was told), shells and scented candles. That was one of my favorite trees of the 2013 holiday season.

So, many thanks to you for your report on Tangaroa Terrace because it led me to a place that I will now be sure to visit again in the future. I think it is almost on the verge of becoming a hidden gem because of its (sort of) tucked away location.

Oh, one last thing -- Christmas movies! I know you said that you and Tracy don't have the Hallmark Channel so you would have missed out on all of those movies (which is unfortunate, as there were a couple of new ones that you and Tracy probably would have really liked), but did you happen to catch any of the Lifetime 2013 holiday movies or the new ABC Family movies? The one from Lifetime that stood out for me was A Snow Globe Christmas -- I thought it was quite good. Snappy dialogue, a little twist at the end, cute story. The new movie I saw on ABC Family was Holidaze, with Jennie Garth. It was not as good as A Snow Globe Christmas, but it was pleasant.

Hi there! Happy New Year to you as well :)

I'm so glad you ended up enjoying Tangaroa Terrace. I'd agree with you that it can rank up there as a "hidden gem" because it was empty the time we went as well (peak dinner time). We had some great little sparrows as well! Always fun to play a game of "feed the birds." Now I wish we'd gone over there to see the Christmas tree... Oh well, next year!

We didn't end up catching any Lifetime movies this year because we were in CO for two weeks of the holiday season and Tracy's parents have the most basic of basic cable. We DID see Holidaze on ABC Family, however. I'd agree with your review-- pleasant enough, but nothing to write home about.

Hope the holidays at Disneyland treated you well! I know you said it's your favorite time of year at the resort, and I'd have to agree with you after we got to see all the decorations and special additions this year for the first time. We LOVED it! :thumbsup2
 
Happy new year! The whole Expo sounds like an amazing few days but seeing Richard Sherman and hearing him sing and hearing all of his stories really must have been worth the entrance fee alone. Since I heard the story of how much Walt loved feed the birds I haven't been able to listen to it without shedding a tear or two xx
 
Oh that is so cool that you met one of the super buddies!!! They are adorable.

Return to Oz scared me when I was a kid too. I still have nightmares about the head collection :crazy2:

Thanks for the youtube links. They are so fun to listen to, what a great experience that you got to be there in person.
 
Hi there! Happy New Year to you as well :)

I'm so glad you ended up enjoying Tangaroa Terrace. I'd agree with you that it can rank up there as a "hidden gem" because it was empty the time we went as well (peak dinner time). We had some great little sparrows as well! Always fun to play a game of "feed the birds." Now I wish we'd gone over there to see the Christmas tree... Oh well, next year!

We didn't end up catching any Lifetime movies this year because we were in CO for two weeks of the holiday season and Tracy's parents have the most basic of basic cable. We DID see Holidaze on ABC Family, however. I'd agree with your review-- pleasant enough, but nothing to write home about.

Hope the holidays at Disneyland treated you well! I know you said it's your favorite time of year at the resort, and I'd have to agree with you after we got to see all the decorations and special additions this year for the first time. We LOVED it! :thumbsup2

CO must have been spectacularly beautiful (though cold) during the holidays. I've seen photos from a friend's trips to CO and it's like one snowy-wonderland-scene-with-picturesque-mountain-ranges-in-the-background after another.

I loved those sparrows at Tangaroa Terrace! They were obviously working the cuteness angle to try to get food, and they seemed quite accustomed to being fed so I suspect they are a regular fixture at TT!!:rotfl2:

I am going to send the link to your above installment about the Sherman performance at the Expo to fellow DIS'er Liza (a.k.a. funatdisney on The DIS) because she was at that performance as well and would really appreciate your recap of it. She told me about it back in September, and pretty much described it exactly as you described it -- that there was hardly a dry eye in the house during the "Feed the Birds" segment.

I had to chuckle about the "singer.":rotfl2: It's hard to know what to do in those situations, especially when you're enjoying a special performance such as that one. It's not like you can just get up and walk away. In the case of the Sherman performance you were enjoying, that could be a once in a lifetime experience, and the whole point of being there was to hear him sing and listen to him tell stories, not to listen to a fellow audience member do a whole set list!

