Candlelight & Cannonballs! (MANY MARDI GRAS MASK PICS!) Dec. 2012- Start Pg.235/#3524

[Sherry E]

Originally Posted by nzer

Relative newbie here. Just wanted to say have a fantastic time...have loved looking at your pictures. Can't wait to be there ourselves!!!!

Just a quick question if you know the answer...we are arriving in Anaheim and have 14 day passes (being from New Zealand) from the 8th of January. I know the official Christmas period is until the 6th...but I'm guessing that surely ALL the Christmas decorations won't be coming down immediately, or will they? I know IASM will still have their holiday overlay up, but will we miss out on everything else?

Thanks so much...can't wait to read your posts-to-come

nzer -

Hello and welcome! I just got back home today - and I have plenty more photos to share!

I'm surprised that tksbaskets didn't speak up and address your question, as she has been to DLR around that time frame.

As far as I know, IASWH stays open until mid-January-ish, and the area around it stays decorated.

Disney is pretty fast in taking down the major decorations after the season officially ends. When the season is over, it's over (except for IASWH). You may see some traces of things still around, and some leftover merchandise, but the bulk of the decor will be gone by January 7th.

Something that will likely still be up (even beyond January) are the stunning New Orleans Square Mardi Gras masks - those tend to stay up until Mardi Gras in February, or even beyond that.

Anyway, here is a brief highlight reel of my trip:

1. I GOT AN AWESOME SEAT FOR THE CANDLELIGHT PROCESSIONAL - not once but TWO nights in a row!!! I saw it twice! I got lucky and there were lots of no-shows for both nights. (I can tell you all exactly where to stand and when to try to get seats if you didn't win the AP lottery - if you're interested.)

I loved loved loved the CP. Oh my goodness...the lighting...the singers...the soloists...the songs... Pure Christmas glory. If you are a fan of Christmas and are connected in any way to the more spiritual side of it, the CP is for you! I am sooooooooooo glad I decided to try to see it. It is simply beautiful (and yes, of course, I took pictures)!;


2. I had a major celebrity sighting in DCA yesterday - Gwen Stefani and her super-hot husband, Gavin!! They were just a few feet away from me. This was the first A-List celebrity I've ever seen at DLR (I've seen B-List and below). Gwen walks with a strut, and was rockin' the red lips and gray pants/black tank top;

3. I ate peppermint ice cream (in a cone!), peppermint bark, gingerbread cookies, a peppermint bark Dazzler at Haagen Dazs and several Earl of Sandwich sandwiches (beware - before everyone gets excited about EoS, make sure to check your order before you leave because they make mistakes! They made two big mistakes in the visits I made over the last few days);

4. Did I mention that I love love love the Candlelight Processional and Lou Diamond Phillips was very charming and engaging?;

5. I got to see Laurie/DizNee Luver this morning at Surf's Up, and Liza/funatdisney joined us and kindly took me home - it was great to see both of them! I also saw my dear friends Jackie & Bob on Sunday, but Shawn was a no-show;

6. As usual, I took photos galore (not so many of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street this time, because I got tons of photos of those two lands in November [see link in signature below])! I love taking photos! On the first day I was not my usual self and felt kind of 'off,' but by Day 2 I got my photo groove back and I was on a roll! I have plenty of material for the Theme Week Countdown of 2013!; and

7. I got another free upgrade to a park view room at the PPH (third year in a row for a free upgrade)! (I love the PPH Christmas tree so much.)





Stay tuned for a photo-palooza!!

[PHXscuba]

Originally Posted by Sherry E

nzer -

Hello and welcome! I just got back home today - and I have plenty more photos to share!

I'm surprised that tksbaskets didn't speak up and address your question, as she has been to DLR around that time frame.

As far as I know, IASWH stays open until mid-January-ish, and the area around it stays decorated.

Disney is pretty fast in taking down the major decorations after the season officially ends. When the season is over, it's over (except for IASWH). You may see some traces of things still around, and some leftover merchandise, but the bulk of the decor will be gone by January 7th.

