A Day at the Walt Disney Studios and Archives and Disneyland - 5/3/13 to 5/5/13 #2846

[PrincessInOz]

That is one gorgeous DD2. I hope we see more of her in your pictures.

[Sherry E]

I agree with ACDSNY and PiO - that little girl is adorable! Soooo cute! I can only imagine how excited she must have been to meet the Princesses.

Just looking at what you've posted of the photos so far, it looks like everyone was having a great time.

I'm also glad that Goofy's Kitchen went over well (from what you said in my TR). I hope it was a day when at least a couple of Princesses were there too, but if not then hopefully everyone was happy with the food selection and the other characters.

You know, I had a question for you and I almost forgot to ask it until I just read what you posted about Cast Members scanning tickets at the entrance...

When I was at DLR in November and again last month, on both trips I noticed that the Cast Members at the turnstiles of both parks kept greeting me (and other females) with a "Hello, Princess" or "Have a wonderful day, Princess." That sort of thing. I do not recall ever hearing this on any of my previous trips. And it's not like I'm a 5-year-old child, where being called a Princess might be exciting! No one was calling me "Princess" at either park prior to this past November. They didn't even do it back in June, when Cars Land opened. It is definitely a new thing to address the females as "Princess."

So my question is, what are the Cast Members calling the males who walk through the turnstiles? Prince? Are they saying, "Have a wonderful day, Prince"? Or is there some other sort of title they are using? Did they refer to you as Prince?

[mvf-m11c]

Originally Posted by ACDSNY

Brett the little 2 yr old is adorable! Wonderful pics.

She is adorable. You can't believe that she is 2 1/2 years old and will be 3 in April. Luckily that she was free when we entered the park during our trip this past weekend. I thought that we had to show her birth certificate to prove that she is 2 1/2 years old. You can tell that she doesn't look like a 2 1/2 year old child. She is also smart where she had the mind of a 5 year old.

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

That is one gorgeous DD2. I hope we see more of her in your pictures.

Thank you PiO. I will be showing more photos of DD2 when I upload more pictures from flickr which does take awhile since I have over 2000 pictures during this trip mostly from RDCT, WoC, and the rides.

Originally Posted by Sherry E

I agree with ACDSNY and PiO - that little girl is adorable! Soooo cute! I can only imagine how excited she must have been to meet the Princesses.

Just looking at what you've posted of the photos so far, it looks like everyone was having a great time.

I'm also glad that Goofy's Kitchen went over well (from what you said in my TR). I hope it was a day when at least a couple of Princesses were there too, but if not then hopefully everyone was happy with the food selection and the other characters.

You know, I had a question for you and I almost forgot to ask it until I just read what you posted about Cast Members scanning tickets at the entrance...

When I was at DLR in November and again last month, on both trips I noticed that the Cast Members at the turnstiles of both parks kept greeting me (and other females) with a "Hello, Princess" or "Have a wonderful day, Princess." That sort of thing. I do not recall ever hearing this on any of my previous trips. And it's not like I'm a 5-year-old child, where being called a Princess might be exciting! No one was calling me "Princess" at either park prior to this past November. They didn't even do it back in June, when Cars Land opened. It is definitely a new thing to address the females as "Princess."

So my question is, what are the Cast Members calling the males who walk through the turnstiles? Prince? Are they saying, "Have a wonderful day, Prince"? Or is there some other sort of title they are using? Did they refer to you as Prince?

Thank you Sherry. She is very cute and very smart. She was really excited during the trip and the most excited for her was at Ariel's Grotto to meet the Disney princesses for dinner. That was her highlight of the trip of meeting them.

We all had a great time during this trip during the off season at the DLR which wasn't that crowded on all of our days at the parks.

We had a great time at GK and it was nice to ear there again since I was a kid. It does bring a lot of memories to eat at GK. We did see Snow White and Mulan at breakfast but unfortunately they didn't come our way which was a shame. But we did get to meet a lot of Disney characters like Goofy, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Baloo, & Rafiki. The food selection was very nice where there was a lot of choices to choose from than Minnie & Friend's character breakfast at the Plaza Inn.

Having extra CM's to scan and take pictures before you enter the turnstile is kind of annoying during this trip which was enforced last week. I can understand why they are doing this and it just causes more delays when you enter the park. Luckily for us we didn't have to wait a long time to get through the turnstiles with the ticket scanning to see if the ticket belongs to that person.

