10 Mths of WDW Planning leads us to~~DISNEYLAND!! Report Completed~Pic Heavy!!!

[Trentmom]

Loved the window shopping. The Santa Mickey Nutcracker is super cute



What is the Mad T party area? Is that a dance show they put on? Looks really cool in there

I liked how Chip and Dale were dressed. Very cool

The animation building looked fun and test looks neat

[Pimama]

Your trip report has been great company the last few days while I've been sick and I'm sad to have to wait for more now! Our family had hoped to go to DL in December and ended up in DW!! Our trip had some less than magical moments including a very expensive and disappointing Christmas party. I'm trying not to feel regret looking at the lovely "free" Christmas options there were at DL. Always thankful of course for any Disney trip!!

We have done the drive to DL from Seattle several times and it is a lovely, albeit long, drive. I may be checking out the suites in Sacramento next time,as a family of 7 it can be hard to find good hotel options.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us all!

[DizNee Luver]

Originally Posted by Trentmom

Loved the window shopping. The Santa Mickey Nutcracker is super cute



What is the Mad T party area? Is that a dance show they put on? Looks really cool in there

I liked how Chip and Dale were dressed. Very cool

The animation building looked fun and test looks neat

I've never been a huge nutcracker fan.....until I saw this one.....now I may have to get more.....lol

The Mad T Party is a live band and a DJ spinning loud music....... Huge during the summer and weekends for the dance crowd.

I've always appreciated the characters dressing for the holidays and "lands" they're in.

Love going into the Animation Building. This is where the Animation Academy (where you learn to draw a character) and Turtle Talk with Crush, as well as the things we had pics of......plus more!! Love just sitting out in the HUGE lobby area & watching the film clips, pics & animated stills around the room as well as the music.

Originally Posted by Pimama

Your trip report has been great company the last few days while I've been sick and I'm sad to have to wait for more now! Our family had hoped to go to DL in December and ended up in DW!! Our trip had some less than magical moments including a very expensive and disappointing Christmas party. I'm trying not to feel regret looking at the lovely "free" Christmas options there were at DL. Always thankful of course for any Disney trip!!

We have done the drive to DL from Seattle several times and it is a lovely, albeit long, drive. I may be checking out the suites in Sacramento next time,as a family of 7 it can be hard to find good hotel options.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us all!

Welcome.....I'm sorry you've been sick!!! There's rumors going around that the "free" Christmas options we enjoyed this December might go away to the paid party. Nothing confirmed at this point.....but it kinda looks like it might go that direction. It's always been free at Disneyland and it will be met with a lot of upset opposition if they take away those perks. I'm sorry the party didn't work out for you.......if you don't mind answering.....I'd love to hear what happened!

The Homewood Suites are a super option for larger families. They have nothing but suites and they're very nice. Usually we have to get 2 rooms and sometimes the suites are cheaper. It's worth it to me to pay a little more to keep everyone together. Never had a bad stay at one!

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Dancin with Characters is really cool. We discovered it on our last trip. There are couches all around the room (hard plastic ones) for parents and in the middle is a huge dance floor. There are some CM's dressed in dance party type clothes that dance with the kids, a DJ, disco lights and characters come out to dance with the kids. It's usually about 6 characters at a time and they are ones you wouldn't normally see in the park. It was a lot of fun for the kids and for us to take a break and watch!

Check it out next time you are there, I'm sure your little ones would love it.

[DizNee Luver]

Originally Posted by mommy2allyandaveri

Dancin with Characters is really cool. We discovered it on our last trip. There are couches all around the room (hard plastic ones) for parents and in the middle is a huge dance floor. There are some CM's dressed in dance party type clothes that dance with the kids, a DJ, disco lights and characters come out to dance with the kids. It's usually about 6 characters at a time and they are ones you wouldn't normally see in the park. It was a lot of fun for the kids and for us to take a break and watch!

Check it out next time you are there, I'm sure your little ones would love it.

Oh wow.....bummer it wasn't running when we were there......the twins are love music & dancing!! I would have enjoyed it to see what characters come out!!!

Thank You for telling me what it was!!!

[RI Disney Star]

Originally Posted by DizNee Luver

Woo Hoo~~Family Road Trips!!! lol

It could be easier, but it seems to me it's about 6mths out......crazy!

