The Wettest, Merriest, and Happiest Birthday/First Visit Nov/Dec 2012 TR! 2/13 FINAL!

[KelsBleep]

So SO So excited I just found your TR! I had so much fun reading your WDW TR last year as I was planning my very first WDW Trip I took in May. I'm a DLR vet, so reading this has been awesome! Will definitely be following along for the rest of it!

Also, those candy canes look unbelievable! And I don't even really like candy canes!

[monkey30]

What a great TR! I was there the exact same days! I keep looking just incase I am in a photo!

LOVE the pictures of all the decorations. I didn't get a bunch as I forgot my SD card in the computer at home!LOL Opps!

[danimaroo]

Originally Posted by nyck

Love this report!

Thank you so much! It's been a blast to write!

Originally Posted by Twoboysnmygirl

Dani, I had no idea it even rained that much in a YEAR in California?!??! I am pretty pleased with the review of the Starbucks...I LOVE Starbucks, but love Mainstreet Bakery too. I'm glad to hear they added it so seamlessly at DLR! Ah the changing of lenses. I had to giggle. Rey was super patient with me as well and I am thinking I'm going to just put my 35 on and leave it on the first few days until we hit AK on my trip with Savannah. I just don't want to mess with it this trip!

Um, NEITHER DID I! Hahaha. This was absurd. I guess we just brought along the rain with us, wompwomp.

Yes, they did a great job with Starbucks! Main Street Bakery will be a-okay... with good coffee, too!

Hahaha, Matt was a good sport. My kit lens was just blah that day and I wanted my nice 35mm back again! I'll probably stick with that on this trip, as well.

Originally Posted by czmom

I just came across your trip report and have read the whole thing so far in just 2 sittings. It is SO FUN! And you and your DH are great!

We have been to WDW the past 2 Decembers and are heading West to DLR this next December. I can't wait! We will be there about the same time you were and it seems like the crowds have not been too bad. Hopefully that crazy rain will not repeat next year. That was a bummer.

Thanks for sharing your trip report and I look forward to the rest! Oh, and have an absolute blast at WDW. The New Fantasyland is great!

Thank you so much! I'm so happy that you found my TR AND are enjoying it! Matt and I are total goobers but we truly are best friends, and we both love to laugh!

You are going to LOVE DLR in December! Seriously, it's just amazing! The crowds aren't too bad... until.. well, we'll get to that, haha. Hopefully the rain doesn't happen again, I just couldn't believe how ridiculous it was. But we still made the most of it and had a great time!

Thank you, we are SO excited to see New Fantasyland! I'm very excited to eat at Be Our Guest for dinner, too! WOOHOO!

Originally Posted by Pesky

Holy cow, you weren't a-kidding! Those are HUGE! You could use it to herd sheep or hook unruly children. Love the Oswald stuff!

HAHAHA, your comment literally made me laugh out loud in the middle of work! Heading sheep or hooking unruly children. What's scary is that you probably could use the candy cane for that very purpose! Hahaha. I should have tested it on some unsuspecting misbehaving child in the park... and then I would have been arrested.

Originally Posted by Mazel

Awesome trip report. I look forward to reading more. I love all your pictures.

Thanks so much! I can't wait to share more, too! And I'm glad you enjoy the photos. I seriously stop and taking photos of everything in the parks, haha. Sometimes it drives Matt nuts but it's just how I am!

[danimaroo]

Originally Posted by marDgreen88

WHAT? There's a Ghirardelli IN DCA? That's too cool. I've never even been there at DTD though, hahah woops. Shows how much I go to DTD. (Never.)

OMG the whitewall tire WREATHS. That is just perfection if I've ever seen it.

Hahaha I don't even care if Bug's Land is for kids. I'm in love with that movie and I must go ride all the rides whenever I get to DLR!

Mike and Sulley to the Rescue looks so cool! So it's just a dark ride? You just ride through it slowly or is it faster?

The whole Main Street Bakery Starbucks debacle annoys me so much. People sure know how to overreact. Nobody ever said that the whole of Main Street would be torn down to look like New York City with Starbucks every five feet, now did they? I mean Lord. It's fine. Hahhaha. I'm glad we're in agreement here.

OMG THE SECOND CANDY DISPLAY PICTURE REMINDS ME OF WRECKIT RALPH!!!!!!!!