Something that will likely still be up (even beyond January) are the stunning New Orleans Square Mardi Gras masks - those tend to stay up until Mardi Gras in Feburary, or even beyond that.

Anyway, here is a brief highlight reel of my trip:

1. I GOT AN AWESOME SEAT FOR THE CANDLELIGHT PROCESSIONAL - not once but TWO nights in a row!!! I saw it twice! I got lucky and there were lots of no-shows for both nights. (I can tell you all exactly where to stand and when to try to get seats if you didn't win the AP lottery - if you're interested.)

I loved loved loved the CP. Oh my goodness...the lighting...the singers...the soloists...the songs... Pure Christmas glory. If you are a fan of Christmas and are connected in any way to the more spiritual side of it, the CP is for you! I am sooooooooooo glad I decided to try to see it. It is simply beautiful (and yes, of course, I took pictures)!;


2. I had a major celebrity sighting in DCA yesterday - Gwen Stefani and her super-hot husband, Gavin!! They were just a few feet away from me. This was the first A-List celebrity I've ever seen at DLR (I've seen B-List and below). Gwen walks with a strut, and was rockin' the red lips and gray pants/black tank top;

3. I ate peppermint ice cream (in a cone!), peppermint bark, gingerbread cookies, a peppermint bark Dazzler at Haagen Dazs and several Earl of Sandwich sandwiches (beware - before everyone gets excited about EoS, make sure to check your order before you leave because they make mistakes! They made two big mistakes in the visits I made over the last few days);

4. Did I mention that I love love love the Candlelight Processional and Lou Diamond Phillips was very charming and engaging?;

5. I got to see Laurie/DizNee Luver this morning at Surf's Up, and Liza/funatdisney joined us and kindly took me home - it was great to see both of them! I also saw my dear friends Jackie & Bob on Sunday, but Shawn was a no-show;

6. As usual, I took photos galore (not so many of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street this time, because I got tons of photos of those two lands in November (see link in signature below)! I love taking photos! On the first day I was not my usual self and felt kind of 'off,' but by Day 2 I got my photo groove back and I was on a roll! I have plenty of material for the Theme Week Countdown of 2013!; and

7. I got another free upgrade to a park view room at the PPH (third year in a row for a free upgrade)! (I love the PPH Christmas tree so much.)





Stay tuned for a photo-palooza!!

Glad you had what sounds like a successful trip!! It sounds like you took my dream holiday trip -- room upgrade, CP, peppermint ice cream, friends, etc. Even a cute celebrity

Now don't get sick!!

PHXscuba

p.s. After your room-payment debacle a couple years ago I bet the Disney reservation system has an "upgrade" tag permanently attached to your name!

[Sherry E]

Originally Posted by PHXscuba

Glad you had what sounds like a successful trip!! It sounds like you took my dream holiday trip -- room upgrade, CP, peppermint ice cream, friends, etc. Even a cute celebrity

Now don't get sick!!

PHXscuba

p.s. After your room-payment debacle a couple years ago I bet the Disney reservation system has an "upgrade" tag permanently attached to your name!

That may be true, PHX!

The PPH folks told me that they "had to move some things around" to get me a room earlier than 3 p.m., so who knows if the room to which I was originally assigned was a park view room? All I know is that I ended up with a 6th floor park view (though I think I like the slightly higher floors for the views better because the lower floors are closer to the trees that are in the way).

I can tell you that actual peppermint ice cream is better than the peppermint bark-in-the-ice-cream situation that the Haagen Dazs Dazzler involves. The peppermint bark in the ice cream was a little too harsh, I think, while the real peppermint ice cream offered by Dreyer's is just perfect - not too mild and not too harsh on the peppermint.

I'm not sick so far, but there were tons of sick people at DLR. Everywhere I turned there were people coughing up a lung and blowing their noses. It will be a miracle if I didn't catch anything. However, at least I didn't get sick AT DLR, so that's a good thing!

I think you would love the CP!

[kaoden39]

Sherry, it sounds like you had a great trip to make up for last years debacle. I can hardly wait to hear about it.

