So glad your time warp took you through Adventureland again! I loved the pictures of the masks especially the one grinning with teeth.
I really like your second thumper picture with the castle in the background. I have to admit that I like the pictures of the Mickey soldiers.
I'm a bit sad that your trip has almost come to an end...
TK -
Time warp is right! It's weird when you stumble upon a group of photos that you don't remember! I don't remember that second set of Adventureland pictures or the Mark Twain pics. I keep thinking, "How did those get in there?"
Yes, I love the creepy tiki/mask guy with the teeth too! Not that I would want that hanging on my wall, but he is fun to look at in Disneyland!
Those Mickey soldier nutcrackers are so cool!
The little statuettes by the Castle are cute, but I like them when the Christmas decorations can be seen in the background.
I can't believe the TR is going to end in the next few posts, and then the thread itself will end in another several pages. It will be sad for me to say goodbye to it - this thread has been in my life for so long!
I agree with the others, I am also a bit sad to be coming to the end of your trip report. For a newbie, I really enjoyed reading your trip report and all your adventures and misadventures
.
Love seeing the pics of the Nutcracker Mickey's.
Are you gonna make another trip out to DLand in the spring?
One thing with reading this trip report, it got me to try the Ghirardelli peppermint bark chocolates and I am hooked on it
. Since I wasn't able to make it out to Disney again before the year ended, I ended up making a trek down to the Ghirardelli ice cream shop in downtown San Diego, to get my fix (and now that is almost gone too
)
guineapiggie -
You are not kidding about the misadventures! There have definitely been some of those along the way.
Those nutcrackers are great - if this were the '90s and I were in my serious collecting phase, I probably would have bought each and every one of those nutcrackers and put them on display somewhere. But, alas, now I just look at them and admire them.
Yay! You tried the peppermint bark! I'm so glad I had an influence!
I am assuming they give out the samples of it at the shop in San Diego? Do you mean the San Diego location is almost gone, or the supply you bought is almost gone?
As for whether or not I'm going back to DLR in the spring, I don't have anything planned. Ideally, there are a bunch of times I'd like to go through the year but it's easier said than done. I had to miss Halloween Time in 2012 so I would definitely like to make a point of going in September or October this year for that, but the Christmas/holiday trips are always my priority, of course.
If Catalina Express once again offers a free birthday round-trip boat ride to Catalina Island (as they did in 2012 and 2011), I will take advantage of that once again. If I do another Catalina birthday trip, I will add a photo report/trip report for that to my existing Catalina trip report thread in the California trip reports section (see the blue link at the bottom of my signature below), just to put something else in it. I'd like to have at least two reports in that one thread.
As for future Disneyland TR threads, I'm just not sure. I would have to play it by ear. Sometimes I might be gung ho on doing a TR one week and then the next week my mood has changed. It's a lot to take on and it requires a lot of time, so sometimes it could be better to not even get started.
Thank you so much for the kind words, and for joining in here in the final stage of the thread.
I really do appreciate it!
Awesome updates!! I'm so glad that you got this "do-over" trip and were really able to relax and do your own thing throughout the parks. The pictures are really amazing - many of them have made me take a second look and realize I never saw that perspective before but I will when I go back
Are you still working a plan for the year of holidays trip report?
I'm here reading - even if I don't get time to post very often.
Thank you,
Dawn!
As always, I appreciate the kind words, compliments and kind thoughts! And I appreciate that you've hung in with this thread through the last few reports (going back to the June Cars Land preview, if I recall correctly).
I wish I could commit to the year of holidays TR. I think it's a good idea. I would
love to make it happen. I'd at least like to be at DLR on a few of the 'fun' holidays but it may be too lofty of a goal to pull off this year (and St. Patrick's Day is only 2 weeks ahead of Easter). If I were going to do it, Valentine's Day would be the first holiday in the mix. So if something miraculously happens with that and I can swing it, I will happily go. The holiday season will always be #1, of course, so I will always do some kind of holiday visit to DLR - whether it is one day or several days, I'll be there to see my favorite Paradise Pier Hotel tree!
Also, as mentioned to guineapiggie above, if I end up going to Catalina again on my birthday in July, I will add a photo report to my existing Catalina TR thread.
What you said about going back to take a second look or seeing a new perspective of certain things in the parks is something I'm glad to have accomplished.
If I have somehow inspired anyone to notice things more or go back and take a second look at something, or pay close attention to details, etc., then I feel the TR has been worthwhile. I like the trip reports that show me something I haven't seen before, or that make me want to go back and take a closer look at certain things - so if I have been able to achieve that in any small way for the readers then I think that's awesome!
Coincidentally, I had been thinking ahead to what my final post will be for this TR - not for the thread, necessarily, but just for the TR. Last time, in the December 2011 TR, I ended it with an update of the Aftermath, and how things are today with my friends. In the case of this current December 2012 TR, I think I know what my final post will be...something a little different, perhaps, and yet it will kind of touch on the spirit of 'going back and taking a second look' or noticing the little things.