As for the places across the street the closest ones are:
Closest to pedestrian crossing would be BW Park Place Inn, Desert Inn & Suites, Park Vue Inn, Tropicana Inn & Carousel Inn.

Others within the one block either direction (still across the street from the park) would be BW Anaheim Inn, Ramada Maingate, Camelot Inn, Fairfield Inn and then HoJo's.

I've stayed at Desert Inn & Suites (nothing fancy, cheap, uncomfortable beds, nasty indoor pool), Tropicana Inn (average place, pool in middle of parking lot, would stay again), Carousel Inn (same owner of Tropicana, a little nicer, rooms can get tight due to large furniture, free breakfast, would stay again), Ramada Maingate (stayed in a prem. room which was far from prem., newer pool in middle of parking lot, not high on my list to return) and HoJo's (furthest of the ones across the street, about a 8 min. walk but we didn't find it to be an issue, stayed in bldg 1 with Disney view, loved it, huge rooms, comfy beds, will definitely stay here again)

So before my readers blast me for my quickie reviews......remember this was my experience from 2005 on. Things could have changed and improved or got worse.....but I can only tell you my thoughts from when we stayed.

Thanks for the info. Hojo's look like a good hotel. I'll keep them all in mind.

One more quick question - Do you know when they take down the Christmas decorations? Do they do it immediately after the first or do they leave them up for a few days after. If so we might try to go early in January.

I'm loving all your pictures, I'm only up to page 42 and all the IASM pictures. My dh and I went to WDW last Dec. and I don't remember seeing any Christmas decorations in there.

Thanks again for the info. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your TR!

[DizNee Luver]

Originally Posted by RI Disney Star

Thanks for the info. Hojo's look like a good hotel. I'll keep them all in mind.

One more quick question - Do you know when they take down the Christmas decorations? Do they do it immediately after the first or do they leave them up for a few days after. If so we might try to go early in January.

I'm loving all your pictures, I'm only up to page 42 and all the IASM pictures. My dh and I went to WDW last Dec. and I don't remember seeing any Christmas decorations in there.

Thanks again for the info. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your TR!

The decorations stay up for about a week after the first (I think it's kinda depending on when the 1st falls too).

I don't think WDW does the holiday overlay on Small World.

I'm glad you're enjoying the report!!!

[Sherry E]

Originally Posted by RI Disney Star

Thanks for the info. Hojo's look like a good hotel. I'll keep them all in mind.

One more quick question - Do you know when they take down the Christmas decorations? Do they do it immediately after the first or do they leave them up for a few days after. If so we might try to go early in January.

I'm loving all your pictures, I'm only up to page 42 and all the IASM pictures. My dh and I went to WDW last Dec. and I don't remember seeing any Christmas decorations in there.

Thanks again for the info. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your TR!

Originally Posted by DizNee Luver

The decorations stay up for about a week after the first (I think it's kinda depending on when the 1st falls too).

I don't think WDW does the holiday overlay on Small World.

I'm glad you're enjoying the report!!!

RI Disney Star & Laurie -

I just wanted to expand a bit about when the decorations come down after the holiday season. Usually, the holiday season will officially end on the very first Sunday after New Year's Day, which could be only or day or two after New Year's Day or almost a week after. If New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the season will end on the following Sunday.

For the last two holiday seasons, there has been the Three Kings Day celebration taking place on the final 3 days/weekend of the season so I think that some of the decorations in the Jingle Jangle Jamboree area are removed to make way for Three Kings stuff.

Santa is totally gone from the hotels by Christmas, so he will not be around until the end of the season. I think he is gone from both parks by New Year's too, if not before. The Dickens carolers are gone within a couple of days after Christmas.

It's a Small World Holiday (and most of the decorations around it) stays up until right around mid-January or MLK Day, although that is always subject to change.

Most of the New Orleans Square decorations stay up (with the exception of the Christmas tree and specific Christmas-type things) through the Mardi Gras festivities at DLR in February and into early March.

Bret/mvf-m11c was just at DLR over the weekend of 1/12-1/14/13 and he said that the enormous Christmas lights were still up in A Bug's Land in DCA, but the giant ornaments were gone. I was surprised to hear that the lights were still up!

The 3 hotels pretty much get un-decorated (I think I just made up that word! Lol.) right after New Year's, if not slightly before then - they don't stay decorated until the official season end date.