[Virgoinab]

CP & and an upgrade?

Well, seems that everything worked out well, I am very happy to hear it.

[tksbaskets]

My bad not getting to nzer's question before you! I concur with Sherry's assessment of the post Holiday season decorations. When it's done it's done. The tree at the GCH came down under cloak of darkness around January 4th if I recall. Not a bit of Christmas left at that point at the hotel. The parks were decorated still but I bet once the advertised end date arrives all the decorations come down over night.

Sherry - I'm so thrilled that you saw the CP twice!! Time to bust out you know who~~ Plus a room upgrade - I'm so happy for you I need to do you know what!!

This trip started by a magic moment and it sounds like you had quite a few more. Peppermint cones, treats, time with DIS friends. Can't wait to see your pictures and share in all the fun.

[mvf-m11c]

Nice to hear that you had a great time during your Holiday trip in December to the DLR. I was glad that you were able to see the CP twice during your trip, got to eat the peppermint ice cream and get a upgrade during your stay. This has been a magical trip for you and can't wait to see your pictures later on.

[Sherry E]

Originally Posted by kaoden39

Sherry, it sounds like you had a great trip to make up for last years debacle. I can hardly wait to hear about it.

Michele -

It was certainly a better trip than last year's trip in a lot of ways. Last year had some good points and this year had some not-so-good points, but overall I think this was a happier trip.

Yesterday, when I saw Laurie at Surf's Up (by the way, Liza/funatdisney and I spotted her before she saw us, and Laurie had the biggest smile on her face - she and her family looked as though they were having the best time, which was wonderful to see), she asked me if I felt like I had gotten everything done that I wanted to do.

The short answer is probably "no," but I realized why. I explained to Laurie and Liza that I now know that 3 nights are not enough for me. I think I need at least 4 nights. The reason for this is that I always have to allow one day for either resting or dealing with pain issues. The "Pain Day," I call it. If I am having bad pain in my leg/hip/back or if I didn't get any sleep the night before, I'm not going to be firing on all cylinders. I'm not going to be in top form. I'm going to have to spend time in my room, resting.

By the time I have used up that Pain Day - which is usually at the beginning of the trip - and I am rarin' to go, ready to hit the ground running with what I want to accomplish, the trip is almost over. By the time I finally get into a groove and start rollin,' the trip is almost finished. A 3-night trip (with maybe only 3-1/4 days) is not enough time for me, if I want to do nighttime things around DLR. I don't do a commando-style/go, go, go type of schedule at DLR. I even skip rides! I can go for several hours and get things done, but then I have to rest here and there or take a break.

So I did miss doing quite a few things I wanted to do, but I did the best I could.

Originally Posted by Virgoinab

CP & and an upgrade?

Well, seems that everything worked out well, I am very happy to hear it.

Virgoinab -

Yes, everything worked out pretty well! The CP and the free room upgrade were definitely high points. And it was nice to see Laurie and Liza. Everything certainly ended on a much better note than last year's trip, although I do think I am coming down with a cold or something (which is not unusual for me post-DLR trips!). I feel it in my throat (that's the first stage for me). Boo! I knew there was no way I could get out of DLR - with all of the sick people around me that I saw and heard - without catching something. Thankfully, whatever caught up to me managed to hold off until I got home and didn't hit me while I was at DLR!

Let's just hope that it's only a harmless cold and will go away soon!

Originally Posted by tksbaskets

My bad not getting to nzer's question before you! I concur with Sherry's assessment of the post Holiday season decorations. When it's done it's done. The tree at the GCH came down under cloak of darkness around January 4th if I recall. Not a bit of Christmas left at that point at the hotel. The parks were decorated still but I bet once the advertised end date arrives all the decorations come down over night.

Sherry - I'm so thrilled that you saw the CP twice!! Time to bust out you know who~~ Plus a room upgrade - I'm so happy for you I need to do you know what!!

This trip started by a magic moment and it sounds like you had quite a few more. Peppermint cones, treats, time with DIS friends. Can't wait to see your pictures and share in all the fun.