The holiday season at DLR was absolutely wonderful this time around (I keep wanting to say "this year," but it's not 2013 anymore and I haven't adjusted!:rotfl2:). I've experienced a lot of holiday seasons at DLR in the past couple of decades and, while there are certain specific decorations and/or events that have sadly disappeared over the years (like the old Candy Cane Lane at the Disneyland Hotel), I'd have to say that the 2013 holiday season was one of the best ones yet in terms of overall, Resort-wide decor. I thought that Disney and their Enhancement Team really stepped things up a notch.

Even though seasonal touches may have been minimal in some spots (like Pacific Wharf or even in Fantasyland), with the exception of Condor Flats and Tomorrowland, every land, every hotel and pretty much all the shops and restaurants in Downtown Disney had some sort of decoration. Some decor was more elaborate or whimsical and some was more appropriately subtle, but it seemed like everywhere I went I was finding bits of holiday merriment, whether it was a small tree in the window of the Heraldry Shoppe or a large tree in the window of the Mandara Spa. I was stumbling upon decorations and familiar Christmas songs where I didn't even expect to find them, or where I hadn't seen/heard them in the past (like the tree at Tangaroa Terrace, mentioned earlier, or in Hollywood Land).

I don't know if you and Tracy mainly stuck to the 2 parks or wandered around the hotels but, as this was your first time experiencing the full array of holiday fun at DLR, did you find there to be decorations and festivity everywhere? The different perspectives on this issue are interesting. Some people have come back to my Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread and agreed with me -- that there were decorations everywhere and that they felt totally immersed in Yuletide magic. Others came back and either said that the decorations did not really impress them that much:confused3, or they singled out the areas that were not decorated as thoroughly as others.

Personally, I think that anyone who absolutely, truly loves Christmas and anything associated with it would adore DLR during the season because it is so all-encompassing and detailed, and it provides a fantastic sensory overload. Plus, it's just downright beautiful. But I am very eager to read your 'holiday season at DLR reviews' to see how you and Tracy think it compares to Halloween Time, which of the two seasons you enjoyed more, etc.!
 
CAtching up.

Love the pictures from the show. It looks like you had a great time. I would have loved to have been in the audience for Menken/Sherman.

Love the make-over Tracy did at Sephora.
 
I'm so glad you two got to see the show. Here's where our Expos finally came together. It's nice to hear your take on the concert and it brought the whole thing back again. Such a great evening. I'm looking forward to hearing about the Alan Menken part in your words.

Oh, and I loved that Redhead costume. I didn't see her, but she did a great job! Tracy looks so cute after her makeover.
 
Happy new year! The whole Expo sounds like an amazing few days but seeing Richard Sherman and hearing him sing and hearing all of his stories really must have been worth the entrance fee alone. Since I heard the story of how much Walt loved feed the birds I haven't been able to listen to it without shedding a tear or two xx

The concert was, without a doubt, worth the entire cost of the Expo. It was phenomenal! And I'm the same way about "Feed the Birds." I've seen that song in a whole new light ever since hearing the story.

Oh that is so cool that you met one of the super buddies!!! They are adorable.

Return to Oz scared me when I was a kid too. I still have nightmares about the head collection :crazy2:

Thanks for the youtube links. They are so fun to listen to, what a great experience that you got to be there in person.

The Buddies were SO cute! I can't imagine how many pups they need to have on set to film those movies, but I'd like to meet them all!

YES! The head collection is absolutely one of the scariest memories from my entire childhood.

I'm so glad you enjoyed listening to the concert for yourself! It certainly was quite the experience in person! :)

CO must have been spectacularly beautiful (though cold) during the holidays. I've seen photos from a friend's trips to CO and it's like one snowy-wonderland-scene-with-picturesque-mountain-ranges-in-the-background after another.