That is so great that the CM's at the turnstiles are greeting you with "Princess" when you enter the park. I don't think during this trip that the CM's said "prince" to me during this past trip or my November trip. I always try to get in the park when I am in the turnstiles. I did remember one time during our trip at DL that one of the CM's said princess to DD2 when she was in the stroller where I was right behind them. To try the experience a pleasant one at the parks, some CM's will call the guests prince or princesses when they enter the turnstiles. Those CM's are very friendly and great to have at the turnstiles while some of them don't care as much.

I would assume that the kids might be called "prince" by the CM's as you enter the turnstiles. I They did not address me as prince during my trip but they always say "have a wonderful day" when I got back my AP from them. The CM's always say the same thing when I enter the parks like "Have a wonderful day" or Magical time like they do in the past. But maybe if I came with a young child that they might say prince to them.


I was also going to say to you during my visit that they did have some Holiday decorations still up in mid January. One of them was the Christmas lights at A Bugs Land which was kind of surprising to see. The huge ornaments were not there but just the lights.


Here are more pics from the trip including some from GK, AG and random pics at the parks. I didn't get in a lot of the pictures since I was taking most of them.






At It's Tough to be a Bug


At Ariel's Grotto










Here is all of us waiting for WoC and with the Glow with the Show Ears which I bought for everyone.

[ACDSNY]

Another great set of pics! I love the ones with the Glow with the Show ears.

[PrincessInOz]

I agree. Fantastic update and even better pictures. That little DD2 is really adorable. I love seeing the pictures of her with the princesses.

[franandaj]

That little 2 1/2 year old is definitely adorable and so nice to see that she loved the characters instead of freaking out when she visited them.

I'm glad you had a great time and I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures from your trip. They are definitely stunning! I think this is the first time in many years that we didn't make it to the DLR during the holiday season to see the decorations.

At least I'm going to fix that next week and get in a quick visit before my trip to WDW. I miss the place!

[mvf-m11c]

Originally Posted by ACDSNY

Another great set of pics! I love the ones with the Glow with the Show ears.

Thank you Angela.

I did like the pictures with the Glow with the Show Ears. Everyone really like them during the trip.

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

I agree. Fantastic update and even better pictures. That little DD2 is really adorable. I love seeing the pictures of her with the princesses.

Thank you PiO. DD2 was a very nice young child and had a blast at the DLR. There were times where she was a little grouchy where she didn't get some nap time during our time. But that was expected from a young child where she gets a lot of nap time during the day. There were some photos of DD2 with the Disney characters that are not great where she didn't smile. But I will tell what happens during those time. It might be a while until I get to that since I have to finish the November trip and the WDW trip.

Originally Posted by franandaj

That little 2 1/2 year old is definitely adorable and so nice to see that she loved the characters instead of freaking out when she visited them.

I'm glad you had a great time and I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures from your trip. They are definitely stunning! I think this is the first time in many years that we didn't make it to the DLR during the holiday season to see the decorations.

At least I'm going to fix that next week and get in a quick visit before my trip to WDW. I miss the place!

She had a great time at the DLR and meeting all the Disney characters.

Thank you Alison. It will take some time until I get to write up this trip report since I am behind on the other two trip reports. Sorry to hear that you and Fran didn't make it to the DLR during the Holiday season. It was amazing with BVS and CL getting Holiday decorations. Maybe next year that you and Fran will be able to see the Holiday decorations at the two new lands.

That is nice to hear that you will do a quick trip to the DLR before you upcoming trip to WDW. Hope you have a great time.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – November 16, 2012 – Part 9

On the last update, we just rode It’s a Small World Holiday. It is always fun to ride IASWH during the Holiday season at DL. After getting of IASWH, it was time to look for more Holiday decorations around DL.

We left off just getting off It’s a Small World Holiday and now we are on our way over to our next destination which was the Jingle Jangle Jamboree at the backside of Frontierland which is right by Big Thunder Ranch.

AT Fantasyland where we were heading on the backside, it was not that busy where rides like Dumbo was at 20 minutes wait which was a little long that morning.


After passing through FL, we were now on the backside of Frontierland right at Big Thunder Ranch. During the Holiday season, BTR is decorated with the Holiday decorations which are so amazing. They decorate everything around the area including Big Thunder Ranch BBQ. While we were in the area, I looked for any Holiday decorations for the quests.


When we were about to enter BTR, there was the Jingle Jungle Jamboree sign on top of the sign which is new to the Holiday season.