TK -

Yep, time for ! ...And for !

Now that I've seen the CP I can tell I would love it even more with a narrator who was a personal favorite. Lou Diamond Phillips did a great job and seems to be a very likable, engaging fellow, but if an actor I really adored was narrating I think it would propel the CP to an even higher status in my mind!

As for my pictures - that darn Photobucket was acting up for me yesterday and I gave up. I am going to try again tonight to load them.

I did not take as many photos on this trip as I did on my December 2010 "...Peppermint Cone of Death" trip, but I certainly took more photos than I did on my December 2011 trip.

Honestly, the fact that I didn't take more photos than I did was for a few reasons:

1. I don't know about other Trip Reports, but in the case of mine I think that people tend to tune out after a while if there are too many pictures. Once I get past a certain point in the photos, I think a lot of folks disappear;

2. I was really trying to go for quality and not quantity this time around (whereas on my whirlwind day trip in November I was mainly going for quantity), and seek out interesting colors or angles, experiment with the camera's features, etc. I didn't want to just take photos of the same things I always get photos of - sure, there will be some 'repeats,' but I was really trying to go for some different 'material' - for example, you will not see many Cars Land or BVS photos at all, because I took so many photos in November! There was no need to take repeat photos of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street so soon!;

3. My first day was kind of an off day for me - I was tired from no sleep the night before, and I was bummed out that my friend Shawn didn't show up - so I didn't get my photo groove going until Day 2; and

4. I was aware the whole time that this TR thread doesn't have too many pages left in it before it has to close and I wasn't sure if I would have enough pages to cover a huge number of photos. I'd like to end this whole thread with one last completed TR for the road, and not have to break it up between this thread and a new thread, and I don't want to start a new thread just yet when I have some pages left in this one!



In any case, I kind of glanced over a lot of my photos after I managed to get them onto my PC (just long enough to then transfer them to a flash drive), and I must say that I was pretty pleased with a lot of the shots I got!

Yes, yes, some of the photos are too blurry or not as good as they looked in person, but many of the photos came out much better than I had imagined they would! I looked at some of them and said, "Hmmm...that one looked good in person, but not in this photo," and others surprised me and I said, "Wow! That came out great!"

I won't say which ones I thought came out great at this point because it only invites critics to instantly think, "That picture isn't that great." I'd rather just post them and let the audience decide what they like (if you all can stick with me)!

Originally Posted by mvf-m11c

Nice to hear that you had a great time during your Holiday trip in December to the DLR. I was glad that you were able to see the CP twice during your trip, got to eat the peppermint ice cream and get a upgrade during your stay. This has been a magical trip for you and can't wait to see your pictures later on.

Thank you, Bret!

It was a pretty good trip. It started off a bit rocky but I was determined to not let myself get down about it, and so I tried to make the most of it in the time I had (though I needed more time).

Yes, I got my peppermint ice cream! It's amazing how Gibson Girl's lines have gotten much shorter compared to what they used to be - I wonder if that's because of Ghirardelli in DCA?

I've been very lucky with the upgrades at the PPH!

I hope that Disney doesn't make the CP part of a paid party next year. I can understand fireworks and the parade being part of a party, but I don't think a religious show such as the CP really fits in with a party. Despite the extra crowds, it really wasn't that bad around Town Square. I know people will complain, but it was manageable. Still, I have a hunch that DLR may try to move the CP to one of its theaters - which is too bad, because it's quite beautiful in Town Square.

[Sherry E]

Here is a Candlelight Processional highlight reel o' photos!

Monday, December 10, 2012 (from a 4th row/center seat)...








Look! They're forming a tree!










Lou Diamond Phillips...






















These singers had wonderful voices...












This is the fellow who moved us all to tears with his angelic voice while singing "Silent Night," and then asking us to sing along with him...






















The seats were very close together...
















Tuesday, December 11, 2012 (from a seat on the right side of the stage, close to the narrator's podium)...









Good ol' Lou, back for another night...
