Woah. Those are definitely some big candy canes. Hahah. What is with the size of this comment? Good grief. Apparently I have a lot to say.

Heck yeah there's a Ghirardelli in DCA! It's awesome and makes getting my ice cream fix that much easier. So good! I can't wait to get a sundae in DTD; we actually spend a nice amount of time there usually!

Yeah, the details they put into the decorations were fantastic. I was very impressed.

Hahaha, they have a LOT of rides and they all look adorable!

Mike and Sulley is basically just a dark ride, and mostly slow, though sometimes you turn a corner or whatever.. but that's it. I loved it though. They did such a good job with that ride.

We are most definitely in agreement about the Starbucks ordeal. It will be okay, Disney wouldn't stick a normal Starbucks on Main Street, hahaha. You really can barely tell until you look at the menu, seriously.

HECK YES! Such a good observation.

They really were huge. And psh, I don't mind. I enjoy the long comments!

Originally Posted by mouseketeer70

Girl, you said they were huge but until I saw you holding it I didn't realize! HUGE! Now I see why you still have one left.
Oh my the rain! Glad you were still both able to have fun with it!
Thanks for posting about Starbucks. I knew there was no way Disney would just plop a Starbucks on Main Street! And while I don't like coffee at all I do like their goodies...

Haha I KNOW! They are seriously ginormous! I'll make my way through that next one at some point...

Merrr the rain was not fun but we just dealt with it. The bad part is that Florida has a back up if it rains; everything is under a roof or awning for those terrible downpours. Disneyland, not so much, because California doesn't typically get that kind of rain. Blergh.

Yeah, Main Street will be totally fine. Though I AM sad that MSB will be closed while we're there! Wompwomp. That's my only beef with Starbucks going in!

I used to not like coffee, but then I moved to Seattle and became a barista for 4 1/2 years.

Originally Posted by Aurora1972

The candy canes are huge! I agree that most candy canes are too strong. But the Disneyland one sounds delish!

I absolutely love the stuffed Oswald. My ds would love to have one of those.

I had no idea DL had a Monster Inc attraction. My crew would love that. Monsters inc was my oldest DD favorite movie for a long time.

Yeah, they are massive but so delicious!

That Oswald is so so neat. We'd originally spotted a girl walking with it the night before and we were both like "WE MUST BUY THAT".. We might have also bought him a friend, too.

The Monsters Inc. ride is fantastic! I seriously loved it and thought it was adorable. Plus, again, the animatronics were great!

Originally Posted by KelsBleep

So SO So excited I just found your TR! I had so much fun reading your WDW TR last year as I was planning my very first WDW Trip I took in May. I'm a DLR vet, so reading this has been awesome! Will definitely be following along for the rest of it!

Also, those candy canes look unbelievable! And I don't even really like candy canes!

YAY! I'm so glad you found my TR AND that you're here and commenting! ANDDDD that I'm not failing the DLR vets on my TR reporting, either! Haha.

The candy canes are super tasty and honestly, beautiful. I know that sounds silly but seeing how they make it... makes them even more impressive than I thought!

Originally Posted by monkey30

What a great TR! I was there the exact same days! I keep looking just incase I am in a photo!

LOVE the pictures of all the decorations. I didn't get a bunch as I forgot my SD card in the computer at home!LOL Opps!

Thank you so much! That is so funny you were there at the same time; it would be hilarious if you're in the background of one of the photos! You must tell me if you end up in one, hahaha.

I've totally done that with my SD card before; TOTALLY THE WORST. I need to make sure I take mine out of my iMac at home so I don't forget it for our upcoming trip to Disney World! Thanks for the reminder.

[khertz]

Originally Posted by danimaroo

As we got up to start heading over, Matt suddenly proclaimed “Man, it smells like fresh bread around here!”

I looked up and said, “Maybe that’s because we’re right next to a bakery where there’s sour dough bread?”

Ahhh, now I really really REALLY want to go at Christmastime!!!! Bug's Land looks freaking ADORABLE. We loved that area on our trip with DS because there is so much for him to do, and the little touches are just so cute. The lights and huge ornaments look awesome!!

LOVE the Monsters Inc. ride. One of my favorite Disney movies transformed into an awesome dark ride! Also am loving Roz's Santa hat. Awesome touch!!