Wreaths around the BTR BBQ area


While we were heading on over to JJJ, there is a lot of decorations on the way which the wagons are decorated.




Over on the left hand side which is the area where they have the Reindeer Round-Up in the past and it looks so empty in that area while most of the Holiday decorations are still up. I was surprised to see the area not so busy like it has been. But this is the first time in a long time that the Reindeer Round-Up is empty. Also they didn’t bring back the reindeers in the pen area which was sad to see.




The two of us now entered JJJ. My first impression of JJJ is that it in the back of the Festival Arena where they have special events at DL. This time it is the place where they have games, Disney characters, crafts and entertainment.


Hours of Operation of JJJ


There were a lot of Christmas decorations around the area and I started taking a lot of pictures as much as I can. My DA didn’t want to stay too long in the Festival Arena so I had to take as many pics as I can. I was getting as many trees, wreaths, garlands, etc. for the quests.






There was an event going on stage but we didn’t stay too long to see it.


Also around the area, there were the Country Bears which I haven’t seen them in a long time. It was neat to be able to see the Country Bears at JJJ character meet & greet area.




There were a lot of different games at Reindeer Games which is standard games that you do outside.






We didn’t stay too long in JJJ so we head on out and over to the cottage where thee Reindeer Round-Up used to be during the Holiday season.


My first impression of JJJ is that it is no where near Reindeer Round-Up during the Holiday season. Even though it is a good idea to use the Festival Arena for JJJJ but I don’t like changes a lot and I did miss Reindeer Round-Up this time of the season.

Around the cottage building still have it’s Holiday decorations which is nice to see during the Holiday season.








That’s it for this post and I will have more from DL.

[PrincessInOz]

It's the middle of January and I'm sitting here during a hot, dry summer in Melbourne. The country feels like it's burning.......


BUT.....your pictures at JJJ are taking me back to Christmas again. Great shots!! Love the decorations.

[mvf-m11c]

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

It's the middle of January and I'm sitting here during a hot, dry summer in Melbourne. The country feels like it's burning.......


BUT.....your pictures at JJJ are taking me back to Christmas again. Great shots!! Love the decorations.

I would like to be where you are right now with all the cold weather going on in NorCal.

Some of the pictures from Jingle Jangle Jamboree didn't turn out well and I didn't get too many up close pictures of the event. It was nice to use the Festival Arena for the event just like they did for the Halloween season. Glad that you are enjoying the pictures of DL during the Holiday season.

I still have a lot to finish including trying to get to my trip this month which was great.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – November 16, 2012 – Part 10

On the last update, we just looked around Jingle Jangle Jamboree where it was in the Festival Area right by Big Thunder Ranch. The JJJ is a very nice activity to do a lot of different activities during the Holiday season at DL. There were games, crafts, character meet & greet and the stage where Billy Hill and the Holiday Hillbillies were playing. We didn’t stay too long since my DA wanted to do other things that night so we moved on over to the former Reindeer Round-Up area right at the cottage.

We just left JJJ and now at the cottage at Big Thunder Ranch. I always like to go inside the cottage to see the Holiday decorations inside. It is also decorated during the Halloween season with a lot of different decorations. I haven’t been inside the cottage during the Holiday season in a while and it was a perfect time to go inside while we were in the area.



There were a lot of small Christmas trees inside the building. How many trees can you see in the pictures?


That’s a lot of reindeers on the shelves


The kitchen






The fireplace with a Santa picture


The main Christmas tree inside the cottage






Top of the cottage with more pictures of Santa and his reindeers




After leaving the cottage, I had to get pictures of the reindeers made out of sticks which was very neat.




After looking around Big Thunder Ranch where they didn’t have the reindeer’s this year which was really sad that they mostly have the reindeers at Disneyland in the past. I first heard that Disney was not bringing back the reindeers which is really sad and it would have been nice if they had the reindeers. The JJJ was really neat but I am a traditional guy during the Holiday season at DL where it would have been nice to have Reindeer Round-Up instead of JJJ.

While we were leaving, the Hillbillies were playing right on the other side of Big Thunder Ranch


We walked down towards Frontierland right by Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which will be closed in a couple of months during my visit in November. As we know already that BTMRR is closed for a 10 month refurbishment where the tracks will be replaced and a nice touch up just like the Matterhorn last year where it was down for a lot of months last year.

There was all so a JJJ sign right by BTMRR where the Reindeer Round-Up sign use to be during the Holiday season.