This was at the end of the ceremony, when Lou was talking about his friend, Jenni Rivera, who just passed away several days ago, and about praying for the troops, being kind to each other year round, etc.

[tksbaskets]

The CP looks just beautiful! Now I'll be looking at your pictures thinking 'is this one that Sherry thinks is great?' I think all your pictures are great so that's easy.

I think you are right that finding the right mix of photos and prose is a talent. I think your TR have just the right balance.

[kaoden39]

I think that 4 days are perfect for me too. I felt cheated my last trip with just the 3 days.


I love your photos from the CP!

[PHXscuba]

OK, Sherry, I don't know whether to thank you or grump at you -- now I have one more thing on my "bucket list" to try to do at Disneyland: see the CP. My friend and I were actually there the CP weekend a couple years ago, but it was insanely busy and kinda cold. I didn't know until we were there that my friend (also raised in SoCal but in Torrance) was part of the CP as a high school choir student! Now I have to scheme some more to get us both back next year to see the CP if it is more accessible.

I love Christmas music so I think I would love the CP; whoever was narrating. I've seen Lou Diamond Phillips in a couple cable shows lately and he is still a handsome guy.

I admit I was really skeptical about the chaos the CP would cause, but everything I have read has said it hasn't affected things so much. Did you feel like it had a really snarly effect on the parks if you weren't watching it?

PHXscuba

[Sherry E]

I have a stupid cold now (I tried to avoid getting sick, PHX!), but at least it waited until I got home from DLR. I am in the congestion phase right now (after a couple of days of having a bad sore throat). I'm hoping it runs a normal course for a cold and goes away soon, not lingering around and morphing into something worse over a 2-month span! I knew it would be unrealistic to think that I could get out of DLR without getting sick, as there seemed to be sick people running around everywhere in the parks! I've never heard so much coughing and sneezing at DLR!

I'm not sure if I am at my peak of the cold (you know how you usually have one or two days where you are at your worst, and then it gets better after that) or if I still have an uphill climb, but I know I have to somehow get to the store and grab some juice and some decongestants (the 'good stuff' behind the counter - not the stuff sold on the shelves)! And if I see any 'real' peppermint ice cream while I am there (not that Slow Churned nonsense), I will grab it even if I can't taste it at the moment! I'd rather have it in my freezer than miss my chance to get it at all.

I finally got my pictures loaded to Photobucket, so I will post a sneak preview/highlight reel (to lure everyone in!) before I start from the beginning with the TR.

I was going to post the sneak preview/highlight reel here yesterday (Friday) but I got caught up in watching the news (the terrible, tragic news of the Connecticut school shooting), and it just didn't seem like a time to be posting joyful TR photos. Many innocent, precious little souls were lost, for no reason at all - at a time when they should have been anxiously awaiting Santa's arrival or perhaps even planning a trip to a Disney resort during their break. They hadn't even gotten the chance to live their lives. Many families have now lost their babies, and their lives have been irreparably changed forever. I think that all of our hearts break for those families.


Sigh. Anyway, on to replies...

Originally Posted by tksbaskets

The CP looks just beautiful! Now I'll be looking at your pictures thinking 'is this one that Sherry thinks is great?' I think all your pictures are great so that's easy.

I think you are right that finding the right mix of photos and prose is a talent. I think your TR have just the right balance.

Thank you kindly, TK!

Most photos I will show even if they aren't great just because they fit into whatever segment of the TR I am covering, but some are much better than others. I guess I was just surprised that some of them looked much better in actual photo size than I expected. Sometimes things look much better in the camera's window/display, and when you actually get them loaded it's a whole different story and they don't look all that wonderful! I've also had the reverse happen - where something looked not-so-great in the camera window and when I looked at it in actual photo size it was better than I thought it would be! I think it's always kind of a mystery/surprise, discovering which pictures are winners and which ones are clunkers!