That rain is CRAZY!! Does it rain that much in California in a whole year?! As I was reading the DL board preparing for our trip, I remember one poster saying it never occurred to them to ever bring a poncho or umbrella to DL because it never rains there. Clearly, he needs to be introduced to your TR!

The first picture of the candy canes didn't do it justice. The one holding it in your hand...OMG THEY ARE GINORMOUS! At least I know if we ever do take that Christmas DL trip I'm dreaming of, we only need one of the $12.95 candy canes for the three of us to split.

[PracPerfPatricia]

I'm really glad you liked Paradise Pier... I've been to DL twice now...(last time in August 2011 and previously several years before that) & when I had read about PP... it really didn't seem to get too much love... more like some major dislike...

I get that it isn't quite as "Disney" as some other of the lands but I do think that it ties nicely into a California Pier /Boardwalk theme... CS is your large pier coaster, TSM fits in there as well with Mr. Potato as kind of a carnival barker and the other rides have a sort of 30s retro Silly Symphonies kind of thing going on...It's not my very favorite land either but I think it has a kind of charm to it...as for Mickey's Fun Wheel...again I agree with you about those moving cars (and I like coasters) no way ever am I getting into one of those... Hell would have to freeze over...

BugsLand is also charming and even though it is kid oriented... it too is well done with everything so large from the bugs' perspective...

When we went there was also no line for the Monster's ride and it is an awesome little dark ride...& especially if you're a Monster's Inc fan... and who isn't...you have to do...

The rain looks like it was coming down in buckets...I think the people who would handle that the best would be from Seattle (or England)... & I'm glad you were able to enjoy yourselves despite it...

I was chuckling when I read your review of the "Starbucks" and thinking you'd be offering a great public service if you posted it over on the WDW boards... there is quite a frenzy going on... I think it looks tastefully done and while I kind of wished that they just had Disney pastry stuff... having some decent coffee is worth the compromise... for years that is the one thing that has consistently driven me insane at Disney... the inability to get a decent coffee in the parks.... coffee=HAPPY... So I do think you could do a great job of reassuring everyone that there won't be signs over Main Street saying "Disney's Main Street Presented by Starbucks..." ...

Too funny about Matt sitting on the Candy Cane/s... they sound really good though... I happy to really like them and my DH LOVES them so if we ever get there around Christmas we'll have to make our way over there... (Bright & Early though...

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I am really enjoying this trip report

All of the pictures have been lovely, the Christmas decorations are great.

I like the tone of the trip report, it has been pretty funny.

I am also a big vinylmation trader!! Woo for hobbies that sound weird but are very fun. Which sets do you like best? I collect Parks, Animation and Star Wars (huge SW geek) and whichever of the other sets catches my eye.

[Fantasyland Mom]

Hey, guess what I did?!
CAUGHT UP ON THIS ENTIRE TR!
Amazing (both of us). I guess since I was pretty MIA in December, I missed that this TR even started, though I'd heard lots on FB. LOVE it! I'm so happy you are taking the time to compare things to WDW. It is really helping me begin to understand how things work out west!

[danimaroo]

Originally Posted by khertz

Ahhh, now I really really REALLY want to go at Christmastime!!!! Bug's Land looks freaking ADORABLE. We loved that area on our trip with DS because there is so much for him to do, and the little touches are just so cute. The lights and huge ornaments look awesome!!

LOVE the Monsters Inc. ride. One of my favorite Disney movies transformed into an awesome dark ride! Also am loving Roz's Santa hat. Awesome touch!!

That rain is CRAZY!! Does it rain that much in California in a whole year?! As I was reading the DL board preparing for our trip, I remember one poster saying it never occurred to them to ever bring a poncho or umbrella to DL because it never rains there. Clearly, he needs to be introduced to your TR!

The first picture of the candy canes didn't do it justice. The one holding it in your hand...OMG THEY ARE GINORMOUS! At least I know if we ever do take that Christmas DL trip I'm dreaming of, we only need one of the $12.95 candy canes for the three of us to split.

HAHA I'm glad someone thought that was funny. It really was like a scene out of a movie or something!

I remembered from your DL trip that your son LOVED Bug's Land and I remember how adorable it was! They do such an amazing job with that area, and even moreso at Christmas! I hope you get to visit during that time of year!