I loved those sparrows at Tangaroa Terrace! They were obviously working the cuteness angle to try to get food, and they seemed quite accustomed to being fed so I suspect they are a regular fixture at TT!!:rotfl2:

I am going to send the link to your above installment about the Sherman performance at the Expo to fellow DIS'er Liza (a.k.a. funatdisney on The DIS) because she was at that performance as well and would really appreciate your recap of it. She told me about it back in September, and pretty much described it exactly as you described it -- that there was hardly a dry eye in the house during the "Feed the Birds" segment.

I had to chuckle about the "singer.":rotfl2: It's hard to know what to do in those situations, especially when you're enjoying a special performance such as that one. It's not like you can just get up and walk away. In the case of the Sherman performance you were enjoying, that could be a once in a lifetime experience, and the whole point of being there was to hear him sing and listen to him tell stories, not to listen to a fellow audience member do a whole set list!

The holiday season at DLR was absolutely wonderful this time around (I keep wanting to say "this year," but it's not 2013 anymore and I haven't adjusted!:rotfl2:). I've experienced a lot of holiday seasons at DLR in the past couple of decades and, while there are certain specific decorations and/or events that have sadly disappeared over the years (like the old Candy Cane Lane at the Disneyland Hotel), I'd have to say that the 2013 holiday season was one of the best ones yet in terms of overall, Resort-wide decor. I thought that Disney and their Enhancement Team really stepped things up a notch.

Even though seasonal touches may have been minimal in some spots (like Pacific Wharf or even in Fantasyland), with the exception of Condor Flats and Tomorrowland, every land, every hotel and pretty much all the shops and restaurants in Downtown Disney had some sort of decoration. Some decor was more elaborate or whimsical and some was more appropriately subtle, but it seemed like everywhere I went I was finding bits of holiday merriment, whether it was a small tree in the window of the Heraldry Shoppe or a large tree in the window of the Mandara Spa. I was stumbling upon decorations and familiar Christmas songs where I didn't even expect to find them, or where I hadn't seen/heard them in the past (like the tree at Tangaroa Terrace, mentioned earlier, or in Hollywood Land).

I don't know if you and Tracy mainly stuck to the 2 parks or wandered around the hotels but, as this was your first time experiencing the full array of holiday fun at DLR, did you find there to be decorations and festivity everywhere? The different perspectives on this issue are interesting. Some people have come back to my Disneyland at Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread and agreed with me -- that there were decorations everywhere and that they felt totally immersed in Yuletide magic. Others came back and either said that the decorations did not really impress them that much:confused3, or they singled out the areas that were not decorated as thoroughly as others.

Personally, I think that anyone who absolutely, truly loves Christmas and anything associated with it would adore DLR during the season because it is so all-encompassing and detailed, and it provides a fantastic sensory overload. Plus, it's just downright beautiful. But I am very eager to read your 'holiday season at DLR reviews' to see how you and Tracy think it compares to Halloween Time, which of the two seasons you enjoyed more, etc.!

CO was DEFINITELY cold for Christmas. We didn't end up getting much of any snow while we were there (which we were bummed about because we actually enjoy seeing snow when we don't have to go out into it...). It was still nice, though, and it's always fun to see our families.

I'm glad our experience seemed to line up with everyone else who attended the concert--everyone teary-eyed all at once :rotfl: And YES, that was our thought exactly when it came to the "singer." The one saving grace is that she was on key the whole time, so it's not like we had a tone-deaf person shrieking in our ears...

We absolutely LOVED Christmastime at the parks! It's hard to compare it to Halloweentime (which I also love), but Christmas might JUST eke out a win... Like you said, I think it's phenomenal how almost every nook and cranny of the resort has some sort of addition. We loved how little things like that would pop up out of nowhere to surprise us (like the gingerbread cones at Cozy Cone, which I think you suggested for us to check out). I think I saw something new every time we went, so I'm excited to get to that point in the report and recap all of our shenanigans. The season was definitely all we could have asked for (and more!).

CAtching up.