Now we are right in Frontierland right by the Rivers of America. We decided to head on over to Haunted Mansion Holiday to go on it since it is fun to ride during the Holiday season. While we were walking down on over to the HMH, I had to find as many wreaths down the way.

Wreaths at the Mark Twain/Columbia dock




The Golden Horseshoe had its garlands on the building like every year during the Holiday season


There were a lot of strollers right at the entrance of Pirates of the Caribbean.


A look at New Orleans Square with the Holiday decorations and I did came back to it later that day so there will be more pictures of it. Just like the last year in 2011 where there were Mardi Gras masks on the light poles and on the buildings.


There was a band playing Mardi Gras music


When we got over to HMH, there was a long line that was outside of the queue. My DA didn’t want to wait in that long queue. I told her that the queue was not being used during that time when we saw it. It was about 10 to 15 minutes to go through the queue. She didn’t want to do it so we just skipped it. But we did get FP’s for HMH so we can come back later that day to go on the ride.




We got FP’s for HMH and our time was around noon so we had some time to kill until it was time to head on back to HMH to go on the ride.

While we were in the area of NOS, we decided to go on the DLRR. But I will get to that on the next post so stay tune for the DLRR on the next post.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – November 16, 2012 – Part 11

On the last update at DL, my DA and I were at the cottage at Big Thunder Ranch seeing all the decorations and just got FP’s for Haunted Mansion Holiday that day since the line for HMH was quite long. We could have stayed in the line but my DA didn’t want to wait in the line. So we are off to our next attraction which was right at NOS.

When we got the FP’s for HMH, we were right by the NOS station and one of the trains was at the station. So we decided to go on the DLRR since the train was at the station.


While we were walking through the station, I had to get pictures of the Christmas wreaths at the station. I do enjoy looking at the Christmas wreaths at the NOS since it is two of the four stations that are decorated during the Holiday season which the MS station is one of them including the NOS station.


The train at the station was the E.P. Ripley Engine #2 with the Excursion car set


On the other side of the NOS station is a Christmas wreath of the station.


The train left the NOS station and we are on our way towards Mickey’s Toontown Depot. It is so fun to go from NOS to MTT since you go through Splash Mountain and right by the Rivers of America.

It so fun to see the Riverboat inside Splash Mountain with all those different characters.


It was a little busy around Critter Country where it was lunch time and there were a lot of strollers around the area when we were on the train.




Passing by the Festival Arena where the Jingle Jangle Jamboree is happening


We now were at Mickey’s Toontown Depot and we didn’t get off since we plan on riding the train all the way towards the Tomorrowland station. We had to wait awhile until the train could leave the depot and head on over to the Tomorrowland station.


When we left the station, it is always fun to see IASWH going by.


It was a little busy around IASW Plaza where there were quite a number of people.


The queues for IASWH was not that long where it was a short wait time.


We rode the DLRR all the way towards the Tomorrowland station. It was a little busy at the Autopia which does get a lot of guests to ride the cars. But we weren’t planning on riding the Autopia.


For the DISers that have followed my trip reports in the past knew what ride we were going on during that time. If you have guessed the monorail, you are correct. I am a huge fan of the monorail and railroads at the Disney parks and the one that I have to do all the time when I am at DL is ride the DL Monorails. We plan on riding the front or back cabin of the monorails so we knew that we would have to wait awhile unless we get to the TL station when there is no one in the area.

So we have walked from the TL Railroad station and head on over to the monorail station.


We walked all the way towards the Monorail station which is quite a long walk. On the way, the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage was running all the Subs during that time.


A look at Matterhorn Mountain which is so amazing to see every time from the TL Monorail station


We were at the end of the station where we got a chance to ride in the back of the monorail. We didn’t have to wait that long since Monorail Red was approaching the station. Monorail Red still had the Cars Land theme faces on the front of the cabin. They call Monorail Red Manny. My DA didn’t like the voices of the monorails when we rode them during the summertime. So even during the Holiday season towards November that the faces were on.

During my trip this month, the Monorails took off the face which is nice to see the original monorails.


We got to go in the back of Monorail Red or Monorail Manny. It is so fun to ride in the back of the monorails. But we prefer to ride up front most of the times when we ride the monorails.


We have now left the TL Monorail station and now heading on over towards the Downtown Disney station. When we left the station, Monorail Blue or Mandy they would call it was entering Tomorrowland.