Haha, that Monsters Inc. ride was seriously awesome! And I loved Roz's Santa hat, too!

Yeah, the rain honestly got to be too much, especially during our Tour. I was like, "OKAY, WE GET IT, RAIN. Now please just give us a break!" I just had no idea California got rain like that!

Haha, I knew I had to take a photo of me holding that thing to show how huge they are! That thing is PLENTY for 3 people to eat, and then some! Heck, throw in a 4th person!

Originally Posted by PracPerfPatricia

I'm really glad you liked Paradise Pier... I've been to DL twice now...(last time in August 2011 and previously several years before that) & when I had read about PP... it really didn't seem to get too much love... more like some major dislike...

I get that it isn't quite as "Disney" as some other of the lands but I do think that it ties nicely into a California Pier /Boardwalk theme... CS is your large pier coaster, TSM fits in there as well with Mr. Potato as kind of a carnival barker and the other rides have a sort of 30s retro Silly Symphonies kind of thing going on...It's not my very favorite land either but I think it has a kind of charm to it...as for Mickey's Fun Wheel...again I agree with you about those moving cars (and I like coasters) no way ever am I getting into one of those... Hell would have to freeze over...

BugsLand is also charming and even though it is kid oriented... it too is well done with everything so large from the bugs' perspective...

When we went there was also no line for the Monster's ride and it is an awesome little dark ride...& especially if you're a Monster's Inc fan... and who isn't...you have to do...

The rain looks like it was coming down in buckets...I think the people who would handle that the best would be from Seattle (or England)... & I'm glad you were able to enjoy yourselves despite it...

I was chuckling when I read your review of the "Starbucks" and thinking you'd be offering a great public service if you posted it over on the WDW boards... there is quite a frenzy going on... I think it looks tastefully done and while I kind of wished that they just had Disney pastry stuff... having some decent coffee is worth the compromise... for years that is the one thing that has consistently driven me insane at Disney... the inability to get a decent coffee in the parks.... coffee=HAPPY... So I do think you could do a great job of reassuring everyone that there won't be signs over Main Street saying "Disney's Main Street Presented by Starbucks..." ...

Too funny about Matt sitting on the Candy Cane/s... they sound really good though... I happy to really like them and my DH LOVES them so if we ever get there around Christmas we'll have to make our way over there... (Bright & Early though...

Yeah, Paradise Pier really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Not my favorite, but it definitely still has a Disney twist, you know? And yes, NO SWINGING CAGE FOR THIS GIRL!

Totally agree on Bug's Land! It's super adorable and very well-themed.

Monsters Inc. is totally like hidden off in a corner but so amazing! I really loved that right a lot.

Yeah, we made the most of it but I would be lying if I didn't say that I wished it had been sunny!

Haha, that whole Starbucks thing drives me NUTS! People go insane over it! Someone from the DIS blog posted about it on Facebook and people continued to go insane. I just mentioned how I think people need to chill out and my comment got a bunch of likes, but my LORD, you'd think the world was ending! I just don't get it.

You guys definitely should get a candy cane, I highly suggest it! SO GOOD! But yes, walk briskly, no running. Hahahah.

Originally Posted by OhioStateBuckeye

I am really enjoying this trip report

All of the pictures have been lovely, the Christmas decorations are great.

I like the tone of the trip report, it has been pretty funny.

I am also a big vinylmation trader!! Woo for hobbies that sound weird but are very fun. Which sets do you like best? I collect Parks, Animation and Star Wars (huge SW geek) and whichever of the other sets catches my eye.

Awesome, I'm glad you're enjoying it and that you're here!

Thank you! I try to take lots of photos, makes the TR a lot more interesting, hahaha.

Ahh are you really?! I LOVE collecting them! I think my favorites have been some of the Parks (I love my Park 5 Haunted Mansion Clock, P2 Poncho, MK Ticket, P4 Epcot 82, I could go on!)... and also Pixar and Haunted Mansion... Oh and Muppets! See this trend? I could keep chatting about it and this is why my collection is as large as it is. I also have SW1, except Ghost Obi! They are too much fun to collect and trade. I do a lot of trading when not in the parks through Facebook groups and Instagram!

Again, glad you're here!