Love the pictures from the show. It looks like you had a great time. I would have loved to have been in the audience for Menken/Sherman.

Love the make-over Tracy did at Sephora.

The concert was just phenomenal, and it was the perfect way to cap off OUR Expo experience.

I thought Tracy's makeover was quite nice as well. :thumbsup2

I'm so glad you two got to see the show. Here's where our Expos finally came together. It's nice to hear your take on the concert and it brought the whole thing back again. Such a great evening. I'm looking forward to hearing about the Alan Menken part in your words.

Oh, and I loved that Redhead costume. I didn't see her, but she did a great job! Tracy looks so cute after her makeover.

:cheer2: I'm glad you enjoyed the concert as much as we did! It was just such a wonderful night!

I thought that Redhead costume was great, and there were also some cool cosplayers dressed as the ballroom ghosts from the Haunted Mansion, but I didn't get a picture of them. I'd say those were some of my favorite costumes from the Expo.
 
thanks for sharing. Sounds like the second half was a window into the music of your childhood. It would have been fantastic to have been there to listen to and also to reminisce.

You said that you didn't buy tickets for Sunday. At least you've experienced the Expo this time round. There is always the NEXT time! :goodvibes
 
Expo sounds like a great experience. :thumbsup2

One of my girls' favourite songs is "I believe in love" from Mirror Mirror which is an Alan Menken song. :goodvibes

And a belated Happy New Year to you both ... I have been reading about your continued adventures, but not doing much commenting lately!

:wave2:
 
Now, while I love the music of the Sherman brothers, I feel like Alan Menken truly wrote the soundtrack to my childhood, so I was on cloud nine listening to him sing his songs.

I agree! :goodvibes The youtube video gave me goosebumps :cloud9:
 
CO was DEFINITELY cold for Christmas. We didn't end up getting much of any snow while we were there (which we were bummed about because we actually enjoy seeing snow when we don't have to go out into it...). It was still nice, though, and it's always fun to see our families.

I'm glad our experience seemed to line up with everyone else who attended the concert--everyone teary-eyed all at once :rotfl: And YES, that was our thought exactly when it came to the "singer." The one saving grace is that she was on key the whole time, so it's not like we had a tone-deaf person shrieking in our ears...

We absolutely LOVED Christmastime at the parks! It's hard to compare it to Halloweentime (which I also love), but Christmas might JUST eke out a win... Like you said, I think it's phenomenal how almost every nook and cranny of the resort has some sort of addition. We loved how little things like that would pop up out of nowhere to surprise us (like the gingerbread cones at Cozy Cone, which I think you suggested for us to check out). I think I saw something new every time we went, so I'm excited to get to that point in the report and recap all of our shenanigans. The season was definitely all we could have asked for (and more!).

The Expo in 2015 should be really exciting, especially since that's going to be Disneyland's 60th anniversary/birthday year. I think there will probably be some big surprises and maybe even big revelations of future DLR plans during that event. I might have to actually go to that Expo.

Oh good! I'm glad you saw the mini-gingerbread Cozy Cone model in the Cozy Cone office. I'm glad it was back for 2013 because the gingerbread Mater that had been on display in Flo's in 2012 did not make a return visit, nor did the gingerbread displays in Carthay Circle or in Fiddler, Fifer and Practical Cafe. The 2013 version of the Cozy Cone display actually seemed slightly better and more detailed than the 2012 version, as it was a mini-version of the holiday-ized Cozy Cone, complete with a tiny cone Christmas tree. It may have been that way in 2012 too, but I didn't notice that it was a mini-holiday model in 2012 because it was not close enough to the window to get a good look. In 2013, the decorators came to their senses and moved the display nearer to the window so people could actually see it.

There was also a gingerbread house in Storytellers Cafe and a smaller one in White Water Snacks, complete with cute Christmas trees made of candy. I think the Storytellers house even featured a gingerbread snowman, which was adorable. Hopefully you and Tracy saw those.

Anyway, I look forward to your next TR installments and also eventually reading about your Halloween and holiday adventures!
 













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