Now we are at Disney California Adventure


Passing by Mad T Party area at Hollywood Land


When we were entering Buena Vista Street, I took a picture of the turnstile area instead of getting a picture of the Carthay Circle Theater. Mostly I get a picture of the CCT when we ride the Monorail but it was nice to get another picture of something else that I don’t have. It was a little busy around BVS during that afternoon.




We are passing through the Grand California Hotel which I like to stay when I am staying on-site at the DLR.


After going through the GCH, we are now approaching the DTD station where it is another place to enter the park instead of entering DL through Main Street.

That’s it for this post and I will have more from the Monorail.

[PrincessInOz]

Catching up.

WOW! You've posted a heap of pictures. I love the wreaths at JJJ and around DL.

It does look busy at IaSW. And I love your pictures of the monorail ride. I really felt like I was on the circuit with you. Do you stay at the GCH often?

[mvf-m11c]

Originally Posted by PrincessInOz

Catching up.

WOW! You've posted a heap of pictures. I love the wreaths at JJJ and around DL.

It does look busy at IaSW. And I love your pictures of the monorail ride. I really felt like I was on the circuit with you. Do you stay at the GCH often?

I was a little surprise to see that many people at IASW Plaza where the queue for IASWH was not that long. It was nice to ride in the back of Monorail Red. We always have to ride the monorail every time we are at DL and have to ride the front or back. I would prefer the front and talk to the pilot. I have only stayed at the GCH two times in my life which was in 2001 when the GCH opened as well as DCA. Than in 2010 during the Halloween season. Right now with the prices at the GCH, it will be a long time until we stay on property.

The next post will be up shortly.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – November 16, 2012 – Part 12

On the last update at DL the two of us just got on the Disneyland Monorail going around the DLR. We always have to ride the DLR as one of the rides that we must do every time we come to the DLR. It is and will always be my favorite ride over all the other rides at the Disney parks. We were in the back of Monorail Red. We have just got to the Downtown Disney station and waiting to leave the station and back to the DLR.

We are approaching the DTD station.


We were passing by the Lego store at DTD which had the Lego Disney characters on the outside of the building.




We have arrived at the DTD Monorail station and we are riding the monorail all the way back to the DLR since we like to ride the monorail roundtrip. It was very nice where we had the back cabin to ourselves from the TL Monorail station to the DTD station. The CM’s didn’t open the door so we had the back to ourselves which is nice to have. Mostly they let some other guests to fill up the cabin.


Now we were leaving the DTD station and on the way back to DL.


I got a picture of the Esplanade and a look at DCA. It wasn’t that busy at DCA where there were a few people going through the turnstiles.


But at DL, there were quite a lot of people that were entering the park.




Now we are back at DL and through Tomorrowland




A look at Matterhorn Mountain


A look at IASWH


There were quite a number of people going on Storybook Land Canal Boats


We were now back at the TL Monorail station and it was time to get off the monorail. For people who don’t know about the DL monorail, you are able to ride it round trip from the TL all the way back to the TL station. But if you come from DTD station, you have to get off at the TL station.

Another good tip of riding in the front or back of the monorail is to get in front at gate 1 for riding up front or gate 5 riding in the back of the monorail. If you are up at those gates, you can ask the CM’s if you can ride up front or back. The last one is that you can tell the CM’s that you will want to wait for the next monorail and ride up front or back if you want to get in. I have done this a lot ever since I have been at DL and we still love to ride up front or back in the monorails.

After getting off the monorail, we started to head on back towards New Orleans Square to go on Haunted Mansion since we have FP’s to use that day. Since we didn’t go on HMH earlier that day, our next best option was using our FP’s and get on the ride quickly than waiting to get on in the stand-by queue.

During that time, it was getting a little cloudy that day where it looked like it was about to rain. But there were some clouds and some blue sky that day which we don’t know what it going to happen.


A look at the Fantasyland Faire under construction which is the former Carnation Plaza Gardens


Now passing through Frontierland and they had the Holiday decorations.


Pioneer Mercantile store




A lot of the rides around Frontierland and NOS started to pick up with more and more people in the park. Over at Pirates of the Caribbean the line look quite long.


It was quite busy around NOS and it did look the same over at HMH.




The wait time for HMH was not that long while looking at the wait time was at 15 minutes which was not that long. But my DA didn’t want to wait awhile in the standby queue. So we hand our FP’s to the CM’s and we are now in the FP queue for HMH.

While walking on over to the mansion, I had to get some pictures while we were walking through the queue.






Now we are approaching the front door and on our way inside the HMH.


That’s it for this post and there will be more pictures from the HMH.