So, I guess the way it breaks down is that some things may stay up longer than expected, and some things will probably start to quietly, sneakily come down immediately after January 1st.

Most of the holiday treats & food items, except for maybe the tamales and some actual entrees, should stay up until the official last day of the season, and the gingerbread cookies can now be found in some stores year-round, as I understand it.

[DizNee Luver]

Originally Posted by Sherry E

RI Disney Star & Laurie -

I just wanted to expand a bit about when the decorations come down after the holiday season. Usually, the holiday season will officially end on the very first Sunday after New Year's Day, which could be only or day or two after New Year's Day or almost a week after. If New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the season will end on the following Sunday.

For the last two holiday seasons, there has been the Three Kings Day celebration taking place on the final 3 days/weekend of the season so I think that some of the decorations in the Jingle Jangle Jamboree area are removed to make way for Three Kings stuff.

Santa is totally gone from the hotels by Christmas, so he will not be around until the end of the season. I think he is gone from both parks by New Year's too, if not before. The Dickens carolers are gone within a couple of days after Christmas.

It's a Small Word Holiday (and most of the decorations around it) stays up until right around mid-January or MLK Day, although that is always subject to change.

Most of the New Orleans Square decorations stay up (with the exception of the Christmas tree and specific Christmas-type things) through the Mardi Gras festivities at DLR in February and into early March.

Bret/mvf-m11c was just at DLR over the weekend of 1/12-1/14/13 and he said that the enormous Christmas lights were still up in A Bug's Land in DCA, but the giant ornaments were gone. I was surprised to hear that the lights were still up!

The 3 hotels pretty much get un-decorated (I think I just made up that word! Lol.) right after New Year's, if not slightly before then - they don't stay decorated until the official season end date.

So, I guess the way it breaks down is that some things may stay up longer than expected, and some things will probably start to quietly, sneakily come down immediately after January 1st.

Most of the holiday treats & food items, except for maybe the tamales and some actual entrees, should stay up until the official last day of the season, and the gingerbread cookies can now be found in some stores year-round, as I understand it.

I'm glad you came by to go into more detail on this Sherry!!! I knew I had seen more on this (probably from you on the Christmas superthread) but couldn't remember for sure. It should be a good time to go crowd wise, but sounds like it would be hit & miss as for the decorations. There are also refurbs that start in January too.

Oooohhhh, I didn't know the Gingerbread cookies would be made available year round!!!

[DizNee Luver]

Everyone was getting hungry for lunch, so since we were right in front of Award Weiners, that's where we decided to eat.







While the family was eating, I went across the street to Off the Page to look around at the art and stuff. I love this shop and wish I had a couple thousand I could drop on art work.



After lunch, we headed towards Tower of Terror. Ty, Derek & Ally wanted to ride and so did Anthony & Addy.











So we sent them off to do that while Mike & I took the twins to BugsLand. Our first ride was Flik's Flyers!!

[Sherry E]

Originally Posted by DizNee Luver

I'm glad you came by to go into more detail on this Sherry!!! I knew I had seen more on this (probably from you on the Christmas superthread) but couldn't remember for sure. It should be a good time to go crowd wise, but sounds like it would be hit & miss as for the decorations. There are also refurbs that start in January too.

Oooohhhh, I didn't know the Gingerbread cookies would be made available year round!!!

No problem! When I saw that the question came up, I thought I'd better pop in to expand. Just in case someone happens to go in a year in which the Sunday after New Year's Day is really close to New Year's Day, the decorations might come down faster than other times.

It really does seem to be hit or miss with the decorations. The hotels seem to operate on a whole different schedule than the parks, even though they are all part of Disneyland Resort. The hotels don't get their decorations put up at the same time as the parks, and the hotels' decorations get taken down before the parks' decor is taken down.

And why were the giant lights still up in A Bug's Land on January 12-14, but the giant ornaments were gone? Makes no sense!

For that matter, even though I love IASWH, why IS it open so far into January?

And even though some folks have seen a 'plainclothes' Santa (wearing green plaid) at the old Reindeer Round-Up past Christmas day, supposedly he was gone from the new Jingle Jangle Jamboree by Christmas this past season. Very confusing!

I have mixed feelings about the gingerbread cookies being available year-round. I kind of think that it should be seasonal, but what I think doesn't matter!