Originally Posted by Fantasyland Mom

Hey, guess what I did?!
CAUGHT UP ON THIS ENTIRE TR!
Amazing (both of us). I guess since I was pretty MIA in December, I missed that this TR even started, though I'd heard lots on FB. LOVE it! I'm so happy you are taking the time to compare things to WDW. It is really helping me begin to understand how things work out west!

AHHH I AM SO HAPPY YOU ARE HERE! And even better, you caught up on the entire thing!

It's okay, life gets busy. I always have those times where I go like MIA from the DIS for whatever reason and then I feel so out of the loop! It's definitely different in Disneyland but lovely for its own reasons. It also helped us get super excited for our Disney World trip, too!

[DharmaLou]

My DH got that same Oswald shirt. He looked around until he found that specific one and he loves it. He just bought a little Oswald plush, but he would have loved the huge one!

[danimaroo]

Just a quick note… This will be my last update before we leave for Disney World!!! We are so excited to be going so soon, and that we’ll be there for 10 days.

That being said, I obviously won’t be updating again until we’re back, I’m settled in, AND get some time to update! I’ll probably have to split up my writing time between this TR and then my new TR for our Disney World trip, but either way, it’s going to be an awesome time!

On that note, back to the TR, and I’ll be back in a few weeks to update again!

See ya real soon!

Chapter Sixteen: Corn dogs, Makin’ Friends, and a Holiday Time Tour!
Day 2: November 30th, 2012

At this point it was around 2, and we headed back to Disneyland. I brought my portable iPhone charger along that I’d just gotten for my birthday, which was great since my phone was sure to die with all of the Instagramming and tweeting I was doing!



We decided to stop by one of the stores on Main Street to look at Mickey Santa hats. I tried on a few and decided to buy this cute plaid one!



At this point (at least I think it was this point), we also picked up an umbrella, just because we thought it might be nice to have during the tour, since our ponchos both had torn.

The rain finally let up for a bit, so we headed down Main Street and decided to grab some corn dogs before our Holiday Time Tour.



There was actually a sizeable line, but we decided to wait it out. Corn dogs were calling our name!





Before too long, we had corn dogs in our hands and decided to go stand at a table nearby to eat them!





OH MAN. Those corn dogs were SO good. Seriously. They knew what they were doing. I’d say that was one of the best corn dogs I’d ever had. The cornbread part was so flavorful, and the hot dog itself was amazingly good. Dipped that sucker in some ketchup and I was a happy gal.

While we were eating, we started talking to a woman next to us about our trip and it being my first time, then chatted about Disney World. She was super friendly and nice and told us to have a great time on our tour!

We ate our corn dogs quickly, said goodbye to the nice woman, and headed off to go meet up for our tour.



We walked over to the tour area near City Hall, gave the CMs our tickets, and were given our cute adorable Tour pins with our names on them.





We were told to just wait while the rest of our group showed up, so we hung around behind the little booth where we checked in. They even decorated in that area, too!



I used the secret bathroom in that area (seriously, it was a one-person bathroom and was super clean, I will always use that thing from here on out when on Main Street!)... I grabbed some paper towels in the bathroom and decided to wipe down some seats at a nearby table so we could sit while we waited.

Oh, we were also warned that there might be a chance that our parade (the second one of the day; first one had been canceled already) could be canceled due to the rain. I was praying that it wouldn’t be, since one of the hugest perks of doing the Holiday Time Tour would be getting VIP seating for the Christmas Parade. We’ll see what happens with the parade shortly...

While we waited, a couple of women came over and said they were in our group. We started chatting with them and found out they were from a town right near ours! It was an older woman with her adult daughter, and they were apparently having their “staff meeting” in Disneyland.

Um, can I work for that lady? I want my meetings to be held in Disneyland!

We chatted for awhile with them, and found out the older woman was a DVC member… and she owned points at a LOT of resorts. I think she rattled off like 5 different places, and she’d literally just purchased another 150 points or something crazy at the Grand Californian that morning.

AKA, this lady had to be LOADED. I mean, who the heck just drops a bunch of money on DVC points like that, all nonchalantly?!

Evidently this woman did, hahaha. That being said, they were both very nice and friendly and we were glad they were part of our group.