You're right - trying to have a good mix of narrative and pictures is a balancing act. Every trip to DLR (or anywhere else) yields different stories and different results. Certain trip reports I do have more narrative than others because there is more to tell. In other TR efforts I can get away with mostly posting photos...but not too many. People want to see pictures, but I think there is a limit. And again, I don't know about anyone else's TR - I am only referring to my own - but I think people tend to zone out or disappear when there are too many photos (just like they tune out if there is too much prose and not enough photos).

In any case, I was mainly thinking about the fact that I have a limited number of pages left in this thread and I wanted to fit whatever photos I took in here before it closes. Out of the 1100-ish or so photos that I took, many of them are similar or identical because I was often trying to perfect one particular shot, and if it didn't come out right the first 5 times I tried it I would try again until it looked the way I wanted it to look! So I will be able to cut out a lot of that redundant stuff because it will only be necessary to post one decent picture of something rather than my 5 pitiful attempts at the same shot!

I'll rustle up a highlight reel of pictures after I post this reply because I know you're headed to WDW very soon, TK, and you will be in the throes of preparing. You won't be able to follow this TR while you're gone, obviously, so I'll give you a sneak preview before you leave!

Originally Posted by kaoden39

I think that 4 days are perfect for me too. I felt cheated my last trip with just the 3 days.


I love your photos from the CP!

Thank you, Michele!

It's a crummy feeling when you leave and realize there was so much more you wanted to do! I feel stupid even saying it because there are many, many people who would love to be able to go to DLR for just one day, let alone more than that. It seems so silly and insignificant to even complain. But this is a Disney discussion board and we do discuss our trips!

So, yep, I don't think that 3 days, or 3 nights and a small part of a 4th day, is enough. You know, another part of it is that as I get older my DLR priorities shift and I simply just move more slowly and get less done in a day than I used to....thus, running out of time in the trip faster. I mean, I didn't feel like I had enough time at DLR just to do the things I wanted to do - I'm not even including rides in the mix! If I were to try to go on dozens of rides too, in addition to the other things I did, I think I'd probably need the amount of time that Mariezp needs when she and her family go to DLR (2 weeks)! That two-week time frame used to seem like too much for me, but now I can see where it would probably work for me.

Thankfully I got a big dose of Cars Land and Buena Vista Street in November. If I hadn't done the November day trip I would have had to sandwich more time in those two lands into this December trip somewhere, which would have resulted in bumping something else out of the trip. There just would not have been enough time for everything. There wasn't enough time for everything anyway, even without Cars Land and Buena Vista Street figuring prominently in the mix!

Originally Posted by PHXscuba

OK, Sherry, I don't know whether to thank you or grump at you -- now I have one more thing on my "bucket list" to try to do at Disneyland: see the CP. My friend and I were actually there the CP weekend a couple years ago, but it was insanely busy and kinda cold. I didn't know until we were there that my friend (also raised in SoCal but in Torrance) was part of the CP as a high school choir student! Now I have to scheme some more to get us both back next year to see the CP if it is more accessible.

I love Christmas music so I think I would love the CP; whoever was narrating. I've seen Lou Diamond Phillips in a couple cable shows lately and he is still a handsome guy.

I admit I was really skeptical about the chaos the CP would cause, but everything I have read has said it hasn't affected things so much. Did you feel like it had a really snarly effect on the parks if you weren't watching it?

PHXscuba

PHX -

I really think you would enjoy the CP. There is a high possibility that it will relocate to the Hyperion Theater (with possibly even more nights or more performances of the CP than this year's 20 nights!) next year - I think that if Disney does this it will be because they are having an official Christmas party in Disneyland and will want to offer something in DCA for people to do if they don't want to attend the party.

Now that I've seen the CP, of course, and knowing that it has been held in Town Square for over 50 years, I can't imagine it being held anywhere other than in Town Square. There is something about that location that lends itself well to the intimacy and special feeling of it at DLR. It's very dramatic to see all of the wonderful choir members holding their candles and lanterns in front of the train station. I think it will still be a lovely ceremony if it moves to a theater in either park, but I don't think it will have the same vibe.