A CM told me back in 2011 that the cookies were going to be available year-round. DLR had already begun selling the shortbread cookies in the shape of the gingerbread men at that point (with pastel-colored buttons and ears), but the actual gingerbread ones were less available. Apparently the actual gingerbread cookies can now be bought year-round in some stores. I'm not sure which stores, but I would guess that Candy Palace and Trolley Treats are safe bets.

[DizNee Luver]

Our next ride was Francis' Ladybug Spin.



While we were waiting in line, we got a few pics from the area:







Time to ride!!













When we got off the ladybug ride, the rest of the family had shown back up. I asked about the ToT pic, but I guess where they were seated and all the arms up in the air....that you couldn't even see the kids....so they didn't add it to the Photopass+ card. I was bummed out since this was the kids first time on that ride. Oh well...... We wanted to take the Heimlich Chew Chew train, so Addy joined us, while Ty took Anthony on the bumper cars. Ally & Derek decided to just hang out and wait.

[DizNee Luver]

Originally Posted by Sherry E

No problem! When I saw that the question came up, I thought I'd better pop in to expand. Just in case someone happens to go in a year in which the Sunday after New Year's Day is really close to New Year's Day, the decorations might come down faster than other times.

It really does seem to be hit or miss with the decorations. The hotels seem to operate on a whole different schedule than the parks, even though they are all part of Disneyland Resort. The hotels don't get their decorations put up at the same time as the parks, and the hotels' decorations get taken down before the parks' decor is taken down.

And why were the giant lights still up in A Bug's Land on January 12-14, but the giant ornaments were gone? Makes no sense!

For that matter, even though I love IASWH, why IS it open so far into January?

And even though some folks have seen a 'plainclothes' Santa (wearing green plaid) at the old Reindeer Round-Up past Christmas day, supposedly he was gone from the new Jingle Jangle Jamboree by Christmas this past season. Very confusing!

I have mixed feelings about the gingerbread cookies being available year-round. I kind of think that it should be seasonal, but what I think doesn't matter!

A CM told me back in 2011 that the cookies were going to be available year-round. DLR had already begun selling the shortbread cookies in the shape of the gingerbread men at that point (with pastel-colored buttons and ears), but the actual gingerbread ones were less available. Apparently the actual gingerbread cookies can now be bought year-round in some stores. I'm not sure which stores, but I would guess that Candy Palace and Trolley Treats are safe bets.

That is weird about the BugsLand decorations.......

The only reason I'm glad about the Gingerbread cookies being available year round is.....I'm not sure when or if I'll get back during the Christmas season.......and at least I still get a little taste of it!!

[Sherry E]

Originally Posted by DizNee Luver

That is weird about the BugsLand decorations.......

The only reason I'm glad about the Gingerbread cookies being available year round is.....I'm not sure when or if I'll get back during the Christmas season.......and at least I still get a little taste of it!!

That's what I was thinking. Even though I think gingerbread should really be seasonal - and, in fact, that's why I thought they had started selling the shortbread cookies in the shape of gingerbread men, just to fill the void - it will be very good for the folks who don't know when their next Halloween Time trip or holiday trip will be.

For that matter, I've heard that the gingerbread cookies are not easy to find at WDW either. Apparently they were spotted in one shop in WDW, but nowhere else. So even if you somehow made it to WDW for the holidays before you made it to DLR again for the holidays, you might not find the cookies there!

[DizNee Luver]

We wanted to head to CarsLand to pick up a GAC FP for Radiator Springs Racers, so we left BugsLand.





Holy Cow, there was a big metal contraption being set up right where BugsLand spills into CarsLand and the crowds were bottlenecked. We got close enough to see what was going on.



Well that explains the added crowds & the stage being set up. I kinda thought at this point they were done taping for the Disney Christmas Parade show......but I was wrong. Later in the afternoon; Derek, Ally & Tyler were in CarsLand right before Brad Paisley went on and they walked right by him (like less than 10 feet away) but NOT ONE OF THEM HAD THEIR CAMERA!!!!!! That's a picture I would have loved to have!!

We headed to the GAC check in podium for RSR to find out the ride was down (again) and so they weren't issuing the FP's at this time.....so we got out of CarsLand.



We headed back into BugsLand to exit that area. Here are the oversized Christmas ornaments & lights.

















I missed that Flik was dressed up last year (unless that's a new thing this year)???







As we were walking out of the area.







The view......