Our tour finally began a bit late at 3:30. Apparently 4 people had checked in for the tour and then… disappeared. So they were trying to hunt down the people? I don’t know, I have no idea how you can pay money for a tour and then literally disappear! Hahaha.

Another 2 people joined our group, a father and his younger daughter, and then our tour guide, Cecil, introduced herself and told us a little about the tour.



I’m not sure if Cecil was newer, but she initially seemed a little nervous as she spoke, but she also seemed very nice. Cecil had us head over to California Adventure first, to look at all of the decorations over in that park.



It was slightly awkward because a lot of what she was talking about or showing to us we’d already seen since we’d been in the parks for most of the day. So she asked us some questions as we strolled over and we awkwardly told her we’d already seen or done that.



So you guys are going to think I’m the worst, because I actually don’t remember a whole lot of what was SAID during a lot of the tour. Part of that was probably due to me taking a ton of photos, the other part was it sometimes being hard to understand her just due to the crowds around us and the stupid rain.

Our first stop was the main Christmas tree in California Adventure. I’m telling you, I could have looked at it all day long!



We made our way long, heading back towards Carsland, and I snapped photos along the way…





Cecil took us to the beginning of Carsland, telling us about how there are different Christmas trees for all of the different Cars characters. We also noticed that the wreaths up above were made of wrenches, which was such an awesome touch. Disney is truly all about the details!



We actually didn’t go down through Carsland, but I was fine with that since we had plans to check it out more the following day.

We walked past a bug’s land and avoided being hit but the Hollywood trolley, hahaha..





Cecil then told us about some of the Christmas treats that they make in the parks, mentioning the infamous candy canes we’d picked up earlier. She then went on to tell us about how they make flavored marshmallows, and told us we’d get to try samples!

They had an egg nog and peppermint!



I decided to go with peppermint..



And Matt went with egg nog..



These were so tasty! But I have to say, the egg nog was definitely the winner of the two.

We stared in as they made caramel apples, and they looked delicious!





(Keep reading below!)
Continued in next post

[danimaroo]

Chapter Sixteen: Corn dogs, Makin Friends, and a Holiday Time Tour! CONTINUED
Day 2: November 30th, 2012

Cecil then also told us about how they pipe in the smells into the parks, which Id heard in one of our Disney books wed bought. But it was kind of neat because she told us to look for the vents in the park, especially when we went back to Main Street. Id never thought to look for them, but they are definitely there, just well-hidden!

At this point we headed out of California Adventure, and headed back over to Disneyland.





Cecil then talked about the different Christmas trees in the park. The one that I thought was fascinating was the one in Walts personal apartment, which you could see from Main Street. They also put a menorah in one of the second story windows on Main Street, too.



We headed over towards the Partners statue, and at this point, it seriously DOWNPOURED. Cecil went to open her umbrella and the entire thing felt apart! I felt so bad; the handle just completely fell off and flew across the ground. She managed to get it open though so at least she had something over her head.



You can see she had no handle on her umbrella, hahaha. Whoops!



I honestly have no idea what she told us here because of how hard it was raining. I was just sitting there being sad as I realized my hopes of getting VIP seats for the parade were being crushed. With the amount of rain that was coming down, even if it stopped, the pavement would be way too soaked for it to be safe for the parade to happen.

All I know is before we knew it, we were heading over to Haunted Mansion Holiday.

One of the cool benefits of this tour is you get to bypass all lines and go to the front of Haunted Mansion Holiday and Its a Small World Holiday. Pretty awesome, especially since there was a sizeable line when we arrived.





So something weird happened while we all were on this. I was taking photos like I normally do with my camera, which is with NO flash. I cannot stand flash photography on dark rides, so I obviously follow that rule.

Right after I took a photo, a lady came over the intercom saying no flash photos. None had been taken where we were, so Matt and I were super confused, and Matt thought they may have been talking to me!

We got off the ride and Cecil came up to me and asked if they were talking to me. I said I wasnt sure, but I thought it was really odd since I wasnt using a flash.

She told me that it was probably a newer CM working and that they may have thought I used my flash? I dont really know, but she told me not to worry about it. It was just really weird.

We headed out of Haunted Mansion Holiday, and Cecil told us about all of the different countries Santas. One of the women in our group mentioned how in Epcot they have different story tellers/versions of Santa Claus who tell the story of how Christmas is celebrated in their country. Cecil then proclaimed that she REALLY wanted to visit Disney World at Christmas time, haha.