As for how the CP has affected things in the park - in my opinion, having the CP on multiple nights probably worked well for spacing out the crowds and averting a possible crowd nightmare if it had only been held on, say, 5 nights. Originally I wasn't sure how it would go and if the 20 nights were a good thing or a bad thing. Ultimately, I think they were a good thing. Fewer nights would mean more people coming out to try to see it and more people standing around in Town Square at one time, hoping to get seats.

Sure, it was a bit annoying that there were ropes up around Town Square and we were sometimes diverted to one side of Town Square to exit if we were not seeing the CP. I know people will complain about that (and exaggerate!) and say it was a massive nightmare. If I hadn't seen the CP and enjoyed it, I might be grumbling about the extra crowds shuffling out of Town Square but it was not the worst crowd situation I have experienced at DLR - not by a long shot.

Honestly, I was at DL on New Year's Eve once, many years ago, and those crowds were the worst I've seen. Those NYE crowds were what caused me to not want to go back to DL on NYE again!

This CP set-up - while a bit of a nuisance - really did not seem that bad to me (not compared to what was predicted or compared to what I imagined). Quite frankly, the crowds caused by the parade tend to seem just as bad, if not worse, to me. And the parade on Tuesday night was delayed a bit (technical problems) so it happened very close to the CP, which meant that the crowds were just kind of stuck on Main Street in between events. A lot of folks didn't even know what the CP was - I heard many people asking their groups questions like, "Now what is this whole set-up for again? Is it a concert?" They were clueless.

But I've seen crowd gridlock that was just as bad - if not worse - when I've tried to move through Adventureland in the past. I've experienced worse crowds just trying to get through NOS or Frontierland after a showing of Fantasmic. I really don't think that the extra gridlock caused by the CP was any worse than those scenarios - and it may have even been not as bad as those scenarios. Of course, different nights will produce different crowd situations - a weekend might be horrible, whereas my weeknights were not too horrific.

I really think Laurie/DizNee Luver should see the CP (or should have seen it) while at DLR. The CP is right up her alley (especially because she is a person of faith and is not averse to the more religious things in life). Her whole family could have gotten seats if they had been there on the nights I was there, with only a few minutes of waiting. If she had seen (in person) how easy it was for me to get a seat, I think she would have been more motivated to do it. But because she didn't try for a seat, I think she had visions of it being a madhouse or a mob scene, or visions of having to stand and wait for hours to see it. I think she was more bothered by the Main Street crowds than I was. Again, those crowds were nothing worse than what I've seen in other scenarios at DLR, so I guess it's all a matter of how you look at it.

[Sherry E]

Here is a sneak preview/teaser/highlight reel o' photos from my DLR trip this past week, just selected at random:

I never get tired of my favorite hotel tree - the glorious, blue-green, glowing tree at the Paradise Pier Hotel. It warms my heart and puts a smile on my face...







This year's gingerbread masterpiece at Storytellers Cafe - which did not smell anywhere near as fresh and wonderful as it did in 2011...







Part of this year's gingerbread house at White Water Snacks...








A different perspective of Buena Vista Street...










The view from my Paradise Pier room...









Some of the vibrant flowers in front of the CP stage...






Well, at least I didn't harm any innocent trash cans while taking this photo...







I love how each one of the masks in New Orleans Square seems to have its own personality!










This photo just screams "Christmas time," doesn't it? Lol....








This one is called "Sherry is experimenting with the sepia setting on her camera..."







Adventureland fun...










A collection of 'peaks'...






Just horsin' around...






Toon Town fun...





Tomorrowland fun...






It's a Small World Holiday fun...






I was trying to aim upward because there were a lot of people's heads in the way...







A slightly different perspective of Haunted Mansion Holiday...







And this one is called "Sherry is experimenting with the B&W feature on her camera"...

Have I successfully lured anyone in to stick around? Or have I scared everyone away! Lol.

[tksbaskets]

I'm stuck! You can't shake me

I love the photos, am craving peppermint ice cream again, and the photos I found extra nice: You playing with your B&W feature on your camera and Just horsin' around. Yes that one shot of the yellow flowers screams Holiday time!