We then headed over to Its a Small World, and again were able to skip the line. It wasnt lit up yet, and someone mentioned it would at around 5:15. As we were waiting to board our boat, we suddenly heard an announcement, and a countdown and well& We got to witness this. I was actually able to capture this moment on video, and guys, it was AMAZING and beautiful. Click the image below to watch&



I think being surrounded by everyone as they gasped and cheered just made me SO happy. I definitely got a little choked up at the whole scene.

We boarded our boat and I took a photo of the CM sitting above& Looking at this photo now, he looks very grumpy, hahaha.



I loved how they had all of the hedge animals lit up outside&



And these wreaths were so pretty!



Every ride through I discovered something new that I loved about it& Like this guy..



And this Canadian Mounties EPIC MUSTACHE.



And I loved this Christmas tree and the bulbs coming off of it&



This time I caught Simba and Pumba!



AND THIS HIPPO! I kept trying to get photos of it with its eyes open and that thing does NOT like to open its eyes. BUT, I finally succeeded.



At this point, it was around 5:30, when the parade was supposed to start, and we obviously figured out that it wasnt happening. Such a bummer; that was one of the biggest perks of doing the tour!

I was a little sad, but we then headed off towards ToonTown! I was kind of glad because we hadnt made our way over to that area of the park yet.



Cecil walked us over to Plutos Dog House, and informed us we would get a Gingerbread cookie and hot chocolate!



We were given these adorable mugs full of hot chocolate& How cute are they?!



Cecil informed us the parade wouldnt be happening, and thanked us for being great guests on her tour, while she handed out special pins. We thanked Cecil and then headed off to check out more of ToonTown before we went elsewhere.



SO! My thoughts about the tour& I think it is pretty awesome if its your first day in the parks and you havent gone on anything yet& and also if you dont know a ton about Disneyland in general. Some of the information we learned was definitely interesting to learn, but a lot of it was non-Disney related and things I knew about and so sometimes I found myself a little bored.

The rain was pretty crappy and that definitely affected my enjoyment of the tour, both because the parade was canceled and also just because it made it hard to focus on what Cecil was saying.

Would I do the tour again? No& and I think without the VIP seating for the parade (with Disney not doing anything to make up for when the parade is canceled, not even offering VIP seating for a future parade), it is not worth the price of the tour.

Its neat and all, but for $68 per person, without that VIP seating, I wouldnt say its worth it. We got a 20% off discount because of our Disney Visa, and even then Im still not sure I got my moneys worth.

But again! If youve never been to the parks and its your first day, OR its during an extremely busy time, I could see it being worth it!

We headed out of Toon Town and back towards Its a Small World and took a few photos near it&



Funny story. We set our stuff down on a trash can to put our mugs in the backpack, along with our pins and Gingerbread men wed just got. While doing this, we managed to leave our 3-hour old umbrella on the trash can! I dont remember when we realized we lost our umbrella, but we laughed at how we managed to lose it so quickly. I think Matt had even made a joke right as we bought it about losing it. Bahaha, oh well. At least it wasnt a super expensive umbrella!

Next update, we eat at one of the most infamous restaurants in Disneyland, and experience Believe& In the Magic for the first time ever!

Continued in next post

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Darn that rain!!! I wish it hadn't ruined your parade. So I was thinking about the photo-taking-incident in HM. Did you have your focus assist light on? Once I went in HM and quickly realized that my focus assist light was coming on BEFORE taking the shot b/c if it's turned on and it's really dark, it will do that until you turn it off. Maybe the CM saw that light and thought it was a flash? Or it could just be that I think sometimes they don't realize that those of us with dslrs CAN (and DO) take photos without flashes, so they just assume if there's a camera out that people are using flash.

I'm so excited for your trip! When you get back I will have mere days before it's my turn! I hope you guys have a blast and your friends love it as much as you!

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Loving your TR, it's one of the best I have read. I love it so much that I'm starting on your WDW PTR, we have never been there and I'm not sure if we ever will go there, but it's bound to be wonderful to read!

Thanks and enjoy your trip!

[lsulindy]

That rain really stinks!! Hope you have some gorgeous weather in Florida! Have a great trip!